As Crissa and David entered the lodge, Mary and Josh seemed overly relieved to see them both. Brad and the professor were not present.
"Oh my gosh, you two," Mary exclaimed. "Josh and I were worried something might have happened to you. It's just not safe outside at this hour."
"Sorry," Crissa responded. "We found some horses. Out there . . . in a barn. They're so beautiful!"
Mary looked at Crissa a little bewildered. "Horses?"
David spoke up. "I guess because of me now . . . you're all worried, huh?"
"No, David. I didn't mean that."
"Don't worry. I'm totally expecting that attitude now. From everyone," he added. "David the beast. Right?"
"David," Crissa interjected. "Mary was concerned for both of us, I'm sure."
"Come on, Dave," Josh weighed in. "It's just that . . . well, it's dark now. We expect the pack to appear again tonight. Hopefully escorting Julie here. As they did with you."
"Yeah, and if they don't? Julie won't go back easily, I can tell you that. You see, I have my reasons to return."
He looked revealingly at Crissa.
"But maybe her reason to stay is . . . here now."
Mary looked down at the floor, realizing what David meant.
"We're just glad you're both inside for the night," Josh added. "It's going to be a long one, guys. I'm sure."
"So where are Brad . . . and the professor?" Crissa asked cautiously.
"They kept their argument going . . . when Brad returned from his room," Mary answered in desperation. "Gosh, there were lots of angry words in here."
"Well now it's my turn . . . to get some rest, that is," David said.
"Are you hungry, David?" Mary asked in a thoughtful manner. They all could see it brought a strange reaction to his face.
"Don't worry, beautiful," he said sarcastically. "I'm not going to have you for dinner."
"David!"
Crissa was surprised at his reaction, though they all could now understand his overly sensitive perceptions.
"OK. I'm sorry, Mary," David finally added. "That was cold. Yeah, I am hungry. But I think just more sleepy right now."
"Come on, David." Crissa said, taking him by the hand. "We understand what you're going through."
She led him up the stairs to his and Brad's room. Brad was mysteriously not there. David threw himself immediately onto his own bed. He seemed instantly relaxed, relieved, and was soon unmoving. Crissa adjusted his pillow and went to the foot of his bed to remove his shoes. She could see the scratches and bruises still on his feet and legs—obviously from when he had been running in the wilderness with the wolves.
Perceiving his heavy breathing to be near sleep now, Crissa looked down upon his face in repose. He seemed innocent to her. Almost like a young boy. What would his life be like now, she sadly wondered? She bent down and kissed his cheek, feeling a strong desire to lay next to him and give him comfort—some emotional protection from the horrific fate which now consumed him.
At that moment Brad burst into the room.
"What are you doing, Crissa? " he shouted. "Get away from him! David needs to be alone. He needs to sleep this whole nightmare off. And away from us all!"
"Brad, I know . . . I was just hoping he was comfortable. Maybe he'll sleep the whole night now."
"Well I hope so. Because one way or another . . . we're leaving this hell-hole of a village for Berlin. Tomorrow afternoon!
Crissa stepped away from David's bed.
"He seems OK now, Brad," she turned and added, "But he's feeling this whole thing . . . totally emotionally. We must be careful with him. What we say. How he's treated. It all matters to him."
"Alright. But he's also going to have the best doctors when we return, Crissa. I've promised that to myself. And maybe we should even . . . look into, I don't know, criminal charges against the professor for doing this to him. It's all so cruel!"
"Brad. Please! Just be calm about all this until we get back safely. Then will be the time to ask questions. Report what happened. And see what must be done for both David and Julie."
"You really think she'll return tonight?" he asked, looking out the doorway at the darkening mood enveloping the hotel.
"I'm not certain. According to what David told me . . . she may not want to leave. Because of her . . ."
"Don't give me that mate stuff, Crissa! It's all a curse! Just some evil spell that's been around for thousands of years. Like a disease! And it's here now. In this village. Julie is cursed too. And she'll get back, whether she's coming tonight or later. And if not tonight, I swear we'll leave without her! That's all."
"But Brad, can't you see what David is saying? What he felt? That there are strong animal feelings working in them both now. It's something about their nature now, Brad."
"It's all bullshit! And we're going to destroy it when we get back. Trust me."
Crissa looked once more upon David's sleeping face. She then walked toward the door.
"Don't worry . . ." Brad said to her. "He's under my care now. Just go, Crissa. Let's get through this last night."
Realizing Brad was in no state of mind to listen further or reason with her, she left the room for the short walk down the hall to her own room. There she went in, closed the door, and locked it behind her. The exhaustion of the day was wearing strongly on her emotions and body now, and the only thing she could envision doing was trying to get for herself some much needed rest.
While she was lying in a state of near sleep, she became agitated by shouting coming from inside and outside Brad's room."
"No! You're not coming in Professor!" she heard. "You're not going to see him. You've done enough evil to my friend. And trust me, you're going to pay for this when we get back. I swear!"
Crissa could hear the professor's deeper voice from outside the room, trying calmly to reason with Brad to let him inside. To examine David further.
NO! You go to hell, Professor! Just leave him alone. With me. I swear you're not going to touch him. Ever again!
The professor was now pounding on the door with his fist. Crissa sat up, unable to relax. She felt her stomach turning from the tension and heavy conflict going on down the hall. She feared there would be violence now in the hotel and their chances of returning in any orderly way to Berlin would be in danger.
And then it came. The first far away howling of the wolves outside. They were coming again. A darker night, yet close again, just outside the hotel—that large wooden structure which had become a fortress to them all.
With the next round of howls, much closer and louder than before, Crissa heard David's and Brad's door open and the sound of their feet run past her room toward the rooftop passageway. She quickly jumped off the bed and unlocked her door. She ran out to join the two on the roof where, from that lofty vantage point, they would be able to determine if Julie was with the pack that night.
Passing through the small upper doorway and following the sound of Brad and David's feet up the ladder, Crissa finally moved out into the fresh air and dim starlight. The night presented a moon-weakened sky, with billions of brilliant stars now coalescing to send a bluish aura into the surroundings. She immediately felt David's warm hand grip hers, pulling her up close to his body, attempting to steady her position on the roof. The three young researchers struggled to see what movement there was now in the shadowy grounds below them. But they could loudly hear the wolf cries, punctuated with a frightening series of wails and sharp barks. The eerie sound brought with it an ancient warning of terror, and an instant visual image of what destruction those powerful animals below could bring to any creature in the clutches of their lethal jaws.
Brad pulled from is pocket his flashlight and shined it down below into the almost total darkness. Looming up in this narrow beacon were the mottled fur, silhouettes and bright reflective eyes of some fifteen or twenty animals. And there, in their midst, standing very close to a large male wolf was the naked, shapely body of Julie, now returned to her pale and delicate human complexion. She stooped down unexpectedly and put her arms around the large, dark wolf's neck. She held him silently and affectionately for a moment, the animal responding with a slight lick to the side of her face.
The three on the rooftop were mesmerized by the horror but also great affection which was so profoundly displayed by the young woman and what was without a doubt a killer beast.
After some tense moments and a strange silence, while the congress of wolves waited and stirred around restlessly, Julie reluctantly left the side of her mate. She moved out of the bright spotlight toward the front of the hotel. As her absence from their sight and soft pounding upon the door below indicated her immanent passage inside, Crissa felt compelled to rush down stairs and help her in. Knowing intuitively as a fellow female she should provide a covering for the girl's naked body, Crissa quickly passed into her room to procure a blanket. She understood how, from observing David's re-entry into the realm of humanity, that the once modest Julie would at first know nothing of propriety or embarrassment while returning so unclothed and wild to her former life.
The question as Crissa ran down the stairs and into the dimly lit lodge was whether she would find this girl of a mind to return ever with them to her previous ways and homeland. Or would she, like the young enamored Lara, be now willfully mated to a like creature, experiencing through the mere phases of the moon, new instincts for life, love and survival.
* * *