Howl (7 page)

The open living room walls were lined with
bookshelves ready to bust from the weight of hundreds of books.
Where there was no more space, Jaime had stacked piles of books
that resembled numerous Leaning Towers of Pisa. I was pretty sure
they would topple over if heavy vehicles drove by or if a strong
gust of wind shook the building. I walked over to the closest shelf
and titled my head to examine the cheerfully colorful spines. Books
on wildflowers, edible plants, ecosystems of deciduous and
coniferous forests, hunting, etc. stretched as far as I could
reach. Each book I examined was dog-eared, stained and battered as
if Jaime had devoured the information in every page time and time
again.

“You could teach me a few things.” I didn't
try to hide the admiration in my voice.

Jaime came up behind me, wrapped an arm
around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. “The great
outdoors is my passion.” He said simply.

I grabbed a book titled 'Building Emergency
Shelters: How to survive outside in any season'. I flipped through
a few pages with diagrams and directions on building snow forts,
rain shelters, and more. “Have you ever tried actually building
these?” I asked, remembering how the first time I'd ever seen
Jaime, he was camping in a tent.

“A couple of them. The pine lean-to was the
most fun and it smelled the best.” He took the book from my hands
and flipped to the page with instructions on building the lean-to.
“But in all honesty, none of these would do very well in the
long-run. These are just short-term fixes.” He tossed the book onto
an already dangerously tottering pile and turned toward the open
door into the bedroom. “Come.” He tipped his head for me to
follow.

The bedroom was down a very short hallway
from the living room/kitchenette. Everything smelled of Jaime – all
sugar, woods, and earth. His scent hung in the air like a light
cloud of heaven, enveloping and invigorating. I couldn't avoid
setting my sights on the overly large bed. The slate-colored
comforter and messed up pillows brought to mind the image of my
lover stretched out lazily as I undressed....

Jaime must have caught on to my thoughts for
he smiled shyly and played awkwardly with a book in his hands
before reaching it out for me to grab. “You can never be too
prepared for a zombie apocalypse.”

“What?!” I laughed so hard it took me more
than a minute to recover. “Did you really say that?”

Color rose in his cheeks. “Hey, at least I'll
be prepared and you'll be coming to me for shelter and food.” He
put the book in my hands.

“Jaime, you know zombies aren't real, right?”
I tried to stifle a giggle.

“Excuse me Miss-Know-It-All, just because you
haven't seen one yet doesn't mean that they can't occur. There are
plenty of diseases out there that could mutate at any minute and
turn the population into salivating, flesh-crazed, zombies.” He
gave me a look that said 'I would know these things because that's
what I do'.

“Sure.” I stretched the word out as far as
three heart beats and arched my eyebrows. I glanced at the book but
didn’t catch the name. “So you’ve got a plan, then?”

“Of course. I’m ready for anything,
babe.”

“Even a vegetarian who’s hungry? Because I’m
starving.”

“I think there is something around here for
you.” He headed back into the kitchenette and started rummaging
through the cabinets. I laid the book down with my jacket and
pulled up a stool to the two-seater counter that doubled as a
table. Jaime put a bowl and spoon down next to a bowl of cereal and
gallon of milk. “Fabulous, Jaime. Really classy way to feed a
lady.” I teased as I filled the bowl with crunchy flakes

After I finished eating, Jaime took the bowl
and set it in a conspicuously empty sink. Just glancing around, I
got the feeling that Jaime was cleaner than most guys his age.
Certainly more than my brothers. It was a constant battle of Mom
vs. The Males of the House. Round One: Socks, dishes, keys, etc.
strewn about and tossed wherever they happen to land. Round Two:
Mom harping on Males to pick up after themselves. There’s really
isn’t ever a clear winner because Round Three is really just Round
One all over again. And again. And then again. But Jaime’s
apartment was rather clean despite the clutter of books everywhere.
No food on the counter or dust bunnies sneakily waiting to eat
unsuspecting toes.

“So,” Jaime shoved his hands in his jeans
pockets and leaned against the sink. “It’s almost midnight but we
could watch a movie if you want.”

“I don't really feel like watching a
movie.”

“Do you want to go for a walk? No one would
see us since it's so late.”

“Not really in the mood for a walk
either.”

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly
in a moment of awkward confusion. “Okay. So you have something else
in mind then?”

I nodded slightly and walked over to him.
Hooking my finger in the collar of his tee shirt I pulled him to
me. Our lips touched softly. I carefully unzipped Jaime’s hoodie
and slid it off his muscular shoulders. Tossing it aside, my hands
found their way under his tee shirt to his skin. Underneath my
fingertips I could feel his heart racing inside the chiseled chest
I adored so much. My lips moved down his jaw to the softest part of
his neck, taking in the heat and salt of his skin. A small growl
tried to escape my throat but I held it down. Jaime’s hands
tightened on my hips, frantic to pull me even closer. He sighed and
nestled his face in my hair. I pulled back to look in his face.
With a rather reticent air, he smiled meekly. “I don’t want to rush
you into anything.” I grabbed his wrist and led him toward the
bedroom.

I ripped the bottom hem of my tee in
eagerness to divest myself of anything that separated my body from
Jaime’s. The burning of his skin against mine intensified with each
breath. His fingers snaked their way through my tresses while I
pulled him into me. The unexpected surge of electricity as Jaime
ran his teeth over the flesh of my shoulder, combined with the
rhythmic movements of his hips on mine made my canines ache with an
animalistic pleasure. I yearned for him to bite me, giving myself
over to the release. A passing fear of shifting into wolf form then
encroached into my mind. Mercifully, my teeth stayed put inside my
mouth and the preliminary dread melted into emptiness.

All I wanted was Jaime; for his tongue to
discover every new inch of me, his hands to never yield their
desire. I needed for him to carve a secret space inside his soul to
keep me for eternity.

*

I was walking through the National Forest.
The trees were the same; black cherry, oak, hickory, and more. I
felt the twigs give under my bare feet though I couldn’t hear their
cracking. I couldn’t hear anything at all. No animals scurrying out
of my path, no birds singing amongst the leaves, nothing. It was as
if the woods were completely empty or maybe I had gone deaf. My
eyes scanned the distance. Everything was devoid of color. Stark
grey and black, some shades of white where sunlight or moonlight, I
couldn’t tell which, dove through branches above me.

I stopped walking when I noticed a dark pool
of water, several feet around, randomly placed in the middle of the
woods. Though I had no reason to, I walked right over to the water
and swirled a finger around the glass-smooth surface, tiny ripples
making their way out from my fingertip. The water was too warm to
be regular spring water. It was almost hot. As I made figure eights
and swirls in the water the temperature didn’t bother me but the
way the water moved under my touch did. It was thick. Too thick to
be water. It moved and rippled the way a watered down corn syrup
would move; heavy and full of intention. And darkness. This water
was the color of onyx at midnight. The motion of the water's petite
waves caused an uneasy stir in my gut.

The scene changed and the puddle was gone. I
was facing Jaime who stood a few feet away. His face was a mask
pale as death and just as serious. I put out my hands to reach for
him but as I did, the water from the puddle poured off my palms in
rivulets that sprang from an invisible source in my skin. Confused
and horrified, I stared at the liquid as it spilled down my fingers
onto the ground beneath my feet. The metallic smell hit my nose and
roiled my stomach. I tried to scream but not a sound came. My
throat vibrated and though my chords fiercely attempted a sound
over and over again, the attempt was futile.

Shuddering violently, I coiled into a ball on
the forest floor, frantically wiping my hands on leaves, the
ground, even my pristinely white dress. But the blood kept raining
down from my hands. It splashed everywhere as it poured, down my
arms onto my bare toes, streaks smearing as I wiped and wiped
again. Some splashed onto my face and trickled down my cheeks and
nose onto my lips. I didn’t want it to but my tongue slipped past
my teeth taking in the droplets as they landed on my mouth. The
flavor was iron, salt, and spice; human-tasting. It made my canines
ache fiercely; my jaw set hard, and sent a surge of appetite
through me. Every muscle in my body pulled against my bones and
tendons, begging to shift and feed, to rip at the tissue of
whoever's blood I’d just tasted. Panting and thrashing, I tried to
recoil from my own skin.

*

My eyes flew open in a panic. I was drenched
in sweat and my heart pounded harder than a jackhammer. “A dream.”
Whispering the words to myself rather than just thinking them made
the reality of Jaime’s bedroom come into focus faster. My senses
were inflamed for sometime after waking. Every groan and breath
from Jaime was thunderous. His arm was draped over my chest,
crushingly heavy. Even the scent of our bodies interlaced in
passion clung too harshly in my nostrils. The moonlight glided low
across the floor boards casting a brilliant, near blinding glow
around the base of Jaime’s bed.

My mind repeatedly returned to that spot in
the woods.... A sinking feeling overtook me as I realized that the
blood was reminiscent of Jaime; the way his blood would smell...and
taste. I nearly gagged on my own revulsion and terror at this
thought. What was happening? I shuddered as the images rapaciously
intruded my mind and repeated their carnage.

No, no, no, no.... I took several deep
breaths to hold back the swell of vomit turning my stomach. It was
just a stupid dream...a dream...a dream....

After some time trying to recover from the
horror of my sleep, I slid Jaime's arm off me and replaced the
blanket where my indent was receding. Grabbing my clothes from the
floor, I tiptoed into the bathroom to shower. The steam unwound the
first steel cables of my tension. I scrubbed my skin pink with the
net bath scrubbie I found hanging around the shower head and let
the water wash away so much more than just sweat and Jaime. I
refused to consider what my dream may have meant, what was lurking
behind such a horrid dream. I didn’t want to go there. I
couldn’t.

As the near scalding water ran over my flesh,
I willed it to take away anymore thoughts of my nightmare. The
small drain at my feet absorbed the little remnants of stress like
a sponge, happily sucking it out of me. After toweling dry, I threw
on my clothes and let myself out. I couldn't even think of waking
Jaime for fear that it would trigger those images again.

I fished around in my jacket pocket for my
MP3 player, put the ear buds in, and pushed the volume button as
high as my ears would permit. I made it home in time to see the
first rays of sunlight slinking across the yard. Nobody was up yet
when I crept in the door so I started the two pots of coffee and
went up to my room to change, figuring it would be better to stay
up rather than give the nightmare any more opportunity to slither
in again.

~World apart~

“Fifi, I’m going for a run tonight - you in?”
Tristan used his childhood nickname for me from time to time.

“Yeah, I’d love to.”

“Cool. Thomas said the rangers are done their
monthly sweep so we’re golden.”

Though I didn’t say it, I already knew the
sweeps were done for September. Jaime had talked of little else
earlier in the week. The sweeps were when the rangers located the
tagged animal populations and brought them in for check-ups as well
as pulled in carcasses. It usually took only about three to five
days but it was critical that we stay out of the forest at that
time. Not only did we have to avoid killing and eating tagged
animals but we had to minimalize and control the tracks we left
before each sweep. Now that this sweep was done, we were free once
again to hunt and run as we pleased.

“Fantastic.”

Gavin appeared around the corner. “You guys
are talking about going hunting?”

“Tonight. You want to join us?” Tristan
asked.

“No, I’ve some stuff around here to do. But
listen, Thomas heard this afternoon that there was a suspected
animal attack on a hiker near the Tionesta trail. He was told the
guy is in a medically-induced coma and his wounds were pretty
extensive. This is after another hiker went missing about two
months ago and hasn't been heard from since. We don't know if these
two incidents are related but we're keeping a look out just in
case. The Game Commission has been notified but nothing is
happening – yet. We’re monitoring the situation as best as we can
but until we know more just keep your tracks limited and as far
from any trails or roads as possible, got it?”

Tristan and I both nodded grimly.

“Whoa.” Tristan turned to me as Gavin headed
out the kitchen door. “Trouble is definitely not what we need.”

“Could have been a bear or a cougar.” I noted
to my twin. “At least we have Thomas to keep us informed. Not sure
what other packs do without spies.”