Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction ❯ HOWL ❯ Unowned ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Etruria and Sadie come across a strange, yet intriguing classmate... and something much more dangerous.

Originally Posted: March 03, 2008.

DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright � 2008 by Annalee, whenpigsfly8992.
Any retranscription or reproduction is prohibited.

Miscellaneous: Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Horror / Fantasy / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.08.2008 | Pages: 15 | Words: 9.7K | Visits: 187 | Status: Completed

Unowned

"Is she okay?" Sadie's voice drifted into my ears.

"It seems like it. She was asleep when we got home from work." My mom replied.

I opened my eyes and sat up. "Hey, Sadie." I said, stretching.

"Hey, Ru. Are you sure you still want to hang out tonight?" Sadie asked.

"Yeah, of course. I guess I was just in need of some rest."

"I guess so. Xak said that you'd been on edge all day."

"Oh… Xak…" I mumbled, running a hand through my hair.

"He seemed worried. He would leave after each class, saying he wanted to check on

you." Sadie whispered so my parents wouldn't hear.

"Okay girls, we're leaving now." My mom called, adjusting her jacket and grabbing

her purse. "Ru, don't forget to get that food. If you need us, we have our cell phones and

we'll be at the pool hall."

"Okay. See you later!" I said, running upstairs and fixing my make-up. Sadie had

followed and leaned against the doorframe.

Once she heard the door downstairs close, she said, "Did you know he checked on

you?"

"No… I was out cold."

"Well, it makes sense how he came in. Did you not lock the door?"

I thought back, "No… But I mean, I never knew… I never woke up." Sadie didn't

respond. She waited for me to go on. "I… I had a dream that he was there… At least, I

think it was a dream."

I looked back at the mirror and, as if on cue, the side of my face burned, as if he had

just held it… My lips warmed as if he had just… No, he couldn't have… I thought. I watched

my face go beet red. Sadie stood, silently smiling.

"Come on, the movie will start in half and hour. We still have time to walk there. I'm

pretty much out of gas."

"Me too. Let's go." I replied, turning out the light and following Sadie downstairs.

Sadie and I walked down the sidewalk to the nearby grocery store, still laughing

about the outrageous comedy we had just seen. My stomach hurt from laughing and Sadie

was holding onto me for support.

It was around eight and the store seemed deserted, except for the employees and an

ancient lady shuffling down an aisle.

"Hey, girls. How're ya doin' tonight?" The woman at the register said as we passed.

Her name was Autumn and she was the manager of the store.

"Good," Sadie and I said in unison. We rushed down the sea food section along the

back wall of the store and looked for two, large lobsters for my mom. She had to bring a

food item for her company's banquet that was being held on Monday night.

"I feel like making some brownies." Sadie commented; taking out her wallet to see

how much money she had left.

"Okay," I said, leading her to the baking section, "We'll grab some ice cream too."

Sadie's only response was a huge smile. We turned into the aisle and looked for brownie mix.

It wasn't difficult to find because an employee was straitening the boxes of brownie and cake

mix. His hair fell across his face, hiding his right eye in a curtain of orange-streaked black

hair. His skin was paler than mine, but it was a creamy color and looked smooth and... well...

perfect. He looked odd wearing the bright red store apron over his black and white striped

shirt and dark blue jeans. He spotted us peaking at the various boxes and gave a crooked

smile.

"Need anything specific?" He asked with a voice soft and smooth as velvet. He

brushed his hair out of his face. His golden brown eyes seemed to sparkle, even with the

fluorescent store lights.

"Brownies..." Sadie mumbled quietly.

He smiled a little more. With beautiful, long fingers, he took a box from the shelf

and held it out for us. I took the box and smiled back.

"Let's go get the ice cream." I said, turning to Sadie.

"Should I suggest getting some caramel to put over the ice cream?" Mr. Pretty Emo

Boy said. He was still turned to the side and I couldn't see his nametag.

"Thank you," we replied quietly, smiling all the while.

As we walked to the frozen desserts section, Sadie said, "It's like he read my mind! I

was so craving caramel."

"That's only because you think he's cute and he suggested it." I laughed and took out

a tub of French Vanilla ice cream and Sadie picked up a bottle of caramel as we passed by.

"You don't know that…" Sadie mumbled. I giggled at her.

"We should have gotten a cart. My hands are going numb." I commented, with the

frozen lobster packages in each one.

"Mine too," Sadie said, holding the ice cream.

We set our items on the counter and Autumn scanned our items. It was the only

open register now, so it was obvious they were getting ready to close. A couple of employees

were walking to their cars outside all ready.

"Hey, Zeno, help bag these items real quick." Autumn said to an approaching

employee.

I saw the curtain of black and orange hair, the pale skin, sparkling eyes, and perfect

smile. "Sure," He simply replied.

"What're you girls plannin' to do with all this?" Autumn asked, giving us our change.

"The lobsters are for my mom… The rest is for us." I explained.

"We're hanging out at my house." Sadie added.

"Well then, have fun girls." Autumn laughed. She turned to the employee named

Zeno. "You headin' home soon?"

"Yeah, in a couple of minutes. Time to call it a night." Zeno replied, smooth as silk.

Sadie was in a daze, and I knew I had the same expression on my face.

"Okay. You're workin' Monday, Z." Autumn replied, walking away to the office a

few feet away.

"Want me to take your bags to your car?" Zeno asked politely with a soft voice.

"Umm… Actually, we walked here from the theater…" I said.

"And we walked to the theater from her house." Sadie finished.

"You girls didn't take a car?" Autumn said, walking back to us. "I'd hate for two

young girls like you walkin' all the way back from here… With all those creepers out there

when it gets dark…"

Sadie and I glanced at each other. We hadn't really thought this part over. I didn't

want to interrupt my parents' night out to have them pick us up when we were only a few

miles from Sadie's.

"I can take them…" Zeno suggested, still holding the bags — with only two fingers,

like it was no big deal. "As long as one of you gives me directions." His gaze fell on the two

of us.

"Are you sure?" Autumn asked.

"Well, I live a good ways out of town, so where ever it is will be on the way." He

shrugged.

"All right. You girls don't mind hitchin' a ride with Zeno, here, do ya? Don't worry,

you can trust him. He's a good kid." Autumn said, patting Zeno's shoulder.

"Sounds good to me." Sadie said, nodding at me. I nodded back.

"All right. Have a good weekend." Autumn said, walking back to the office.

Zeno placed the groceries in his trunk so easily; it seemed he put no effort at all into

it. We sat in the car and he started it. The engine gave a soft purr as he revved it. Then we

were off, the scenery rushed by in a blur of lights and shadows. I looked at the speedometer

and my heart nearly stopped. There was a speed limit of 35 mph on this street, but Zeno was

driving at 80 mph.

He heard my small gasp and glanced at me. "What?"

"We're going to die in a horrible wreck… I just know it…" I said, scooting closer to

Sadie.

Zeno laughed, it was such a musical sound. "We're not going to get into a wreck."

I groaned. Sadie patted my shoulder. She seemed unfazed by the speed. In fact, she

was giving him directions to her house — calmly. I didn't feel secure at all, even with my seat

belt.

On cue, Zeno unbuckled my seat belt, much to my horror, and pulled me onto his

lap. His arm held me securely and protectively; I actually felt safer now than I had a moment

ago.

"Forgive me for such an… awkward action." He apologized.

"Uh… No problem." I replied.

The car came to a smooth stop in front of Sadie's house. Zeno went rigid, though,

staring intently through the windshield. He quickly put me back into my seat and he clutched

the steering wheel. I could have sworn — for a split second — that Zeno had a snarl on his

face. His seemingly sunken eyes were even darker.

"Be careful, ladies." He said, suddenly happy. There was still a hint of hostility under

his expression.

We got out and got our groceries out of the trunk, then turned to see Zeno's car

silently speed off, definitely going faster than 80 mph.

"What was all that about?" I asked.

"I don't know… But it was funny."

"Was not! He scared the shit out of me!" I exclaimed.

"Come on, let's go make these brownies."

We started to walk up the path to Sadie's house when Sadie froze. "Wha—?" I began

to ask.

"—What… is… that?" Sadie whispered, pointing toward the side of her house. I

squinted and stared blankly for a moment. At first, I saw nothing, but then my eyes snapped

open. There was something moving… Something about as big as a bear… But it was

moving strangely, like it was injured.

A little moonlight shone through the slight cloud cover… Dimmer than usual,

because it was a quarter moon. The face of the creature was slightly illuminated and,

whatever it was, looked like an oversized dog.

"It… It looks like one of those dogs that grows as big as a horse… Not literally,

but…" I muttered.

"You're kidding!" Sadie whispered.

"Yeah, you know the ones… They're huge."

"It looks like… a wolf." Sadie said shakily. "Ru… It's looking at us…"

Indeed, it was looking at us. In fact, it was limping toward us. Its tail wagged half-

heartedly and I heard something… It was quietly whining. I instinctively stepped forward to

see what was wrong with the giant animal.

Sadie's hand clutched onto my wrist, "What are you doing?"

"It's hurt," I simply answered.

"Oh, sure. It's probably trying to lull you into a false sense of security. RU!" She

gasped.

The animal had closed the gap and gently nudged its huge head against the back of

my hand.

"Ooooh, my god…" Sadie said, staring wide eyed.

The animal's big, black nose pressed the palm of my hand; it was warm and dry and

its breathing was shallow — not a good sign.

"Sadie, we have to take it insi—"

"—Ru, no!"

"Sade—"

"—Don't you 'Sade' me."

"There's nothing to be scared of. It's hurt and it's probably been hurt for a while

now."

"But…" Sadie started. The animal's ears fell, and its tail stopped wagging. The

whining grew louder. "Oh… FINE!" Sadie gave up, practically running to the door and

unlocking it.

"What does it need?" She asked, taking the groceries and setting them in the entry

hall.

I tried to help it as best as I could into the house. "Water, food, and if you have any,

bandages… You know, the kind you can wrap something up in?"

Sadie made sure her own little pug dog was safely in the garage before returning. I

lead the huge animal carefully into the living room, where it lied down against the sofa.

Now exposed to full light, I could see the wolfish features that Sadie had mentioned.

On top of that, each of the four paws was twice the size of my hand. Its claws were lethal

and it even had rolling muscles underneath all the hair… The hair was dark… practically

black… Except for the cream colored hair covering the chest.

Sadie came in and set a fool bowl and a huge bowl of water down. Immediately, the

wolf-dog began lapping up the water. Once it had had its fill, it turned to the food. It took

one sniff and seemed to cringe away.

"Don't tell me that it eats meat…" Sadie said, rubbing her temples.

"We don't know unless we try." I replied.

Sadie only groaned and took the food bowl away. I heard the refrigerator door open

and Sadie called, "I only have raw hamburger meat in here."

"That should be fine." I called back. Sadie walked back with an open package of raw

meat.

The wolf's ears perked up and it looked excited when it smelled the meat.

"That… Was disgusting." Sadie said once the wolf was finished eating. "Well… I

guess we'd better figure out if this thing is a girl or a boy."

There was a rumbling noise coming from the wolf's throat, almost like it was

scolding Sadie.

"I think it's an obvious sign. Right, Mr. Wolf?" I said, stroking the top of the wolf's

head. His tail began wagging, obviously pleased and content.

"Mr. Wolf?" Sadie gave me a 'look'.

"Well… Yeah… There's really nothing else we can call him… It's not like he has an

owner or anything."

"Because he's a wild animal… Ru… What's wrong with his leg?" Sadie asked,

pointing at the front left leg.

I leaned over and gently pulled some of the hair out of the way to reveal a deep gash.

It still looked fresh, though the bleeding had stopped.

"First aid time." I said. "Stay, boy." Sadie and I stood up and searched for the

bandages and antiseptic.

We came back and there he was, still lying in the same spot. His tail flopped back

and forth with lazy cheerfulness.

To my surprise, he stayed very still while we cleaned the wound and wrapped it up.

Next thing I knew, I was slowly waking up. It was around four in the morning. I

heard a quiet whine and a warm, wet nose nuzzled against my neck. I gasped a little and

looked up into a pair of droopy, black eyes. I remembered then, laying against the soft, thick

fur, feeling warm and comfy. Sadie was on the edge of sleep and had vaguely asked, "What

do you think you're doing, being so close to the wolf?" I had fallen asleep to the slow, gentle

breathing of this creature.

I reached over and scratched behind his ears. He made a throaty noise. I felt the

wolf's tongue lick my face affectionately. I giggled and burried my face deeper into the dark

fur and fell asleep again.

I didn't want to leave the wolf outside by himself while he was still injured. I also

didn't want my parents to know that I would be keeping and taking care of a wild animal —

a wolf, no less — in my own room. It was Monday morning and I could hear my parents

getting ready for work. I was amused by the fact that the wolf had walked to the corner of

my room the moment I started changing.

Once I was done, I knelt down and said, "Come here, boy." He turned and padded

over. He tucked his head under my arm. "You have to stay up here until I get home, so

please, please don't let my parents see you, hear you, or find you. Oh! Hold on."

I stood up and bounded out of the room. My parents were busy getting dressed in

their room. Thank god, I thought to myself. I sprinted into the garage, where we had a second

refrigerator for storage. I picked up the plate of raw meat I had taken out of the freezer to

let thaw. On Saturday, I had stocked up on raw meats for my new wolf guest. I peeked out

the door before taking the stairs two at a time and checked on my parents… Still getting

ready.

Carefully balancing the plate, I slid into my room and set it a few feet away from Mr.

Wolf.

"Might want to make it last until I get back home…" I sighed, "Why do I keep

talking to you like you'd understand me?" Mr. Wolf flopped his tail back and forth cluelessly.

I left the room again to fix my hair and put on some eyeliner and mascara. In the

background, I heard my parents leave the house and drive off. I let out a waiting breath, then

reminded myself that they would be home early today. Then I would be forced to go to

mom's company banquet. I sighed and dragged my feel back to my room.

I picked up my backpack and patted Mr. Wolf on the head before leaving.

"I wonder where he is?" I said, scanning the parking lot for a third time. I couldn't

find Xak's car anywhere. Had he carpooled today? No, I thought to myself, he would have

caught up with me by now. Was he not here at all? My heart sank at the thought.

"Maybe he got sick over the weekend. Don't worry, Ru. Maybe Ben has his cell

phone number. We can try calling him during lunch." Sadie assured me.

"Yeah, yeah… whatever…" I mumbled and made my way to the school building.

On Tuesday, I was disappointed again. There was still no sign of Xak. I was getting

ready to eat my lunch with Sadie when I heard a familiar voice.

"Why, hello, ladies. Did you enjoy your sweets on Friday?"

My head snapped up and I saw Zeno leaning against our table. "H-hi! We didn't

know you went to school here." I replied in surprise.

"They were wonderful." Sadie said at the same time.

Zeno's face broke into a huge smile. He held a bottle of juice and took a swig of it.

"How are you girls?" He asked, brushing his hair away to show off his shining eyes.

"Good. Really good." Sadie smiled up at him.

"Okay, I suppose." I replied, becoming thoroughly interested with my fingernails. In

a flash, Zeno was sitting beside me, staring intently at me.

He was silent for a moment, then said, "Missing… Someone?" curiously.

"Uhm… Yeah." I replied. This was creeping me out. "How… did you know?"

"I've got a knack for reading emotions even when people try to cover them with

false ones." He replied simply. He stood and took another swig of juice. "See ya around,

then." With that, he walked away. I was confused and still trying to make sense of it.

"That was… odd." I said.

"A little…" Sadie said, her eyebrows knitted together and biting the inside of her

cheek. "Hey, I'm going to see if Ben has Xak's number." She said, standing up.

Before I could reply, she was all ready walking away. I had forgotten that suggestion

from yesterday. I sighed loudly and started bouncing my knee impatiently. Within five

minutes, she was back and dropped a scrap of paper in front of me.

"Go to the bathroom and call him or something."

"Screw the bathroom. I'll just go outside and call. It seems a little more private then,

don't you think?"

"Heh, yeah." Sadie laughed and continued eating her lunch.

I sat inside my little Ford Escort and dialed Xak's number on my cell phone. It

rang… rang… rang… three more times it rang and Xak's voicemail started. My heart gave a

hard thud when I heard his voice say, "Hey, uhm… I'm not here right now, as you've figured

out all ready. Uhm… leave a message and I'll be sure to catch ya later. Bye."

I gulped before the tiny beep and started leaving my message, "H-hi, Xak… This is

Etruria. Uhm… I… I was just wondering where you were. You've been gone for two days…

Just curious. See you around. Bye." I snapped my phone shut. I leaned my head back and

stared up at the top of my car.

I dragged my feet as I walked into the house. My parents weren't going to be home

until seven because they were going strait to the grocery store after work.

I dropped my backpack and purse in my room and patted Mr. Wolf's head. He was

always a little frisky after being home alone all day. He licked my face repeatedly while I tried

to wrestle the huge creature away.

"Come on, boy. Let's get you some food." I sighed. Mr. Wolf's ears and tail dropped

and he became timid. He could hear the sad disappointment in my voice.

In the kitchen, I sat on the counter while Mr. Wolf ate his meat. I took my cell

phone out of my pocket and hesitantly dialed Xak's number for a second time. Like before,

it rang six times and his voicemail answered, "Hey, uhm… I'm not here right now, as you've

figured out all ready—"

I hung up and set my phone down. I groaned and sighed, "Xak… Where are you?"

Mr. Wolf was giving me a concerned stare.