Werewolf Skin (6 page)

“Alex, what are you thinking about?” Aunt Marta’s voice broke into my
thoughts.

“Huh?” I blinked and shook my head.

Everyone laughed. “You were staring out the window with the strangest look on
your face,” Hannah declared.

“Oh. Just watching the moon,” I said with a shrug.

“It’s Moon Madness!” Uncle Colin joked.
“OOOH.
Looks like a bad case!”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“How should I know?” my uncle replied. “I just made it up!”

We all laughed again.

Everyone was in such a good mood. I wished I could relax and have fun too.
But all I could think about was sneaking out to the woods.

Hannah went home a short while later. I said goodnight to my aunt and uncle
and closed myself up in my room.

I glanced at the bed-table clock. It read ten fifteen.

Nearly two hours to wait.

I checked out my camera. Made sure I had it loaded with high-speed film.

Then I sat down to read a photography magazine—and wait—hoping the time
would pass quickly.

My eyes stared at the pages of the magazine. But I couldn’t read. I couldn’t
concentrate.

Every few seconds, my eyes went up to the bed-table clock.

Why does time move so slowly when you’re waiting?

Finally, at about ten to midnight, I closed my magazine. Pulled on an extra
sweater and then my jacket. I grabbed my camera case and slung the strap over my
shoulder.

Then I tiptoed to the bedroom door.

My aunt and uncle were probably out in the woods, photographing night
animals. But in case they decided to stay in tonight, I didn’t want them to hear
me sneak out.

I clicked off the lights in my room. Then I reached for the doorknob and
tugged.

“Hey—!”

I turned the knob and tugged again. I turned it the other way and gave the
door a hard jerk. “I don’t believe it!” I gasped. I’d been locked in.

The door must be stuck, I decided.

I tugged it hard. Tugged it a dozen times. I even tried
pushing.
But I
couldn’t budge it. It had definitely been locked, locked from the outside.

I angrily spun away from the door.

Why did my aunt and uncle lock me in? I wondered. Because of last night?
Because of my close calls in the woods?

“They can’t do this to me!” I exclaimed.

I ran to the window. I jerked the curtains apart and reached for the window
handles.

The window slid up a few inches—and I let out a gasp.

Metal bars had been installed outside.

When did they put those on? This afternoon?

I’m a prisoner! I told myself. I’m locked in this room like an animal in a
cage!

“They can’t do this to me!” I repeated. “They can’t!”

I slid the window up all the way. I grabbed the metal bars with both hands and struggled to pry them loose.

But they wouldn’t budge.

I was still tugging on the bars when I heard a low growl.

My hands dropped away, and a sharp cry escaped my throat.

I froze.

And heard another growl. Louder this time.

And close. So close.

A shrill howl rose up. From the Marlings’ house?

I moved my face up close to the bars and peered out. Their bedroom window
stood open again. But the house was completely dark. No lights anywhere.

I squinted into the darkness. The moon had disappeared behind a cloud. I
could barely see across to their house.

Pressed against the bars, I heard an animal grunt. And then a thud.

A dark shape dropped down from the Marlings’ open window. Another thud.
Another shape dropped down on all fours.

One of the creatures raised its head in a long, mournful howl.

And then they took off, loping heavily toward the backyard, heading to the
woods.

Dogs? Wolves? Humans?

I couldn’t see clearly in the darkness.

I stared out, and a silvery light washed over the house as the cloud drifted
away from the moon.

But now it was too late. Too late.

The creatures had vanished.

I pounded the bars with my fists.

Sean and Arjun were waiting for me by the creek. And there was no way I could
get there.

What would they think? That I was a total chicken? A wimp?

I’m missing my big chance to take a winning photograph! I realized.

Angrily, I slammed the window shut.

“Tomorrow night!” I declared out loud. “Tomorrow night I’m getting out of
here. My aunt and uncle won’t stop me.

“Tomorrow night I’m going into the woods, and I’m going to find out the truth
about werewolves!”

“How could you do that to me?” I shrieked. I burst into the kitchen for
breakfast the next morning, and strode angrily up to my aunt and uncle.

“How could you lock me in my room without telling me?” I cried.

Aunt Marta set down her coffee mug. She gazed up at me with a troubled
expression. Then she turned to Uncle Colin. “Maybe we should have told Alex,”
she said.

Uncle Colin narrowed his eyes at me. “Did you try to get out last night,
Alex?”

“Well…” I hesitated. I didn’t want to tell them what I had planned to do.
“I don’t like being in a cage!” I protested. “I’m twelve years old, and I really
think—”

“We’re sorry,” Aunt Marta interrupted. She glanced at the kitchen clock and
poured me out a bowl of cornflakes.

“But we did it for your own good,” Uncle Colin added. He folded his napkin tensely between his hands. “We had no choice. We
can’t let you go running out to the woods the way you did your first night. It
just isn’t safe.”

“We’re responsible for you,” Aunt Marta said, pushing the cereal bowl across
the table to me. “We promised your parents we’d return you safe and sound. We
don’t want to lock you in, Alex. But we have to make sure—”

“But—but—” I sputtered.

“Besides, the Marlings called the police yesterday,” Uncle Colin said,
frowning.

“They
what
?” I cried. “They called the police—about me?”

He nodded. “They complained about you spying on them,” he said.

I let out an angry scream. “That’s totally stupid!” I cried. “I didn’t spy on
them! I didn’t do anything to them!”

“Okay, okay.” Aunt Marta came around the table and placed a comforting hand
on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about the Marlings. Just don’t go anywhere near
their house—okay?”

I turned to her. “Are they werewolves?” I blurted out.

Uncle Colin gasped.

Aunt Marta uttered a short laugh. “Is that what Hannah told you?” she
demanded.

“Well… yes,” I replied.

She shook her head. “Hannah has a twisted sense of humor,” she said.

“The Marlings are just very odd, very unfriendly people,” Uncle Colin told
me. He glanced out the kitchen window toward their house. And added: “Two
unfriendly people with two
very
unfriendly dogs.”

“Hannah said they don’t have any dogs,” I insisted.

Uncle Colin made a disgusted face. “Tell your friend Hannah to stop pulling
your leg.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“She’s trying to scare you, Alex. Don’t listen to her.”

The doorbell rang. Hannah had arrived to walk me to school.

I was happy to get out of the house. I still felt angry about being locked
up.

As we walked to school, I didn’t tell Hannah about it. I knew she’d probably
think it was funny. And she’d tell other kids about how my aunt and uncle were
so worried about me, they locked me in like a baby.

I didn’t mention the Marlings’ dogs, either. I didn’t want to get into
another argument about werewolves. I wanted to find out the truth for myself.

At school, I hung my jacket in my locker and started to Mr. Shein’s class.
But as I turned the corner, Sean and Arjun stepped up to block my path.

They’d been waiting for me. They moved quickly to back me against the wall.
Their eyes glowed with excitement.

“Hey, Alex.” Sean poked me in the shoulder.

“Seen any
werewolves
lately?” Arjun demanded.

“Uh… well…” I didn’t know what to say. “You see… my aunt and uncle…”

Why were they staring at me like that? Were they trying to scare me?

A strange grin spread over Sean’s face. “Have a good time in the woods last
night?” he asked.

“Yeah. How was it?” Arjun demanded. “Catch any werewolves, Alex?”

I bumped them off me and stepped away from the wall. “You mean you weren’t
there?” I cried.

They both burst out laughing. They slapped each other a high five.

“Of course not!” Arjun declared. “Why would we go into the woods in the
middle of the night?”

“I was sound asleep by midnight,” Sean said, grinning.

They laughed and congratulated each other again.

A joke. The whole thing had been a joke. They didn’t wait for me in the woods at midnight. They never intended to go to the
woods.

“So how was it?” Sean asked. “Were you surprised when Arjun and I didn’t show
up?”

“No. I didn’t even think of you,” I told them. “Do you know why? Because I
was too busy taking photos of the werewolf!”

“Huh?” Sean cried.

It was
their
turn to be surprised.

Of course I was lying. But they had no way of knowing that I hadn’t gone to
the woods, either.

“What did you see?” Arjun asked suspiciously.

“I followed a werewolf,” I told him, forcing myself not to crack a smile. “He
came to the creek and he drank, just as you said.”

“Give me a break,” Sean groaned.

“Yeah. Really!” Arjun rolled his eyes. “In your dreams.”

“I can prove it. I took a whole roll of film,” I told them.

“Let’s see the pictures,” Sean demanded.

“I haven’t developed them yet,” I replied.

They stared at me, trying to decide if I was telling the truth. I felt a
laugh about to explode inside me. But somehow I kept a straight face.

The bell rang.

“We’re late!” Arjun cried.

The three of us bolted down the hall to the room. We dove into our seats two
seconds before Mr. Shein walked in.

Don’t ask me what we talked about all morning. I didn’t hear a word.

I was thinking hard, thinking about Sean and Arjun. What was I going to tell
them tomorrow when they asked to see the werewolf photos?

Would I have to confess that I lied to them?

No, I decided. I had a better plan.

“I’m going to sneak out tonight and take pictures of the Marlings’ house,” I
whispered into the phone.

“Huh? Alex? Why are you whispering?” Hannah’s voice rang shrilly in my ear.

I was whispering because my aunt and uncle had only one telephone. An
old-fashioned black phone set on a table in the living room. And the two of them
were in the next room preparing dinner. I could see them from the armchair I
slumped in.

“Hannah, I’m going to hide at the side of the house,” I whispered. “And I’m
going to snap some pictures of whoever—or whatever—jumps out of that bedroom
window tonight.”

“Do you have a sore throat or something?” Hannah demanded. “I can’t hear you,
Alex.”

I opened my mouth to repeat what I’d said—but Aunt Marta entered the room.
“Dinner is ready, Alex. Who are you talking to?” she asked.

“Hannah,” I told my aunt. “I’ve got to go,” I said into the phone. “Talk to you later.” I hung up the receiver.

I hoped that maybe Hannah might want to sneak out at midnight and keep me
company. I’ll have to ask her later, I decided.

Yawning, pretending to be very sleepy, I went to my room a little after ten
o’clock. A few minutes later, I heard the lock click outside my door. My aunt or
uncle had locked me in again.

But this time, I fooled them. This time, I was prepared.

Before dinner, I’d jammed a wad of bubblegum into the latch. The door wasn’t
really closed.

Once again, I pulled on an extra sweater. And checked out my camera. And
waited, gazing at the bed-table clock.

Just before midnight, I swung the camera case over my shoulder. Slid the
bedroom door open easily. And crept out of the house, under the white light of
the moon, ready to solve the mystery of the Marlings.

I cast a quick glance at the Marlings’ house. Then I turned away and trotted
across the wet grass to Hannah’s house.

No lights were on. The storm door in back hadn’t been shut. The wind made it
swing open, as if inviting me in.

But I made my way up to Hannah’s bedroom window on the other side of the
house. Silver moonlight washed over the glass, making it reflect the trees like
a mirror.

I couldn’t see inside. But the window was open a few inches.

“Hannah—?” I called in a loud whisper. “Hannah—are you awake?”

I heard someone stirring inside. The curtains shifted. “Who’s there?” Hannah
called out sleepily.

“It’s me!” I whispered, standing on tiptoe. “It’s Alex. Come to the window.”

“Alex? What are you doing out there?” she demanded.

“I’m going to take photos of the Marlings,” I told her. “Come out with me,
Hannah.”

“Huh? Photos?” she called out. “But it’s so late, Alex. I was asleep, and—”

“Every night I hear howls from their house,” I told her. “And then someone—or something—jumps out of their bedroom window and runs into the woods. My
uncle says it’s their dogs, but—”

“I told you,” she interrupted. “The Marlings don’t have dogs. They’re
werewolves. I know you don’t believe me. But it’s true. Your aunt and uncle know
it’s true. But they don’t want you to be scared.”

“That’s why I want to take photos,” I explained. “I mean, I could be the
first person in the
world
to get a werewolf on film! Get dressed, Hannah.
Come on!” I pleaded. “I want you to see too.”