Werewolf Skin

26

As the morning sunlight washed over their faces, I nearly cried out-in horror and disbelief.

Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta stretched, brushed back their silvery hair, then bent to pick up their wolf skins.

My aunt and uncle-they were the werewolves!

Uncle Colin raised his eyes to the woods. I fell back behind a tree. Did he see me?

No.

My whole body trembled. I wanted to cry out: “No! No! This can’t be happening!”

But I pressed myself against the tree and kept my jaws clamped tight. I couldn’t let them see me. I couldn’t let them know that I knew the truth.

The smooth tree trunk felt cool against my forehead. I had to think. I had to make a plan.

What should I do? I knew I couldn’t stay with them any longer. I couldn’t live in a house with two werewolves.

But where could I go? Who would help me?

Who would believe me?

I watched my aunt and uncle fold up their wolf skins. Then Uncle Colin helped Aunt Marta climb into the Marlings’ bedroom window. Once she was inside, he followed her in.

“The Marlings!” I murmured to myself. Were they okay in there? Or did my aunt and uncle do something terrible to them?

A few minutes later, Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta climbed back out of the window. Then they scurried across the driveway, into their own house.

I clung to the tree trunk for a while, watching the two houses. Thinking hard.

Were the Marlings asleep in their house? Did they know that the two werewolves were in there? Were the Marlings werewolves too?

I wanted to run away. To make my way to the street and just keep running until I was miles and miles away.

But I had to find out about the Marlings. I couldn’t leave without finding out the truth about them.

So I watched the two houses for a while longer. No sign of anyone moving about.

I pushed myself away from the tree and quickly made my way through the Marlings’ overgrown backyard.

I ducked behind bushes and kept my eyes on my aunt and uncle’s house. The blinds on their bedroom windows were shut.

Holding my breath, I darted to the Marlings’ bedroom window. I grabbed the windowsill and peered inside. Dark. I couldn’t see anything.

“Here goes,” I murmured softly. “Good luck, Alex.”

I lifted myself up onto the sill, then lowered my legs into the room. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dim light.

And then what I saw shocked me nearly as much as learning that my aunt and uncle were werewolves.

I saw nothing.

The bedroom was completely bare. Not a stick of furniture. No artwork or mirrors on the wall. No carpet over the dust-covered floorboards.

Turning to the bedroom door, I spotted the two wolf skins. They were neatly folded and piled side by side in front of the closet.

Taking a deep breath, I moved cautiously to the open doorway. I poked my head out into the hall. Also unlit and bare.

“Anyone home?” I choked out in a tiny voice. “Hello? Anyone home?”

Silence.

I crept down the hall toward the front of the house. I peered into each room.

They were all bare and empty, covered with a thick layer of dust.

I stepped into the middle of the living room. No furniture. No lights. No sign that anyone had lived here in years!

“Oh, wow!” I cried out as I realized the truth. My voice echoed off the bare walls.

No one lives here, I told myself. There are no Marlings!

My aunt and uncle had made them up. They used this house to hide their wolf skins. They’d made up the Marlings to keep people out of the house.

No Marlings. No Marlings. No Marlings.

It was all a lie!

I have to warn Hannah, I decided. No one is safe around here.

I pictured my aunt and uncle devouring that helpless little rabbit last night. I pictured them wrestling with that baby deer.

I have to tell Hannah and her family, I decided. And then we have to run away from here-as far as we can.

I turned and made my way quickly through the empty house. Then I lowered myself out the bedroom window into the backyard.

The morning sun was still a red ball, low over the treetops. The early dew glistened over the grass.

“Hannah, I hope you’re awake,” I murmured. “If not, I’ll have to wake you up.”

I turned away from the Marlings’ window and began to run across the back toward Hannah’s house.

I went about six or seven steps. Then I stopped with a gasp as Aunt Marta’s voice rang out behind me. “Alex-what on earth are you doing out there?”