Chapter Text
Once a month for three days a car was packed up and set off on an incredibly long drive to a little cabin. It was located in the heart of the woods, untouched by modern day for decades. It was in that beating heart of a cabin a creature of the night clawed her way out.
Marty personally loved disconnecting from the world, getting trapped in his own little bubble away from the rest of the noise in the world.
The view of the drive zipped by in the corner of his eye. In the back seat were three duffle bags, and a fairly large cooler filled to the brim with raw meat. Of course there was more stuff in the trunk. The usual ropes, chains, and if necessary a tranquilizer gun and its darts locked safely in a case.
It was normal for him to have that stuff hidden in his trunk.
He hoped an officer wouldn't pull him over. It'd be very difficult to explain this could be considered a couples retreat.
“Could we pull over soon?” Dana asks from the passenger seat, she lifts her head off the window, looking over at him.
“i know there should be a gas station somewhere around here,” Marty answers. “Gotta fill up anyways where almost empty. Maybe get some directions too,”
“You should've taken the GPS like Jules offered,” She says, reaching back behind her seat, trying to grab the map he threw back there out of frustration a few miles back.
“We always take the GPS, and halfway through we always end up back to maps. It's like she said, that cabin is unworthy of global positioning.” He reminds her, glancing nervously down at the tank meter before focusing back on the road. He wasn't used to being the designated driver.
Marty was used to sitting in the back with the window rolled down, or at the booth table in the rambler trying not to spill pot all over the place as he rolled his joints. “Hey, I have my excuse as to why I don't remember the drive, what about you?”
“Marty, I'm asleep most of the time on the ride to and from the cabin while you're higher than the empire state building.” Dana says, dropping the map on her lap. “What do you think the others would say?”
“They'd probably have their excuses like we do.” Marty says.
“Mines valid, I don't even drive, lycanthropy and road rage don't go well together.” Dana says, flipping the map when she found it to be upside down. “Plus, whose idea was it to have it just be us this month?” She asks, hiding her grin as she peeked her eyes over the map.
“Listen if Jules and Curt can get their couple getaways don't you think we should too?”
“Neither of them are locked in a shed for three nights in a row,” she points out. “Or turn into a murderous monster with fur, claws, and fangs.”
“But we added a fourth night this time,”
“Guess we'll be making the most of tonight then,” Dana folds the map up, tossing it back behind the seat. It was no use to either, they had no idea where the hell they were going. “Are you gonna be alright pulling the all-nighters.”
“I'll be fine.” He assures her. “We can crash during the day together for a few hours. Someones gonna have to make sure you're okay.”
“So, directions from some stranger at a gas station?” She asks, pointing forward.
“Gas station stranger directions,” Marty nods, turning his car into the gas station they've passed on previous drives up to the cabin, but never bothered to stop at. It was like something ripped right out of Friday the 13th . “If we weren't so low on gas, we'd drive right by.” He says, parking his car in front of the pump. “Wanna pump the gas or head inside?”
“I think I'll stay out here.” Dana says, stepping out of the car. “Probably would have to pay inside, not seeing anything for cash or card.” She says, searching the pump.
“Do you think it might be bartar gas?” Marty concludes, Dana shakes her head grabbing the nozzle. “Hey, we have bread, and a lot of raw meat. Seems like a fair trade, y'know winter is coming any day now!”
“It's the start of July honey,”
“And look at us, both wearing more than one layer of clothing,” he struggles to get the fuel cap open, but manages. “Okay I'm going inside,” he turns around.
“Marty! You're forgetting something!” Dana calls him, and he quickly makes his way back over to her.
“Sorry, sorry. Won't happen again.” He says pressing a kiss onto the side of her head.
“No, your wallet, dumbass, but that was still very appreciated.” She smiles. “Alright have fun socializing with a stranger,”
“Have fun filling the car up.”
“If I can get this figured out,”
Marty turns towards the store, ignoring the bucket filled with some sort of mystery liquid that sat near the door that looked one hardy slam away from breaking into dozens of pieces. He opens it, stepping inside and the door slams shut behind him, still (somehow) standing in its rotted glory.
“Great day to be caught up on vaccines,” Marty tells himself quietly, looking around the shop. He steps further inside.
Animal pelts line the walls, jars filled with mystery liquid and things floating inside are on every available counter space.
A terribly done attempt at taxidermy sits on the wall, beady deer eyes stare right at him. He half expects it to start screaming in agony or have blood come pooling from its mouth like a waterfall.
Rotting nails hang overhead, like they were used for a long abandoned wind chime project. The counters that were once white or light beige have aged terribly, looking like it was covered in a thick layer of grime.
“Can't you kids read anymore?” A gravelly voice asks.
Marty nearly jumped up like a startled cat, he turned around seeing an old man had appeared from behind the counter.
“Sign says close.” He says, pointing in the direction of the sign.
“Well uh, my girlfriend and I needed gas and directions, and do you have a phone I could use?” He was a hundred percent calling Jules and giving her a very heavy description of this place. The old guy (Mordecai according to his name tag) looked ready to smash a cleaver down on Marty's head, and he quite likes not having his skull split open.
Mordecai points to the wall behind him, and walks out from around the counter and looks out the door, seeing Dana struggling with the gas pump.
Marty looks back, seeing a phone hanging on the wall and he quickly walks over to it, and grabs it, punching in Jules’ number as fast as his memory can serve him. “Shit, right, who the hell has a payphone inside?” He asks himself, shoving in all the quarters he needed and dialed Jules’ number again.
As it rang he walked out as far as he could, careful to keep an eye on Dana and the old man. Freaky creepy guy. Marty didn't trust him, but he knew Dana could very much keep good care of herself.
“Hello?”
“Jules! Hi! It's Marty,”
“Marty? Did ya guys make it?”
“Uh, no,” he says, walking back to the receiver. “Kinda got lost at some point. We stopped at some freaky gas station. Creepy old dude runs it.”
“Oh well, are you guys staying safe? Do you want Curt, Holden, and I to come up? Meet you two up there?”
“Nah, I don't think that'll be necessary. Dana and I will be alright ourselves. We've made it this far, and I'm sure the guy will give us directions. Especially if he wants us to leave, he needs a better sign that says he's closed.”
“Marty, are you sure about doing this by yourself? None of us have done this alone.” Jules says, her nervousness making itself known. He knows she worries for the both of them.
“We'll be alright, everything's been going smoothly for the last couple of months. We have a system, and the system works.” Marty shrugs. “I'm alright spending four nights in the woods with my werewolf girlfriend, plus nobody else goes out there. Those woods are miles away from life, and incredibly disconnected from civilization. That is why we go out there.”
“I don't know if you're stupid or brave for isolating yourself with a werewolf that can and will rip someone's throat out and attack you unprovoked.”
“Hey! That werewolf is my girlfriend,”
“ And my best friend in this whole world, Martin.” He can hear the amusement in her voice as she jokingly scolds him with his full first name. “Listen, just tell me you're going to stay safe Marty. It's both of your lives on the line.”
“We'll be alright,” the last thing Marty wants on his mind is the idea that anything could go wrong. It's best for him to avoid even thinking about the possibility of things going wrong. He'll start suspecting things when shit goes wrong or feels incredibly off. “What is it that Curt says? That I have my own spidey-sense of shit going wrong?”
“Well, Spider-Man. Stay safe, and do your damn best to reach out if shit goes wrong, okay?”
“Okay,”
“Where's the enthusiasm? Cross your heart and promise me!”
“Jules,”
“It'll be bad luck if you don't! Do you want a fate worse than death upon you and Dana? I don't think so!”
Marty sighs. “Cross my heart and, hello? Jules?” The line goes dead, abruptly ending his conversation with her. “Fucking payphones,” he mutters, hanging it up. As he turns away from it the creepy old dude makes his return.
“What are you two heading for anyway?” Mordecai asks. “There's nothing here that should attract two people like you for miles.”
“Buckner cabin,” he answers. “Girlfriend wanted a weekend getaway, and I've been one with nature a few times.”
“Really let her talk you into that?”
“Well, discussions have been on the table.” Marty says, looking up at him. “We usually go with friends, but they couldn't make it.”
“But Buckner cabin? In those woods? Is she
stupid?” He asks, calmly. The lack of strong language anyone else would have used unsettled Marty.
“Far from it, I can ask you that question back? For someone ripped from a redneck horror film. Ever see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ?”
The old man narrows his eyes, glaring at Marty, lips parted yet still hesitant to speak. He knows something along the lines of “kids and your no damn respect ” will come out of his mouth.
The shop doors open up, and Dana walks in, her smile falling as the smell hits her. “Uh, the car is filled up, ready?” She looks at him, nervously.
“Just getting directions, be out in a second. You can get it started, get the AC on if it'll work.” He says.
Dana nods, turning and rushing out of the shop. She looked nearly nauseas from the smell. Maybe there's something in here she can smell that he can't. Hopefully he isn't standing over a decaying body.
“Those woods are alive, boy. There's monsters no man could imagine out there.”
Marty's starting to get a bit tired of this man and his shit right now. He's heard enough people spew things like this. It's repetitive and kind of aggravating to him. They're safe out there, safer than any other place out in the world. Dana is safe.
“We'll be fine. So directions? I can't read people as well as my good pal Holden can, but I don't think you want us around much longer. Let me guess, a shotgun under the counter?”
“You're dead meat out there. They say, those who go in there don't come back alive. If they do, they don't come back the same.” Mordecai tells him. “But you seem persistent. Travel up the roads until you come across a mountain tunnel, drive through and you'll enter the woods. You'll find your cabin when you find your lake.”
Simple enough instructions. He'll take it.
He'll be very pissed if this guy screws him over and he has to go crawling back to that diner twenty miles away for proper directions. “Better not be scamming me out of my cash,” He grabs his wallet from his back pocket, plucking out a ten dollar bill instead of the twenty. “I don't have much.”
“Neither of you do. Especially self-worth,”
“Alright, okay,” Marty tosses the ten on the counter. “Good luck with the business, maybe you'll get some self-worth in stock and can get some yourself.” He turns towards the door and heads towards the exit, slamming it behind him. “Creepy fucker,”
“So, did it go well?” Dana asks him as he gets back on the driver's side.
“As well as it could,” he glances down, seeing the full tank. “If we don't get lost on the way back, I think we'll be fine. Make it to that little diner a bit back there,”
×
Dana leans her head against the window, watching as the world zips by in blurs of green and brown. The radio played at a low volume, the blasting AC was louder than the song. At least it was to her, everything felt loudest the week of the full moon. She's grateful for all the accommodations her friends have done, more than what her family had.
“Doing alright over there?” Marty asks.
She nods, and sits up, looking forward as the tunnel comes up. The car slows down as the headlights turn on and Dana allows her eyes to focus on the darkness.
There are some perks to the curse of being a werewolf. Dana clings to them, whatever they might be. It's important to her to remind herself that she's not this awful monster that has a thirst for blood and flesh.
“How are you doing over there? You've been driving for a good couple of hours now.”
“Cannot wait to get out of this car. Is it possible to get cabin fever from a vehicle in the middle of summer instead of winter?”
“God, don't even speak of winter. I'd much rather enjoy the heat of July than exist in winter. It's worse in winter.” Dana says.
“At least you aren't freezing in that shed! The rest of us are suffering out there keeping watch.”
“Why not get a little mini heater?”
“We tried, couldn't find a good enough extension cord, and we're not leaving the cabin door or a window open. Even so, if we kept the door shut, chill is still getting in and we might fuck up the extension chord. You would.”
“Okay I bit a set of chords once! It was an accident, I don't even remember it. I'm blacked out when I'm gone.”
“How ever did you manage alone before you told us?” He asks.
“Hey, the isolation thing wasn't Jules’ idea. Been with me since the start of this curse. Mornings after were kind of hard though, especially with the exhaustion.” She explains. As they exit the mountain tunnel, Dana lets her vision adjust.
“Do you see that up ahead?” She asks. “Do we pull over? Ask if they need any help?”
“Only if they ask, ah fuck they are.” He starts slowing the car down and pulling over to the side, a bit away from the other car. “If they need a car jack, they're fucked. I'm not opening the trunk in front of them.”
“Marty people have hunted in those woods before. Granted they've stopped because of me, but it'll be fine.”
The brunette woman stops waving them down, walking over with a relieved smile on her face.
“Hi! God, thank you for stopping.” She laughs, keeping a bit of a distance from the window. “Our car broke down and we need a jumpstart. Could you help us out?”
“We'll try,” unfortunate luck for those guys. Dana knows Curt can jumpstart a car, she's seen him do it before on Marty's car and a stranger in a grocery store parking lot. “Could your car even handle it?” She asks as the woman walks back to hers.
“This car survived worse, it'll be fine. Keep them distracted while I get the cables.” He says, pulling a bit closer, keeping as much distance as he can.
She nods, stepping out and walks over to the other vehicle. “It'll be just a second, so, what brought you guys all the way out here?”
“Forced camping trip, work purposes. I'm Wendy by the way, that's Steve in the driver seat and Gary in the passenger side.” She says. “Got a big project together, boss said this would be a great experience for us three.” This feels like some excuse ripped from a sitcom, but apparently this is a real thing these three got going for them.
Dana looks over at the car, the older man in the passenger seat is looking down at something, she thinks it's a laptop or tablet of some sort. How he has service this far out is beyond her.
The middle aged man in the driver seat keeps his eyes on Marty, turning to the other man and telling him something in a whisper. Dana knows it's rude to spy, but she's curious.
“What are you two out here for?” Wendy asks, forcing Dana back into small talk.
“Oh, monthly getaway for a bit,” she says. “We try to get one in during the summer months before school and stuff.”
“Alright, let's get you guys back on the road.” Marty says, holding up the cables a bit.
The older man, Gary, passes off the device to Steve and gets out of the car, rushing to the hood of the car to open it up. “Give it,” he says looking at Marty who listens, handing him the jumper cables.
“Well, glad he knows what he's doing,” Marty whispers, watching him connect the cables to the car batteries.
“I'll just be glad to get the cabin, good thing we left earlier.”
He wraps his arm around her, pulling her in close to his side. “Yes, wonderful idea. Fuckin traffic, how dare people like these three try and enjoy a nice summer week.”
“Ha! We got life!” Steve says after a few minutes and a cable switch, rolling his window down.
“Thank you two again, and have a great little getaway.” Wendy says, her smile seemed endless and forced.
“Not a problem, c'mon Dana.”
She wastes no time getting back in the car with Marty.
×
The three adults watch as the other car vanishes from sight.
“Jesus Christ took them long enough, I'm not sure how many times we could keep faking a dead car battery.” Hadley says.
“Are you sure it's them Sitterson?” Lin asks, climbing in the back, she carefully pushes the duffle bag filled with hunting supplies aside.
“License plate is a match with the records. One of them is our werewolf,” Sitterson replies.
“Where are they staying anyway?” Hadley asks.
“The redhead mentioned a cabin,” Lin replies.
“Well, the only cabin in those woods is the Buckner cabin. It's near a lake, so we could set up camp there. We'll be close, but they’ll be busy with the full moon. I doubt the lake would be in their mind.” Sitterson explains.
“It fucking better be them. Or else we've been keeping our eyes on these kids for nothing.” Lin says, hiding her nerves. “Seven months worth of work, wasted.”
“Keep your trust, Lin, it's them.” Sitterson reminds her. “We've been tracking the deaths in these woods, all similar and brutal.”
“The head and spine kill we found from years ago still haunts my nightmares.” Hadley says, shivering.
“Well, if we do our fucking jobs right. We won't have to deal with that, and one less werewolf will be roaming these woods.” Sitterson says. “Start driving, we gave them enough of a head start. We need to get to the lake before sunset. It's really annoying setting up in the dark.”
“Hey that was on you man! You agreed to take Ronald, and I told you not to take the intern! What do you do? You took the intern!” Hadley bites back.
“If you two keep this up this is going to be a very long week.” Lin sighs.
“What? We're just having a conversation. Better than constantly talking about how we're murdering some idiot who was dumb enough to get cursed with becoming a werewolf three times a month.” Sitterson tells her. “Casual conversation is all.”
“God why couldn't Truman come along?”
-×-
“Is that the last of everything?” Dana asks, setting the cooler filled with raw meat and two ice bags down on the table she swears could have been made from the trees surrounding the cabin. For miles (besides the lake) that's all this place was. Any person would be dumb enough to come out here without a proper place to stay.
“I just got some other werewolf stuff back in there, but I can get it later.” Marty says, dropping a duffle bag. He looks up seeing her expression fall a bit, into a mix of shame and embarrassment. “I doubt I'd need it anyway, you're good with just the shed usually.” He adds on quickly. “I'll probably just leave it in there, it was stupid bringing it anyway I,”
Dana shakes her head. “No, no. Babe I get it. This is the first time it's just us. You don't have the others with you, and I don't blame you for wanting to be safe.”
“We'll make it work,” Marty assures her. “By the way, didn't know if you wanted a cow or deer heart so I just got both.”
She looks up. “You did?”
“Okay you can be excited, it's not like this will be the first time I've seen you demolish animal hearts.”
“Well, I will be tomorrow. You didn't have to do that.”
“I did, of course I did. I know you like it when it's fresh the most. Plus, the butcher has us on first name bases. According to him we're his best customers. You're helping them out a lot.” He says, grabbing the duffle bag.
“At least someone gets something from this,” she says, opening the cooler and starting to transfer the meat into the freezer. It'll be placed in the fridge in the morning. “I wonder what those people were doing all the way out here, even if we didn't have to take monthly trips here. This place isn't that great for camping.” Dana shuts the fridge, setting the empty cooler next to it.
“They probably drive through the woods, it's pretty big, like the Canadian wilderness. Probably a campground far away. We're kinda deep in here.” He grabs the bags on the couch, making his way down the hall. “Or on the other side of the lake, we never went on that side.”
“There's not, Jules and I hiked over there, walked around the area. I couldn't sense anything.” She says, following after him. Standing in the doorframe of the bedroom. “Are you not at least a little nervous over it?”
“I think we'll be fine. You're a local legend here, and terrify people to the point they stopped coming here during the full moon. I'll check around though, if you want me to.”
“Can we see how tonight goes? If it's quiet you don't have to.” She says.
“Whatever you'd like,” he promises. “The last thing I want is for you to be terrified or anxious.”
“I'm far from that for those three days. Just a constant battle with myself for seventy-two hours. It's hard to tell where I start and the werewolf ends.”
Marty won't lie to himself, the closer it gets to sunset those three days it takes so much to ignore the desperate pleas from Dana. The wolf gets agitated and stuck in the same spot, desperate to feel the earth and the flesh and blood of whatever poor soul comes across her path.
It took him and the others to stand their ground, to get Dana somewhere she can't hurt other people. It took a lot of time to consider doing this, just letting it be the two of them. Getting Dana in that shed by herself was a huge factor. She's not fully herself for the next three days. It took some getting used to, but they made it work. Marty knows she's in there, and he'll do whatever he has to get to her.
×
“So, what's the interesting read by the firelight tonight?”
Dana looks up from the book, watching Marty walk over handing her a small can of beer. “Gurovsky,” she answers, taking the can. “Curt lent me his copy since my last one got ruined.”
He sits down opposite of her on the couch, holding out the joint, careful not to hold it too close to her. “What happened to it?”
“Dropped it in a puddle while trying to get home when it was raining. Couple of dogs tried to chase me down,” she shuts the book, resting it against her legs and fixing the blanket. “Personally not my finest moment,”
“What's interesting about Gurovsky?”
“Waiting to get to that. Professor Bennett doesn't know it fully, so it's what Curt suggested. I'm hoping if I memorize some stuff Bennett probably hasn't yet he'll see me as insightful. Perhaps even like me.”
“Have you always been this much of a teacher's pet?” He asks lightly.
Dana grabs the book, tossing it over to the nearby chair. “And the former homewrecker thing didn't say anything?” She jokes, switching to the other side and burying herself in Marty's side. “You even said that yourself,”
“Well, that might relate to some other things, but keep talking to me about Gurovsky.”
“Since when have you been interested in this kind of stuff?” Dana asks, stretching her arm out and taking the joint from his hand. She takes a long puff from it, longer than any human could without coughing their guts in the ground. Then again, she wasn't exactly human herself.
Dana only gets one hit from it before Marty takes it back. He stretches over to the coffee table and sets the joint on the ashtray. They watch it die away together.
The possibility of a shared, good high is gone.
“Far from it, but I just like hearing you talk.” He answers, brushing away stray hairs that fell in front of her eyes. “You and your siren song voice.”
“You're too sweet,” Dana laughs, pressing a kiss onto the side of his face. God nobody made her feel as lucky as Marty did. He held so much patience and he showed her love she used to doubt she deserved. Yet he showed her she did.
Marty made her feel alive, more human than anything else. He showed her the stars.
“I just love you,” his voice falls to a whisper.
She pulls him closer, pressing her lips against his. They shift around, Dana laying underneath him, hair sprayed across the throw pillow.
This was something she could get used to. Just the two of them and no outside eyes staring them down. God, she wished nothing more for it to be any other getaway. Still, she wasn't going to let this night just slip through her fingers.
All Dana wanted for the last couple of months was just one peaceful moment with her boyfriend. You'd think she'd get one off of the grid, but with her luck that wouldn't be the case.
She's still trying to gain control of the werewolf senses, have at least some kind of grip on them but closer and closer to the three nights of transformation it's impossible. Her senses seem to take control, and she can hear everything. Including the crunching and snapping sounds outside.
At least she thinks it's outside. False alarm senses have happened before to her. Tossing the others into unnecessary panic, but this time it just feels different to her.
“Fuck babe, hold on.”
“Everything alright?” Marty pulls back, giving her enough space to sit up.
“Yeah, I'm fine. I just heard something.” She answers, pushing herself up. “Did you not hear it? It sounded kind of like a snap.”
He gestures to the dying fire. “Could it be that?”
Dana shakes her head. “No, it didn't sound like that at all. Sounded like it was outside.” She gets up off the couch, grabbing her discarded flats. “I'm gonna check it out.”
“Hold on, I'll come with you. I gotta grab my shoes and a flashlight,” Marty gets up, disappearing down the hallway.
She'll be fine without him for a few minutes. Dana walks open to the cabin door, opening it up stepping outside
Greeted by the sounds of the night she hears an owl in the distance, a fluttering noise in the trees. Her eyes search the dark, but she doesn't strain herself to use the werewolf night vision. Dana wants to keep her control, she can't slip.
Not when the first of three transformations is tomorrow. She's far from herself, and grappling control is harder than one would think.
Dana walks down the short amount of steps, walking out and she looks around for anything. Peeking around the corner to see the shed she'll be locked in tomorrow against her will, no. No, stop. Not against her will, it's for safety. It's for her friends' lives.
From the trees Dana turns around quickly hearing another snapping noise. She can feel her heart rate quicken in her chest, that stabbing pain growing as she slowly walks towards the noise. She doesn't want to go, but nothing stops her. Nothing deep down inside warns her of the danger.
From behind her there's something walking around and Dana quickly turns around seeing nothing there. Her eyes search around for any movement, the cabin door is still wide open like she left it.
Something inside the shed clatters around and Dana stands frozen in fear, unable to move. She doesn't even notice Marty come up to her side. A terrified scream coming from her when his hand grabs her shoulder.
“Hey! It's just me, it's just me.” He assures her. “You alright?”
“Fuck, sorry, sorry. There's something near the shed.” Dana answers. These fucking werewolf senses, they never work for her when she wants them to. There's a dangerous threat around, she can feel it deep down in her gut. They should be working! Instead she's getting nothing. Why do they only work when they want to? Why does control have to be so hard? She doesn't want this to take years to grapple, it took her months to be able to switch her eyes, but even then that doesn't work when she wants to.
The best Dana can describe it as, is the werewolf looms over her like a shadow. Claws resting on her head and sinking into the sides of her face when it wants to guide her.
Finding the strength to move. She walks closer to Marty, grabbing his arm lightly and standing behind him. “Are you gonna check it out?”
“Do you want me to?” He asks, holding up the flashlight, accidently shining it in her face.
“Fuck! Marty!” she growls, stepping back and shielding her eyes.
“Sorry! Sorry, didn't mean to, I'll hold it still.” He says with rising panic, quickly shining it down at the ground. “Sorry,”
“That hurts man,” Dana says, rubbing her eyes before looking back at him. She can see a bit better.
“Well, at least we know bright light can trigger your eyes.” Marty says, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry again, um. I'll go check over there now. Yellow suits you by the way, when you aren't trying to rip my head off.”
“Thanks,” there's the explanation for being able to see better. “I'd never do that by the way. I hope not, I promise I won't kill you.” It's a strange thing to promise, but normal for them. After what they've been through month after month. In her far from normal life, Marty has made it feel as if it always had been normal for her.
“I know,” he makes his way over to the shed, walking around it and standing on his toes to shine the light in through the window. A broken window she should add, none of the others have noticed. Dana knows she should mention it, but something stops her from doing so.
“Nothing there, nothing fell on the floor either” he shakes his head walking back over. “Think it might have just been a squirrel that spooked you?” He asks.
Dana shrugs. “I don't know, probably?” Now she just feels silly and paranoid.
“You were just looking out for us.” Marty would be the last person to read minds, but he can read her well. “C'mon, it's late.” He grabs her hand, turning off the flickering flashlight to save the battery.
She walks back to the cabin with him, letting him in first. Dana turns, staring outside for a moment before she shuts the door, locking it.
×
Lin looks up at the sound approaching chatter, Hadley and Sitterson were back, cracking some inside joke the two had to each other. “You guys were gone for over an hour, what happened?”
“Hadley here got us lost for a bit.” Sitterson answers.
“Well we found it in the end didn't we?” Hadley asks, setting the device in his hands down. “Fucking thing burned me,”
“Well it served its purpose, a bit longer than it should have, but it worked.” Sitterson tells him. “Dulled the werewolf senses,”
“Do we know who the werewolf is?” Lin asks, setting the blade she was cleaning to the side.
“It's the girl, she stepped out first and hardly approached the shed.” Hadley answers.
“Shed?” She questions.
“Big cage takes up half of it inside where they keep her.” Sitterson says, reaching into his pockets and holding out two locks. “For her safety or the others, that won't be the case this time.”
Lin looks at the locks and up at Sitterson. He looks at her with slyness. Proud of himself for making this situation more of a thrill, it'll bring the chase that makes this hunt worth it.
She hates the chase the most.
“Well, what about the boyfriend?” She questions. “What do we do about him?”
“I can handle that,” Hadley says, grabbing his blade Lin had been sharpening. “Picked up some suspicious detection in the trunk of his car earlier on the scanner. Looks like we're not the only armed ones.”
“And you're telling us now?” Lin snaps, frustration rising in her voice. This is why she hates going on these nightmare creature hunts with these two. They always save important things to be this dramatic reveal. “Hadley!”
“Calm it Lin, it's nothing special. Just a tranquilizer gun, and with their relationship I doubt it's fatal.” Sitterson tells her, dropping the locks to the ground and taking a seat.
“If you know how to use it, it can be fatal.” Lin says. She swears she's the only one with common sense when it comes to the three of them. These two can be up their own ass sometimes, thinking they've got this shit handled. The cleanup on this will be a nightmare she knows.
“The kids a fool, I don't think he could figure out how to make it fatal.” Sitterson says.
“He'll be easy to get out of the picture,” Hadley says. “Like I said, I can handle it. I have an idea.”
“What if it backfires? You know there is a lot that could happen!” Lin exclaims. “If we don't kill her tomorrow night, we're fucked!”
“Lin, relax will you? It doesn't have to be tomorrow night, we got two more nights. Even if something does go wrong tomorrow what the fuck are those kids gonna do? They can't leave, it'll be sunset by the time they get to any form of life.”
In her years of studying and hunting these nightmare creatures, she saw her fair share of the youth fall under these curses and die at their hands.
Yet she has also watched herself and the others grow older. Wendy knows she's only a little bit older than the two kids at the cabin, that Sitterson has been slowing down with his age.
Hadley is beginning to soften, preparing for fatherhood with his second wife. Lin also knows that he won't stop until his job is done. She hasn't known him as long as Sitterson has, and from what Gary spilled to her, the only reason Steve's sitting here now is because he wants to avenge his first wife.
If she's right, it was these very woods she died in thirteen years ago. Caught in a hidden bear trap while on a camping trip with some friends and got mauled by a werewolf.
“Lin, are you listening?” Hadley asks.
“Yeah, I am,” she answers, blinking alway any loose thoughts. “We're going over the plan we've talked about for the last two hours before you two went on your little search, right?”
“Good to know your head's in the game still,”
×
Daylight bleeds through the window, Marty shifts awake, dragging his hand down his face. “Hey are you,” he reaches over to find himself alone. “And you're up before me,” Marty reaches over to the bedside table, grabbing his watch. “Shit it's nearly noon.” He drops it back down, rushing out into the hallway. “Dana?” He stops at the bathroom, finding it unoccupied. “Dana?”
He walks into the main section, the front door is wide open and Marty rushes outside. “Dana? Dana? Dana!”
“Hey, I'm right here.” Dana comes up behind him, and he turns around.
“Why didn't you wake me up? Where were you?”
“You look peaceful when you're asleep, you'll need to be rested for tonight.” Dana tells him. “I was just walking around anyway, there's not really much to do when you're isolated from the rest of the world and your only company is asleep.”
Marty relaxes.
“You weren't like this last night, what's crawled up your spine?” She asks, tapping her nails up his spine.
“Bad dream,” he admits. It feels childish. Marty doesn't even dream much in general, but he'll get them. Mostly they end up on the more nightmare side. He'll take them as a warning sometimes. Especially if it's one before the full moon.
“Oh, I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about.” Dana says, moving in front of him and taking his hand. “The woods are alive, they've been talking to me since sunrise.”
“Really? What are they saying?” He asks, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her.
She laughs softly, burying herself into him. Laying her head on his shoulder. “Our little secret,”
“How are you feeling?”
The question breaks the state her mind put her in. Dana's smile falls. “I don't know, what time is it?”
“Noon, or close to it. I think my watch is starting to go on me.” He shrugs, he's had it for years, and it's told him the wrong time before. “When did you wake up?”
“A little after sunrise is my guess, maybe a bit later. Made some shitty instant coffee. Came out here, and I don't know. It got fuzzy,”
Marty nods, moving them back to the cabin, and sitting on the old steps. “Claws and fangs fuzzy?” He asks. Dana nods, sitting across from him. “If I can ask, and if you want to answer. What's it like? The transformation that is?”
He'll admit the question has been on his mind for some time now.
Marty's witnessed them only so far, unable to take the sounds of pained screaming and snapping bones. He never found himself to be strong enough and be there the entire time. It was always Jules who stayed with Dana the longest, taking the first shift. He did take the last shift after they started dating. Marty would rather witness the transformation back to human then into a werewolf.
Both were equally horrific, but at least his girlfriend got to see a familiar face first thing in the morning.
(Her words! Not his.)
“Do you remember that bad storm a few months back? Half of the town lost power and we were all forced to huddle up in Curt's tiny cold dorm?”
Marty nods. He remembers that all too well. First and last time he suggests playing card games before double checking the shitty dorm windows. At least he didn't have to pay the damage fees
“All the lightning and the fact we were all soaking wet after trying to remove the branch that crashed through the window.” He recalls. “Then giving up, and helping Curt get his important stuff out and ended up having a sleepover in the hallway.”
Dana nods. “Yeah, The blinding flashes of lightning during that mess may as be what my vision becomes.”
“And the process?”
“It's like your whole body is on fire. Burning from the inside out as you shift into positions that shouldn't be humanly possible. I feel like I get thrown into the back of my own head, and I'm trapped in my own head. All I want leading up to it is to feast, and I'm just hungry. I just want to rip flesh apart and drain someone dead.”
He swallows his fear, or tries to. It's very hard to hear such things after having just woken up.
“I did, at least. God not anymore. I've known you four for so long that those thoughts don't consume me anymore, about you guys at least. ” Dana glances at him before looking back to the ground. “Sorry, this isn't a normal conversation you have with someone.”
“Dana, absolutely nothing is normal about either of us or our relationship.”
She looks back at him, the smile he had fallen in love with creeping on her face. “You're sure? I don’t freak you out or anything? When I get weird, and my brain gets fur and claws fuzzy?”
Marty shakes his head. “Okay, maybe a little bit, but I know it's you. It's always you Dana,” he takes her hand. “And you're everything to me right now. Seriously I am so fucking lucky to call you mine. I'm one lucky, lucky guy.”
“Claws and all?”
“Claws and all,” he pulls her close. Feeling her head rest on his shoulder he presses a careful kiss onto the top of her head.
“Guess this makes me one lucky, lucky girl.”
×
Dana felt far from lucky. Her beast, the burden on her friends and lovers shoulders.
The pain is shooting through her jaw, her teeth feel like they're loosening up. They probably were if the jaw pain was kicking in. It was the slow start of the transformation, when it wanted to take its sweet time the first and third time. The second night, the actual full moon, it was always quick. Any sense of her humanity gone within seconds almost.
She keeps splashing water on her face, turning off the bathroom sink she grabs the hand towel, patting her face dry before she walks out of the bathroom. Flipping the light off as she leaves.
“Doing alright?” Marty asks, adjusting the sleeves of his shirt, pulling them down.
“Jaw pain,” she answers, unbuttoning the flannel shirt she took from Marty's drawer this morning. She doesn't want to part with it.
“Wanna take it with you?” He asks.
Dana shakes her head. “I don't want to ruin it, I've ruined plenty of my own clothes by accident. I'll stick to shorts and tank-top.” Usually she goes for a plain oversized black t-shirt, but it's been too hot out for that at night. She pulls off the earthy green flannel and tosses it onto one of the chairs and glances at the clock.
Right on schedule.
There's a note on the coffee table in her handwriting. She doesn't remember writing it. Notes to her in her own handwriting aren't unusual. When her mind gets fuzzy she needs to keep herself grounded as much as possible.
Dana picks it up, unfolding it. Nothing special, just a reminder to tell Marty to grab the tranquilizer gun from the trunk. The note blossoming from her human anxiety telling her something will be going wrong.
“What is it?” He asks.
She wants to rip it to shreds and forget all about it. Instead she just drops it back down onto the coffee table. “Not really important,” her voice sounds light, as if it was an imitation of it. Dana hates to lie to him, but the wolf, she doesn't want to go down easily.
“Alright, whatever you say.” Marty looks down at his watch. “Head out to the shed, I gotta grab the cooler and stuff.”
Dana nods, walking out the front door she's greeted with the whistling hum of mother nature. It's louder now than it was in the morning.
A burning sensation flares at her shoulder, absentmindedly her hand grazes at it. Fur growing in place of the scars pricking at her fingers.
She retracts her hand quickly and breaks for the shed, snapping from whatever haze she found herself in.
Dana slams the door shut behind her. She pulls open the cell door and steps inside, closing it. Reaching through the bars she goes to lock it.
“Fuck,” Dana whispers under her breath, stepping back out and searching the nearby shelf for it. “Fuck!” She repeats, more of a growl in her voice.
Curt must have misplaced it, he does that with things occasionally. As much as she loves her dear friend, he can be a bit blind to things sometimes.
Dana searches the other shelf, doing her damn hardest to ignore the pain creeping up her spine. “C'mon,” panic rises in her expression as she starts tossing things off the shelves. Where is this damn lock? “C'mon where are you!” Her hand grazes a rusty nail and she yelps out, pulling her hand close. Blood oozes from the small cut before healing itself quickly. “Oh god,”
“Marty!” She yells, rushing to the door. Dana grabs onto the handle firmly, her hands begin to shake and bleed as long sharp nails rip through the tips of her fingers. “Please not now,” Dana turns it over, her palm turning a sick shade of Grey, becoming rougher as it starts to split open revealing the metacarpal pad.
Balling her hand into a fist, she rushes out of the shed, yelling out “MARTY!”
×
Marty drops the cooler on the porch, rushing over to the shed as he hears Dana yelling his name.
“Dana? What is it? What's going on?”
“it's gone! The lock,” she answers, breathless as if she had just run a marathon. “I can't find it,” Dana grabs onto him, her nails digging into the sleeves of his shirts.
He quickly holds her up, when her knees buckle and he can feel her bones breaking and snapping into new places. “Alright what you're gonna do is run, okay! You're just gonna run for it and I'll find you.”
The last thing Marty wants to use is the tranquilizer gun, but they have no backup lock. That was the backup lock!
Dana seems to understand this, shaking her head as tears either from pain or fear fill her eyes. “No! No! Please don't do this to me!”
“I know, I know! But I'm going to have to, but I don't have to, if you run, and I lock up in the cabin, and find you when the sun starts to rise!”
“Is that seriously your plan?” She growls, baring her fangs as her hand catches the blood and teeth falling from her mouth.
“Dana, we've never had something like this happen! I'll try to find the lock and everything will be okay!”
“Everything is far from okay!” She snaps at him. “God I really want to rip your fucking head off right now, how could we have lost the lock?”
Alright he'll admit it. He's a bit afraid of the threat going through. He quite likes having his head attached to his body “I have absolutely no idea,”
Dana looks to the tree line, perking up despite the fact her body is trying to contort and elongate itself.
It doesn't take much for him to connect what's going on. Company is coming, and that's the last thing they need.
“Please, just go and run. I'll find you, and I promise. I won't ever do anything to hurt you.”
The pressure on his arms lessen as Dana lets go, turning on her heel and running off deeper into the woods.
His shoulders fall and Marty turns to his car, rushing over and quickly unlocks the trunk. He rips the blanket off the large case that holds the tranquilizer gun and hauls it out, dropping it to the ground.
Behind him movement grows louder, and he slowly turns around.
“Well, hi again.” Marty says, seeing the three people from yesterday. All of them armed, the oldest man standing in the middle with a large and heavily upgraded hunting rifle points it at his chest. “Car troubles came back?”
“Tell us where the werewolf is, and there will only be one casualty.” The slightly younger man threatens. The guy's really not doing a good job considering he's only armed with a blade.
Marty always imagined how a scenario like this would go, the small chance werewolf hunters did find them. Usually in his scenarios he wasn't alone, or sober.
His eyes shift between the three of them. The woman, she's nervous, the man in the middle he's still and focused. The other man? He's eager, anybody with a simple and light hand weapon is eager. Marty knows that from personal experience. He's friends with Curt.
He shuts the trunk. “Listen man, I don't want trouble.”
Marty's the last one for conflict, even if he finds himself being a cause of it when Curt's become too much of an asshole. He also knows there's not going to be an easy way out of this.
His werewolf girlfriend is on the loose for crying out loud!
From deeper inside the woods, there's screaming. A screaming howl he knows too well.
Quickly the man holding the blade starts to run towards it, and Marty grabs the case holding the tranquilizer gun. With all his strength, he swings it up and off the ground.