Werewolf Tale Take III - Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Her backpack landed on the scratched hardwood floor near the entrance of her apartment with a loud thud. After a ten hour shift, Knack did not have the will or energy to place the bag down gently. She fought with the elastic holding her mass of curly brown hair back from her face and reminded herself for the hundredth time that she needed to shave her head and be done with it though she knew she’d never have the courage. Once her hair was free, she walked towards the tiny kitchen kicking her shoes off as she went not caring where they ended up. She cared for little as she filled her tea pot with water and threw it on the stove. Soon she had a mug of steaming green tea and allowed herself to sink into the beige fabric of her loveseat. Within a few minutes her hands began typing away at her laptop on her daily plight.

Ever since she was bitten just over two years ago, Knack spent almost every moment of her free time trying to gather as much information on werewolves as possible. After a year she had given up hope on finding a cure but she could not stop herself from emerging into all things related to her curse. She dug into the myth and history, tracked news stories regarding animal attacks, and even spoke to others who claimed they were also afflicted. Her hard drive contained all the data she came across, her email carried contacts she had amassed in her searching, and one wall of her living room stood decorated with recent news stories and cases she wanted to follow up on if possible. To her alarm, a string of unsolved animals attacks popped up in her city over the last two months. Knack purposefully chose her residence to separate herself from others of her kind but now they encroached on her front door.

She uncurled her legs and slowly slipped off the loveseat as she made her way to the articles tacked to her wall. Each story had common denominators mainly that each victim had been attacked at night during a phase of the full moon by a large animal with some newspapers claiming a wide range of possibly animal suspects including pumas, bears, and wolves. None of the victims survived and no witnesses could be located leaving investigators scratching their heads. Knack knew the signs too well but unlike the poor souls described in the text scrawled across her wall she had lived and the nightmare of her attack often woke her from the deepest of slumber. Even the brief remembrance of that evening caused her to shiver as she turned away from the wall back towards the comfort of her loveseat.

This time as her fingers eased over the keyboard she opened her email. With slight hesitation she clicked compose. Though she purposefully built up contacts she tried to not utilize them as she detested the thought of needing help and getting other involved in her fight but she needed information and she knew just the person.

Chapter 1 - Werewolf Tale Take III

So, I write (haven't in awhile to be fair) and this is my third attempt, if not more, of this story that has floated around in my head for years.

Chapter 1

The line extended outside the small cafe spilling out onto the sidewalk outside bustling with commuters and students anxious to get to their destinations before the words “you’re late” could be ushered. Being one of a handful of shops not belonging to any big chain, Caffeine Wonders drew a large crowd who wanted something out of the ordinary. Most of the customers who entered understood that orders took a little longer than other places but were satisfied that their beverages were made with more care and better ingredients but today one of the customers didn’t get that memo.

She stood near the counter wearing a flashy, most likely expensive, suit ensemble carrying a designer purse and tapping the tip of one of her red heels against the tiled floor in a show of exasperation. When her tapping didn’t garner the attention she hoped for she pulled out her phone, glared down at the screen, let out a loud sigh, and repeated the set of actions several times. A few moments later when the woman didn’t have her coffee in hand she nearly shouted, startling a few others standing nearby, “Where is my coffee? I ordered it over five minutes ago and I don’t have time to waste.”

    

Knack having worked whipping up caffeinated beverages for a living for close to two years had experience her fair share of irate customers but the woman still using her shoes as a carrier for morse code picked the wrong morning to expect miracles out of the swamped worker. Knack raised her eyes for a brief moment from the cup and mug in her hand to fully examine the woman. In the short span of time that her lids closed and plummeted her into darkness Knack imagined throwing the contents of her hands onto the floor, coffee splattering in every direction, leaping over the counter towards the woman in the fancy suit and in one swift movement striking her hand through the delicate skin covering the neck and ripping her vocal chords from her throat. The image of the woman crumpling to the floor, hands failing to stop the blood pouring from the open wound, begin to form in Knack’s brain right before her eyes opened back to the actual world around her.

Instead of making her fantasy a reality, Knack mumbled a quick apology as she dumped in the non-fat half and half and two scoops of brown sugar the woman requested, popped the cap over the steaming liquid, and handed it over with a smile and their courtesy “hope you have a nice day” line. The woman snatched her coffee with a grunt, turned heel, and stormed out the door. Knack couldn’t help but smile at the look of some of the other patrons’ faces due to the woman’s behavior and gave quick thanks that the last phase of the full moon had finally passed giving her a short break before it all began again.

Writer's Block

Since I started writing stories, around the age of five or so, I have only finished one when I was very young about a group of kids who encounter a monster living in the sewers beneath their house but realize in the end the monster isn't a bad creature at all and they become friends. I wish I still had a copy of the tale as it might provide me the information I need to stick with one written creation and see it to the very end. With the Creature Talker I hoped I would be able to conquer whatever section of my psyche prevented me from completing my art but instead I allowed myself to doubt and get pulled away long enough that starting again seems like a daunting and unforgiving task.

For the last few years I have started, scraped, and started again a story focused on a female werewolf. Last night I began again for the fourth time but only got a few paragraphs down and not a single one made me happy in the least. The base and pieces are floating around inside my head but I can't weave the threads to hold them together coherently.

Despite my dismal thoughts I am going to put in all my effort to actually write and finish this story even if it ends up being a jumble of nonsense. Hopefully you'll be able to read the first chapter here next week.

The Creature Talker - Chapter Six

Khea held back a snort, "If you didn't thrash through the water like an angry horned hog I might not have." Stopping to realize how cruel this might sound to the younger girl Khea relaxed her tone, "I'm Khea and while I'm not a birther I think you may be some rotations away from traveling through the swamp alone. What are you doing here by yourself?"

The girl's eyes began to must as she started her story, "My family made an agreement with a tribe nearby for me to join with one of their brothers even though he already had two women in his house. I refused but my family wouldn't listen and were planning the exchange so as soon as I got the chance I left. I didn't bring enough food though and you're the first person I've found so I thought..."

Khea interrupted, "That you would steal some from me." The girl nodded. "Stealing is going to get you into trouble you can't handle. Why haven't you asked the plants for help?" The girl just gave Khea a blank confused stare. "Are you an Animal Talker then?" The girl continued her puzzled glare. "Don't your people talk to the plants and animals for help and assistance?"

The girl's eyes widened with excitement, "I thought you were just stories that the elders created to entertain the young ones! Can your people truly talk to plants and animals? How does it work? Are they usually friendly? What do you do if they are angry?"

The barrage of questions caught Khea off guard. The thought that any person existed without being a Talked had never crossed her mind. How isolated she and her tribe sisters were from everyone, and everything, became more clear with each word Khea absorbed from the girl. Slowly, Khea compiled her response, "Yes, we exist. To tell what I know I thought everyone had the Talker ability. Every one of my sisters and all the elders we can remember can speak with the plants or the animals..."

The girl, in her glee, interrupted Khea's train of words, "What about the brothers of your tribe? Can they talk to living things in the swamp or is it just the sisters?" While Khea realized the girl had already mentioned an arrangement with a brother from another tribe it had not sunk in with the quick paced conversation following that the girl's people have males and females living together. This seemed as foreign as not having a talking ability. Continuing this exchange of words and learning more about about this girl and her tribe's seemingly strange way of life tempted Khea but she knew this wasn't the knowledge the Silvers sent her to retrieve. Not accustomed to in depth conversations with someone this close to her in age Khea felt unsure of how to bring it to an end and get the girl on her way.

Khea placed her left hand on her right shoulder, a sign of apology in her tribe, "I'm sorry younger one. I enjoy being a story teller of my tribe but I cannot spend time with the sun on the sky with these tales. I suggest you head back the way you came staying in the clearer areas as it's harder for something or someone to ambush you. I can even give you some food to help hold you over but I must continue my path."

The girl, whose name Khea forgot to gather, squared her shoulders and planted her feet firmly in the soggy, green tinged dirt as she stared at Khea. "I am not going back there. I will not be the third woman in an arrangement even if it means my family does not get three boars from that tribe. I should mean more to my family than those stinky beasts!" The girl's blatant disregard for her tribe's, and birther's, decision shocked Khea but also vaguely reminded her of her balking at becoming a birther. Khea could tell the girl had little chance of surviving of her own much longer and trying to convince her to go home could go on fruitlessly for days. Khea sighed audibly, "What does your tribe call you?"

A grin exploded across the girl's face, "I'm Toj!"

The Creature Talker - Chapter Five

The sun's warmth stole Khea from the pleasant scenes sleep had deposited her in and brought her back to reality. She wasted no time in disassembling the hammock, enjoying some small fruit and allowing Peck to eat away at the core, and continuing her trek towards where the rot descended. Her unease about what lay ahead remained but she concluded that the sooner she gathered the information the sooner she could return to the comfort and security of her village. She knew that learning how the rot started, and how to stop it, could lead into the warmer days but she tried to push those thoughts into the deep recesses of her mind. She needed to be alert and aware of her surroundings and those types of thoughts bogged a person down.

Except for the occasional worrisome idea, Khea managed to focus and time passed quickly as she sensed, and tentatively greeted, the different animals in her range. As the day progressed she pushed into a part of the swamp that fell outside of her tribe's territory. She limited her gift as these animals may never has encountered a Creature Talker before and their responses could vary from excited and curious to downright vicious. Contending with a confused and aggressive beast would add an element she wanted to avoid while on this journey. Khea felt it better to allow her feathered, furred, and scaled brothers and sisters to reach out to her versus herself upon them. Most she sensed came off as curious and a few seemed happy to swap images and give her some basic information on the area. From what she gathered from them there were few dangers to worry about as she could handle their predators.

This newly acquired sense of safety soon fled as Khea heard a gentle sloshing  through the shallow waters to her left flank but could not sense an animal's presence. She reached for the dagger tucked inside her belt and slowed her movements. As she stopped the sounds dissipated but always resumed shortly after she began walking again. At least it isn't a trained hunter, she thought, as she heard what sounded like a splash from tripping. She continued until she reached an opening in the trees and promptly spun around and demanded the follower to reveal themselves.This declaration surprised Khea herself but she admired the strength she currently exuded.

Her stand waned slightly when some time passed with no visible response. Khea and Peck exchanged glances before Khea repeated the order. The wait was short lived as the sloshing noise returned and a very human creature emerged from the clump of trees into the clearing. The human, a girl a few years younger than herself Khea guessed, hung her head as she approached. Despite this act, Khea could see the girl's skin was a few shades darker than hers and her tribe sisters and more strikingly the girl's hair which was as dark as the inside of her tree house after the sun disappeared. Once she reached a few steps from Khea the girl slowly raised her face and murmured, "I hoped you wouldn't hear me."

Dragon Interruption

My apologies for the delay in getting more chapters up but a little over two weeks ago I took home my first bearded dragon and the adorable guy has eaten up my time. Between daily baths, several feedings which include tearing apart veggies and making sure he eats all his feeders in a certain time frame (dealing with roaches is a blast...), cleaning his tank, and general cuddle time I don't have much spare time.

I do have Chapter Five written, and hope to get it posted over the next few days, and am scribbling away at Chapter Six so content is coming I swear.

In the mean time, enjoy this adorable picture of my dragon Fuego -

The Creature Talker - Chapter Four

The meditation, shorter than Khea preferred, ended and in a few fluid motions she grabbed what she packed and slid down the vine to the swamp she knew. She took a few moments to intake the images of her home and remind herself that she would see them again. Peck appeared to do the same from his vantage point on Khea's right shoulder. Due to their extended friendship, Khea understood he would be coming on this journey but she spent some time trying to iterate the perils they could encounter. Peck did not seem phased.

From what the Silvers gathered the rot spread from where the sun disappeared down towards their village. Before her nerves could finally take hold Khea started off in that direction. Peck greeted the other feathered creatures as they traveled through familiar paths causing a cascade of whistles, chirps, and melodies in return. Despite the current circumstances Khea couldn't resist the smile spreading across her face. She scratched Peck's chin affectionately, "Remember Peck, not all we run into will want to be friends. While you think you are the same size as the eagles I want you to flee if trouble arises." Peck puffed out his plumage slightly offended at Khea's comment on his size. "Oh, I know how tough you are little one with the eagle sized courage." This placated him and allowed Khea to focus on her steps instead of being distracted by his grumblings.

As the sun began its trek to hide behind the horizon Khea exhaled a sigh of relief as she found herself within known territory. She chose what appeared to be a tree with sturdy limbs and began to make a hammock. In moments like this Khea wished she had the Plant Talkers' abilities. With assistance from the vegetation they found the materials for a hammock, tied them together, and hung them before any noticeable shift in the sun's position in the sky. Her attempts often kept her busy until the moon took over for the sun. Peck, already bored before Khea put the final touches on her sleeping spot, found a connecting branch nearby, ruffled his feathers, and drifted off into the world of dreams. Khea soon followed.