Chapter 4: Midnight Fright

Night was falling fast and the sun was disappearing in the horizon. Coal worked on his homework while laying on a large pillow bed in the corner of the family room. His hind legs and tail stretched beyond the lings of the pillow while his head and chest area laid comfortably on the pillow. On his paws was a book and a piece of paper.
Several books were scattered around his pillow bed, his backpack sat between him and the fireplace.
Once Coal had finished he closed the book and sat it on the floor, resting till the sky got dark. Susan walked into the room, catching Coal resting.
        "Are you finished?" Susan asked
Coal opened his eyes and looked at Susan, "I just finished."
Susan walked in the room smiling at him, "You know. You are too big for that bed."
        "You can always get me another one, a bigger one," Coal suggested.
        "That is the biggest I could find," Susan replied.
She looked out the window and saw the sun was gone and night was falling fast, " Are you still going out or are you going to sleep there?"
Coal looked at the window, then stood up, stretching his legs, "I'm going out."
He walked past Susan and went out the door.
        "Coal, your books," Susan called to him but it was to late, he had shut the door.
Susan bent down and gathered his books, then piled them in his backpack.

Coal ran from the porch and stopped in a backyard a few houses away from home. He was eager to stretch his legs in a run that he almost forgot about the werewolves. He sniffed the air for their smell but all he found were dogs, cats, trash, rabbits, raccoons and people in the area. His ears perked up, listening for sounds, his nose continued to smell the ground and air. His eyes carefully watched for any signs of movement. He walked through the backyards till he came to the street. He poked his head out from the side of the house, sniffed the air and saw no one. The curtains in the windows were all closed with shadowy figures and lights from the TV. When Coal felt it was clear he dashed across the street, through several backyards till he found Pep. Coal jumped the fence and greeted his new friend, Wagging his tail and running around Pep before calming down.
        "You came. I wasn't sure you want to see me after last night," Pep happily wagged his tail.
        "I was lucky to get away last night," Coal sat down and looked at Pep, "Tell me more about werewolves."
        "What do you want to know besides what I already told you?" Pep asked.
        "You said I didn't smell like a werewolf but my mom said I was," Coal stared at the grass then looked up at Pep.
        "You don't trust my nose?" Pep asked, "You were near those werewolves, they chased you. Surly you smelled how different they are to you."
        "Well, yes they did smell different from me but..." Coal was still confused. He didn't know much about werewolves than he did last night.
        "Trust your nose, your senses," Pep interrupted him, "I think you been around a human too much. You are starting to think like one."
Coal snorted at the thought of being told he was thinking like a human.
        "Having some doubt don't mean I think like a human," Coal argued with him.
        "Sure it does, human are always doubting themselves. I don't know any dog who doubts his own senses," Pep argued.
Coal stared at the ground, pondering on what Pep said. After a minute, he looked around, he needed to get away to think.
        "I'll see you later. I'm going for a walk," Coal stood up and ran for the fence. He jumped the fence, easily clearing it and landing with a thud.
        "Hay, watch out for those werewolves!" Pep shouted.
        "Pep!" A woman shouted from the window of the house, "stop barking!"
Pep lowered his head and sat down. His human closed her window and went back to sleep.

Coal trotted across the street with caution. He didn't want to be seen by those werewolves, who knew what they would do if they caught him. He walked behind a few houses and into a thick band of trees that covered a large yard. He didn't know where he was going, only that he wanted to get far from home and explore. He kept his eyes on the house in front of him, it was a single story house but longer than the houses in his neighborhood. It had a wooden deck in the backyard. He walked up to the deck, saw that all the curtains in the windows were closed then he walked from the back to the front of the house. The main road that was usually busy during the day didn't have a single car on it. Coal walked to the curb, than dashed across the street and into another thick band of trees. He eventually came to a clearing with trees scattered around and a long sidewalk stretching as far as he could see. Benches sat close to the sidewalk with trash bins next to the lamp posts.
        "The park," Coal muttered after realizing where he was.
It was the same park that he saw every morning on his way to school. He lowered his head and sniffed the ground as he followed the sidewalk. His nose picked up far more animals scent than humans. There were many squirrels, possums, raccoons, cats, dogs and occasionally a deer. Coal felt comfortable in the park, a place where animals roamed while humans slept.
Coal paused suddenly, a clanking and crunching noise was coming from a trash bin ahead of him. Coal lowered his head and inched his way up the the trash bin, then he rose his head and looked inside.
        "Hay!" A raccoon shouted at him, emerging from the pile of trash.
Coal jumped back, startled by the shout and the sudden appearance.
"This is mine. All mine. Go find your own trash!" The raccoon hissed at him. His beady eyes glaring at Coal, his mouth hung open, ready to fight.
"I don't want your trash," Coal told him and continued walking.
He eventually came to a lake with a bridge overlooking the quiet stillness of the water. He walked on the bridge, occasionally peaking over the thick stone railing. He followed the sidewalk through the woods until a noise broke the silent night air. Coal's ear perked up, scanning the area to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. He followed the noise to a parking-lot and saw three men, two of them carried a woman from a black van, the third stood watch as if he didn't want anyone to see what was happening. Coal laid low in the grass, hidden in the darkness of the woods. The two men laid the woman on the grass then hurried to the van.
The van drove from the parking-lot to the main road. Coal stayed hidden for several minutes, waiting to see if the woman was going to move but she didn't. He wondered if she was dead and the three men had murdered her. He stepped out from his hiding spot and crept close to the woman on the grass. He crossed the parking-lot and stood over the woman's body. She had on shorts and a tank top with sneakers on her feet. Coal lowered his head and sniffed her to see if she was alive or dead but to his startling surprise, the woman opened her eyes. Coal stepped back and the woman looked at Coal for a second then screamed. Coal turned from the woman and ran to the woods to hide. He had gone only a few feet into the woods when the woman stopped screaming. He had heard people scream at the sight of him and his large size, before. None of them stopped screaming suddenly. Coal stopped and turned to see what made her stop screaming. He inched his way to a tree close to the parking-lot and watched nervously. The woman was on her knees groaning in pain and her body grew larger, her hands grew thinker and her fingernails grew sharper. Her clothes ripped from her body, her hair blended in with her light brown fur. Her ears grew long and her fangs grew longer than the rest of her teeth.
She stood up tall and sniffed the air. The only thought on her mind was kill the wolf. She turned, facing Coal and ran towards him.
Coal turned from the tree and ran as fast as he could through the woods. He could hear the bushes and twigs braking as the large cat ran after him. Coal ran out of the woods and followed the sidewalk. When he reached the bridge, the large cat was no longer behind him. He glanced back and saw the large cat jumping out of the woods and onto the bridge. Coal was knocked down by the weight of the cat. She towered over him, roaring angrily at him like a lion. Coal felt fear surging through him, his mind froze, his body didn't want to move. The large cat lifted it's long sharp claws over Coal and came down swiftly over his body. Coal forced himself to move and rolled to one side. The claws scraped the ground missing Coal by inches. Coal stood up and crawled out from under the cat. He jumped when the cat swung it's paws but got hit with the other paw. Coal stood up to run but the cat turned again and knocked Coal to the stone railing with a swipe of its paw. Coal gasped as the cat opened its large mouth and baring long fangs, preparing to bite into Coal.
Just when Coal thought he was done for, four werewolves jumped on the large cat, tugging on her fur and throat. The cat reared up to throw the werewolves off. Coal stood up and started to run but the cat swung its paws at the werewolves and knocked Coal over the railing. He fell into the water with a large splash. Coal swam to the surface for air and then hurried to land.

Once he reached the grass, he ran out of the park as fast as he could. He crossed the street with his tail under him, scared the cat might still be behind him. He jumped several fences till he came to his house. He hurried inside and slammed the door shut. His body shook with fear, his fur dripped with water.
Susan hurried into the family room to see why Coal slammed the door so loud. She was surprised at the sight of coal.
        "What happened to you?" Susan asked worriedly.
It took Coal several minutes to reply, "N-nothing."
He didn't feel like explaining, it'll only worry her more. All he wanted to do is hide in bed and forget this night ever happened.
        "Nothing?" Susan asked, "You look like you seen a ghost and you're wet."
Coal lowered his head, his tail still under him as he walked past her. Susan glanced over his wet body and saw something red on his fur.
        "Hold it," Susan told him.
Coal stopped in the kitchen, "What? I want to get to bed." Even his voice sounded shaky.
Susan approached Coal and ran her finger over his fur. She looked at her find and saw blood.
        "Don't tell me this is nothing," Susan showed Coal her fingers with his blood on them, "Now tell me what happened."
Coal sat down, realizing he couldn't get out of this without telling her the truth.
        "I went to the park and saw a woman in the grass. I thought she might have been dead but she woke up and...screamed at me. Then she...turned into a large cat. She chased and caught me on the bridge. Werewolves came and attacked the cat. I was thrown into the lake then I came home," Coal explained.
        "Turned into a cat?" Susan asked surprisingly.
        "Yes, a big cat. Bigger than me," Coal replied.
        "That is...pretty big all right. Well, you can't go to bed wet and bleeding," Susan observed his fur, "Come with me to my bathroom and I'll clean you up."
Susan led Coal up the stairs, through her room and into the bathroom which was large enough for both of them to move around. She took a large towel and rubbed Coal till he was damp.
        "Coal, you can relax," Susan told him, she could feel him shaking.
        "I-I can't. You know me and cats and that was a huge cat," Coal replied.
Susan smiled at him and stroked his furry neck, "Sit down and try to relax. There are no cats here."
Coal sat down, his head lowered as he tried to relax his body. When Susan finished drying Coal as best she could, she took a hand full of toilet paper and dabbed it over his scratches till they stopped bleeding.
        "That's all I can do for now. Those scaratches are far to big for a band-aid and there's not enough of them for a wrapping. You just be careful when you run into those large cats," Susan told him.
Coal stood up and left the room and went to his room. He jumped on his bed, laid on his side with his head on his pillow and went to sleep.
        "Goodnight," Susan whispered and then she closed the door.