Derek
Derek
By: Jonathan
Derek fiddled idly with his watch and shifted his position in the darkness. He couldn't believe he was this dumb. He knew they were bad and he shouldn't associate with them, but the prospect of being included in the "in" crowd had been enough to make him come. This wasn't worth it and if he turned back now he would be persecuted as a chicken. Derek stood up to leave, but before he took the first step he heard a gunshot and laughter, the sounds of the advent of the "in" crowd.
"This is not good," Derek thought. The gunshot and laughter had come from the direction of his car. Derek weighed his choices he could either stay here and be initiated which apparently had something to do with a gun or he could try and get back to his car without being seen. Derek opted for the latter. He wanted nothing to do with guns and he didn't want to be shot. He headed back down the path stealthily listening intently for sounds from the group. He was halfway back before he heard sounds of them coming. Derek quickly got off the trail and hid in the undergrowth. He watched silently holding his breath as they passed. Derek waited until he couldn't hear them and then ran down the path back to his car. He came around the turn to the road and cussed.
"Shit!" Apparently he wasn't supposed to leave. Derek walked up and examined the flat tire. Derek walked over to his car cussed again and hurriedly unlocked the trunk and hauled out the spare and the jack and proceeded to do a change of tires NASCAR pit teams would envy. Someone was going to pay for his new Firestone.
Derek finished the changes in record time put the blown tire and jack in the trunk, slammed the trunk shut, and froze as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Derek turned slowly to look at the crowd all silently staring at him most with smiles on their faces. "I see you have decided not to be initiated." Keith the leader said with a smile on his face. "Who would willingly hang out with people who shoot out their tires, asshole?" Derek spat out, still furious about his tire. This was the wrong answer Derek soon found out while lying on the ground nursing a very painful ache in his jaw.
"We were just making sure that you wouldn't chicken out on us." Keith's words broke the dam holding Derek back. Derek launched himself up and punched Keith in the stomach and was immediately tripped by someone. "There is no pain in initiation but for being an ass we are going to kick yours." Keith said from above him and directly following the statement came a blow. Derek cried out, moved away, and stood up. His jaw and side hurt but he wasn't about to submit to being beat up, willingly. He looked around him for a way out but the members of Keith's gang were surrounding him. He wouldn't be able to get to his car in time and he wouldn't out run them. This was very bad. Keith moved forward and swung at him but Derek was ready and moved out of the way. Keith continued with his assault trying to hit Derek. Derek kept his face towards Keith and his back away from the people circling him, which wasn't easy. He couldn't see any way out of this situation. The next time Keith swung at him he dodged and punched Keith in the nose. Keith howled and yelled "GET HIB: " while holding a bleeding nose. Derek looked around as the circle closed in on him he lasted for a few seconds against the gang but was dragged to the ground and kicked. Derek curled into a ball and cried out as kicks rained in from all sides. One attacker kicked his face and blood began to trickle from his nose and his mouth. Blows landed all over his body and pain burst from his ribs as he felt one or more crack. He screamed in agony. Suddenly an eerie howl broke through Derek's cries and his attackers jeers. There were shouts to Derek's right and the rain of kicks stopped. Derek looked up to see some huge dark thing attacking his attackers. Gang members retreated from this new element. Suddenly there were gunshots and Derek turned his head to see Keith shooting at the new dark thing with complete disregard to his gang members being in the way. Derek realized that Keith didn't care about his gang and was glad he didn't join. Gang members fell with bullets in them and Derek got a glimpse of the creature. His gasp was unheard in the commotion. The thing looked like a man crossed with a wolf. Derek watched as it was shot three times. The creature became enraged and with teeth and claws sent gang members scrambling for their cars. Gang members still on their feet dragged or helped those who couldn't into cars and they left. The creature then fell to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. Derek struggled painfully to his feet and seriously considered leaving but stopped and turned to look at the creature lying sprawled on the ground it didn't move he edged closer for a better look. Derek swore the thing had been shot at least 8 times. The thing was still breathing if very shallow and blood was spreading and matting its fur. Derek winced as he knelt beside it. Derek heard a small moan and started up but stopped the thing was out of commission for the time being. He didn't know what to do. The thing had possibly saved his life he couldn't just leave it here and he couldn't turn it in to the vets. He went to his car pulled the tarp he used for his trailer out and put it in the back seat then went and dragged the thing into the backseat of his car painfully. This wasn't easy the thing was at easily six and a half feet tall and weighed a lot more than it looked. He climbed into the drivers seat and drove for home fast. Derek drove fast and constantly looked back at the thing. He felt dizzy and nauseous and just wanted to lay down, but knew if he stopped for a second he would not be starting back up. The blood from his nose had finally stopped but he was starting to ache more and more. Also if the creature woke up it would be bad. His parents wouldn't be home from their cruise for a week so he could put it in the garage and turn on the portable heater out there until he could figure out what to do with it. He pulled into the driveway of his house and looked at his neighbor's houses they seemed to be away so he quickly dragged tarp and creature both into his garage and shut the door. He pulled an old mattress out of a corner and pulled the tarp with the thing on it onto that and took a closer look at the thing. It was covered in thick black fur except on its stomach there was a lighter shade of black more like dark gray and it was softer. Its head was more wolf than human with pointed ears set on the top of its head and a long thick snout. The creature was digitgrade just like a dog and heavily muscled. Derek turned his attention to the wounds. Amazingly the creature looked better and where some of the bullets had passed through completely the wounds were starting to close. It was healing incredibly fast. Would it heal around the bullets? That would be bad. Derek raced inside and ransacked the house for a pair of tweezers and portable heater. He was no doctor but then again he wasn't going to take it to an animal shelter either, none of which would be open anyway. If it was shot multiple times and didn't die, then him removing the bullets probably wouldn't either. Racing out he prayed he could get them out without hurting the thing more. If he told anyone about the creature it would probably go to some lab in a government facility or something. People are scared of what they do not know. Hell, Derek was scared. After what it did to the gang members it could probably rip his lungs out and feed them to him... or eat them. He knelt at the creature's side and felt with his fingers around the wound. He couldn't feel the bullet. He slowly pressed the tweezers into the wound and was soon rewarded when he felt the tweezers stop against the bullet. He tried to pull the bullet out gently, but it was lodged and finally came out with a tug. The creature grunted and twitched and Derek froze, but it didn't open its eyes. Derek after a moment's hesitation examined the chest wound. It was on the left side of its chest but almost on its shoulder. Derek had a harder time finding this bullet because it had angled. Derek found it and pulled it out as carefully as he could. This time the thing sat up and flailed out with its claws blindly striking Derek across the chest. Derek scooted back shocked and holding his chest. He was bleeding from where the creature's claws had torn through his jacket, shirt, and then his skin. The thing tried to sit up but passed out as the blood ran from its head. Apparently it had lost enough blood to make it very weak. There was certainly enough blood on the tarp. Derek used two of his old shirts and some peroxide and bound its wounds as best he could. He stepped back and took a look at his work and prayed the thing would live. It really didn't look evil and it had saved his life, even though it looked intimidating. Derek turned up the thermostat and went inside. He left the outside door cracked a bit and turned up the portable heater. With the creature taken care of Derek went to examine himself. He went inside and took of his shirt and jacket. The claw marks went about a quarter of an inch deep. What hurt immensely more were his ribs it seemed that only one had broken but it hurt and every time he took a deep breath it snapped in and out of position. Bruises were starting to show on his abdomen. His leather jacket was totaled however. Derek had had worse cuts from other things and the cuts had crusted over already. Just then Derek thought about the danger he could have put himself in by bringing this creature to his home. He quickly ran to the garage door and locked the deadbolt and all of the other entrances to the house including the windows. Then he took at least 6 ibuprofen tablets and carefully lay down in his bed, tried to think up something to tell his mom and passed out instead.
Derek dreamed. He was in a forest at night and night sounds were all around him. He walked and felt like he was being followed. However, every time he turned around there was nothing Derek increased his pace. He was now running through the woods with a dark form chasing him tirelessly until at last Derek fell and screamed as the dark object crashed into him and seemed to slide into him.
Gasping Derek sat straight up in bed and screamed as all of his beaten muscles immediately brought sharp pain to all of his body. Being beaten bloody had left him so sore that he could only sit in bed and tremble. Everything hurt a million times worse than last night. Must be that he was still in shock last night. It occurred to Derek that he should probably check on the creature that he had brought home. Derek however couldn't seem to get himself to move everything hurt and it was too much effort to get up. Eventually he drifted off to sleep again.
Wild dreams that meant nothing flitted through his sleep as he fitfully shifted on his bed occasionally whimpering in pain. The creature watched a while as Derek slept then left.
Derek woke up once dying of thirst. He felt feverish and hurt incredibly but he couldn't just go back to sleep his body cried out for water. Somehow he made it to the bathroom and putting his head under the faucet in the sink drank until the thirst was quenched. Then immediately slumping to the floor again fell asleep.
Slowly Derek woke again. He wasn't on the floor anymore. He opened his eyes slowly to the blinding light coming from the window... of a hospital room? Moving slowly Derek found he didn't hurt much at all anymore. Then he noticed his mother asleep in a chair next to him.
"Mom." He said.
She woke and upon seeing him awake immediately hugged him and cried out, "Derek!"
Apparently they had found him still lying on the floor of his bathroom barely breathing. The doctors couldn't figure out what had happened other than the beating. They had figured he must have had swelling of the brain and mild dehydration. It had been two day since his parents got home. He had to spend one more night in the hospital even though he didn't hurt anymore just to make sure he didn't collapse again.
Almost three weeks went by since the incident and school had started up again. Strangely, no one from Keith's gang made life uncomfortable for Derek and he had almost dismissed the whole incident when one day in the middle of class caught a whiff the most interesting smell. For some reason he was the only one who could smell it and for some reason the smell drove him to distraction. At lunch he finally pinned down where the smell was coming from. Derek couldn't help himself as he walked over to where a group of girls were sitting at a table eating lunch. One of them greeted him but he had his gaze locked on the source of the smell which was coming from a very pretty girl with the most piercing blue eyes he had ever seen.
"Hello." He said.
"Hello." She said.
"Uhmm, you smell really nice."
She laughed, "Do I?"
Her laughter broke the spell slightly and he was able to gather some of his senses. "Yes, you do... I am sorry. Sorry to bother you." Derek said finally getting some of his wits about him. He quickly fled to the bathroom with laughter from the table following him. What had he been thinking? He hadn't and he was still having a hard time as the smell faintly lingered in his nose still making it harder to think straight. He finished the rest of the day in a daze unable to think at all. As he was getting into his car to drive home he caught sight and smell of the girl again as she headed to the bus. He quickly changed direction to intercept her.
"I am sorry I never introduced myself at lunch, my name is Derek." He said quickly to her as he caught up with her.
"Rachel, nice to meet you Derek, but I need to catch the bus now."
Without hesitation he replied, "I could drive you."
"Would you now? Maybe later." She said and climbed onto the bus.
Silently he cursed and headed to his car. He shook his head trying to clear it and drove home.
That night just before he fell asleep he smelled the smell again coming from his open window. Looking out into the back yard he thought he saw something. Not thinking at all he went to the back door and stepped out into the yard. As soon as he got outside he noticed the moon was full. He could see fairly clearly the smell however was coming from the woods behind his house the scent was even more powerful now that all the other smells in the school were not masking it. He just had to see where this intoxicating smell was coming from so he followed it into the woods. In the woods the moonlight was mostly blocked out and he followed the scent oblivious until he made it to a clearing where he saw the wolf creature that had saved him from Keith and his gang standing in the clearing. He almost ran but the smell held him he couldn't seem to think straight because of it. Then it hit him.
"Rachel?" he asked confused.
The creature just nodded. Derek blinked and rubbed his eyes. Then the wolf creature walked towards him and he just stood there dumbly until she was right in front of him and then she reached her hand out and placed her palm on Derek's forehead. From where she touched him his body screamed in pain and he fell to the ground writhing in pain as his body changed. Bones snapped and reformed, Organs changed and squirmed to new locations, his hair receded and fur sprouted all over his body covering him in waves, his muscles twitched and bulged incredibly, ripping his clothes, a tail sprouted above his butt and grew, and Derek felt it all as he writhed with the pain of the developments. When it was over he lay shaking on the ground until he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. Derek tentatively opened his now golden eyes to see Rachel bent over him a concerned look on her face. Then he smelled her. With his new nose her smell drove all thought from his mind but now he felt a new emotion because of it, lust. He immediately returned her touch and then it was all exploration.
Awhile later humans within earshot shivered as a howl broke out and was joined by another wolf. However if they cared to hear it the humans would have heard the joyous note to the howl.