Howls of Chaos. Gabrielle Boyd

and said, “Well thank you, Sheriff.”

      He and Carlos both took a seat while I went and turned off the stove. I then went back into the living room with them. Sheriff Collinbelle was a short, muscular man in his late thirties. He really didn’t look like he would be a sheriff; he looked more like a bodybuilder or a wrestler. He was nice looking and clean-cut, like most military men. He had pretty, baby blue eyes and a dimple in each cheek when he smiled. I sensed he was a pretty outgoing person as well.

      “Sweetie, will you go and whip up that dessert?” asked Carlos. I looked at him curiously because we were eating rare lamb stir fry. Then he gave me a look and nodded his head toward the kitchen. So I headed toward the kitchen and prepared a snack. The two men sat down in the living room and began to talk.

      “So what brings you out this way?” asked Carlos.

      “Well, actually there has been an attack, and we believe it’s some kind of wild animal. There have been a couple of other animal attacks in the surrounding counties as well. So, I’m just warning people out this way and in the rest of the county to stay alert and be careful,” replied the sheriff.

      “Well, I appreciate you giving us a heads up on that,” said Carlos.

      “No problem! Oh and I wanted to invite you and your fiancée to the fish fry that the Chaosville Fire Department is hosting for the city. It’s a pretty big event here in town. There’s going to be a band and a lot of dancing and food,” said Sheriff Collinbelle.

      He and Carlos continued their conversation, and I brought out one of my favorite homemade desserts.

      “So, what kind of animal do you think is on the loose?” I asked, butting into the conversation.

      “My deputies and I think it’s a bear. Then again, it could possibly be a mountain lion. Those are the only two animals that could have done that much damage. Coyotes are also scary animals, but they rarely attack unless they are in a pack,” he replied, indulging in the ice cream sundae pie.

      We chitchatted for a while until the sheriff finished his dessert and left.

      Carlos and I stayed up late that night talking about what had happened. It was around one thirty in the morning when we decided to go to bed. We turned out all the lights while walking to our bedroom.

      We had reached our bedroom door when all of a sudden we heard a loud crash! It sounded like something had been thrown through the living room window and the glass had been shattered.

      “What was that?” I yelled.

      “Sounds like someone is trying to break in,” said Carlos.

      Carlos grabbed a bat and quietly ran down the hall into the living room. I followed him. As soon as he entered the living room, Carlos dropped the bat, and it fell on the floor. Why did he drop the bat? I thought.

      When I made it to where Carlos was standing, I noticed he was staring at something. Then I saw pieces of glass on the floor. I was right, someone had thrown something and the glass was shattered. But what? I thought. I gazed over at Carlos who seemed to be staring at something right in front of him. The way he was standing, it was like he was in shock. I followed his gaze. When I realized what he was staring at, I could not help but stare too. I couldn’t believe what I saw.

      There in front of us stood a big, tall, hairy, wolf-like creature on its hind legs. It stood about six foot four with dirty claws about five inches long. Its teeth were long, big, sharp, and pointy, and its ears stood straight up on its head. The wolf’s tail hung between its legs and its feet were extremely long. Its eyes were yellow and they were glowing. Its fur was a brownish color and somewhat tangled. Its arms were huge and hanging down by its side.

      The creature stood a few feet away just staring at us. It looked as if it was hungry and was about to attack.

      Carlos and I both stepped back. We were getting ready to transform into our halfway forms; with our claws and our fangs out as well as our eyes turning the color of a wolf.

      As soon as we stepped backward to get into our semi-turned position, the werewolf got down on all fours and leaped toward us. I quickly transformed myself halfway and sprung up in the air, pouncing on the werewolf’s back.

      While I wrestled with the beast, Carlos transformed himself halfway, then he too attacked the beast. The other werewolf fought back, but then stopped suddenly.

      It ran into a corner of the living room and began to slowly transform itself back to its human form. Carlos and I were still in our halfway form for safety purposes. We both stood there in ready-to-attack mode while the creature turned back human.

      When the creature finished turning human, we realized it was a woman, but we could not see the face because she was facing the wall.

      All of a sudden the woman began to laugh.

      “Show yourself! What are you laughing at?” yelled Carlos. The woman continued to laugh. That’s when I recognized the laugh.

      “Feraston, is that you?” I asked.

      The woman turned around slowly and said, “I like how you didn’t tell me you were moving back so soon to the chaos hole.”

      “Feraston,” I yelled reaching out and giving her a big hug. “Girl, you totally broke our window,” I said.

      “You mean shattered,” said Feraston, hugging me back.

      “Dang Feraston, what the heck are you doing here, and how did you already know we had moved back?” asked Carlos.

      “Umm, social networking, and someone told me.” Feraston and I both looked at each other and laughed.

      “I have to ask, did you eat that person earlier today?” I asked.

      “Umm, yeah, but don’t tell anyone. He followed me here from California. Remember when I told you about that guy who was obsessed with me? He was a stalker too,” said Feraston. “Girl, you’re crazy,” I said, but I knew what she was talking about.

      Feraston is a longtime, good friend of ours. She was once a part of the fourth pack, too. She was one of the werewolves who left with us, and she lived with us in Cali for a time. Feraston is very cool, pretty, and totally exotic. She is tall and slender with long brown hair that comes down to her chest, and has green eyes with long, beautiful eyelashes. Feraston’s complexion is kind of fair because she is of French descent and she usually reminds people of a magazine cover model.

      She is a little over three hundred years old and was turned into a werewolf at age twenty-four. She was part of French Royalty when she was human.

      Feraston has a shy yet goofy personality but is also very intelligent. She can be a danger to anyone in her way, usually mortals, when she’s angry or on the hunt. She likes to party even though she is shy and can be rude and cocky if she doesn’t like someone.

      “So, how long you been in Chaosville?” asked Carlos.

      “Not long. Just traveling through to go to Florida and get some oranges,” said Feraston.

      “That’s a fat one,” I said.

      “But really, I was coming to visit you guys. Haven’t we lived together for centuries?” Feraston reminded us. “Oh, and Drez says hey. Did I mention that she has a new boyfriend, and he is human?” said Feraston.

      “No, but she texted me,” I said.

      Carlos interrupted our conversation by saying, “Girls, no one cares what Drez is doing. That doesn’t explain why you shattered my window that I’m going to have to replace.”

      “Do you really want to know why I did it?” asked Feraston.

      “Yeah, I do,” replied Carlos.

      “Because it was funny,” said Feraston, and we both burst into laughter. Carlos just frowned at us