Damned and Cursed (Book 2): Witch's Kurse (18 page)

Her apartment was on the second floor.
 
She held the door open for the delivery men while they went to work.
 
The single-bedroom space didn't yet feel like home.
 
The living room was completely empty.
 
No TV, and the furniture only just arriving.
 
Only a phone sat in the corner, which wasn't yet turned on.
 
There were no pictures on the walls, and a rush of sadness overwhelmed her as she realized she might never put any up.
 
She had no family, no friends.
 
There was a vampire she occasionally traded emails with, but those emails stopped years ago.
 
Either he was bored of Marie, or a stake found its way into his heart.

Marie was unlike other werewolves.
 
She didn't run with others of her kind, had no use for a pack.

She would
never
associate with a pack.

"Wow," one of the men said.
 
"Did you just move in?"

Sarcasm was her first temptation, but she held her tongue in check.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah.
 
You should put up some pictures.
 
Home the place up a bit."

"I'll keep that in mind."

The delivery men did their job, and she looked over the simple furniture as she signed the paperwork.
 
It actually almost looked like a living room.
 
The couch against the wall, the chair adjacent to it, creating a bit of path when entering the front door.
 
The patio door leading outside was completely unobstructed, letting her come and go as she pleased.
 
Soon, she'd get a coffee table for the middle, maybe a small TV for the corner.

She stood in the middle of her apartment with her eyes closed, simply enjoying the moment.
 
Just the mundane act of accepting a furniture delivery was a small step in her new life, and it was exciting.

The excitement faded as the sounds of apartment life found her ears.
 
Despite being alone, it was far from quiet.

A man on the third floor obviously had trouble with something he'd eaten during the day, and his toilet was paying the price.
 
On the first floor a couple was having sex.
 
Marie smirked when she realized it wasn't a couple, but a trio.
 
Two women and a man.

"You go, boy," she said.

She laughed aloud when his moaning slowed, and the women's picked up.
 
The man just couldn't keep up, and the women were taking care of each other.

There were more noises, simpler in nature.
 
A couple watching TV, arguing who to vote off on Survivor.
 
A single mother shushing a crying baby.
 
A young boy playing a video game.

"Ahh," Marie said, stretching her arms.
 
"Life is good."

The lack of a pack, either human or supernatural.
 
A noisy, empty apartment.
 
A huge personal project lying ahead.
 
Rebuilding her family's bar would either be the most fulfilling thing she'd ever done, or it would crush her.

It was the life she'd chosen, and she loved it.

Marie had her moments of despair, like any living creature, but she never pitied herself.
 
She never cried or pouted at the attack that changed her life forever.
 
She was a werewolf, and there was nothing like it.

It was a feeling she'd never be able to describe to anyone.
 
She tried, once, to her vampire pen-pal.
 
She thought being supernatural himself, he would have a better time understanding, but she never believed he got it.

The latter half of twentieth century, and the beginning of the twenty-first, had romanticized the supernatural.
 
Movies, books, Halloween parties.
 
Witches with large cleavage and short dresses.
 
Vampires making love to their donors as they sampled their exposed necks with huge, luscious fangs.
 
Bare-chested werewolves with perfect hair, posing on the hilltop beneath the full moon.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Witches didn't even exist, as far as Marie knew.
 
Her vampire friend did confirm there was a certain sexual element to vampirism.
 
A human would actually orgasm during a vampire's feeding.
 
There was the thrill of the hunt, the energy, the long stares from across the room.

Lycanthropy wasn't like that at all.
 
Despite their agelessness, their naturally appealing looks, being a werewolf wasn't about seduction and intimacy.

It was about power.

Marie could turn into a large, strong wolf.
 
She traded two legs for four.
 
Even the experience of walking, her nose inches from the ground, was amazing.
 
But when she ran through the trees, winding through the leaves and rocks, nature around her, nothing could compare.

Water flowing from a river tasted so much better than that pouring from a faucet.
 
Curling into a ball in the moss, napping under the moon, was cozier than any old plush blanket.
 
Marie liked steak.
 
She had no problem at all sitting at a restaurant.
 
But tracking a deer through the woods, pouncing, eating its delicious meat.
 
There was nothing like it.

She stared out the patio.
 
The sun was down.
 
Dusk was slowly giving way to night.
 
There was a patch of grass and dirt that ran behind the apartments, leading to a playground, but beyond that lay miles of nature.
 
It'd been decades since she explored Sandy Cliffs.

Walking into the kitchen, she pulled down the map of Sandy Cliffs taped to the refrigerator.
 
Marie didn't need it at all.
 
She just liked to look at it, like a man staring at a picture of a car he already owned.

Sandy Cliffs was a small town, only fifty miles south from the Canadian border.
 
Only three main roads led back out to the highway.
 
Surrounding the town on all sides was beautiful, wonderful nature.
 
Marie remembered decades ago, before she left, running for miles, staying out for days.
 
She remembered the rivers, streams, and caves.
 
There was a ridge overlooking a lake, about fifty feet above the water, with a beach below.
 
She fell asleep there countless times, lulled by the sound of animals and water.

Marie went into her bedroom.
 
She had only a single dresser and a mattress on the floor.
 
Tomorrow would be a busy day.
 
More furnishings were on the way, and she had plenty to do regarding the bar.
 
Phone calls, meetings, organizing the cleanup.

But that was tomorrow.

She left the apartment, locking the door behind her, and circled around the building.
 
There was no one around as she walked through the playground toward the woods.
 
She disappeared through the tree line into the darkness.
 
The random scents of the apartment building faded as nature took their place.
 
Birds, wet tree bark, rabbits, squirrels, water.

She found what she was looking for.
 
A simple tree stump, barely in view of the apartment through the trees.
 
Basically nature's end table.
 
She pulled off her blouse first, followed by her bra.
 
She stripped completely naked.
 
After folding her jeans, she felt along the pocket to make sure she brought her key.
 
That would have been a rather embarrassing thing to forget.

Under the light of a half moon, she changed.
 
Pain and pleasure.
 
Bones breaking.
 
Muscles stretching.
 
Her jaw broke and extended, her tongue reformed.
 
Her field of vision changed, growing wider but shorter.
 
Gray hues rushed in to push out the black.

Her tail wagged on its own as she arched back.
 
She was a second away from howling, but fought the desire off.
 
The apartment wasn't all that far away.
 
There was no need to frighten the humans.

Marie ran.
 
She had no destination, no purpose.
 
She simply ran.
 
Wildlife scattered around her.
 
Birds flew away, making way for her arrival.
 
If only an over-sized, monstrous wolf could smile.
 
The sounds and scents around her brought crystal clear images to her head.
 
A doe drinking from a small stream to her right.
 
A sparrow sitting on her eggs above.
 
A snake unhinging its jaw to eat a mouse.

Thirty minutes passed.
 
She found a few trails and spots she toured decades ago.
 
Grass had grown over certain trails, but they were otherwise the same.

Marie found her ridge overlooking the lake.
 
She sat on her haunches as she watched the shimmering water below.
 
Catfish and crappie reached her nose, and she snarled.
 
She didn't like fish.
 
Fish was for cats.

She finally let out a long, steady howl.
 
More birds darted around her.
 
She curled around herself and rested her snout on her hind leg.
 
Closing her eyes, she let daydreams take over.

Her bar was up completely and running, with people lining up outside to get in.
 
When the last person made their way inside, Marie saw her parents, standing in the middle of the lot.
 
They waved, and she blew a kiss before disappearing inside as well, ready to work.
 
They were proud of her.

Slowly, she drifted off in a light sleep under the stars.
 
Her leg kicked slightly, like a dog chasing a car in a dream.
 
She wished she could give herself to the night completely, change in the morning and start on her day, but that wasn't an option, not with the chores of the next day looming.
 
After another hour or so in the night, she'd head back to her apartment, sleep in her human bed.

Voices quietly invaded her dreams.

"Wow, isn't the lake beautiful?"

"Yeah.
 
I should have brought my fishing gear."

Her ear perked up by reflex.
 
One eye opened, settling on the clouds moving through the horizon.

"You know," a male voice said.
 
"This scenery is making me a little…happy."

"Down, boy."
 
A female.
 
"We talked about this."

Both ears shot up as Marie examined the air with her nose.
 
Two humans, male and female.
 
They weren't close enough to differentiate scents.
 
They grabbed her sense of smell as one large mass.
 
Strawberries, watermelon, basil, coconut, and most strongly, marijuana.

She climbed to her feet and walked to the edge of the ridge.
 
Through the gray distance, lounging on the beach below, were a man and woman.
 
They passed a joint back and forth.
 
They sat with their legs out, the water nipping at their bare feet.
 
The man rested a hand on her knee.
 
The woman noticeably stiffened as she grabbed his hand with her own.

"Mike…."

"What?
 
I'm just touching your knee.
 
I can do that, right?"

"It never stops at the knee with you.
 
I told you, I want to wait."

"Fine.
 
Shit, I'm not doing anything."

Marie growled slightly at the invasion.
 
Decades ago, humans were afraid of the woods around Sandy Cliffs, especially after the brutal murders.
 
Those days were long forgotten, and she shouldn't have been surprised at humans enjoying her lake.
 
It was beautiful.
 
She huffed slightly, deciding there was enough room for a young couple.
 
Even if the smell of marijuana nearly made her sick.

She dug in the dirt, to make a nice, cozy hole for herself.
 
Turning in place a few times, she was ready to lay back down when their words caught her attention.

"I said stop."

"Come on, Dana," Mike said, trying to keep a sultry tone.
 
"I can't help it, you're just too gorgeous.
 
Just a little kiss."

Marie would have laughed, if she could.
 
She remembered the last time a guy tried to pull a similar line on her, fifty years ago.
 
Just a little kiss
turned into hands reaching where they shouldn't.
 
She broke his wrist.

She could already see where Mike was heading, even if Dana couldn't.

Peering over the ridge once again, she saw the couple below.
 
Mike was on top of Dana, her knees spread wide.
 
He already had his shirt off.
 
He had one of her arms pinned over her head in the sand, kissing her neck.
 
From the little moans of delight that escaped Dana's throat, Marie assumed the young woman changed her mind.
 
She was jealous, in a way.
 
There was nothing wrong with a little make-out session.