Fall from Grace

I wake up. I pull on a black spaghetti strap tank-top, and black shorts. I pull my long dark blond hair into a ponytail. I put on a choker with spikes, and black running shoes. My style pretty similar to Raina’s actually, it’s a shame where not friends. Satisfied I pack a bag. I put in my phone, portal charger, and a water bottle. I put my grey nap sack over my shoulder. I then make breakfast. I decide to have a big breakfast. I put three eggs into the pan. I make three bagels. Then grab three slices of cheddar cheese. I put the bagels on the plate, then the cheese then the still hot eggs on top melting the cheddar. Then I fry up a ton of bacon, and ham. Then load that on too. There’s so much meat that if I had added a bagel on top I wouldn’t be able to fit it into my mouth. I wolf it down. Pun intended. I then check my phone. V texted me.

See you soon. In me, and Ross’s group chat.

K, I text back. They know I’m not much of long texter. I grab my keys. I manage to make it to the trail without crashing. Win. My car is small, and black. There’s a shovel in the back, bandaids in the glove box, and I have a little green tree are freshener hanging from the mirror. I grab my black sun glasses from where they’re on the sunshades. I check myself in the mirror. My blue eyes staring back. They’re green in my wolf form. My fur the color of my hair. It normally is. I shake my head to clear it putting on my sunglasses. I’m not wearing make-up as I don’t tend too. I’m not really a make-up person beside it gets so easy for it to get smudged, or rain washes it away. The curse of being an outdoorsy person. Then again Raina seems pretty outdoorsy, and she wears a lot of make-up. Somehow I’ve never see it smudged it’s always perfect. I scroll though my contacts. I’m early. I have mom’s, and dad’s. Hollyne’s, and Conner’s. Ross, Venessa’s, and Jordan’s. I also have Raina’s just in case. I hope to make a good impression on his friends. We’ve talked before, but this is the first time we’re really hanging out. I realize as my eyes scan the parking lot that I’m not the first one here. There’s a few cars, and a few sents in the air, but it’s movement that catches my eye. I’m familiar enough with Jordan’s sent to recognize it. Though other sents could still cause me to lose it. Near the trail I can see him leaning against a tree. He flips a page in the book he’s reading. I walk up to him.

“What you reading?” I ask. He jumps. I step back.

“Sorry.” I mutter.

“It’s fine, you just surprised me. I didn’t hear you coming at all.” Too stealthy got it. He looks handsome. He’s not wearing a brown leather jacket, or a jean jacket, which is unlike him, but it’s far too hot today. He wears a grey t-shirt, and jeans. He has on a small blue-grey backpack, and hiking boots.

“I’m reading my granddad’s journal.” I recognize it as the one I dropped last night.

“Is it interesting?”

“I think so.”

“What is it about?”

“Well um, it started with my great-great-grandfather. He thought there was a wolf-shifter in town.”

“A wolf-shifter?” I make my voice sound disbelieving. I may not like lying to him, but I am still very good at it.

“Yeah well he believes he single handedly figured out who it was. Him, and my great-grandmother became wolf-shifter hunters. Keep that between us ok.” I nod.

“And your grandparent?” I ask.

“This is one of his journals. He hunted when he was my age into his late twenty’s, but then he couldn’t take it, killing people anymore. According to his journals wolf-shifters typically only hunt people for food. Just to survive. He had killed so many. A town hired him to kill one. He spent years chasing after him, but he couldn’t do it. It was then revealed to him that it had been someone from town that he had known. He gave up hunting on the spot. This is all fiction of course.” I guess he chickened out in the end. I can’t fault him for it. It’s not like I’ve told him the truth about me yet.

“Of course. I see were you get your love for writing.” I say. “Ready to go?” He nods.

“Just waiting for the others.” I smell them. As V, and Ross walk up I hear a bit of the conversation.

“Yeah I miss being on the debate team, but I can hardly juggle the three I’m in. You know you should join the chess team I know you’ve said it’s not your thing, but I like playing with you. You’re a much better opponent than Pete.” Pete’s a friend from one of his clubs.

“No I’m good.” Shaking her head.

“I’ve been looking at colleges. Have you?” She shakes her head again.

“I’ve been thinking about moving in with my Aunt after high school, and cousin. My Aunt’s does psychic readings in the city, and my cousin makes ghost hunting vlogs. But I don’t know that’s just sort of the plan because I can’t think of anything else I want to do.” He nods.

“Well you got time.” Her phone dings as she looks at it. I assume one of her online friends had texted her. V was wearing a black and white band-shirt, and a black and white plaid skirt with a tear in it. Converse, not the most practical choice. She also had on black knee pads. So did Ross. He lost his long tench coats. He was wearing a white button down, and Jean shorts. Good I’ll make a hiker out of them yet.

“Jordan!” Cheryl called from her truck. He waves. Leo jumps out of her truck. Cheryl is someone I know even less than Leo despite the fact that her, and Hollyne go shopping in town every other weekend. She’s wearing a cream plaid tank-top, a belt with a shiny silver buckle, and Jeans. A white cow-girl hat protects her eyes from the sun. She has a thermos in her hand, and I notice she had a very small knife strapped to her belt. Leo’s wearing a white t-shirt, and ripped jeans. A tumbler in his hand.

“Hey, Jordan! Charlotte!” He calls.

“Hey.” I call back.

“Let’s go!” V says.

“Excited?” I ask.

“Yeah. I was hesitant at first, but you convinced me.” She says. Ross just nods. Made a good case I guess. We walk, and talk. It really is just a trail on a slope. The town of FallenGreen was nestled between two other towns, to the right and left. And a few more scattered around that I could run too with ease. Just a few, and country houses. There wasn’t much in the way of farmland though besides Roger’s farm. A large corn, and weat field, a hay field he owned a little ways away. He switched out the crops some times. He also was the only cattle farm around. The animals were bigger, and so I assumed also harder to take care of. He also had sheep, and chickens. There was one horse farm in town, and two pig farms. Their main source of revenue around here was sheep. Selling the wool. The towns around our’s had mostly cabins, or county house, but I had noticed a horse farm, and a few ranches. Though not many. The towns were very, very small. We were a long way away from the city. Almost an hour. With only a gas station between them. In the very back of our town were we reached a dead end, was the parking lot, and the trails. FallenCreek park was really the only safe place people went deep into the woods, (unless they were hunting). There was trails here both up the mountain, and into the forest. (We were taking an easy one.) There was a river, and a small pond in the park. I had gotten to know the land pretty well, running the trails, or between towns to hunt. We started walking. There was really dense forest in most places, but not were the park was. There was birch, pine, and a trees with golden leaves. It looked like it was made for brochures, it was almost a pity we didn’t get tourists. People didn’t really pass though a place that had a dead end much, but sometimes people from other towns would come up here to hike, or swim.

“Right so I was thinking we could stay here for half an hour to an hour. Then get lunch at Dellies.” Dellies was a burger and fries kind of place. They also did chicken strips, and sandwiches. A local place, popular with teens.

“Sounds good to me.” I said.

“I vote for half an hour. It’s pretty hot out.” Ross says. I pass him an extra water bottle from Jordan’s back pack. Cheryl laughs.

“Ok then half an hour.” Cheryl and Jordan lead the way, but I don’t really mind that. Although I could probably get to the end of the trail in half the time of any of them I figure it’s better to keep pace with the group.

“Look.” V says pointing. I catch the movement immediately. A woodpecker. She takes a photo with her phone. After a few minutes Ross nudges her. “Aw a doe. Cute.” She says.

“Did you know that deer scientific name is Odocoileus virginianus.” Ross informs us.

“That’s weird it’s ‘flagging’” Leo says.

“‘Flagging’?” V says.

“Yeah it stomped its hooves, and now you can see it white tail going up. That’s to alert other deer there’s a predictor near by.” Jordan says. I’m carful to keep my eyes forward as I hear it run off.

“Yeah you’re right.” Cheryl says.

“Make sure you stay close.” Jordan says not for the first time. The trees start to clear out on the rocky terrain. After awhile I can smell it in the air.

“Coyote tracks.” I say. The sent is old. Though I know one wouldn’t be stupid enough to get close to a predator like me anyway. They were pretty obvious. I’m surprised Jordan or his hunting buddies hadn’t notice, though that could be due to the fact that they seem to be having trouble keeping their footing on this part of the trail. I grab Jordan’s arm as he stubbles over rock.

“Thanks.” He says, he’s the pinnacle of grace, but I guess I still have the advantage. My eyes see uneven ground better.

“I’ve walked this particular trail a few times before.” I say. Which isn’t a lie. “This is the only hard part. It gets easier after this. You know until you get closer to the top, but we won’t be going that far.” He nods. They’re no more trees anymore, and it’s an easy climb. We all take turns taking to one another. Every once in awhile. Leo, Cheryl, or Jordan will point out an animal naming just about all of them. We start taking about what camping techniques are superior. I join in on that one. Coming across a little shy, I always feel a bit of discomfort with having to hide such a large part myself. With the distance from town it almost goes away. Ross keeps pointing out pretty views to V. Who gets a kick out of it, as if she never realize nature could be so pretty. Even Ross who I doubt will go on a mountain hike again seems to be enjoying himself. I wondered if going on nature trails with friends would be more his style. We eventually after about forty minutes came across were the trail changed into harder to terrain. Just above us we’re our eyes could see was a small cliff we’re the trail continued. It would be easy enough to climb up there, there was plenty of hand holds, but I wasn’t about to let V, or Ross try it. Even if they wanted too.

“Come on. Let’s head back down.” Jordan says taking up the lead again. Some part of me wishes I was up there with him, but I decide to take up the rear instead. Although some ax welding slasher coming up from behind us is unlikely, (an it’s a very very hard thing to sneak up on me), can never be too carful. Leo is showing Jordan his new pocket knife he had in his pocket. I shiver. It looks silver. A hand on my should puts my teeth on edge, but I realize Cheryl stayed back with me. I also realize there’s rope around wrapped around her diagonally.

“Want to go up?” She asks. “I want to see the view.” She takes the rope which has a hook at the end. She secures it with practiced hands.

“Where’d you get the rope?” She hadn’t had it before.

“Jordans bag when we were resting.” She says. She ties the rope to the two of us. It was interesting she chose me to do this with, though I supposed that made sense. I wonder if that’s how things always are between the tree of them. Having Jordan being prepared for the three of them put together. Extra water bottles, and climbing gear. I had even seen snacks, and a first aid kit. That must have been what things were like when they went out hunting too. I knew the land, and was faster and stronger, and Cheryl had clearly done this before. She also had a knife, though I doubt she would need it with me around. (Unless it was against me, a part of me thought.) Still I called for the group to wait up for us. They were still in sight. I climbed up first, trying not to make it seem as easy as it was. I didn’t really need the rope. When I go up there although not much higher than we were, the view was good. I took a picture for the group chat. I could see there had been a way to walk up here before, but those rocks had fallen away. I used my keen eyes to look for any cracks, or places that looked unsafe. The rest seemed secure, and Cheryl trained eyes probably would’ve noticed something if mine didn’t. I made sure the ropes were tied off tight. I looked down at her. She grabbed the rope making her way up to me. I watched a hand hold break beneath her. She had the rope in hand, and it wasn’t too bad of a fall, but I grabbed her quickly pulling her up the rest of the way.

“Thanks.” She said.

“No problem.” She just stood there appreciating the view. She whistled.

“Worth the effort.” Maybe the climb was harder for them than I thought it was, or maybe she was just talking about the almost fall. I sat on the edge feet dangling. I took my eyes off her for a moment. I saw it, but didn’t move fast enough. No matter how good her balance was, which seemed above average, she didn’t see the root. She troubled down, out of sight, the rope snapped, and I rushed over. The cliff was higher on the other side, another trail below. The sent of blood was so strong.

“My legs broken.” She called clearly in pain. Then I could see the blood pooling. It was red, and made my mouth water.

“Help! Help!” I screamed.

“Char?!” Jordan calls up.

“Leo she’s on the other side.” I call. Cheryl screams. It’s in such contrast see her like this, the confident in control women I got to know. I want to jump down after her. But I can’t because I want to jump down after her for two reasons. The actual reason, and the instinctual one. We consider most instincts a part of us even this one to an extent, but never when it comes to hurting people we care about. I care about Jordan, and Jordan cares about ever. Even I’ve grown to like her in our short time together. Whatever my instincts say, I don’t want to hurt her. (Or really anyone most of the time.) I make a break for it. I hear a gun go off. I turn in time to see a red streak in the sky. Of course Jordan brought a flare gun. I want to stop long enough to call the rangers on my phone, but I’m afraid if I do anything beside focus on getting away I’ll (against my own will and desire) turn around to feast. I should have hunted last night. I should never have come out here with them at all. I shake the words from my head. The shifting starts. I’m running on all fours now. I resist the urge to howl for help, like I would at RedCreek. Instead I keep running. I’m a ways away now. I can’t get the smell out of my head though. The smell of fresh meat. Of prey so easy to hunt. I shake my head. I scare away a coyote, who scatters at the sight of me. I can smell deer. It would be strange. So much dense woods, and yet it’s in the parks the deer come. Many assume it’s because humans aren’t allowed to hunt here, even if they try to stay away from humans. I know I’ve probably played a part in their fear. I want to not be spotted by humans as much as as they do. I don’t normally hunt in the park too many people. I try to hunt fallowing the smell of a deers herd. No longer caring so much if I’m spotted. Then I smell something sweeter. I make a sharp left turn. A feminine person. Tall, with a nap sack like mine, and on the phone, is walking down the trail. She doesn’t see me coming. I cut off her scream hoping no one’s heard it. I hate hunting here. I eat quickly. Gorging myself. I make it a little ways toward we’re she was. I can smell drops of blood. I track it back to the parking lot. I hope she’s ok. There’s a few more people in the parking lot. A couple, and a few rangers. I shift back quickly. My close, and bag, and jewelry shift with me. That’s why we call ourselves wolf-shifter. It’s not just are forms that shift, but just some extent we can shift the world around us. If we’re wearing clothes, or have something in our pockets. If we’re wearing chains or handcuffs the size will change, and adjust to fit us right in ether form. If our hands are tied behind our back then our front paws will be tied in front of us in wolf form. As you can’t tie a wolfs arms behind their back. Even cages would adjust to fit us. I smell Jordan’s sent. I check my clothes for blood. I had washes my paws in a creek. I patted down my hair, scratching my brain for an explanation to my absence. Instead of spitting out a lie the words tumble out,

“She ok?” He nods solemnly.

“Leo’s taking her to the hospital in the city, she bleed out a bit.” I flinch. Not for the reason he assumes. I was close to eating her. Even now the idea has appeal. Though I wish it wouldn’t. He quickly continues forward. “She has a broken leg, and rib they think.” A pause. “If you hadn’t called out we may never had known. You were in our line of sight. She just disappeared from above for a moment. She took lessons, she wasn’t alone. I was so stupid. I should have gone up there with her. I’m such an idiot.”

“This isn’t your fault. There was nothing you could have done. Non of us besides Cheryl really knew much about mountain climbing.” Though I never really needed too, not when I was by myself. We all new the basic stuff of course. I wish I had done more than he did, but it had seemed safe in the moment. I had, had a big meal for breakfast like normal. I thought that would be enough. Was this too dangerous? Normally probably not. But safety with me was never a certainty. It was strange he hadn’t brought up my behavior yet.

“I’ll drive you home. If you give me your keys I’ll drop off your car. You don’t seem to like driving.” I nodded tossing him the keys. He caught it with ease. We drove in silence for a few minutes in his truck. I tapped my fingers on the seat nervously. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

“I didn’t tell you how it ended.” He says.

“What?”

“My family’s journals. I didn’t tell you how they ended.”

“Yeah?” He nods his eyes fixed on the road.

“My father gave up journaling, but before he hide them away in his room. He let me read them. Someday I want to add my own. He picked up hunting from his grandfather. Just the ones in town, never the one his dad knew. He wanted to protect people. He started working at the farm. He fell in love with my mom. She was a better tracker than he was, and loved talking about animals. Were it was best to hunt during what seasons. We’re animals tended to den. She was a book-worm. While my dad hadn’t read a book since high school. She loved outdoors as much as he did. They had been dating for a few months. He went out hunting. He shot a wolf-shifter. She shifted to her human form. It was my mom. Wearing a white wolf mask. He didn’t realize it had been her. You should have seen all the little things they used to do. Picnics in the park, and he would buy her flowers in her favorite color. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. So when he saw the disappearances he kept his mouth shut.” I thought about the body in the park. “She was my mom. I loved her more than anything. I really like you Charlotte Amber. I’d still like that date. So how about it?” I looked at him now.

“Ok.” I tried to remember if I smelled wolf-shifter in the house. All I could remember was the smell of chicken.

“Can you stop.” I point with my head towards Dillies.

“They have good breakfast too.”

“Haven’t had it yet.”

“Pancakes, waffles, omelettes. All you can eat bacon, and sausage.”

“Sold.” I laugh.

“What do you want?” I get four hamburgers. He gets a two cheeseburgers, and a fry. We each get a freezy.

“Thanks for driving me home.” I tell him.

“Yeah.” He says. “So what do we do about Cheryl.” I sigh.

“Can I include you in my lie?”

“What about an alibi?” I hesitate with that question.

“Ok.” I nod.

“I threw up feeling too nauseous to get down safely immediately. By the time I did you were gone.”

“That’s still not going to explain why you can’t visit her in the hospital. Unless you think you can-“ My eyes shift to green in the rearview mirror.

“Unlikely.” I try to think of an explanation.

“Just say I’m busy I guess.”

“She’s the kind of girl who holds grudges.” He warns. I shrug. “There’s one more thing.”

“Yeah?” I ask when he hesitates.

“Cheryl and Leo. And his dad, and her mom are hunters. Cheryl’s dad is one, but he lives out of state. They’re not together anymore. He’s a jerk so he doesn’t visit much. Leo’s mom knows about wolf-shifters too. Kind of runs in the family.” I take a moment to process all that.

“Got it. K, see you at breakfast. Call or text me when you visit Cheryl. I’m going to take a nap.” My eyes are green again with emotion, not hunger.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Charlotte.” He says in that protective way that lets me know he means it. “See you tomorrow.” It takes me awhile to get to sleep. I hear him drop off my car at some point. I do fall asleep eventually. I dream of sliver knives coming from the nights darkness. When I do wake up there’s a text in my phone.

She’s pissed you won’t visit her without a good explanation. It wasn’t even like: something personal came up. It was just: busy. - Jordan

So she thinks I’m a b*tch. I think that’s better than wolf-shifter. - Charlotte

I pause before adding.

I like the girl, and I want your friends to like me, but I really can’t think of anything off the top of my head. I promise I’m normally much better at this, but I’ve had a long day and you gave me a lot to process. - Charlotte

Fair. - Jordan

I turn my phone off, and order a large meat lovers for dinner. When I do sleep again I have more nightmares.