R. Stine - Werewolf Skin

Metal bars had been installed outside.

When did they put those on? This afternoon?

I’m a prisoner! I told myself. I’m locked in this room like an animal in a cage!

“They can’t do this to me!” I repeated. “They can’t!”

I slid the window up all the way. I grabbed the metal bars with both hands and struggled to pry them loose.

But they wouldn’t budge.

I was still tugging on the bars when I heard a low growl.

My hands dropped away, and a sharp cry escaped my throat.

I froze.

And heard another growl. Louder this time.

And close. So close.

A shrill howl rose up. From the Marlings’ house?

I moved my face up close to the bars and peered out. Their bedroom window stood open again. But the house was completely dark. No lights anywhere.

I squinted into the darkness. The moon had disappeared behind a cloud. I could barely see across to their house.

Pressed against the bars, I heard an animal grunt. And then a thud.

A dark shape dropped down from the Marlings’ open window. Another thud. Another shape dropped down on all fours.

One of the creatures raised its head in a long, mournful howl.

And then they took off, loping heavily toward the backyard, heading to the woods.

Dogs? Wolves? Humans?

I couldn’t see clearly in the darkness.

I stared out, and a silvery light washed over the house as the cloud drifted away from the moon.

But now it was too late. Too late.

The creatures had vanished.

I pounded the bars with my fists.

Sean and Arjun were waiting for me by the creek. And there was no way I could get there.

What would they think? That I was a total chicken? A wimp?

I’m missing my big chance to take a winning photograph! I realized.

Angrily, I slammed the window shut.

“Tomorrow night!” I declared out loud. “Tomorrow night I’m getting out of here. My aunt and uncle won’t stop me.

“Tomorrow night I’m going into the woods, and I’m going to find out the truth about werewolves!”

“How could you do that to me?” I shrieked. I burst into the kitchen for breakfast the next morning, and strode angrily up to my aunt and uncle.

“How could you lock me in my room without telling me?” I cried.

Aunt Marta set down her coffee mug. She gazed up at me with a troubled expression. Then she turned to Uncle Colin. “Maybe we should have told Alex,” she said.

Uncle Colin narrowed his eyes at me. “Did you try to get out last night, Alex?”

“Well…” I hesitated. I didn’t want to tell them what I had planned to do. “I don’t like being in a cage!” I protested. “I’m twelve years old, and I really think-”

“We’re sorry,” Aunt Marta interrupted. She glanced at the kitchen clock and poured me out a bowl of cornflakes.

“But we did it for your own good,” Uncle Colin added. He folded his napkin tensely between his hands. “We had no choice. We can’t let you go running out to the woods the way you did your first night. It just isn’t safe.”

“We’re responsible for you,” Aunt Marta said, pushing the cereal bowl across the table to me. “We promised your parents we’d return you safe and sound. We don’t want to lock you in, Alex. But we have to make sure-”

“But-but-” I sputtered.

“Besides, the Marlings called the police yesterday,” Uncle Colin said, frowning.

“They what?” I cried. “They called the police-about me?”

He nodded. “They complained about you spying on them,” he said.

I let out an angry scream. “That’s totally stupid!” I cried. “I didn’t spy on them! I didn’t do anything to them!”

“Okay, okay.” Aunt Marta came around the table and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about the Marlings. Just don’t go anywhere near their house-okay?”

I turned to her. “Are they werewolves?” I blurted out.

Uncle Colin gasped.

Aunt Marta uttered a short laugh. “Is that what Hannah told you?” she demanded.

“Well… yes,” I replied.

She shook her head. “Hannah has a twisted sense of humor,” she said.

“The Marlings are just very odd, very unfriendly people,” Uncle Colin told me. He glanced out the kitchen window toward their house. And added: “Two unfriendly people with two very unfriendly dogs.”

“Hannah said they don’t have any dogs,” I insisted.

Uncle Colin made a disgusted face. “Tell your friend Hannah to stop pulling your leg.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“She’s trying to scare you, Alex. Don’t listen to her.”

The doorbell rang. Hannah had arrived to walk me to school.

I was happy to get out of the house. I still felt angry about being locked up.

As we walked to school, I didn’t tell Hannah about it. I knew she’d probably think it was funny. And she’d tell other kids about how my aunt and uncle were so worried about me, they locked me in like a baby.

I didn’t mention the Marlings’ dogs, either. I didn’t want to get into another argument about werewolves. I wanted to find out the truth for myself.

At school, I hung my jacket in my locker and started to Mr. Shein’s class. But as I turned the corner, Sean and Arjun stepped up to block my path.

They’d been waiting for me. They moved quickly to back me against the wall. Their eyes glowed with excitement.

“Hey, Alex.” Sean poked me in the shoulder.

“Seen any werewolves lately?” Arjun demanded.

“Uh… well…” I didn’t know what to say. “You see… my aunt and uncle…”

Why were they staring at me like that? Were they trying to scare me?

A strange grin spread over Sean’s face. “Have a good time in the woods last night?” he asked.

“Yeah. How was it?” Arjun demanded. “Catch any werewolves, Alex?”

I bumped them off me and stepped away from the wall. “You mean you weren’t there?” I cried.

They both burst out laughing. They slapped each other a high five.

“Of course not!” Arjun declared. “Why would we go into the woods in the middle of the night?”

“I was sound asleep by midnight,” Sean said, grinning.

They laughed and congratulated each other again.

A joke. The whole thing had been a joke. They didn’t wait for me in the woods at midnight. They never intended to go to the woods.

“So how was it?” Sean asked. “Were you surprised when Arjun and I didn’t show up?”

“No. I didn’t even think of you,” I told them. “Do you know why? Because I was too busy taking photos of the werewolf!”

“Huh?” Sean cried.

It was their turn to be surprised.

Of course I was lying. But they had no way of knowing that I hadn’t gone to the woods, either.

“What did you see?” Arjun asked suspiciously.

“I followed a werewolf,” I told him, forcing myself not to crack a smile. “He came to the creek and he drank, just as you said.”

“Give me a break,” Sean groaned.

“Yeah. Really!” Arjun rolled his eyes. “In your dreams.”

“I can prove it. I took a whole roll of film,” I told them.

“Let’s see the pictures,” Sean demanded.

“I haven’t developed them yet,” I replied.

They stared at me, trying to decide if I was telling the truth. I felt a laugh about to explode inside me. But somehow I kept a straight face.

The bell rang.

“We’re late!” Arjun cried.

The three of us bolted down the hall to the room. We dove into our seats two seconds before Mr. Shein walked in.

Don’t ask me what we talked about all morning. I didn’t hear a word.

I was thinking hard, thinking about Sean and Arjun. What was I going to tell them tomorrow when they asked to see the werewolf photos?