literature

The Lycanthrope Club 2

Deviation Actions

Heliotroph's avatar
By
Published:
12.1K Views

Literature Text

It had all worked out very well at first, reflected Melinda as she sat in her room, staring drearily into the blue glow of her computer’s monitor, absently twirling a ballpoint pen between her thumb and index finger.

It had all started the spring break of Melinda’s junior year. Her father - convinced his daughter needed more “life-experience” - took her and her mother on a camping trip at a distant state park. Melinda, never much of the outdoorswoman, hadn’t been too thrilled by this, and for once her misgivings had been proven legit. During their first night campgrounds she lost her way in surrounding woods. She wandered through the forest in a terrified daze until she noticed a strange black wolf stalking her. She tried to escape, but in her panicked flight collided headfirst with a low-hanging tree branch and got knocked unconscious. When she awoke she found that there was a bite-mark on her neck. Although greatly perturbed by this, Melinda had swallowed her fear and continued through the forest. By sheer luck she stumbled upon a hiking trail and made her way back to the campsite.

Two weeks later Melinda awoke in the middle of the night feeling nauseated and hot. She made her way to the upstairs bathroom and in the light of the moon transformed into an enormous, black-furred werewolf. Melinda was, to say the least, astonished by this turn of events. To her even greater astonishment she found that she was rather pleased with her new form. The metamorphosis had granted her incredible strength, preternatural agility, superhuman senses, and a powerful, savage beauty. She spent the rest of the night romping through a nearby forest preserve, reveling in her gift. Later, she discovered that she could change from human to werewolf and back again at will outside the full moon’s influence. The transformation also accelerated her metabolism. In a matter of days her stick-like body became trim, healthy, and toned.

Melinda did not remain the sole werewolf at Dairyville High for very long. One night after a football game Melinda lost control and infected Yvette, who went on to infect the cheerleaders Cynthia, Lily, and Heidi. Although Melinda managed to get Cynthia and her friends under control, Yvette had run far, far away. With the help of the three cheerleaders Melinda tracked Yvette down and brought her home.

Weeks later, the five girls emerged from the woods to discover the town had launched a massive search and rescue effort in response to their disappearance. Flyers had been passed out at the post office. Squads of police officers and citizen volunteers had scoured the nearby forest. A few arrests had even been made. Yet there had been surprisingly little fanfare upon the girls’ return. The authorities had accepted their story of Yvette running off to visit an old boyfriend – as tenuous as it was – with little more than a raised eyebrow. The 10 o’clock news did a short segment on the “missing Dairyville teenagers” but when it became apparent no one had been murdered the station quickly lost interest. Their parents had been so relieved that they were alive and unharmed they didn’t seem to care why they had left home in the first place. Within a few months it was as though the whole incident had never occurred.

Melinda had then set about helping the girls settle into their new “lifestyle.” For one month they met every Saturday deep within the wildlife preserve near Melinda’s house. There, she taught them how to hunt, how to control their transformations, and imposed certain rules…

“Rules?”

“Yeah, rules,” said Melinda as she sat at the base of the tree. “Since we’re all in this together I think it’d be a good idea to set down certain rules for ourselves.”

“Like what?” asked Heidi.

“For one thing,” began Melinda, “And I think this is fairly obvious, never, ever, EVER reveal our secret. You can’t tell anyone – let alone show anyone – you’re a werewolf. Not your parents, not your sister, not your brother, not your boyfriend, not your best friend – absolutely no one can know about this.”

“Makes sense,” said Lily with a nod.

“But…what if someone finds out anyway?” asked Cynthia carefully. “Like, say, a friend catches you transforming or something?”

Melinda gave the blonde werewolf a cold look.

“It’s just a question, Melinda,” said Cynthia with perfectly crafted innocence.

“Should that happen,” said Melinda slowly. “And we all should do our utmost to prevent something like that from happening – bite the individual in question. That way our secret becomes theirs.”

The circle was silent.

“That’s a bit much, Melinda,” said Yvette.

“Y-Yeah. What if it were your mom or dad?” whimpered Lily.

Melinda hesitated. She had a point. When she thought of having to bite her parents her imagination actually just shut down.

“Well…Ok,” said Melinda. “First, let everyone else know what happened. Then we – as a group – can decide what to do. Sound fair?”

The girls nodded.

“Second rule,” continued Melinda. “As you know by now, changing into a werewolf takes a lot out of you, and always carries the risk of being spotted. To that end, I think it’d be better if we didn’t transform except when absolutely necessary.”

The other girls looked at Melinda expectantly.

“What I mean to say is,” she said, rubbing her furry brow. “Don’t go running off into the woods some Wednesday night just because you feel like it. Full moons should be the only time you wolf-out. I know it doesn’t sound like something you’d do, but trust me. Some evenings, late-at-night when I’m sitting in front of my window…” she paused. “Let’s just say it gets really tempting.”

“In that case why don’t we run together every full moon?” said Yvette brightly. “I’ve had a lot of fun these last couple of weeks. I certainly wouldn’t mind doing this every month.”


It was decided they would meet at the preserve every full moon around 7:30 from then on.

Initially, the three cheerleaders had been uncomfortable with the arrangement. Melinda was actually forced to drag them out of their houses on several occasions…

“Come out, Cynthia, I know you’re in there! Your mom told me so!”

“I’m not going, Melinda! It’s…it’s too damn freaky!”

“It’s getting dark, Cynthia. Do you want to be stuck in your room all night looking like the bride of Chewbacca? With your parents home?”


Yet as the weeks passed, their reservations faded. Before long they were counting the days to the next full moon. Even Cynthia could not help but howl with joy as she sprinted through the moonlit forest. On a whim they made their group an official school club, registering it as “The Fantasy Book Club,” though amongst themselves they referred to it – through whispered giggles – as The Lycanthrope Club. Soon summer came, affording the five werewolves even more time to play in their fur. Melinda smiled wistfully as she recalled those warm, beautiful, idyllic summer nights.

However, all good things must come to an end. With the start of school the five girls found it increasingly difficult to fit their schedule around their monthly outings. Graduation was a little less than two years away, and they were all busy filling their college applications with extra-curricular activities. Melinda had signed up for women’s lacrosse and tennis; Heidi had joined no less than six school sports teams. Pressure to succeed weighed heavily upon the girls, and with pressure came stress. Stress, in turn, rekindled certain ill feelings between the five werewolves – especially Melinda and Cynthia.

Then disaster struck – or nearly did, anyways. One Tuesday afternoon during tennis practice Heidi was playing a match against a particularly challenging opponent. As Melinda watched the game she spotted something sticking out the back of Heidi’s skirt. At first she dismissed it as a tennis ball, but as the match went on she noticed that the object wagged back and forth as Heidi walked. Melinda signaled Heidi to stop, and upon discreet inspection of her backside found that her tail had grown out during the match. She forced Heidi to forfeit and immediately ushered her into the girl’s bathroom. To their mutual relief, the appendage retracted on its own accord a half-hour later, and no one else at practice had seemed to notice it. Nevertheless, Melinda grew paranoid after that harrowing experience. She started attending every sporting event the other girls participated in, watching closely for any emergent fur, fang, or tail. She fussed over them like a mother, bossing them around. She even went so far as to dictate how far they could take their relationships…

“I don’t want any one going past first base. Tell your boyfriend you just want to talk or something.”

The three cheerleaders stared at Melinda in disbelief as she continued.

“Who the hell do you think you are telling us where, when, and what we can do with our boyfriends?” exclaimed Cynthia angrily.

“It’s for your safety and theirs!” replied Melinda, red-faced.

“It’s none of your business,” growled Heidi. “Besides, you don’t even have a boyfriend!”


Already bitter over Melinda’s authoritarian style of leadership, the cheerleaders started openly rebelling. Although Yvette eventually managed to settle things between the four girls both sides remained resentful. It was during this time that Melinda started experiencing the nightmares. Every night she dreamt she was back in the woods, hunting down people, transforming them into werewolves under the light of a full moon. Needless to say, this frightened Melinda, and strengthened her conviction that her lupine instincts could not be trusted.

And just recently…well, heck, there had been a lot of little things. Heidi’s repeated attempts to convince the group to initiate a new member, Cynthia’s attitude problem, the dwindling population of game in the wildlife preserve – little things that when taken together equaled one massive headache.

Melinda slumped back into the thick black padding of her chair with an exhausted sigh. If given the choice of changing back into a human and remaining a werewolf three months ago she would have chosen the latter without hesitation. Now, she wasn’t quite certain. The stress and inconvenience it caused her was starting to outweigh its perks.

***

Melinda tensed her powerful arm muscles, griping her crosse tightly in both hands. She shifted her stance, placing more weight on her back leg. The cries and catcalls of the other players faded from her awareness. Then with a wild scream she flung the ball as hard as she could. It blurred through the air in a tight arc, passing unerringly through the goal posts and colliding into the net, which bulged a good two or three feet outwards before the ball plopped to the ground.

The opposing team moaned.

“Alright!” called Coach Stevenson from the far side of the soccer field. “That’s time. Christine’s team wins.”

The members of the Dairyville High Lacrosse team left their positions and gathered around the coach, who gave them an encouraging nod.

“Good hustle out there,” she said cheerfully. “You all need to improve your passes a little, but otherwise, great job. And Melinda – that was one sweet goal point.”

Melinda blushed – or would have if her face weren’t already red from exertion.

“OK, let’s get the equipment off the field and in the storage closet. Marry, Nina, could you two put away the goals?”

“Sure thing.”

“No problem.”

“Good, the rest of you just pick up your gear,” said the coach. “And don’t forget – the game against Franklin is this coming Thursday. The bus will be picking you up at the west side of the parking lot at five PM, sharp. We won’t be getting back until ten, so bring a snack and plenty of water. No soda; you don’t need any of that crap.”

The team dispersed and began collecting their things. Wiping a trickle of perspiration from her brow, Melinda stepped towards the spectator stands. Even though school had been out for over an hour there were a few parents and students sitting in the upper rows. Melinda squatted and reached for something beneath the base tier of the stands. She emerged holding an unopened bottle of Arrowhead spring water. She twisted the cap off with a deft motion and took a long, satisfying drink – draining the bottle of half its contents in a single gulp.

A tall brunette girl with suntanned skin jogged up to her.

“Wow, you were kicking ass today, Melinda!” said the girl.

Melinda glanced behind her.

“Huh? Oh yeah, thanks Christine,” she said as she wiped her mouth.

“Seriously, if you keep that up we’ll make it all the way to the regional finals this year!” continued Christine, adjusting the neck of her sweat-soaked uniform.

“Yeah, well, I was getting a few sour looks out on in field,” said Melinda, bending over to pick up her backpack.

“What do you mean?”

Melinda sighed.

“Look, I just joined the team last semester and I’m already scoring more goals than anyone else. I think…I think they’re getting a little jealous, and frankly I don’t blame them.”

“Really?” said Christine, glancing over her shoulders at the other players.

“Yeah...”

“Aw, don’t let them get to you!” laughed Christine, patting Melinda on the back. “You shouldn’t hold back on their account!”

But I already am, thought Melinda morosely. Heck, I could probably keep on playing for hours.

As much as Melinda disliked Heidi’s unbridled athleticism, she had to admit that the feisty redhead had been right about one thing: sports weren’t fun if you didn’t give it all you had. Sure, lacrosse had been great at first. She had made new friends, got plenty of fresh air and exercise. Her enhanced physique made her a natural athlete. In the span of a few months she had gone from not knowing which end of the stick to hold to becoming the lacrosse team’s star player.

Yet in a way, this very strength had betrayed her. As Melinda had observed a few months ago, a werewolf’s body adapted remarkably quickly to any prolonged physical exertion. A few weeks of weightlifting could add several pounds of muscle; a good jog every morning could lower one’s heart rate in a matter of days. The problem was it didn’t stop there. One evening not too long ago, Heidi – who over the course of the last few months had subjected herself to a workout regimen that made boot camp look like preschool – took the opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of girls how powerful her human body had become since her metamorphosis. By the time she was finished she had broken four world records, and Melinda darkly suspected Yvette was even more powerful. Granted, Melinda was nowhere near as fanatical as Heidi, but she soon found herself capable of feats only professional athletes could plausibly get away. She was amazed by how restrained she had to be during matches and practice to avoid arousing suspicion. And when the game stopped being challenging, it stopped being fun. Despite this she remained on the team – she just couldn’t bring herself to disappoint Christine. Next to Yvette, she was Melinda’s best friend.

“Hey Melinda, do you want a ride home?” asked Christine as she tied her crosse to her backpack.

Melinda shook her head. “Nah, I’m riding my bike home today.”

“Really? Wow…that’s some distance,” said Christine, impressed. She started walking along the field.

“Not as much as you’d think,” said Melinda, following her. “There’s a little dirt trail that runs between the forest and a street only five blocks from my house. It cuts a couple of miles off the trip.”

“Oh cool. How’d you find it?”

“I was, um, hiking.”

“Huh, I thought most of the woods were off-limits – being a wildlife preserve and all that,” said Christine. The two of them were now nearing the school parking lot.

“Well…uh,” began Melinda.

Christine snapped her fingers.

“Damn, I forgot Phillip,” she exclaimed.

“Your boyfriend?” asked Melinda.

“Nah, my little brother. Well, we’re actually twins, but puberty didn’t do him as many favors as it did me,” she laughed.

“Oh.”

“Want to meet him? Wait here, I’ll go get him.”

Before Melinda could respond Christine turned around and jogged back towards the soccer field. Melinda shrugged and waited. It wasn’t as though she had anything better to do.

Christine returned with a wiry, brown-haired youth in tow. He wore a pair of curved blue-black sunglasses, a plain white cotton T-shirt noticeable absent of any stains or discolorations, loose khaki shorts, and Birkenstocks over wool socks. Despite this ragged demeanor he had a clean, honest face, speckled with only a token level of acne. He was a little shorter than Christine and nowhere near as toned, but neither did he look out of shape.

From a purely objective standpoint Melinda saw that he was not much different from the other five hundred or so male students at Dairyville High, but found herself strangely interested in him.

“Melinda, this is Phillip,” said Christine cheerfully. “Phillip, Melinda. She’s the one I’ve been telling you about – the girl who single-handedly scored six points against Asbury.”

“Ah, hello,” said Phillip, giving her a modest wave.

“A pleasure,” said Melinda with good-natured mock courtesy, though for some reason she felt a tingle nervousness run through her body as she did so.

“You were amazing out there,” said Phillip.

“Oh, thank you,” said Melinda, who suddenly remembered seeing a boy who looked much like him sitting in the upper rows of the stands during practice. “You were watching me?

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his head. “I usually stick around to watch Christie play, but you kinda stole my interest.”

“Philly!” laughed Christine, elbowing him playfully.

“What?” said Phillip innocently.

Melinda was under the impression she was missing something.

“Actually,” began Phillip uneasily. “I was sort of hoping Christine would introduce me to you. To tell the truth, this isn’t the first time I’ve watched you play.”

“Oh?” said Melinda, not sure how to respond.

“The thing is…well, I was wondering if…if you’d be interested in going to have a bite to eat with me,” he managed shyly.

When Melinda realized what he was proposing she couldn’t even manage an “oh.” Christine just chuckled.

“I mean, if you have the time,” added Phillip quickly. “If you can’t go right now, that’s OK…I mean, if you can’t I understan–”

“Actually I do have to get home pretty soon,” blurted Melinda nervously. “Sorry, but…” she trailed.

Then, it hit her. She was flattered. She was completely, utterly flattered by Phillip’s offer. Not once in her life had any boy shown the slightest interest in her, and neither had she ever expected such attention. She was just so…plain. Or at least, she had been plain. Now that she thought about it, her looks had improved considerably over the summer. She was taller, more muscular, her skin smoother, her hair dark and waxy, her green eyes bright and vibrant – heck, she was actually quite pretty.

And Phillip was just her type. Strange…she hadn’t even been aware she had a type. Nevertheless, he was it – polite, fit, obviously a bit reserved, but not excessively so, and not too bad looking. He didn’t wear any cologne or hair gel, and smelled quite nicely to Melinda’s extra-sensitive nose.

“Well,” she said eventually, grinning foolishly. “I…I suppose we could stop by Carl Jrs. If you don’t mind walking, that is.”

“N-Not at all!” exclaimed Phillip happily.

“Umm,” interrupted Christine. “I hate to say this, but I’m Phillip’s ride home – he can’t go.”

“Oh…oh yeah,” said Phillip gloomily.

“Why…why don’t we go tomorrow, then?” suggested Melinda. “And why don’t we go someplace nicer than Carl Jrs., ah…Marie’s Kitchen, over on 3rd street? Right after school? I don’t have practice that day.”

“That sounds great!” said Phillip enthusiastically.

“Good, I’ll see you then,” said Melinda with equal excitement.

Phillip nodded happily.

“Glad that’s settled, then,” said Christine, turning to her car. “Bye, Melinda.”

“Bye Christine,” said Melinda, “Bye Phillip. Nice to have met you.”

Phillip smiled and gave her a three-fingered wave as he climbed into Christine’s vehicle. Melinda watched them drive away with a pounding heart.

“I have a date,” she said excitedly.
Part 2 of 9.
© 2009 - 2024 Heliotroph
Comments3
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
NormalGuy04's avatar

So this is a "Transform at will" Dealio?


Sweet