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Secrets of the Night

Brenna sat down in the pantry and curled her legs up beneath her. She didn't think anything out there could come through walls so she only had to worry about what came at her from the front. It was as good a strategy as any. Everyone else had drifted out long ago, and it had felt like hours to her as she heard the most pained screams and anxious howls ever. She wondered if one of the townspeople would come to her aid, but as time passed she decided they didn't know her well enough to do that. Even the FBI official would stay indoors safe and secure while the others fought to save themselves- or were they fighting to save her?

In her imagination she pictured large monstrous deformed creatures coming through the backdoor to attack her. So, when the first thing to make it through the door was a very small wolf pup she was taken aback. It didn't have a feral look about him, but she knew to be cautious. Carefully Brenna inched toward the freezer and removed a slab of meat Jason had bought. She unwrapped it ignoring the blood juice that got on her hands and watched the wolf cub come closer. He was cute, with grey hair and button black eyes. He tilted his head curiously, and wagged his tail as if hopeful that she might give him the meat. Brenna happily obliged, throwing it far across the kitchen. The pup walked over to it, and she noticed his limp for the first time, and the large bleeding gash cut in his flank. Three lines as if he had been cut by a large claw left blood matted into his furry hide. He ate almost delicately picking at the meat with the patience of a well-schooled child.

Brenna wondered if he was indeed a child. His manner was playful and his fur looked soft to the touch. She didn't wait around to find out though. Maizie stood still, her eyes had remained closed since the beginning and she seemed unaware of anyone's presence but her own. Another wolf came running into the house, this one large and brown with eyes that would have been pretty if they weren't behind a muzzle full of razor sharp teeth. Brenna backed toward the exit realizing late that she would have to walk past the basement door and she was suddenly afraid to go that way she froze. More creatures were making their way into the house. Brenna saw one of the shining ones scramble into the room and he looked completely different with blood smeared on his perfectly arched cheek.

"Don't threaten her," the man warned a pair of approaching animals she thought looked like a bobcat but human size and a werewolf. The pair were pacing analyzing her moves, preparing to attack. The small pup had finished his steak and came skidding across the linoleum toward Brenna hoping for more. The glittering figure grabbed for the wolf and caught it by the tail. Quickly he pulled the wolf outside leaving Brenna with the bobcat and the pup, and a catatonic Maizie safely ensconsced in her own little protective bubble. Everything happened at once, the bobcat jerked forward to attack, Brenna grabbed the pup and pulled it close and said the name that had set off everyone around her before.

"Breena!" she screamed it. Nothing happened, the bobcat was nearly upon her, the wolf was squirming to escape her arms. She closed her eyes and pressed as hard as she could against everything around her.

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