Authors: Jody Morse,Jayme Morse
Howl (Howl #1) (9 page)
Samara looked back at her mom, who was still waiting for an answer. “I don’t know how I got here. Maybe I sleepwalked.” In a way, that’s what last night had felt like. It didn’t seem like she had been completely conscious and in control of herself; she had simply woken up and felt compelled to go
outside and run.
Mrs. McKinley sighed. “That could be it. I remember your dad mentioning that Grandpa Joe always used to sleepwalk. Maybe sleepwalking is hereditary.
We’ll have to talk to Dr. Mason about it the next time you go in for a check-up.
” Her mom opened the back door and stepped into the kitchen. “I’m going to make some breakfast. Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” Samara replied, feeling her stomach growl
at just the thought of food.
“I figured I would make eggs, pancakes, and bacon. Would you rather have vegetaria
n bacon or sausage?”
Samara shook her head. “No, I decided that I’m not
a vegetarian anymore. I’ll have regular bacon.”
It had been a week since she had started eating meat, but she hadn’t told her mom and dad
about it
yet. Samara realized that they were going to have to find out sooner or later, though. Meat was the only thing that she had been craving lately, and she was starting to get tired of having to sneak it at night when everyone else was sleeping or wait until she was at school to eat. Even though eating any type of meat helped control her cravings, she would rather bring deli meat
or leftover fried chicken
to school for lunch than order mystery
meat from the school cafeteria (especially if she didn’t want to get dirty looks from Emm
a).
Mrs. McKinley raised an unkempt
eyebrow. “You haven’t eaten meat for practically your whole entire life, and now you want bacon? Who are you
,
and what h
ave you done with my daughter?”
Samara forced a laugh. She wanted to tell her mom that she was wondering t
he same exact thing.
Chapter 8
****
“Samara, are we okay
?” Emma asked over the phone.
“Yeah, we’re fine. Why wouldn’t we be?” Samara asked, trying to make her voice sound warm and cheerful. The truth was that she felt like she and her best friend were beginning to grow apart. Emma only cared about partying and boys, while Samara had more important things to worry about
lately, like
whether or not she had
really
t
urned into a wolf last night.
Emma sighed over the phone. “Well, you left last night without even telling me you were leaving. Th
at’s not what best friends do.”
“I’m sorry,” Samara replied, trying to make herself sound sympathetic. She wasn’t sure if it was really believable, though. “
I wasn’t feeling that good, so I just went home to sleep.
How was the party?”
“It was amazing!
Yo
u’ll never guess who likes me!”
“You’re right, I’ll nev
er guess. Who?” Samara asked.
“Jason! We made out a
lmost the whole entire time.”
“Wow,” Samara replied.
For some reason, she had thought that Emma was over Jason already. She’d had a crush on him over the summer for what felt like five minutes. Knowing the way Emma was, though, she’d probably move onto
another guy in a week from now.
“What do you think of him?
” Emma asked. “He’s, like, gorgeous
!
Isn’t he?
”
Samara hesitated. She wanted to tell Emma that
she thought Jason was a creep
, but she knew that wouldn’t win her the-best-friend-of-the-year award. Normally, Samara
would have just told Emma the way it was
, but
it felt like their friendship was already
on thin ice. She didn’t want to stomp on it
and fall through. “He’s cute.”
Even though Jason was a creeper, Samara couldn’t deny that he was attractive. With his jet black hair, nearly-black eyes, and muscular build, most girls would consider him the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. It was just the creepin
ess factor that bugged Samara.
“He’s an amazing kisser, too!” Emma went on excitedly. “He said that if I’m nice, he’ll take me to the Homecoming dance! I’m so happy and excited to be in love
with the cutest boy in school.”
“You barely know him,” Samara said. “
Are you sure you’re in love?”
“Yes, definitely,” Emma replied. “We are perfect
together and –”
Samara heard a loud thud
from
downstairs. A moment later, she heard her dad yell, “Wha
t do you think you’re doing?”
“Ugh,
I’m
sorry, Emma,” Samara cut in. “I really have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Without giving her best friend a chance to answer, she hit the end button and tossed the phone on her bed.
Samara
went into the living room and stopped dead i
n her tracks at what she saw.
Seth had her dad pinned against the wall. His fist was raised in the air as he shouted, “Leave me alone! Min
d your own goddamn business!”
“Seth, stop!” Samara said, hurrying over to them. She felt panicked. Samara had never noticed how much bigger her brother had become than her dad. He towered ov
er him. “Don’t hurt him again!”
Seth looked over at her with his bloodshot eyes. A look of anger crossed over his face. “Who do you think you are to tel
l me what to do?”
Samara carefully put her hand on Seth’s shoulder. He flinched, but didn’t do anything to hurt her, so she left it there. “I’m your sister, and I love and care about you. Dad does, too. We can get you help for whatever it is that you’re going through. Just
please
don’t hurt dad
, Seth
.”
Letting go of their father, Seth stared at Samara angrily. Sure that he was going to turn on her, Samara took a step back and looked around the room for something to shield herself with
.
Seth made a grunting soun
d and ran out the front door.
Samara turned to the
ir father. “Are you okay, Dad?”
Mr. McKinley nodded, but she co
uld tell from his quivering chest
that he was really shaken
up by what had just happened.
“What happened?” Samara asked. “Why was
he so angry this time?”
“I don’t really know,” Mr. McKinley replied, running a
shaky
hand over his bald head. “He just came in here and started flipping out
on me for no reason. He was uncontrollable. He’s always
uncontrollable
lately.
”
Samara sighed. “W
e really need to get him help.”
“I know it, Sam. Your mom, thou
gh . . .
” Mr. McKinley trailed off.
“I think we should take a vote. It’s two against one, after all. Mom will
have to give in.”
“I hope so. I like your democratic way of thinking,
” Mr. McKinley
chuckled
. “Because I’m not sure what else there is to do at this point. It’s like he
’s a totally different person.”
Seth and I have something in common
, Samara thought to herself.
*
She wasn’t sure if she had fallen asleep yet or if she had been
lying
there so long in the darkness without thinking about anythi
ng that it had felt like she had been
sleeping. Either way, she fel
t the urge to go outside again.
Samara climbed out of bed and opened her window.
S
he glanced up at the moon. It was just as full and bright as it had been the night before. Once again, she felt as though the moon w
as calling out to her, as though it was telling her that it was ready for her.
Samara pinched her wrist to see if she was awake this time or if she was just dreaming. She felt her sharp nails digging into her skin. Samara might not be conscious of whatever she was doing
or know why it was happening
, but one thing was for sure; she
was definitely awake tonight.
As she got closer to the lake,
she tore off her clothes. Samara
felt the same feeling sweep over her body again. Her skin began to feel hot, and she felt like she was going to puke. This time
,
the feeling was so intense that Samara gasped loudly
– and then
she felt it happening again.
When the feeling passed, Samara looked into the water. Sure enough, she saw a white w
olf’s reflection in the lake.
It was real. Samara hadn’t bee
n dreaming.
She
was the wolf the water reflected. She was a werewolf.
She wasn’t sure if it was a wolf’s natural instinct or if it was her human emotions taking over, but Samara looked up at the sky and howled. She howled loud and long, until she wasn’t
sure if she could howl anymore.
Stop crying, you big baby
, a deep voice came from behind her
.
You’ll wake up all of the humans in Grandview. It’s rude.
Samara whirled around, her ears pinning back with alertness. She found herself staring back into the eyes of a gray wolf. Glancing at its side, she noticed the light brown heart-shaped patch of fur. It was the
same wolf who had bitten her.
Unsure how she was supposed to communicate with the gray wolf, Samara bared her teeth and let out a
deep growl. She felt her body tense up, unsure how much she should trust this wolf after he had attacked her.
She heard the gray wolf chuckling.
We can talk to each other through our thoughts. Instead of trying to say somethin
g out loud, say it in your head.
Samara sat down on the ground, tucking her tail underneath her
, but not letting her guard down. If the wolf came a step closer to her, she was prepared to attack him
.
Who are you?
I can’t tell you that. Not yet. You’ll find out eventually, though
, the gray wolf replied.
Are we werewolves?
Samara asked timidly. Even though she knew that it was necessary for her to ask the question, she really didn’t want to hear the answer. It wou
ld make it all feel too real.
Duh
, the gray wolf said back. He began walking in circles around her, staring her down with his icy blue eyes.
If you’re just realizing that we’re werewolves, I must have overestimated
your intelligence. I thought you were really smart.
Samara let out a low growl. Instead of snapping at the wolf for his comment, she aske
d the first question that popped into her mind:
Did you bite me on purpose?
Everything happens for a reason
, the wolf replied.
Don’t worry, though. You’ll get used to this. Soon, you’ll be united with your pack, and things will only get easier from then on
.
Before Samara could ask the gray wolf another question, he had already darted
into the forest.
*
The next morning, Samara pulled herself off
of
the
cold
ground and looked around. The sun was just beginning to rise, so it seemed unlikely that anyone had seen her
this time
. Her parents usually slept in on Sunday mornings, and she knew that the neighbors didn’t go to church until ten or eleven o’c
lock.
She scurried across the yard and grabbed the white t-shirt and blue fuzzy fleece pajama bottoms that she had thrown there last night. If Samara was going to continue changing into a wolf at night, she was going to need to figure out a better clothing system. She rea
lly didn’t want to risk her dad, Seth,
or their elderly next door neighbor, Bill, finding her
lying
on the ground naked. It
would just be too weird – and too weird to have to explain, especially because she couldn’t think of a reasonable expl
anation aside from sleepwalking.
Samara climbed back into her bedroom window and closed it behind her. Pulling on her clothes, she pick
ed up her blinking cell phone. Wondering who could be texting her so early in the morning, she opened the text message. It
was
from
Declan.
She knew that he was a bit of an insomniac, so it wasn’t unusual for him to send her text messages late at night or early in the morning. The text message
read: