You Can't Come in Here! (6 page)

Leading the way, with Drew and Vicky close behind, Emily moved quickly but carefully through the thicket of trees and bushes. She shoved aside branches and squeezed her way around thick tree trunks.

Emily stopped short in front of an old tree with sharp bare branches sticking out on all sides. “This is it,” she said. “I'm sure of it. This is where the bloody tuft of fur was.”

A bright light suddenly blazed to life, sending Emily stumbling backward, crashing into a tree.

“Who's there?” she cried.

“Um, sorry, it's just me,” Vicky replied, waving a flashlight around. “I guess I should have warned you that I was turning on the flashlight, huh?”

“Yes! No surprises, please! We're in the woods, in the dark, hunting a monster, remember?” Emily screamed in an adrenaline-fueled shriek. She had been keeping her composure pretty well considering all this wolf-and-blood-and-creepy-woods craziness—until that moment.

She took a deep breath. “Okay, maybe I overreacted a bit. Anyway, now that you've got that thing on, shine it at the tree.”

Vicky trained the flashlight's beam on the bare tree. She lit up the branches, moving her light up and down. Emily examined each branch. She saw no sign of the fur she had seen the night before.

Finding nothing on that particular tree, the trio moved deeper into the woods. The night was still. Even the usually fluttering leaves made no sound in the windless darkness.

“So what are we looking for now?” Drew asked, ducking under a branch.

“I don't know,” Emily replied. “Something. Anything. Whatever it was I saw last—”

The sound of footsteps tearing through the woods stopped Emily short.

“Here it comes!” she whispered. “It sounds like what I heard last night. But I don't see anything.”

The woods grew silent again for a moment, then the sound returned.

“Whatever it is, it's running through the dead leaves on the ground, kicking up a storm,” Drew said, staring into the darkness, trying to find the movement that went along with the rustling and running sounds.

“There!” Vicky said a few seconds later, aiming the flashlight at the ground. The brilliant beam picked up a scurrying movement.

“That's it!” Emily cried, relieved to learn that she was not imagining things. There really was something out there.

The creature froze in the intense circle of light, then turned and flashed its dark eyes right at Vicky.

“Um, Emily, that's a raccoon,” Drew said.

The small creature stared up at the friends, looking
at first puzzled, then annoyed. When it flashed a set of sharp-looking teeth, Vicky turned off the light, allowing the critter to go about its nocturnal business in private.

“
That's
what this was all about?” Vicky asked. “A raccoon in the woods at night?”

“No!” Emily snapped defensively. “I don't know. Maybe we should just—”

A-hooooo!
Ow-ow-w!

Emily stopped talking and clutched Vicky's arm. “That's the sound—the exact sound, I swear,” she said in horror. “It's the wolf! Shine your light! Shine your light!”

Vicky fumbled clumsily with the flashlight, trying to turn it on as quickly as she could.

Emily's frantic insistence didn't help. “Come on! Come on!” she cried.

A-hooooo!
Ow-ow-w!

The howling came again, closer this time. Vicky dropped the flashlight onto the ground.

“It's getting closer!” Emily whispered.

Vicky dropped to her knees. She began to feel around desperately among the leaves and twigs. Emily knelt down beside her and helped with the search. If
they were going to get torn apart by a wild beast, the least they could do was see the thing.

“Got it!” Vicky cried after a few more seconds of panicked searching.

A-HOOOOO!
OW-OW-W!

The howling was right upon them now. Vicky lifted herself to one knee and flipped the switch. Her light blazed to life, and she aimed the beam right at the sound, which now seemed to be directly overhead, ready to pounce down onto them.

A-HOOOOO! OW-OW-W!

In the circle of light casting skyward, perched on a thick branch, stood an owl. The bird cocked its head as it peered down at the kids looking up at it.

“A-HOOOOO! OW-OW-W!”
the owl screeched again. Then it spread its wings and took off into the night.

“Well?” Vicky said questioningly to Emily. “Seen enough? Do you need any more proof that there is no wolf, no monster, no bloodthirsty beast?”

Emily sighed. She still could not explain all this, but she also couldn't continue to search for something that most likely did not exist. “Yeah, let's go home. Sorry, Vicky. Sorry, Drew.”

But Drew didn't respond. “Drew? DREW?! Vicky, where's Drew? He's gone.”

“Drew!” Vicky called out.

“Drew!” Emily cried, their voices echoing through the trees.

“What are you two yelling about?” Drew said suddenly from behind them.

“Where were you?” Emily asked sternly, like a frightened mother reprimanding a child.

“I had to pee,” Drew explained. “Did I miss anything?”

“You missed Emily being attacked by a killer owl.
A-hooooo! Ow-ow-w!
” Vicky did a pretty good impression of the owl.

“That's it, guys,” Emily said, throwing her hands into the air. “I'm done with all this wolf stuff. I promise. I'm sorry I dragged you out here.”

“It's no big deal,” Vicky said. “It's a nice night for a walk.”

Vicky had barely finished her sentence when the first drops of rain began to fall. The trio picked their way back through the woods. By the time they emerged into Drew and Vicky's backyard it was pouring.

“Sorry again, guys!” Emily said through the teeming
raindrops. “I'll see you soon.” Then she ran across the street.

Pausing under the awning at her front door, she glanced back at the Strigs' house. She saw Vicky slip through the front door. Then she heard the all-too-familiar howling again. Leaning to one side to get a better angle on the woods, Emily saw something running—something larger than a raccoon or an owl.

She turned quickly away. “No,” she muttered to herself just before stepping inside. “I am done with all this wolf stuff!”

Emily tossed and turned, trying to force herself to fall asleep. She knew it was hopeless.

“I'm done with all this wolf stuff. I'm done with all this wolf stuff,” she kept repeating over and over, hoping that she could convince herself it was true, or at the very least use it to help her fall asleep; kind of like counting sheep or listening to music.

No luck. The more she tried to push the weirdness out of her mind, the more it clawed at her. Sure, she could put on a brave face to Drew and Vicky and Ethan and Hannah, saying things like “I know it was only a dream,” and “Yes, I love scary movies, and yes, I know I have an active imagination.” But in her heart, she didn't buy it. Not for one second. There was something strange
going on in her neighborhood, across the street, in the woods beyond the Strigs' house.

And at that moment Emily knew for certain that she had to find out what it was. She had to do this by herself, and she had never been surer about anything in her life. Jumping from her bed, she quickly got dressed. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was three forty-five a.m.—no time for anyone in their right mind to be getting dressed and going outside for any reason, much less to search for a monster.

Then again, Emily was far from sure that she was still in her right mind.

A-hooooo!
Ow-ow-w!

The howling drifted through her window, as if somehow the creature knew that she was coming after it, and calling her to join it. Emily found it strange that this sound didn't scare her. In fact, it didn't even surprise her. She felt as though she had an appointment with the beast to settle their score. To end this.

Moving swiftly but as quietly as she could, Emily hurried down the stairs and slipped out the front door. She had never been outside this late before. There was that time when she was nine, her family had to make a
trip to visit a sick aunt, and her dad decided it would be better to drive all night than to fly out the next day. But other than that and a few restless nights before big tests, Emily had never really seen what three forty-five a.m. looked like. But now she was out in it.

Her safe, comfortable neighborhood felt odd. The quiet was startling. No cars, no music or TV sets, no one mowing the lawn. Only her footsteps tapping against the blacktop as she crossed the street.

Without pausing, she walked right onto the Strigs' front yard, went around to the back of the house, and reached the edge of the woods.

A-hooooo!
Ow-ow-w!

“I'm coming,” Emily said boldly. “And I'm not afraid of you.”

Emily had been in these woods so many times that she felt she could almost find her way around blindfolded. And she might as well have been, given how dark it was. Fearlessly she pushed through the thick branches, annoyed at their latest attempts to scratch her. She couldn't see or hear the wolf, but she felt she knew exactly where to go to find it.

Deeper and deeper she plunged until she came to a
slight clearing that she somehow knew was right in the center of the woods. Emily looked in every direction, peering into the dense growth just beyond the small opening in which she stood.

“Where are you?” she muttered. “Show yourself. Show me that you are real!”

Snap.

A small twig snapped behind Emily. She spun around and spotted a thick, hairy paw emerging from the undergrowth. The paw was followed by a leg, then the wolf's large head and long jaws slid out from the thicket.

The creature turned its head sideways and narrowed its eyes, as if it were sizing Emily up. She stood her ground. She had not come this far to turn away now. Emily had never felt so brave. She met the wolf's gaze with a penetrating stare.

The wolf drew back the skin around its mouth, revealing the same bloodstained teeth Emily remembered from the first time she had seen the animal—in that so-called dream that clearly was no dream.

Crouching low, the wolf let out a deep, low-pitched growl. Brave as she was trying to be, Emily began to feel
afraid . . . very afraid. The creature seemed to sense this change of emotion, from her rock-steady conviction to the overwhelming fear that now threatened to hold her paralyzed where she stood.

That's when the wolf sprang forward, charging at Emily, its eyes wild with rage, its jaws wide open, trailing long strings of blood-flecked saliva.

Emily turned and ran, crashing back through the dense woods. She gave no thought now to being brave, or to proving to everyone else that the wolf was real. Her only thought was to survive.

Branches tore at her face and arms as she ran. No matter how fast she pushed herself, she could hear the wolf close behind. Its powerful legs pounded into the ground, propelling the beast forward, growling and snarling as it ran.

Emily's ankle caught a low branch. A jolt of pain shot through her leg as she tripped and tumbled to the ground, twisting and landing on her back. The wolf increased its speed, seeing that its prey was vulnerable now. It leaped into the air, ready to come down right on top of her.

In the split second that the wolf was airborne, Emily
rolled over, the pain in her back and shoulders matching the ache in her ankle. The wolf slammed to the ground beside her, landing just inches away from her face. It slid along the fallen leaves and twigs and crashed into the base of a tree.

Emily pushed herself up from her stomach and stumbled forward, shoving the pain aside. Behind her, she heard the wolf scramble back to its feet and continue its close pursuit.

Jumping over low branches and ducking under higher ones, Emily maneuvered through the woods like some combination gymnast and high-hurdles track star. Ahead she spotted a thin ribbon of light through the trees. She allowed herself to feel hopeful.

The streetlights!
she thought.
I'm almost there, almost home.

Emily emerged from the woods into the Strigs' backyard. She glanced toward the door, hoping that maybe the noise from the chase would have awakened someone.

The Strigs' house was dark and still.

She glanced back over her shoulder. The wolf was still just a few feet away.

Dashing across the street, Emily made for her front
door, like a runner sprinting for the finish line. Her legs felt like lead, her ankle throbbed, and she began to tremble as she ran.

The wolf drew closer and closer.

Emily hit the front steps and took them two at a time. She grabbed the front door, threw it open, and ran inside. But the beast was right there, leaving her no time to close the door and keep it out.