Out Of My Head [CLOSED]

[Dark_Dimensions]

Zoe

The weather always seemed to set her mood and today was no different. Rain always put a damper on her plans. She was supposed to go to the park and take pictures of the new flowers at the botanical garden for her research project, but the sudden downpour put an end to all that. The forecast predicted a little rain, not a monsoon; forecasters were always off.

She flopped back on the bed. There was nowhere to go, nothing to do. Zoe was sometimes a drama queen and today, of all days, she was acting it. Another deep sigh passed her pink lips as she rolled over to look at the clock. It was half past three in the afternoon, too late to meet her friends at the local café, especially after yesterday when she told them she wasn’t going to be joining them, and way too early to head to the party she was attending with a few of her coworkers after their shift. She still had six hours to kill. Six hours! It was torture.

Rolling on her back again, the young woman stared at the ceiling. A thought came to mind. There was something she could do but it was risky. Of course, when wasn’t what she did late at night, long after her parents went to sleep, risky? If they knew she liked to spy on the riff-raff down the block, they’d ship her off to live with her grandparents. Zoe and her family didn’t exactly live in the safest area of the city but they kept to themselves, or tried to at least. And they sure as hell didn’t go out looking for trouble.

She didn’t necessarily go looking for it. It just always seemed to find her, at least that’s what she thought as she got up and threw on her dark gray sweater and jeans. Slipping into her dingy black sneakers, she grabbed her keys from the hook in the hall and slipped out with none the wiser. She had her cellphone in case her parents called. They likely wouldn’t for a while. As she closed the door to their, apartment she could hear her father snoring from his spot on the couch and her mother relentlessly rocking back and forth in her rocker in the living room, knitting needles furiously tapping against each other in an effort to finish yet another blanket for the neighbor across the way.

Down the hall and into the side corridor, she vanished down the stairwell and was soon well on her way to the house she had been watching for a while now. There was a guy who lived there, middle-aged, who seemed kind of nice but quiet. She only thought he was nice because she had bumped into him a couple weeks ago in the cigarette shop when she stopped in to buy cigarettes. He smiled at her, apologized for running into her – even though she had been the one who had done it – then offered to buy her soda and snacks, which she let him. He was a good-looking guy, at least ten years older than her, but good-looking nonetheless. She had followed him after, curious as to where he was headed. That’s when she found out where he lived and had been watching him ever since.

He didn’t come out much and when he did, he was headed some place or another. She couldn’t really follow his car on foot. So, she stuck around his house and kept an eye on him when he was home.

This afternoon she had crept into the alleyway once more, between his house and the apartment building in the back, to get a better look at what he was up to. There was something about him that seemed shady. A few times she had seen known gang members at his house, talking loud and waving their hands at him until he let them in the house; those kinds of people liked to attract attention, which was stupid, because you’d think they want less attention directed at them given their illicit nature.

Was this guy a drug dealer? He didn’t look like one, but who’s to say what a drug dealer looked like? He was in the right place to be one, but, then again, so was she. Zoe wasn’t into drugs. The strongest thing she had ever taken was aspirin.

Being short had its advantages. She crept closer to his house. Hidden behind the garbage cans at the back, she watched him move back and forth in front of the kitchen window, pacing. Tucking her long blonde hair into the hood of her sweater, she tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. First he was talking and then he was yelling. At who? Who was there with him this afternoon? More drug dealers? Had a drug deal gone bad? What was it? Whatever it was, his voice was getting louder. She could hear him from her spot outside. She could almost make out the words. Almost.

 

[Knightmare27]

Derek was quickly running out of patience. Being a gun dealer meant dealing with gang members. And that meant dealing with some of the most violent, stupid pieces of shit on this earth. These were the moments where he wished he was a legitimate gun shop owner - but he did not qualify for that. Not anymore. Not with an aggravated assault on your record that the prosecutor had called "astonishingly strange and nightmarish."

She had been right. He had plead guilty, knowing that "they had it coming" was not a very good legal defence, even when it was true. So here he was, making good money selling firearms to scum. Scum that was really starting to get on his nerves as they kept pushing this bag of off-white crystals his way. "Fuck no. Either you get me my cash, or you get no guns. Why is it that hard for you shitheads to understand?"

Why did these assholes always try to barter? He was a gun dealer, and wanted no business with whatever they were selling. He did not care. Guns for cold hard cash. It should have been simple, right? And yet here he was, explaining for the hundredth time to some stupid punks that, no, he was not going to take "primo crystal meth" in return for his shiny new AR-15. What was so hard to understand about that?

His respect for his customers quickly dropped when they were stupid enough to pull out some tiny toy guns from their waistbands - forgetting that he was still holding on to a semi-automatic rifle. With a practiced grip, he rammed in the magazine and operated the charging handle. That got their attention. "Cash only. Get the fuck out.", he hissed at them. They did. He sighed, dropped the magazine and ejected the round.

He picked up the magazine and noted with satisfaction it was still like new. As he re-inserted the round into it, he noticed a familiar smell among the garbage behind his house. It was never easy to smell anyone in there, what with the overpowering stench of all manner of waste, but this one stood out by being much more pleasant. Where had he noticed it before? It smelled human, and female, but that did not mean much. Girl gangs were among his best customers.

Anyway, someone was hiding behind his house. He put the rifle down, loaded a snub-nosed revolver and slipped it into his pocket, ready to fire. Then he went outside to check. Oh, now he remembered! The girl he had bumped into a few weeks ago. He had bought her some stuff, mainly because she was cute and he had been feeling generous. But what was she doing behind his house? Well, he would find out.

He was still a good-looking guy, but the impression was ruined a little by his extremely cheap, baggy clothes. He was huge, but it was hard to make out what shape he was in with the outfit he was wearing. His hair was dark and short, with no hint of gray yet. There was also plenty of hair all over the rest of his body. His eyebrows were thick, the rest of his face was smooth and cleanly shaven. As he moved, he seemed almost like a puppy, made entirely of limbs and paws.

He approached the garbage cans but decided not to draw the gun. It was that girl, which meant she was probably not there to murder him. Maybe she needed help, or something. In any case, he was not going to scare the shit out of her by holding her at gunpoint. Still, if she was planning on doing anything weird, he would not hesitate to shoot her. Probably. He only sold the things, and had never used them on people before.

"Hello there.", he said in a pleasant voice as he approached the garbage. "What are you doing here? Can I help you?" He stretched a little to peer over the cans. Yep. It was her, crouching in a hoodie... what was she doing? She did not seem to be injured, or in trouble. So why the hell was she sitting there? He hated being in this place anyway because the smell was like a freight train to the face, but it had to be uncomfortable even for her....

 

[Dark_Dimensions]

The door swung open, smacking against the adjacent wall. Two males ambled down the stairs and took off down the alley, cussing in response to some deal gone bad. They were pissed. She could tell from the way they were talking; they’d be back, likely tonight. They disappeared around the corner and vanished with the other walks of life that meandered the neighborhood.

Once again, she was alone. Zoe often preferred it that way.

She no sooner turned her head to see what the male inside the house was up to when he was upon her, right there, standing by the trash cans looking down at her. She nearly jumped in response. As it was, she stumbled back, clearly caught off guard, when he asked what she was doing there. Heart racing, the young woman didn’t know what to say. She just stared at him, dumbfounded.

After a minute or two, she finally found her voice. “I, uh, no, I’m… fine.” She was nervous as hell. He wasn’t supposed to be out there much less find her like this. Quickly she stood and brushed off her clothes, namely her rear having fallen onto the grass and dirt, then moved out from behind the cans, but at the same time she made sure to give him some space. He was a huge guy. Next to him she felt small, tiny. Moistening her lips, a nervous habit, she smiled then took a step back.

“Really, I’m good. I was just, uh, looking for friend’s bracelet. She thought she’d lost it somewhere around here the other day when we were playing, flinging it around like a frisbee.” It was a lie, but what else could she say? I was back here spying on you? Yeah, like that would be a good idea. Telling him the truth would land her in worse trouble than a lie. If he knew she was spying on him, he might think she was working for the cops. Hardly. She was curious.

Biting her lip, she added as she took another step back, “It’s obviously not back here. I guess I better get going.”

 

[Knightmare27]

The satisfied grin when he saw how much he had startled her did nothing to make him look less menacing. He decided to just loom over her (guys his size often loomed, even without meaning to) and fix his eyes on her. Not in a threatening way, but he wanted her to know that he was looking at her and wanted answers. Everything in her demeanor reassured him that he would soon be getting some. Truthful ones, hopefully.

She was fine, yes. No injuries, and the only one she seemed to be frightened of was him. Well, she'd better be. He needed a very good explanation for what she was doing, or... well... he was not a murderer, but she did not know that, right? Maybe if he frightened her enough, she would leave him alone. No, too big a risk, another, nastier, voice added. Pop her off, blame it on the thugs. They deserve it. He shut that voice up immediately.

That bracelet story was so ridiculous that it made a chuckle break through his frightening facade. The girl was cute, but she was a terrible liar! Too bad he could not tell more over the overpowering stench in this back alley. She did not seem angry or threatening. Nothing but fear was written on her face. Fear and embarrassment. Very understandable. He would have been embarrassed too, if he had been caught in a situation like that.

Even without smelling her fear, it was obvious she was telling him a big, fat lie. But why? Well, only one way to find out.

"You better stay here and tell me what you were actually doing. And don't lie to me again..."

His hand played with the small gun in his pocket, but he decided against pulling it on her. No need to escalate that quickly when confronted with one small, frightened girl. Whatever she was, she did not seem like some kind of thug. But she was clearly up to something...

 

[Dark_Dimensions]

Nervous, her eyes darted to the left and right and behind him as if looking for help. He didn’t believe her lie. Of course, it wasn’t a good one but it was the best she could come up with when put on the spot. In fact, for her, it was pretty clever and not too far off from past truth’s but it wasn’t the truth right now and he could see right through it, and the more she thought about it, the more she began to panic until she was a bubbling mess.

“I-I’m s-sorry. I was… I was j-just…” She took in a big gulp of air. Her heart was racing like a racehorse; she was on the verge of a panic attack. The young woman began again, “I w-was j-just watching y-you. Honest. T-that’s all.”

She could see his hand toying with something in his pocket. His clothes were too baggy to tell what it was, but Zoe assumed it was something bad. Why else would he be trying to draw attention to it if not for that purpose.

“B-but don’t w-worry. I d-didn’t see anything. P-promise.”

Zoe didn’t see anything, this time. But she knew whatever it was that he did wasn’t good. He dealt with gang members and the like. Nothing good could come out of that.

 

[Knightmare27]

"Just watching me?" It was hard not to roar with laughter, but he managed to reduce his reaction to a broad grin. "Honey, in this area no one ever just watches people. You are up to something, I know. I deal with people who are up to something all day."

Okay, either this girl was somewhat insane and telling the truth, or she was a really good liar. Neither her fearful shaking nor whatever smell he could discern showed anything but pure terror.

"No, no. Of course you didn't see anything. No one's ever seen anything when you catch them. How about you stop bullshitting me and tell me WHY you were watching me? Who are you working for? Come on in, have a sit-down, and then we will have a long talk about what the fuck exactly you were doing in my trashcans. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just need some answers."

She was clearly terrified, and he felt a little bit sorry for her. On the other hand, she would not be any trouble. He made some movements in his pocket that made it very clear what he was hiding in there, without actually holding her at gunpoint. That would have been too much.

"Come on, get in my house. I'll get you something to drink, and you will tell me your whole story."

He sounded friendly now, not at all like an armed man confronting a terrified girl. Still, she had to know it would not be a good idea to resist.

 

[Dark_Dimensions]

Her heartrate accelerated with each spoken word. The male knew she had seen something; he just didn’t know what it was or how much she had seen. He wanted to know why she was there, who she was working for, and what exactly she was up to. Zoe knew she should just turn around and leave, run as fast as she could home and forget about it. But given what was in his pocket, which she could clearly see at this point as the barrel pressed against the fabric of his pants, running likely wasn’t a good option. It would likely get her killed.

Sweat beaded on her forehead in spite of the spittle of rain. Her body temperature was quickly rising in her fight of flight mode. What should she do? What could she do? It was clear he wanted her to come inside with him and tell him what was going on. But going inside would be worse than being out here in the open. At least out here, if she hollered for help, someone would hear her and chances were better they would come to her aide.

Where were those gangsters when you need them? She thought, biting at her bottom lip as she tried to decide which route to take. If they were here, at least he’d have a distraction.

Quickly scanning her surroundings, she knew no one was within the close vicinity. Children were inside their dry homes watching television as were most people today. Only she was the foolish one who ventured outside in search of God knows what.

Eyes back on him, the young woman knew what she had to do. “Look,” she began, taking a step back, hands out in front of her to show she had no weapon and meant no harm, “I really didn’t see anything. I heard you yelling and I snuck over to see what was going on.” Another step back and then another. “You know, it was nothing more than nosey neighbors.” A nervous chuckle then another step back; the distance between them was growing. “I won’t say anything. Besides, there’s nothing to say.”

She was a good eight feet from him at this point. As she took her next step, she pivoted and shot off like a rocket. Zoe didn’t know how far she would get or how fast he could move, but she would move as fast as she could to put as much distance between him and her. She hoped he wouldn’t shoot at her. Of course, getting shot was probably the least of her worries at this point.

 

[Knightmare27]

Derek sighed and took off after her. Now that she was out of the alley, it was so much easier to follow her scent. He did not even have to hurry. After all, where was she going to hide? She had no idea he was not relying on his eyes to find her, and unless she figured that out very quickly or ran into something really smelly by accident, it was only a matter of time.

The sweat she was working up connected her to him like a string. Unsurprisingly, it mostly smelled of fear. Well, he could not blame her. He would have run away, too. To her, it had to be so obvious what he was actually trying to do. And yet, he really was only looking for a nice chat.

It took quite a bit of methodical walking until he could feel the cloud thicken, showing that she was finally out of breath. Unfamiliar surroundings. She had led him on a chase to a part of the city he knew nearly nothing about. How stupid of him. He had no idea how dangerous this place was. Well... it seemed no worse than his own neighborhood, but that did not mean much. The last thing he wanted was another assault charge...

Now that he had a closer look, it was quite the shitty neighborhood. Poor girl. He had to have scared her so much if she was willing to run into this place just to get away from him. Now he had to find her. She had run right from imagined danger into quite real danger, and he would maybe even have to use his gun to get her out of that mess.

He could smell she was quite close now. He slowed down, softened his step, approached her as one would an unfamiliar cat, very careful not to startle her again. Then again, given how out of breath she had to be, she would probably not be able to do much running even if he did. Hopefully, they would be able to talk now.

 

[Dark_Dimensions]

Adrenaline pumping through her veins, the young woman ran. Down the alley and through another, sneakers smacked the pavement with each quick footfall as she took off. She ran through puddles without a care. It was all about putting as much distance between him and her, as fast as possible. Another block and then another, she continued her pace. She passed a few people who dared to venture out in the rain; they didn’t pay her any mind. They didn’t know why she was running, nor did they care. Why would they? People ran all the time, either to or from something. It was really none of their business but, unlike her, they tended to stay out of it. A few dogs barked in neighboring yards as she passed. Still she continued on.

But a person can only run for so long and, as it was, she was getting tired. A quick glance behind her and he wasn’t there, but as she turned back around to look around her, even she didn’t know where she was. She had not been to this part of the city, and for good reason. Her run turned into a jog and then a walk as she continued to move forward. Or maybe it was time to double back? Zoe wasn’t sure. Even if she did go back the way she had come, but about him? Was he still following her? Another glance back and she didn’t see him.

Breathing heavy she slowed even more, unsure of what to do. Why had she chosen to go this way? Oh, that’s right, she didn’t really have a choice; it was a matter of getting away from him as fast as she could.

As she crossed into another block, she could hear voices nearby. The voices were getting louder by the second. Biting her bottom lip, she began to panic. It would be a great time to just turn around and head back the other way. From the whistles and cat-calls she could already here, yes, it would be best if she headed back the way she had come. But running was no longer an option. Her chest and legs hurt, especially her left leg. However, if she had to run, she would certainly try.

Ignoring the men trying to get her attention, she turned around and began to walk back the way she had come. Maybe her former foe was better than the group fast approaching.

Where are you? She thought, wincing as she moved.

 

[Knightmare27]

She was quite well hidden. According to the scent, she had to be somewhere quite close... but where? He stopped sniffing and started looking for her. Nothing. Where would a terrified young woman hide? He searched several possible hiding spaces, now fully aware that he was in a bad part of town, and he, or she, was likely to get into trouble. He hoped it would be him. He was not in any danger if he was attacked, because he was the danger. But she was just a frightened girl with not enough sense to avoid running here...

He saw her. And he saw the gang approaching her. What they were planning to do was written in bold letters on their leering faces. If he did not step in now, she would never get out of this alley unharmed.

He made a split-second decision and pulled out the gun in his pocket. "Hey, assholes! Whoever touches her first is dead!"

The men turned around and the largest one sneered back: "Oh, yeah? Your gun is as tiny as your dick. And there's five of us, so fuck off".

He sighed. There was only one way to solve this situation, but it also meant he had to be quick. Not because of these five scumbags. Nobody would believe them, anyway. Because the girl was sure to have some questions afterwards. Oh, fuck it. No time to think.

At least tapping into his rage was easy, given how angry these motherfuckers were making him. He held on to that anger, shoved it towards the middle of his chest, felt it make contact with the spirit residing within. The familiar feeling of unbearable heat made him scream for a few seconds before suddenly stopping, leaving only a faint trace.

His face elongated, his teeth became fangs, fur sprouted from his skin and he grew to an even more hulking size. Facing the attackers, he stared at them, fully aware that they had to be shitting their pants right now. He gave them a second to fully take in the view, then he let out a deafening, rage-filled roar as he bared his teeth.

 

[Dark_Dimensions]

A right and then a left, or was it a left and then a right? Zoe was no longer sure of where she was. She darted down an alleyway to get away from the voices – only to find it was a dead end as she reached the far end. Brick walls on three sides as far as the eye could see; a few lights blinked on and off from windows up high. She doubted anyone could hear her if she screamed and, if they could, would they really do anything about it? Given their surroundings, it was probably background noise to them. She quickly scanned for a possible way out. There wasn’t one. And as she turned around to face the small group fast approaching, it was then she heard her own foe behind them.

“Hey assholes! Whoever touches her first is dead!”

She couldn’t see him but she could hear him shouting at them.

A few stopped then turned to regard him. The rest continued toward her. “Oh yeah? Your gun is as tiny as your dick. And there’s five of us, so fuck off!”

He had pulled a gun. She figured he would have in the hopes of chasing them away. It didn’t work. They waved him off and continued toward her. They were getting closer, steps away from grabbing her as she was backing up, small hands balled into fists as if that would protect her from them. They were a hell of a lot bigger than her, stronger too. Males often were.

The scream caused one to turn his head toward the mouth of the alley. The guy looked confused. He was about to turn his attention back on Zoe when the roar pulled both his and his pal’s attention away from her. They just stared, unable to believe what they were looking at. Zoe’s view was blocked at this point. She could hear something but she wasn’t sure what it was. Side to side she moved, trying to peer past them. What had made that noise? But as she moved a bit more to the right to look, it was then she smelled ammonia. Someone had pissed themselves. Now she wasn’t so sure she wanted to see.

The young girl began to shrink back away from the men and to the far corner of the alley. At this point, she didn’t want to be anywhere near them. Whatever was out there, she didn’t want any part of it. She sank down against the wall and tried to make herself as small as possible; maybe if it didn’t see her it wouldn’t hurt her. Fat chance of that! The guys were falling over their own feet trying to find a way out. There was nowhere for them to go but right at whatever it was that had them spooked.

And as they scattered like roaches, it was then she caught a glimpse at what they were so afraid of. Her own heart stopped a beat as she stared, wide-eyed. She held her breath, paralyzed by fear. It was a good thing she was crouched and leaning up against the brick wall else she would have fallen. Though scared to death by what she beheld, other emotions began to play at her; fear and excitement tend to run hand in hand. Body trembling, she watched the creature begin to attack her former foes. As teeth gnashed into flesh, she couldn’t take her eyes away from the horror. It was terrifying and exciting. The scent of fear intermixed with arousal.

 

[Knightmare27]

To underscore his display, Derek began taking swiping motions at the thugs. His nails, transformed into claws now, made quite an impression - both on their terrified faces and on the awning he ripped apart almost casually as if it was made of paper. They were faced with a nightmarish creature that should not exist, and were reacting accordingly. The wolf muzzle twisted into a satisfied grin as he began advancing on them.

The gun, or any thought of fighting, had long been forgotten. All they were thinking about was to get away from him. He would have been smart to let them, since there was no use in fighting them... but that was the human. The wolf was driven by pure rage, advanced at them, now no longer roaring. It was a deadly silent beast now, staring at them as it closed in, drooling in anticipation of eating well, very well indeed, that night...

He caught a glimpse of the girl, and that put the human back at the controls for a moment. No, he would not murder some random scum in front of her. He grabbed one of them by the throat but stopped himself from crushing it, instead just throwing the choking gangster against a car. He roared again, then stepped aside, giving them an opportunity to escape. They would be smart to take it before the wolf took over again.

They were not smart. They remained there, staring, one of them pissing his pants. Idiots! His rage at their stupidity was too much, and the beast was now in charge, backhanding one of them into a wall without effort, then kicking another in the balls so hard it practically castrated him. He was not even seeing single people now. Just spots moving in front of his eyes. Spots to slam, to crush, to throw around.

Wait! Most of the spots were gone. One left. Smaller than the rest. Cowering...cowering? Was that...? His human side lunged to take control, barely stopped one of his giant claws from cutting her throat. Four of the assholes were running away, screaming. But the slowest one was not quite around the corner when a massive paw grabbed him and dragged him towards a gaping, tooth-filled maw.

He took a huge bite out of his thigh, then threw him away carelessly... the blood in his mouth made him hunger for more...more...more... the tiny blur appeared again... stop! stop! STOP! Finally, he saw who that tiny blur was. He froze and just stood there, still a terrifying, slobbering monster (with blood dripping from his mouth, for added effect), but completely pacified now, just standing there, desperately trying to calm down.

 

[Dark_Dimensions]

Watching the scene unfold was like watching a horror movie brought to life. The beast was ravenous as he tore apart a cloth awning over one of the apartment doorways; it was shredded like paper. The five guys ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, completely terrified by the creature standing at the mouth of the alley. First they ran back toward her as if there were some other way to escape than to face him, head on, before they made their way back toward him. One guy safely made it passed. Another was snatched and held high into the air before he was cast aside like a rag doll. Then another was launched into the air by a swift kick to his crotch. The last met a most uncertain fate. His screams still echoed in her ears as the giant creature took a massive bit of his thigh, crunching through flesh and bone before tossing his meal away likely in search of sweeter prey, her being that meaty morsel.

Her own scream tore from her throat when he advanced, a large clawed hand coming right for her. She cowered even more, buried her head in her knees and prayed. For a girl who didn’t believe in God, she was praying now. Her whispers filled the silence as she waited, waited for the beast to strike, to finish her off…

Only nothing happened.

There was nothing but silence…

And heavy breathing, panting.

Slowly she lifted her head to take a peek. The creature was there alright, looming nearby. He was only an arm’s reach away watching her. Mouth agape, blood dripping from his menacing jaws, he watched her with golden eyes. Her heart raced like a caged rabbit; in this instance, she felt like the scared rabbit. And so she remained crouched in her corner where she felt safe. Blood dripped from his thin black lips. Though scared, she was drawn to him.

Zoe dared to lift her head a little higher to look at him, taking in the giant monster from head to toe then back again. Where has he come from? It was easy to tell it was male; no mistaking that. Gulping, she breathed deep then slowly began to stand, her back always remaining in the corner. She held out her hands low in front of her, showing she meant him no harm. As she straightened, she fought the urge to scream; it wouldn’t do her any good to scream. It would probably provoke him. As it was, she knew the stench of fear was pouring off of her, as was something else.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered, breathing deep. It had appeared out of nowhere. It had come to protect her, right? Or was it merely happenstance? There was only one way to find out.

Biting her bottom lip, she took a step toward it. She could feel his hot breath blowing above her head than at her face. Inside she was screaming, utterly terrified like the men he had wounded and killed. Legs shaking, she looked up at his canine head. Teeth were stained red with blood. Like an idiot, a hand reached out then up to touch one, to feel if this thing was truly real.

The minute her hand made contact, Zoe was falling. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as her mind shut down; it was too much to process all at once. She fainted.

 

[Knightmare27]

It was really hard to look non-threatening when you were eight feet tall, covered in long brown fur and still slobbering a mixture of saliva and blood from a tooth-filled maw. The large yellow eyes did not help matters, either. Puppy dog eyes did not come easily to a creature from nightmares.

The human was now totally in control again, with all the enemies gone, but he was still stuck in the body of a terrifying beast. His clothes rarely survived unplanned transformations, and indeed, they were nowhere to be seen. Now he could either transform back (naked!), run through the city in the guise of a monster clutching a helpless woman (right!) or look for something to cover up in... but these guys were not exactly his size, not even as a human.

He sighed, though in this monstrous form, it sounded more like a low growl, further scaring the poor girl. Good thing it was so late. If he ran and avoided main streets, he could get home with only a minimal amount of werewolf sightings. Good thing there were mostly druggies out, too. Who would believe them? No, he had to risk it, consequences be damned. Stupid girl. She had no idea what trouble she had gotten him into!

He could easily smell her fear. And also something else, now running over her leg. In what he hoped was his least threatening manner, he came closer and put out his arms, offering to carry her. He did not blame her for backing up instead of taking him up on it. To her, it probably looked like he was trying to take her and rip her in half, or something. Still, he could not leave her here, so he hoped she would calm down soon.

She spoke. Finally. He so wished he could answer in something that was not a roar, but that was impossible, of course. So he settled for the most dog-like sound he could produce, a low whimper that would have sounded like "am I a bad boy?" from an adorable little Golden Retriever, but sounded more like "are you a tasty meal?" from an eight-foot behemoth. Damn. Well, at least, he had tried. Hopefully, she would understand.

Much to his surprise, a trembling hand reached out and touched one of his bloody teeth. So brave! He held perfectly still and let her touch it, tried to show her that he was not a threat. She was cute... cute enough that letting her touch him felt oddly exciting. He smiled (well, grinned viciously) and crouched a little to allow her to touch him more comfortably. Maybe if he let her pet him, she would calm down...

Damn! She was out almost the second she touched him. Well, at least that took care of that problem... he lifted her up with both arms like a bride and hurried off through the night, hoping that the dozens of "wolf monster carrying off a young woman" reports that were sure to come in the next day would lead to, at most, a few blurry youtube videos, and not some kind of organized werewolf hunt. Well, this night had gone fucking great!