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I woke up with a pounding headache inside a dark stuffy place that smelled like wet dirt. I wasn’t thinking too clearly yet, and the first thing that crossed my mind was that I was inside a coffin. That was such a horrible idea that I screamed, or at least I tried to. That’s when I found out my mouth was covered with duct tape.
My hands and feet were taped up, too, and that’s an awfully scary way to wake up, if you’ve never tried it. For a little while, terror threatened to drown out everything.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down, though. I might be packed like a sardine in a can, but I was still alive and I didn’t seem to be hurt except for the headache. My hands were taped together at the wrists, but I could still move my arms. I reached up and felt the ceiling, which was no more than a foot above my face. It felt like cardboard, and there was enough give that I could tell it wasn’t a coffin at least. Not that I’ve ever actually been inside a coffin before, you know, but I was willing to bet they didn’t make them out of cardboard. Nobody is that cheap and tacky.
That did wonders for my nerves, and I started to explore the situation a little better. The first step to getting yourself out of a pinch is to find out exactly what you’re up against.
Whoever taped me up must have been in a hurry, because they were awfully careless about it. If they’d thought to tape my arms down to my sides then I probably would have been out of luck, but as it was I had some wiggle room. I brought my hands up to my face and pulled the tape off my mouth first, and then I started gnawing on the strip around my wrists.
Duct tape glue is really nasty, just in case you ever wondered. I wouldn’t advise chewing on it unless you absolutely have to. It gets stuck in between your teeth and I think they must flavor it with dirty motor oil, the way it tastes. I felt like gagging.
It took me a good long time to chew my hands free. The tape tore hair off my wrists when I pulled it loose and I gritted my teeth from the pain. I didn’t dare make noise, though, so I had to pull slowly even though it made it hurt more.
As soon as I could, I felt in my right jeans pocket where my cell phone should be. It was still there, so I flipped it open and used the backlight from the screen to look around. I was definitely inside a cardboard box, just like I thought; one that was barely big enough to hold me. There was some half-dried red clay mud on the walls down close to my feet, which must have been where the wet dirt smell had been coming from.
I tried to call Justin or Eileen, but all I got was a “call failed” message. Wherever I was, there was no cell service. I didn’t waste time crying over it, though; I just closed the phone and slipped it back in my pocket. I didn’t want to run the battery down when I might need it later.
As it turned out, I still had my pocketknife and my billfold and all my other stuff, too. The only thing missing was the silver cross from around my neck, and I might have dropped that on the ground when the man knocked me out. I felt almost naked without it.
I strained my ears to hear the slightest noise, but it was quieter than a cave in there. No engine or traffic sounds, no machinery, no voices, nothing.
I finally decided it was stupid to wait around for the man with the hairy hands to come back and find me. I had to get out of that box.
I pushed up with my palms, but the lid would only move a little bit before it stopped firmly. It was probably taped shut on the outside or some such thing, but I was ready for that.
I opened the little blade on my knife and stuck it into the side of the box way up high, and then sliced down in one smooth cut. You should never let your knife get dull, you know. You can never be sure when you might need it. You might never get trapped inside a cardboard box, but then again you never know. Just a few hours ago I never would have seen it coming myself. I always sharpened both blades at least once a week, and right then I was glad I did. I made two more quick cuts and then knocked out a piece of cardboard about twelve inches square.
The first thing I saw when I got the hole open was a spare tire lying flat on some dirty gray carpet, and the back of a leather car seat. I couldn’t see much more than that because of the angle.
There was darned little room to move around inside that box, and I had to struggle a while and nearly scraped an ear off on the edge of the hole, but eventually I was able to push my head out to get a better look around. I was in the back cargo hold of a Bronco or a Blazer or something like that. The box I was in was tied up with plastic cords, just like I thought. Good enough.
I quickly sliced another cut in the box to make the hole bigger, and then wormed the rest of my body out.
The windows were tinted really dark, but it was daylight outside and I could see well enough. There wasn’t much out there except a dirt road lined with thick pine trees behind me, and in front there was what looked like a deer camp. There were five or six cinder block buildings of pretty good size, and two other cars parked not far away. I was close enough to the nearest building to see dew still glistening and steaming on the metal roof, so it couldn’t be very late yet. There was nobody in sight, but I knew better than to hang around. Somebody might show up any second.
I checked real quick to make sure there were no keys in the car. I knew that was probably too much to expect, but you never know. People are careless sometimes.
Oh, I don’t really have my license yet, by the way, but I do know how to drive when I need to. Justin lets me drive the truck now and then on back roads where there’s no traffic. I’d never tried to drive anything alone yet, but I figured this was an emergency and nobody would blame me for doing whatever I had to do.
No keys, though, so I gave up on the idea of driving away. Instead, I eased open the back hatch of the Blazer just enough to slither out, and then shut it again as quiet as a whisper. If I had to walk then that’s what I’d do.
I was barefooted and that complicated things, but I knew I couldn’t stay on the road. That was the first place they’d look when they found me gone. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of walking through the briers and rocks with no shoes on, but it looked like I didn’t have much choice. So I took a deep breath and trotted off into the woods as fast as my feet could take me.
I didn’t think anybody had seen me, but of course I couldn’t be sure. For the next hour or so I didn’t slow down for a second, even though I never heard anybody coming after me. I knew enough to head straight toward the sun so I wouldn’t start walking in circles. I didn’t want to run around all day and then end up right back at the camp again. Following the sun would keep me going in a straight line, at least. But as for where in the world I was, that was a whole ‘nother question.
I checked now and then to see if my phone had service yet, but it never did.
The land was really steep and rocky in places, and that slowed me down. You can’t climb as fast as you can walk, and the rocks were hard on my bare feet, just like I knew they would be.
After a while I came to a rocky stream, and I stopped to wash my sweaty face and take a drink. It looked like it was going to be another bull-roaster kind of day. September is like that now and then; it can still be hotter than a hen in a wool sweater, some days. I couldn’t help wishing this hadn’t been one of those times, but there was nothing I could do about it. In the meantime the creek was clear and cold, and the water tasted delicious to a boy who was almost dying of thirst by then. I splashed some of it on the back of my neck and my arms, and then I sat down on a big gray boulder and dangled my sore feet in the current. It felt so good I didn’t want to get up.
But I knew I wasn’t out of danger yet, and I didn’t dare just sit and wait for Hairy Paws to come scoop me up. If he was a good enough tracker or if he had dogs then he could probably still follow my trail through the woods and catch me. I wasn’t sure about that, and when you don’t know then you don’t take chances.
The little creek flowed somewhere off to the south, and I decided to follow it for a while. If you’re lost in t
he woods, that’s almost always a good idea. A flowing stream will usually lead you to people sooner or later. It also keeps you from getting lost and gives you water to drink, and you don’t leave any trail or any scent to follow.
Daddy taught me all those things, back when we still used to talk about stuff sometimes, and for just a second I was grateful to him for that. Then I remembered he probably only did it to make me a better werewolf someday, and that wrecked the whole thing and left a sour taste in my mouth and for a while I almost hated him.
Justin would have told me to let it go and love him for whatever good there was in him, but that’s hard, you know. It’s easy to get bitter when somebody does you so much wrong, and every time I thought I was over it, little things like that kept reminding me at the weirdest times.
I decided not to think about it right then.
I slogged down the creek for several hours, and watched it get gradually bigger. The land was awfully mountainous, and I’m not sure how I could ever have made my way through if I hadn’t had the stream. There were lots of little waterfalls about three or four feet high, but I could jump over those if I was careful. It was hot work doing all that hiking, and those occasional dunks kept me cool. I was hungry enough to gnaw the bark off the trees, but there was nothing I could do about that.
After a while, I came to a bridge.
Well, sort of. It was just a little foot bridge that crossed over the creek, and there were some picnic tables and a sidewalk on the left bank. It looked like a little park or some such thing, but there wasn’t a soul to be seen.
Somebody had mowed the grass around the picnic tables not more than two or three days ago, and there was a Styrofoam cup still sitting on one of them, still half full of somebody’s old coffee. When I nosed around a bit more I found a parking area, and then a dirt road that led away from it.
For a while I couldn’t make up my mind whether to take a chance on the road or to keep following the creek a little farther downstream. The coffee cup and the mowed grass made me think this was a place where people visited fairly often, so after a lot of thinking I decided maybe the road would be a better choice.
Before I left the campground or park or whatever it was, I scrounged an empty plastic Coke bottle from the trash can and rinsed it out several times before filling it up at the creek. I knew I’d get thirsty and there was no telling the next time I’d come across any water.
It wasn’t all that long before the road came to a T-junction, and there was a sign posted. The left arrow said Hwy 8 - 5 miles, and the right arrow said something about a lake. I don’t remember exactly, because as soon as I saw that highway sign I didn’t care what might be in the other direction. I turned left.
The sign forgot to mention that the road ran steeply uphill most of the way, but I can promise you I noticed. It took me about three or four hours, but eventually I did make it to the highway with no particular trouble, except for my feet. They were killing me by then from walking barefoot on those gravel roads. They eat up your skin like sandpaper.
When I got to the highway there was no sign to tell me which way to go, so I shrugged and went east. It kept the sun out of my face, and I figured that was as good a reason as any.
I felt pretty good about things at that point. It seemed like the worst was behind me. I was tired and hungry and uncomfortable in other ways, but that was okay. I could probably thumb a ride to the nearest town, and then I could call Justin and have him come get me. And in the meantime while I waited for him to get there, I still had nineteen dollars in my pocket. I was looking forward to a nice juicy cheeseburger. It’s amazing how delicious food is when you haven’t eaten in a while.
So I stuck out my thumb whenever I heard a car coming, and waited for somebody to pick me up. Hitchhiking is kind of a chancy business, you know. You can never be sure who might stop, and there are some very strange people in the world to say the least. But right then I was ready to make friends with just about anybody.
That highway might have been built on the moon for all the cars I saw, but no matter how far out in the woods it is, every road has at least a little traffic. Two or three cars blew right past me without stopping, which is about what I expected. But after a while, a green Mustang with Alabama plates pulled over not far in front of me.
I hobbled up as fast as I could on my sore feet, and opened the door and sat down. The air conditioner was running, and the cold air inside felt wonderful. It was a girl driving, which sort of surprised me. Girls don’t usually stop for anybody, but maybe she thought I was young enough to be harmless.
“You look like you could use a ride,” she said with a smile.
“Yeah, I just need to get to the nearest store,” I told her.
“Sure thing,” she agreed. She had long blonde hair and she couldn’t possibly have been more than twenty. I laid my head back on the seat and pretended to close my eyes since I didn’t really want to talk, but she was so pretty I couldn’t help watching her out of the slit of my left eye. She reminded me of someone I might have seen before, but I couldn’t think who or where. It niggled at my mind like a gnat, till I finally decided it wasn’t important.
A few miles down the road we went around a sharp curve, and she put both hands on the steering wheel to turn it. That’s when I noticed what long, beautiful fingernails she had. Long, beautiful, sharp fingernails, perfectly manicured. Almost like claws, in fact. That’s when I knew her for what she was.
My heart almost stopped, and I’m sure it came right up in my throat. I swear I could feel it sitting there on the back of my tongue. I don’t think I could have said a word if my life depended on it.
I didn’t let on. I kept pretending to rest while I thought desperately of how to get myself out of the hole I’d stepped into.
It was just barely possible that she didn’t know who I was or have anything to do with me, of course. I knew how unlikely that was even while I was thinking it, but hope will make you grasp at straws and make a fool out of you if you’re not careful. I knew I’d be crazy to believe she had nothing to do with me. That was way too much of a coincidence.
On the other hand, I was fairly sure she didn’t realize (yet) that I knew she was a werewolf, and that gave me one slim advantage. She wouldn’t be on her guard quite so much.
On the third hand, if she was specifically looking for me, there was no way she’d really take me to a store and drop me off, or even let me out of the car. Not unless I did some really smooth talking between now and then. I got a firm handle on my voice (I hoped) and opened my eyes with a fake yawn.
“So what’s a pretty girl like you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” I asked her with a smile. Eileen always tells me what a cute boy I am and what beautiful blue eyes I have, and I always used to laugh it off when she said such things, but if there was any chance it could help me then I was willing to give it a shot. Girls like all that flirty stuff for some reason, and I was betting this one was no different. She laughed a little.
“Oh, I’m just here with my family on vacation. Mom sent me to the store to get some ice and things,” she said. It sounded reasonable, even though I didn’t believe it for a second.
“You’re from Alabama?” I asked.
“Yeah, Huntsville. Guess you saw my tags, huh?” she asked.
“Yeah, I did. Uh, so you’re just going to the nearest store, then?” I asked, like I didn’t care much.
“Yeah, but that’s in Glenwood. The store in Norman doesn’t have Cherry Dr. Pepper, and Mom won’t drink anything else,” she said glibly. I pounced on that.
“Would you mind very much if I rode to Glenwood with you? I know it’s a lot to ask, but I’d really appreciate it,” I said. I had to play things real carefully so I didn’t make her suspicious. I wanted her to think she had me fooled. She probably wouldn’t attack me as long as I wasn’t putting up a struggle. It was a lot easier for her if I went along willingly as long as possible. The gloves would only come off when I tried
to get away from her.
“Sure, I guess,” she shrugged, “it’s only a few extra miles.”
“Thanks a lot. It’s not every day you run into a girl as awesome as you,” I told her, and smiled my best smile again. I was in danger of overdoing it, but all I can say is that I wasn’t at my best at the time. Sitting next to somebody who could rip you to shreds with her bare hands makes it hard to think straight, believe it or not. The girl didn’t seem to notice, though. She just laughed again.
“Yeah, that’s what my boyfriend tells me all the time,” she said. That’s what I was expecting her to say, so I had that one covered.
“Well, dang. Lucky guy,” I said, snapping my fingers. She smiled.
“Thanks anyway, honey. It was a sweet thing to say,” she told me. I was pretty sure I had her fooled at that point, so I didn’t push it any more.
Not long after that, we started passing a few houses and things, and it didn’t look quite so deserted as it did before. We came to a junction and turned right, and I saw a gas station up ahead a few blocks. That’s what I’d been waiting for, and it was time to make it or break it. I crossed my fingers and prayed for it to work.