Chapter 18: 18. Cold & Un-Fun

"This isn't as much fun as I thought it'd be," I murmured through shivering teeth.

Kaylee gave me a funny look and asked softly, "You thought this would be fun?"

I grimaced, "Not really. I didn't think it'd be this un-fun though."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly, then pointed out "At least it's not snowing."

"Shh," I cringed. "You'll jinx it!"

Kaylee giggled softly and I grinned, then glanced around again.

The two of us were huddled together in a slightly sheltered spot alongside the Potts' barn. It was a big structure, I'd seen loads of barns from a distance but I'd never been up close to one before. There were three or four different doors, and it was built into a bit of a hill. So the south and east sides had doors on the lowest level while the north and west sides had the entrances on the middle level. And then there was a loft up above that.

Me and Kaylee were in the barnyard, huddled by the north-east corner of the barn next to where the ground rose up steeply. There was even a little sloped roof sticking out of the side of the barn above us, protecting the water trough next to where we were hiding from the wind. It was something like minus-nine degrees out, but the wind-chill made it feel twice as cold.

And the reason we were huddled up next to the barn is because that's where all the sheep were at. They'd been brought into the barn to keep them out of the cold, apparently inside the barn was heated and they had water that wasn't frozen solid.

It also meant if the werewolf was going to get at the sheep, he had to get into the barn. And if he tried getting in on the east side, me and Kaylee would see him.

Brooke and Paige were on guard at the north-west corner so they could see the west side and north side, and Marissa was at the south-west corner keeping an eye on things to the south of the barn, while staying in view of the other two girls.

The Potts' house was about two hundred meters away, and we could see some lights on and the glow of a TV from the living-room, so we were pretty sure people were awake in there. The barnyard was dark, but there was a single bright light on a tall pole a little further east, which cast just enough light that me and Kaylee could see the area to the east and the south. Our view north-west was blocked because of the hill, but Brooke and Paige had that covered.

"So what do we do if we actually see the werewolf?" I asked. "Like do we just say hi and ask if he wants to talk to us?"

Kaylee nodded, "Actually something like that? If he looks violent or threatening then we'll hit him with a sleep spell first. Knock him out, maybe even tie him up? Just to make sure we're safe. But if he doesn't seem threatening then we'll ask to talk to him."

"Huh," I said as I stared at her. "I was just kidding about that. But I guess if it works..."

She smiled "Werewolves are people like you and me. They just happen to be able to turn into a wolf when they want. And the full moon makes them a bit twitchy? They're not like animals though, even in wolf-form they're still people."

I nodded slowly as I thought about that. Mostly it was a reminder that there was so much stuff I didn't know about. Like I was still a beginner at all this witch stuff, I didn't know anything about other supernatural stuff.

The two of us were quiet for a few minutes as I thought about that, like so far I'd encountered ghosts and a witch-hunter, now we were maybe going to meet a werewolf. But eventually the thoughts faded as I started getting cold and bored again.

"How long do you think we'll wait?" I asked quietly. "Like if the wolf never shows up?"

Kaylee shrugged, "Maybe till midnight? I know the full moon peaks at ten-thirty but werewolves can be active all night long. Or in the daytime too, but I think the moon only gets them agitated at night."

I pouted, "We should have stopped for hot chocolate on the way here."

The cute redhead smirked, "Then you'd be desperate to go to the bathroom Cass. Are you really that cold, or are you just bored?"

She was bundled up a lot better than I was. She had a big thick orange parka on, and a couple layers of thick leggings, big insulated snow boots, mitts, a fuzzy wool toque, and a long scarf wrapped around her neck and chin. She actually managed to look toasty, as well as cute.

Meanwhile I had leggings under a pair of jeans, my winter boots weren't that warm, and I had two big hoodies under a winter jacket, then gloves and a hat. I completely forgot to bring a scarf, and my gloves weren't really meant for this sort of thing. So my fingers, toes, and face were cold. And my jeans were wet and cold from walking through deep snow to get here. Luckily the barnyard wasn't that bad, the snow wasn't deep around the barn. The route we took to sneak onto the property took us through deep snow though.

I hugged myself and stomped my feet a few times to try warming myself up, but it didn't really help.

After a few more minutes Kaylee said quietly, "I'm going to go check with Marissa and see what she thinks? With the sheep all locked up tight, there's a good chance the wolf won't even bother tonight. He might not come back till it's warm enough that the sheep don't have to be locked in the barn."

"Ok," I nodded.

I watched as she made her way down to the far corner, then she disappeared from view as she went around the south end of the barn.

While I waited for Kaylee to return I shuffled back and forth and rubbed my hands together to try and warm them up again. I knew I should have dressed warmer, but I told my parents I was going over to Kaylee's place which wasn't that far away. They'd have started asking questions if I bundled up like I was going on some kind of arctic excursion.

I couldn't tell them the truth though, I was almost positive they'd have grounded me or something if I told them me and the rest of the club were going to hang out in the cold all night trying to catch a werewolf.

I glanced at the south corner but Kaylee wasn't back yet. I figured she was probably trying to convince Marissa to call it a night as soon as the moon peaked. And Marissa would probably argue that we had to stay out all night long if that's what it took.

Meanwhile I was positive I'd have a cold or something by the time we were done. It was a lot easier to volunteer when we were warm and comfortable back in Miss Hawthorne's class. Standing alone in the dark on a frigid winter night trying to hide from the wind was a very different story.

That's when I noticed some faint noises from the little overhanging roof above me. And when I glanced up I saw some snow fall down from the sloped end of it.

I sighed and half-whispered, "Please don't start snowing..."

The faint sounds from above stopped for a few seconds, then started again and I suddenly frowned. It sounded like something was up there, like maybe a raccoon or something was trying to get into the barn. Or out of it.

I turned and looked upwards as I tried to get a better view, but there was nothing in the rafters. Whatever was making the noise had to be on the upper side. I ended up taking a few steps backwards out into the barnyard as I continued looking up at the little sloped roof section, and as soon as I was out in the open I froze in place as my eyes went wide.

Perched awkwardly ontop of the small sloped roof was the biggest wolf I'd ever seen. Not that I'd seen a lot of wolves, not outside of nature documentaries anyways. It's not like I was some kind of wolf connoisseur or anything. But this one looked huge, and it looked angry. Our eyes met, and my heart skipped a beat.

The wolf's mouth was half open, and all I could see were those long sharp teeth. Then without warning it suddenly came down off the roof and tackled me to the ground and everything seemed to happen at once.

The wolf lunged down, I was knocked backwards, it landed ontop of me and pinned me to the ground. At the same time I felt its jaws around my neck and I was positive I was about to die.

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I closed my eyes tight and let out a single high-pitched scream.

The teeth at my neck suddenly let go and I felt the wolf's weight shift ontop of me, as a girl's voice gasped "What?!"

I opened my eyes and found myself face to face with a strange teenage girl. She looked shocked as she stared down at me, then she suddenly got to her feet and took a step back. I was still too startled to move, and about the only thing my brain registered was this strange girl looked about my age, and she was naked. I saw messy dark hair framing her face, fair skin, and wide panicked eyes.

"Hey!" Kaylee's voice called out from the south corner.

The girl suddenly turned and ran, and she was fast. She covered the barnyard in what felt like only a second or two, jumped the fence, and disappeared into the night.

And the whole time I just lay there sprawled on the ground with my heart racing.

"Cass?" Kaylee asked as she hurried over to me. "What were you doing with that girl? Who was she?"

I still hadn't recovered, I slumped back and lay there staring at the sky as I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down. Meanwhile Marissa appeared to the south, while Brooke and Paige came around from the north.

"What happened?" Paige asked as she and Brooke got closer. "Cass are you ok?"

Kaylee stated, "I heard a scream and came running, and saw Cassandra laying there making out with another girl! Then when I shouted at them she ran off!"

"No!" I shook my head as I finally got up. "I wasn't making out with her! That was the werewolf! She attacked me!"

"Really?" Marissa sounded excited. "What happened, where'd she come at you from?"

I pointed at the little roof bit, "She was ontop of that? I heard some sounds and when I moved out from under it to have a look, she pounced on me from up there! She tackled me and got her teeth on my throat... I thought I was going to die!"

At that point Kaylee Brooke and Paige all crowded around to have a look at my neck, while Marissa hurried up the hill that the two taller girls came down.

"Uh Cass," Paige said as she tried not to smile. "There's some teeth marks here but these aren't from a wolf."

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

Kaylee sounded unhappy as she stated, "That girl gave you a hickey!"

My cheeks went bright red, but fortunately Marissa had a welcome distraction.

"Wolf tracks!" she called out from the top of the hill near that little roof bit. "There was definitely a wolf here, these are fresh!"

Marissa got out her phone and took a picture of the tracks up there as she added, "I bet the wolf was trying to get into the upper level of the barn? Like we had all the ground-level entrances covered, so she was trying to sneak in up here!"

Kaylee turned and looked in the direction where the girl ran off and gulped, "Those are human footprints. Bare footprints. I thought I was seeing things but... Cass was that girl naked?"

I gulped, "I think so?"

"Crap," Brooke sighed. "So we're dealing with a rogue werewolf after all."

"And she bit Cass," Kaylee whispered as she stared at me.

My eyes went wide again and I gulped, "Does that mean...?"

"Lock her up!" Marissa shouted. "Get her out of the moonlight!"

Brooke stated impatiently "Everyone calm down! Cass isn't hurt, she wasn't bitten! It's just a hickey, she'll be fine!"

Now that she had everyone's attention our club leader added, "Let's get out of here. I'm surprised Mr. Potts haven't come out here, with all the noise we're making."

As we all started moving away from the barn Kaylee suggested, "Maybe we should take Cass to see May? Like to make sure she's ok? And to let her know about the wolf?"

Paige responded, "It's kind of late. She might not want us all showing up on her doorstep at eleven o'clock at night."

"We'll text her when we get to the car," Brooke stated. "If she texts back that it's ok, then we'll go see her. Otherwise it'll wait till tomorrow."

I was quiet and still kind of in a bit of shock as we all went over the barnyard fence one at a time. It was wearing off though, and trudging back through the deep snow helped get my mind off the whole werewolf attack thing. Instead it reminded me of how cold I was.

We passed through some woods, then over another fence, and finally across a deep ditch before we got to where Brooke's car was parked at the side of the road. Me and Kaylee and Marissa squeezed into the back seat, while Brooke and Paige were up front.

Brooke started the car and turned up the heater, then dug out her phone and sent off a text message. When that was done she announced, "Ok I've texted May. We'll give her a few minutes to respond, but if we don't hear back then we'll just all head home?"

"Can we get hot chocolate?" I asked.

"Seconded!" Marissa added loudly.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Fine, we'll hit the drive-thru."