Jack

 

Riley’s eyes mist over in terror. Good. Let’s hope that’ll finally make her leave. Ever since she stepped foot into these dungeons, her scent has assaulted my nostrils. It’s a smell that pulls uncomfortable strings in my head. I want to pierce my fangs into her body and tear her tender flesh from her bones.

But she doesn’t run off. Instead, she stays rooted to the ground and murmurs some useless apologies that nobody cares about.

“Open the door!” I snarl, cutting her off, sick of her bell-like voice, sick of her frightened look, and most of all, sick of her pity. I’ve been in this vault long enough. I need to run. To hunt. To eat. Where the hell did Phillip go? They were plotting something against me before he left—I heard them, but in my rage to get to the girl, most of what they said was lost.

“Jack…” Her voice trembles. “I can’t let you out. It’s too—”

“Open this goddamned gate, Red Riding Hood!” I roar, grasping the iron and rattling it so hard, she ducks her head and throws her arms over it in panic. Is that what she does to protect herself? Pathetic. If there wasn’t this blasted gate between us, she’d be dead by now. Wolf meal. Bloody hell, I need to get out of here.

“There, there, Jack.” Phil’s taunting tone rips my gaze away from the girl. “We don’t yell at ladies in this castle.” Coming around the corner, the bastard smirks as if this was a stupid game we’re playing, and he just won because he brought backing.

Who is that guy in the black coat behind him anyway? I think I remember the shaggy, dark hair from somewhere, but I have no name to put to the tall man with the leather bag. His bushy eyebrows tilt, joining together as he examines me from a distance.

“Hello, Doctor Jekyll,” the girl greets him, sounding relieved as she shakes his hand. “Thank you for coming.”

At the name, something clicks into place in my head, and my grip tightens around the iron. “What the hell did you bring a psychopathic scientist for?” I hiss at Phillip, spitting foam.

“The doctor is here to help you,” he replies as he comes forward, his concerned gaze focused on me.

Fuck his worry! I reach through the gaps and claw at his shirt with my fingers. Unfortunately, I don’t get ahold of him because the bastard leaps back.

“Oookayyy…” His hands lifted, he turns around to face the girl and the psycho. “You better not get too close, doc.”

I stretch my neck, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

The stranger bends down and opens his black medical bag. Keeping a wary eye on me as he rummages inside the case, he asks Phil, “Are you sure this is just a case of tale denial, and that your friend didn’t actually catch rabies somewhere?”

“Come closer, and I’ll give you rabies,” I snarl, rattling the gate once more.

One knee still on the ground, the doctor concentrates on drawing dark green liquid into a syringe.

“What exactly is that?” Red Riding Hood demands, her insecure gaze on the needle.

Yeah, what the hell is that? “Hey! If you turn me into the Hulk, I’ll have your heart for breakfast and bury your balls in a hole in the woods. Just so we’re clear, psycho.”

He throws me a short, demeaning look but talks to the others as he puts the bottle away. “This is a fine-tuned version of my original personality-separating elixir.” He flicks his finger twice against the syringe. “It’ll isolate the good and the evil parts of your friend. I honed it with pixie dust, thus the glitter in the liquid. It makes sure the good side of a person dominates.”

“You hear that, Jack?” Phil turns my way. “Just a short prick and you’ll be good as new.”

I back off from the gate. “Stay away from me.”

“Come on, it’ll be over in a second. And it will make you feel better.”

“I’ll feel a lot better when you open this damn gate.” An odd dizziness sets in. I grab my temples, reeling against the wall. Sheesh! Dark shadows dance on the floor in front of me. “And extinguish that freaking torch,” I snarl. “No one can stay sane in his head with all those wobbling shapes creeping around.”

Leaning my forehead against the cold stone helps to ease the spinning carousel in my head. Deep breaths expand my chest. Yeah, that feels good. Air. Finally. Did somebody try to strangle me? Where am I anyway? A moldy odor creeps up my nose. I glance around. Oh, right, the dungeon. I think I spent the night here.

But who put me here? And why? Isn’t it time to leave?

Turning around, I find three people on the other side of the gate. None of them look familiar. Have they come to visit me? Two knights and a gnome—I don’t think they’re family. Maybe they’re here for someone else. There are probably other vaults in this cellar. Other inhabitants.

The key to my cell hangs on a hook on the wall. If only it wasn’t so far away. I stretch my arm though the gate—nope. Can’t reach it.

“Hey, girl!” I whisper to the one in the red cloak. When her attention slides to me, I point at the brass keyring. “Gimme that.”

She looks at my outstretched arm then back to me with a very sad face.

“Don’t worry,” I comfort her. “I know you’re short, but it’s not as high as it looks. Just stand on your toes and you’ll reach it.” I give her an encouraging smile. “Hurry up.”

“How long will it take until it works, doctor?” the girl asks one of the other guys.

Blasted hell, is she ignoring me? “Hey, girl! The keys!” I order, a little sharper now, waggling my fingers.

“The first effect usually sets in straight away,” says the dark knight with the bush-weed eyebrows. He rises from the floor and walks closer, holding a syringe in his hand.

Whoa! I jerk my arm back inside.

“It’ll knock your friend out for a while. Unfortunately, there’s a small side effect you need to know about,” he continues. “Since this is his first time with the elixir, he might be a little keyed up after he comes to. His body and mind need to adjust. But that will go away after a few hours.”

Oh no! Am I the friend he’s talking about? Panic rises from my gut to my throat. “You want to knock me out?”

“No, we want to help you, Jack,” answers the useless, short scallywag in red.

How can a syringe break this vault open? I would certainly like to know that. “I’m sorry, but I believe you’re mistaken. I don’t know any Jack. You should try a couple cells farther down this corridor. I’m sure you’ll be lucky there. Beware of the giants, though.”

“We’re right where we should be,” the blond knight in the red shirt and white vest speaks up for the first time. He looks exhausted where he’s slumped in the chair by the wall. Wearily, he leans his head back. “Just give the doc your arm. It’ll all be over soon.”

Backing to the far wall of the cell, I stare at them in horror. “Some shit he’ll get from me.”

“Buddy, listen—”

“No, wait,” the dark one cuts off the blond one. “It’s no use talking to him. It appears that he’s already snapped and won’t cooperate.”

“Then what do we do now?” the girl whines, sounding really worried.

“Go home,” I tell her, “and leave the key here.” Hopefully, that will make her happy again. She seems like the nicest of them all.

“I had to give Tarzan a flu shot last week,” the man with the syringe says in a calm voice that I don’t like at all. “He was a difficult patient, too. In the end, I shot a dart at him with a blowtube.”

“You think that’ll work with Jack?” the girl demands, already sounding a bit happier. I’m sure it’s because I told her that she can go home now.

“It should, yes,” the so-called doctor assures her. “I have everything here and only need to dip the dart into the pure essence. It’ll have the same effect as an injection.” He fumbles with something inside his bag and then holds out a blue tube plus a small dart with bushy purple feathers. “Would any of you like to take over the shooting? I’m not very good at that sport.” His forehead creases. “I had to chase Tarzan around the house for half an hour until the seventh dart finally hit its target.”

“I’ll do it,” the red gnome volunteers and reaches for the items the dark one holds out. She fits the dart into the tube and sets it to her lips, turning toward me.

“Hold it!” I shout, lifting my hands in defense. My tongue dries out inside my mouth.

“Sorry, Jack.” Again, lines of worry mar her pretty face. She’s not really going to—

Whump!

A brief sting over my heart draws my gaze down. There’s a ball of purple fluff sticking out of my chest, the needle penetrating my skin. “Huhhh.” Pulling out the dart, I examine it for a moment, then I lift my head. All three people look at me in expectant wonder, but my words are meant for the girl alone. “I can’t believe you shot me.”

None of them says anything. They just stare as if they’re waiting for me to turn into a Pop-Tart. And then a strange sizzle starts in my toes, rapidly creeping up my body. It feels like bugs are crawling through my veins. Shit, what is that?

The sensation intensifies twenty times when it reaches my throat. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, my eyes grow wider and wider until they feel like balloons inside my skull, and the next second, I explode into the Wolf.

Boy… That hurt.

The world looks like it tipped to the side. What the freak show! They drugged me? I’m sure they snitched some of the Caterpillar’s tobacco and administered it intravenously to me. Stupid people! Wanting to leap at them, I realize my right side rubs against something. Stone. The floor? Fuck, I’m lying down.

My legs row in the air as I struggle to get to my feet. It’s hard work, but I’m the master. I can do anything. Yeah, right, people! Didn’t think I’d survive your conniving attack, did you?

Once in an upright position again, I’m confronted by the next problem. The earth is quaking. Yikes, how does one stand in this rickety vault? Hastily clawing the concrete, I try to balance myself from the tremor. Still, I keep tripping over. My vision blurs. And damn, is it warm in here?

My knees are so weak, I can’t hoist myself up anymore, can only lean forward. I try to reach the gate but fall again. My muzzle dunks into a steel bowl of water.

Help! Help! I’m drowning!

Because my head is so heavy, I can’t seem to pull myself out of there. Hysterically, I pedal at the bowl with my forepaws. More water splashes on my face. I squeeze my eyes shut but, thankfully, I can breathe again in the next moment. Yeah, good. I’m safe. And still alive.

Rolling my eyes to the people on the other side of my prison, I let my tongue loll out between my canines.

There, you wisenheimers! Couldn’t kill me, huh? You’ll have to come up with something stronger if you want to knock me out.

And then everything goes dark.

 

*

 

Whoa. My head hums. Feels like it’s housing a swarm of bees. I lick my dry lips. Fangs… Okay, the Wolf is out. But where am I? Doesn’t seem like my bed—too hard for that. And Riley wouldn’t be lying in it with me either. She must be around somewhere, though, because I can hear her soft murmurs.

I have no idea what she’s saying, though. Her voice comes from far away. And yet she’s close because her captivating scent crowds my nose. Morning dew and wood strawberries. Unmistakable.

A funny sensation overrides the buzz in my head. It’s there, right behind my ear. Like tiny squirrel feet scurrying through my fur. This feels nice—although I doubt any sane rodent would voluntarily run over a wolf.

The tiny feet remain in one place, starting a gentle tread. I groan in pleasure.

A girlish snicker follows. “Yeah, you like that, don’t you?”

Oh. So the dulcet caress comes from Riley’s fingers. Is she trying to find a trigger to open my skullcap and let the bees out? That would be awesome.

My eyelids feel too heavy to lift, but I scoot a little closer to where her voice comes from. A scraping sound erupts as my paws drag over stone. Nope, definitely not my bed. Not even my apartment, judging by the moist, tomb-like air filtering through my nose. When my snout knocks into something hard, my eyes finally open.

I can see Riley. She’s sitting on the stone floor in the warm light of a flame. But some sort of iron grid separates us. What the hell? Her arm is through one of the many square gaps, and she continues the gentle rub behind my ear.

Rolling my eyes from one side to the other, I scan my surroundings. Stone walls but no windows, a pallet in the corner, and the contorted face of a wolf staring back at me from the stainless steel of a tipped-over water bowl on the floor. Goodness, I know where I am!

Startled, I jump to my feet—or try to. The result is pancake á la wolf.

“Easy there, Jack,” Riley says in a strangely soothing tone that I don’t recall ever hearing from her before. “You’ve been unconscious for several hours.”

Finally, fighting gravity, I manage to sit up. We’re at eye level now, and she smiles through the gate. “You should take it slow. I don’t know if you remember what happened, but you’ve had a pretty tough day.”

Tough day? I remember that you shot me, little miss! Since I came here and asked Phil to lock me up in the first place, they probably had a good reason to do it, though.

“I guess it’s safe to let you out now.” Riley scrambles to her feet and straightens her dress under the long, red cloak. “Can you change back to yourself?”

I will myself to change into my human body. Nothing happens. My muscles tensing, I strain harder to summon the change. Still, the Wolf remains strong. Crap, why is that?

A skeptical V appears above her nose. “Are you trying, Jack?”

No, I’m hatching an egg here. What does she think?

Freaked out, I stand up and look under my belly through my legs. Shit, there’s fur everywhere. How is that possible? I never had any trouble changing to either of my forms before.

“Okay, don’t panic,” Riley quickly says, holding out her spread fingers to me. “Before Dr. Jekyll left, he said something like this might happen.” Hanging on to the gate, she lowers to a squat and looks me in the eyes through the gaps. “He was surprised that you popped into the Wolf after the injection anyway. Since this was your first shot of Hyde elixir, it’ll take a few hours for you to adjust. Don’t worry. You won’t be stuck in wolf form forever.”

Oh, great, they drugged me with monster potion. Anything else I need to know?

She tilts her head to the side, her gaze softening. “Are you hungry?”

My tongue rolls out, and I start to pant.

Hey! Sucking it back inside, I close my mouth and frown.

“Okay.” She stands. “Phil left a while ago to finish off the thing with Briar-Rose. I don’t want to go raiding through their fridge uninvited, so how about you and I go on a little hunt through the woods? The doctor said that would be okay now. Maybe we’ll find a bunny for you. Or some warthog.”

My ears stand at attention, and again, my tongue flaps out. Sheesh, I didn’t want to do that. But what’s more, my backside begins to wiggle. I check behind me to see what’s going on and find my tail wagging. Hey, stop that, you stupid, useless thing!

Bending, I try to snatch it with my mouth, but my teeth bite into air. I struggle to lean back a little farther. There! There! On my way! I snap again, but every time I think I get it, my hind legs move of their own accord, and I miss it by inches. I’m chasing my tail around myself until Riley’s fit of laughter makes me stop abruptly.

Hey, just so we’re clear, I’m not one of those hyped-up pups, too stupid to know it’s not their own tail, okay? I’m just trying to make it stay still. Totally different thing.

Still cheerfully shaking with laughter, Riley grabs the keys from the wall and unlocks the gate. “C’mon, boy, come out! Before you get giddy in there.” She slaps her thigh. I swear I can do nothing about the squeal that escapes me as I jump around her in sheer excitement, my tongue lolling out. Fuuuck!

Taking the torch from the wall, she leads the way out, running her fingers through the fur on the top of my head as I struggle to calm myself beside her.

As we trot out into daylight, it feels as if I’ve been kept underground for days. Which probably was the case. Head lifted, I draw in a really deep breath. Holy Gingerbread Man, what a delight! Until the rays of the late-morning sun tickle my nose, and I sneeze. Twice.

“Come on, you big, bad puppy dog,” Riley teases me and starts running across the meadows of Castle Grove toward the forest. Immediately, I sprint after her, and when I catch up with the rolling red bundle and nudge her bottom with my snout, her laughter echoes across the lowlands.

Behind the borders of the forest where the light is cooler and darker, her jog slows to a gentle stroll. She clearly has to catch her breath from giggling so much. While I take a deep drink from the little stream beside the path, Riley plucks an apple from a tree and tosses it a few times into the air, always catching it smoothly again with one hand.

As we amble on together, my gaze remains transfixed on the fruit. She doesn’t bite into it, just keeps throwing it into the air. Hopefully, it’ll drop. Then it’s mine.

“What?” she coos, smiling down at me. Her hand with the apple lowers in front of my nose. “You want this?”

Feverish, I skip in front of her. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Her grin gets wider as she hauls back her arm. “Okay, go fetch!” The next second, she pitches the fruit forward, straight into the woods, and then pulls her arm behind her back.

Holy moly! I whirl around, sprinting three steps forward. Then I stop, my gaze darting to the underbrush. Eyes wide, my heart races, but instinct makes me shoot back to Riley, and I prance before her. Did you throw it? Did you throw it? Frowning, I glance at the bushes again. I didn’t hear it land. Come on, you still have it behind your back, right? Do you? Do you? Exhilarated, I snoop inside her cloak. Where is it?

“Oh my Goodness, Jack!” Riley falls to the ground and rolls with laughter. And there is the apple, still in her hand. I knew it!

“You’ll probably want to kill me for this when you finally get back to your senses,” she chirps between her giggly hiccups, “but you really should see yourself right now!”

Ha, ha. Very funny. I step over her and lick her face.

“Ew! Lay off! You’re disgusting!” Dropping the fruit, she shoves at my head with both hands, turning her face away. It won’t help her. She gets a proper licking. And if she laughs any harder, I might have to give her mouth-to-mouth, too.

But then a rustle in the bushes raises my hackles, and I lift my head.

Riley stops pushing at me and tilts her head, too. “What is it?”

Shh.

“Jack?”

Shhhh!

There! Something moved between the hazels. All my senses on high alert, I wait another second for the next rustle, then I sprint forward, targeting whatever is hiding in the thicket.

It smells of deer. And it’s got antlers. Boah! An elk! Am I a lucky bastard or what?

Panic-stricken, the elk bleats as I catch it from the side and run it over. We roll across the moss until I’m on top again, holding it down with my paws. Okay, it’s smaller than I thought. Maybe not an elk. But a fine meal anyway.

“Jack? Where are you?” Riley’s voice drifts through the bushes shortly before she emerges. Dusting some weeds off her body, she walks forward with a proud smile. “Ah, you caught yourself a—” The smile disappears.

Why does she look so serious now?

Coming closer, her shocked gaze lights on my prey. “Is this Rudolph?”

A reindeer? Yeah, from the stark smell, it might be one. But don’t worry, we’ll roast it over the fire, and it’ll taste wonderful.

“Goodness gracious! You can’t eat one of Santa’s reindeers!”

Why not? He’s got enough of them.

“Jack! Let him go! This is Rudolph. The Rudolph!”

You call it Rudolph. I call it lunch.

Riley taps her foot with impatience. Whining, I shake my head, still holding on tightly to the struggling furball beneath me. She’s wrong anyway. This isn’t Rudi, it’s probably just some guy named Matt or something. Reindeer are thick around these parts.

When its nose starts to glow, I inconspicuously cover it with my paw.

Folding her arms over her chest, Red Riding Hood coughs vigorously. “Ja-ack!”

OKAY! Rolling my eyes, I roll off the deer and sit back on my haunches. Disgruntled, the animal blows in my face before it tootles off.

My stomach growls with hunger. Great.

At least, the sound isn’t lost on Riley. Her face softens, and she rubs behind my ear. Mmh, that feels amazing. Grunting in happiness, I squeeze my eyes shut and press my head into her palm. Wait! Should I be doing that?

Ah, what the hell…

“Come on, you bad puppy.” She laughs. “Let’s visit Granny and see if she’s got food in her fridge.”

My behind rises, and my tail excitedly starts flapping again. Ugh. Snorting, I hang my head. This time, however, I refuse to chase that traitorous part of me.

Riley eats the apple while I trot alongside her. Granny’s house does sound good, after all. At the crossing, where we usually meet at the beginning of our story, we head in her grandmother’s direction. Some movement from that part of the forest captures my attention. A small form ambles toward us, sporting yellow fur, boots, a vest, and a hat.

My eyes glaze over with delight.

Can’t say that the Puss in Boots feels exactly the same joy at seeing me. His eyes grow as big as chicken eggs, and the fur on his arched back stands on end. He screeches in terror, claws shooting out.

The next instant, the cat whirls about and dashes off into the underbrush. Heck, if that isn’t an invitation.

Be right back!