Campus wolves: Tales of the full moon

Ivelle No matter how hard I try, I can’t get these damn headphones to work. They were working fine just yesterday, but all of a sudden when Amira starts nagging me about this bon fire, it stops. She pulls the pillow under my head abruptly, causing me to land on the bed, face first. “Are you even listening?” she asks, smirking. “Of course you are, there isn’t any music playing,” she says scrolling through my phone. “Hey,” I yell, trying to reclaim my stolen phone. Now she has me up, chasing her all over our tiny dorm room. “Ivelle Miller, you have no social life,” she enunciated clearly so I wouldn’t miss a word. It was true that I had no friends and a non-existent social life. But hearing it from someone else makes it sound worse than it is. Amira is my roommate, and by default, my best friend. We’ve been together since we were freshmen, and today is our first day as Sophomores. She’s the outgoing type and had been insisting for the past hour that we go for the Sophomore bon fire. “Amira, I’m not just into social gatherings, or people,” I still try to convince her while struggling for my phone, nothing on the planet can change her mind right now. “Okay,” I say in defeat. “Okay?” she asks in amusement. “I’ll go, okay? Now let go of my phone,” my shoulders slump as she hands me my phone. There’s only one reason why this girl is so adamant and insistent that I go. The reason has a name, Jack McKernan. Since my first year of college I had this major crush on him. I talked about him every day for a month and ever since then Amira had sworn to set us up. Today, she’s making another one of her efforts, and sincerely I don’t blame her. It’s not like I don’t want it too. I can’t let her efforts go in vain. I look round the room, the snap of her fingers pulling me out of my reverie. “Earth to Ivelle,” she snaps her fingers once more, “what on earth is causing you to smile that way?” I shrug my shoulders, completely ignoring her question. “What are you doing? Get dressed!” Amira prompts as she slips on her tights. “Now?” I ask, surprised. “Yes, now,” she asserts. I stand there, still in shock. Amira stares over at me, “Could you be fast? Jack is coming to pick us up!” “What?” I asked as a knock on the door answers my question. “Amy, Ivelle?” Jack’s voice filled the halls. “See?” she widened her eyes at me, throwing a tank top in my direction. She added a grey sweatshirt, then whispered, “It’s going to be cold.” I take a few minutes to get ready, then whisper, “I’m done.” Jack knocks a final time before she shouts, “We’re ready.” She pulled me to the door, smiling sheepishly. “What are you up to?” Jack asked as he accessed the malicious smile on her face. “Nothing, let’s go,” she took his hand, still holding on to my own hand. We’re in front of the car when Amira suddenly remembers she’s not with her lip-gloss. Jack’s height is towering over me as he stares down. I quickly cover my hood. It feels like his stare is boring holes into my skin. He laughs, then takes my hood off. “What’s with you?” he asked, “you always act weird when I’m around.” His question catches me off guard. Maybe it's because of how he holds my eyes so firmly. Instead of words, I let out a puff of air that I didn’t know was stuck in my throat. I spot Amira coming out without her lip gloss. The purse in my hand suddenly enters my range of sight. As I open it, the first thing I see is her long lost lip-gloss. I stare darts at Amira as she prances towards the car. The back door of the car is left ajar so I pull it open. A hand pushes the door closed. I stare up and the next image that catches my eyes is Jack. He moves me to the passenger seat then says, “You're with me today Ivelle.” I feel a sudden heat all over my body as he closes the front door and makes his way to the driver’s seat. The key turns in the ignition. Every sound at the moment succeeds in arousing me. “You good?” he asks me. His husky voice sends chills down my spine. He stares down at me waiting for a response. “Are you good Ivelle?” Amira enunciates, smirking at me. I nod in embarrassment. He smiles, then starts driving. The woods are not too far from the college campus so we arrive there at record time. It's already 10pm when we get there and everyone is done setting up. “Yo, Jack, you’re late!” one of the guys calls out as Jack turns in his direction. Before he walks away, he squeezes my hand gently, “I’ll be back Ivelle.” The way he says my name causes me to clamp my legs closed. I’m lucky that I'm in jeans today instead of a maxi skirt. These grasses look like they need watering anyway. Amira is all smiles and I know she’s definitely said something to Jack. “What are you looking at me for?” she hisses. “Witch,” I say going for her neck. She pulls me closer, “You love me,” she whispers. I push her away immediately. Her voice gives me goosebumps. Ever since I can remember, words hurt. Not the normal way words hurt people emotionally. My case was more physical. I could hear everything the average human could, but louder. Most times, I wore my headphones with the noise cancelling mode on just to avoid people. “Come on, let’s go take a seat it’s about to start.” I follow Amira to one of the logs planted around the fire. There are a lot of people present, all Sophomores and seniors. Any freshman caught here would be embarrassed publicly. It was just like High school, hierarchy in everything. Jack was very popular with everyone, especially the ladies. I mean, who doesn't like an athlete? “Shall we perform the oakman tradition?” Tyler, one of Jack's friends asks. He's a football player and is almost as famous as Jack. “Nah, man, I thought we were over that already! It's too childish!” Jack said with a vein popping out of his forehead. If I didn't know him better, I'd think he was afraid of the harmless scary stories they are about to tell. Tyler was adamant. After taking a little survey, the majority voted for scary stories. Only a few girls voted against it because Jack didn't want it. As the stories go on, I stare at Jack who's getting more and more uncomfortable by the hour. They're simple stories about, werewolves, mystical creatures that howl at the moon. Coincidentally, it's a full moon and I can't help but notice how Jack's eyes change from Hazel to chestnut. Maybe it's the moonlight reflecting in his eyes, but whatever it is makes him look even more attractive. Jack stands up immediately, nodding an elbow at Tyler's side before walking off into the woods. Amira pokes me and looks in the direction that Jack went. “No,” I whisper, knowing fully well what she's thinking. She chuckles then maintains silence. “Do you hear that?” I ask Amira who is completely engrossed by the fire, staring at the flame with so much intensity. “Hear what?” she asks me with a strange look. “You and your imagination,” she says to me and I agree. It's my imagination! I'm certain that a distance from here, right in those woods, someone is panting and crying. To satisfy my curiosity, I walk into the woods, not realizing how far I've strayed from the camp. I can't see anything. All I can hear is the sound of wood crunching. There is fast and almost undetectable movement all around me. A knot forms in my throat, and I'm sweating uncontrollably. From a distance I can see a strange creature that resembles a dog running towards me. Guided by pure instinct, I walk closer to the sound and discover a body. The figure is naked, covered in a warm red substance and scratch marks. I turn him around to see his face. “Jack!“ I scream, a hand clasping at my mouth muffling my voice. “Go away, Ivelle, it's not safe here,” he warns. “I can't leave you here like this.” My adamance makes him lose more energy as he tries his best to speak. “Leave--” he says before he trails off. The sound of leaves rustling gets worse. It sends shivers down my spine because it isn't a windy night, what could be making such strange sounds? I close my eyes for a moment and a strange creature appears. The creature that hunts my dreams every night. Once I open my eyes, I see it, it seems so real this time. My heart threatens to stop beating. It circles around me, keeping its gaze on Jack, like he's some sort of prey. Is it a dog? No, it's too big to be a dog. Maybe a wolf? I continue to contemplate as I sit down on the grass, entranced by this majestic creature. It's fur is black, and eyes grey. This is no ordinary wolf. There's something about it. While I'm trying to collect my thoughts, it jumps at Jack. Without thinking, I immediately used my body as a shield to protect him. The creature stands down immediately. It growls at me instead, like I had completely derailed it. At the moment, my whole body goes completely numb. A tear falls from my eyes as I quiver in fear. The only part of my body that can move are my lips. As it prepares for another strike, lunging backwards, I scream. I scream so loudly that I'm sure my voice echoes throughout the woods. To my surprise, I'm greeted by two other wolves, much smaller in size. They howl at the bigger wolf, taking formation behind me and occasionally licking Jack's body. Even if I don't understand what is happening, I know they are certainly on different teams from the one in front of me. In a moment, they're gone and so is Jack's body. The wolf in front of me also disappears and I'm convinced that I imagined everything that just happene d. I stare at my shaky palms which were covered in Jack's blood. That's the last thing I see before the lights go out.