The Howling Rite

Nightmare Magic

"Kora, let's fetch some fresh water from the kitchen." She pulled me by the elbow from the room as I stared at what my husband had become.

"Is that true?" I asked her as she helped herself to a bottle of water from the fridge. "Did you look for him when you went?"

"I looked." She said, closing the fridge door. "I never found any proof of anything. But I felt something. I could feel his power in the river. I could smell wolf in the air. He exists, I know that much. Henry could be very close or very, very far. But you are right that it's not safe for him to continue. Not now anyway."

I nodded as she gulped down half the bottle and offered me the other half. I took it and the few more seconds it bought me of not seeing Henry that way. I threw the empty bottle in the recycling and followed Via to back to the bedside.

She was quiet and efficient in her work. She dragged her case to Henry's side of the bed and opened it. It's an enormous brown leather travel apothecary case full of pull out drawers and little retracting shelves. She started pulling little glass bottles from various places and placed them gently on our bedside table. Then she pulled an oil diffuser from one drawer, an incense burner from another, and finally a white candle from the bottom. I went to the empty side of the bed and pulled a box of wooden matches from the drawer of the small table next to me and handed them over. For all she had in that box, the woman never brought matches and was always very agitated when no one else had them either. It always felt like failing a test when she looked at me like that, so I took to putting boxes of them all over the house.

She lit a match and set a little chunk of charcoal on fire. After the flame died down the black rock sparked and glowed as she set it in the incense burner. I sat on the empty side of the bed and watched as she tossed in a few pinches of different herbs on the sparks, and white smoke began wafting around the room. I recognized some of the scents. Sage, some kind of mint, sweet grass, and something stronger like eucalyptus, or maybe lemongrass. Next she mixed different oils together in a little glass dish and set it over the diffuser.

She lit the candle and set it under the dish. The combination was woodsy and strong, and completely intoxicating. It had me lying down beside my husband with half closed eyes. I remember Via leaning down and whispering into Henry's ear as he finally fell asleep. I drowsily tore my eyes from her blurred form and stared at the dancing candle flame. She came and whispered to me as well, but I couldn't tell you what she said. It was comforting whatever it was, and had me sleeping in seconds.

I dreamt of towering trees, dirt floors and jagged rocks. My husband was there in the forest with me. He looked as dazed and confused as when we were awake which gave me no confidence at all. We were alone except for a little rust colored wolf pup. It stared at us, head tilted to the side and eyes burning into my husband's. It took him a moment but finally he started to focus on the little creature. I focused on it too. The eyes were much older than the little pup could possibly be and the teeth were all wrong. I wasn't afraid though. It stood on its four little legs and began trotting away. Henry blinked and followed after. I'm not sure if he knew I was even there but I followed at his side anyway.

The red wolf led us to a clearing. We stood on the edge of a big patch of earth surrounded by ancient and giant oak trees. People were dancing in the center and everyone was happy. I looked at the faces and recognized their features. The Tanzers with their long curly blonde hair and honey eyes danced in circles, twirling their skirts and raising their hands to the mottled sunlight. The Shrivers were singing and the Fausts and Jagers were flirting. These people were people we loved. Our family, our clan, our pack. I went to the center of the celebration. No one seemed to notice me. I looked to my side and Henry was there, dazed again.

Slowly the singing seemed to get quieter and the music was fading. I looked around and noticed some of the people were missing. I looked to Henry and his brows were knit together. He was starting to notice something was wrong. One by one the people we love were fading and none of them seemed to notice. Finally, a little girl with long unruly red hair, one gray eye and one golden eye was all that was left. She was holding the little red wolf, stroking its fur as they both stared at Henry.

He seemed upset, like he wanted to accuse the girl of something. As though they were a single entity, the girl and the wolf opened their mouths to speak. But the voice… it was deep and hollow. Young, and ancient. A scream, but also a whisper.

"Remember what is important, Alpha." They said in that voice that made me tremble. Henry blinked as though he was trying to remember what he'd forgotten. He frowned at the sight before us. The voice spoke again through the odd pair. "Where," It said. "Is your daughter?"

Henry's eyes went wide and just as he started to panic, I was shoved forcefully from my dream with my heart pounding and my limbs working against me. My eyes snapped open and Via was shaking me by the shoulders.

"It's time!" She hissed. I got out of bed clumsily with Via's help as Henry began thrashing around, growling and snarling.

"Should we wake him?" I asked in a panic.

"No!" She shook her head. "But don't worry, I'll clean up the mess." I knew she meant that she expected him to shift. The quick way.

"Oh, Vi, I can't watch this." It was already starting and I turned my head into her shoulder.

"Go to Lena and send Bert in, quick!" I obeyed without question.

Thankfully Lena had just gone to sleep. I was so shaken I didn't trust myself to hold her at that point. I threw myself on the couch beside her travel bassinet and put my head in my shaking hands. I tried desperately to get the voice from my dream out of my head.

It was no use. There was nothing evil about the voice but the raw power of it had me shuddering and would likely haunt me for the rest of my days.

There was a fair amount of noise coming from the bedroom, then a long, low, whistling howl. A large wolf with dark brown fur, my wolf, my Henry came from the room. He stepped quietly but I could hear him. I hadn't looked up yet, but I knew it was him. A wet nose found my hand and the heavy weight of Henry's wolf head found my lap. He whimpered and I finally looked down. His eyes were full on regret and longing. I sighed and leaned back against the couch pillows and said, "Of course I forgive you, you big idiot."

He snuffled and licked my arm then lowered his belly to the floor and crawled under Lena's bassinet. He stayed there until she woke up ready for a bottle and a change.

"You could have warned me." I shouted over the rustling of plastic coming from the bedroom. Via, carrying a black garbage bag as big as herself, marched out of the room, shrugged at me, then left. Berthold followed after with another giant bag and Via's case and gave a sheepish grin.

"We'll be back later to replace your...well… just stay out of the room for now, alright?" I groaned.

"I am so glad none of that furniture was antique. But those sheets were Egyptian cotton and I expect the replacements to be just as good!" I fussed.

"Understood. And um, what kind of mattress was that?" For a moment, just a moment, I think he was afraid of me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Can't you read the label?" I asked.

"Not really, no. It was, well, unrecognizable." He bit his lip.

"Listen here, old man." I growled. "If I have to sleep on the couch tonight, I'll have your throat!"

"I promise, it will be taken care of before nightfall!"

I stood and stuck my index finger in his face. "It had better." Then I gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Dad. And thank Via for me. Give her a hug."

Berthold smiled at me and left me to my mess of a family.