The wind whispered through the branches and leaves of the hedges, and as I took a few steps forward I heard a constant, steady trickle of water. Tap, tap, tap. I spotted a large opening in the hedge maze where a concrete fountain sat. It reached five feet high with three layers of stone that the water trickled off and deposited into one circular, deep basin. The water had a dark hue to it, though. It had to be from all the filth of the hedge maze.
Once I was closer, I dry-heaved. That wasn’t water at all, it was a steady flow of thick, sour smelling blood. Oh, sweet Jesus.
“Daggett…” a female voice whispered. There was something melodic about the way she said my name.
I whipped around. Oh, god, not again.
Around me were four different paths in the maze, and down one I saw a figure in a black dress with long, blond hair. “Daggett,” she hissed again, her hands trailing down the sides of her body, slowing when she hit the curves of her hips, and then working her way up to the sides of her face.
Veronica stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight and, with a mouth full of fangs, smiled. “It’s just you and me,” she said. “Again.”
She slinked her way toward me with her fingertips dragging across the hedge walls. Little flakes of green leaves and snow broke off and showered down onto her and the ground. Yeah, it was winter, but I’m fairly positive her touch killed those plants more than the cold ever could.
Everything about Veronica reeked of death, and it grossed me out that I was still sucked in by the magnetism of her sex appeal. She must have been a knockout when she was alive.
“Your friends left you all by yourself?” she sang.
I backed away. “Leave me alone, lady.”
Veronica threw her head back in laughter. “Lady? Now, that’s something I haven’t been called…ever. That’s so sweet of you, Daggett.” She did a sudden jerk forward, and I leapt back. Veronica burst into laughter. “You afraid of me, Daggett?”
“Considering you tried to murder me the last time we were alone, yes.”
“I just wanted to play.”
“That’s not exactly my idea of playing,” I trembled as I stepped back, my legs bumping into the bleeding fountain.
“Don’t be such a prude. You know you enjoyed it…our own little foreplay.”
“You’ve got a real messed up idea of what counts as foreplay, lady.” I swung around to the other side of the fountain as she trailed behind me, always keeping a few feet between us.
“This doesn’t have to be messy,” she said softly. “Give yourself to me and I can make it pleasurable. You’ll experience more ecstasy in your final moments than most men do in their entire life. That’s not such a bad way to go, is it?”
“Maybe. But not today.”
I jerked my body forward, ready to unleash the beast from within and kill her, but nothing happened. I didn’t feel the crack of my bones shifting beneath my skin, or the hairs pricking out of my pores. I was still human, and there were no signs at all of me changing.
“Shit,” I said under my breath. Veronica cocked her head to the side, confused.
This happens from time to time. I hadn’t mastered the art of shifting with ease like so many others had, and sometimes it was like trying to rev up a stalling car. It took a few attempts.
“Come on,” I grumbled to myself and hit my chest, hoping I could make magic if I yelled at my body long enough. This was like prom night all over again… Who am I kidding, I was playing video games on prom night. This was more like the night from hell during college, and the older, husky woman who called me Loco because it was the only spanish word she knew.
I’d gladly face her again over Veronica.
I expected Veronica to stand there and wait for me to shift like we were in a comic book movie or an episode of The Power Rangers, but she clearly hadn’t watched any of those and came running at me right away. She hopped on top of me like a monkey, wrapping her legs around my waist and digging her fingers into my chest, and then guided me down to the floor. I laid on my back in the snow as she sat on top of me, her mouth open in a crazy, inhuman smile. She looked excited and very, very hungry.
“I’ve never had werewolf before,” she moaned, and her fingers slid deeper into my chest. I growled. Veronica lowered her mouth to my ear and breathed. “I bet you taste so, so, so yummy. Can you feel me quaking? I can’t wait for a bite.”
Veronica arched her body back and let her hands run up her stomach and across her breasts. Her body stretched beneath the tight, black dress that barely contained her. The anticipation of murdering me was seemingly turning her on. Of course my death would be the only time a good-looking woman would react this way to me.
She looked down through a veil of blond hair and then let out one hiss. She was about to kill me.
Her body suddenly jerked and she let out a bloodcurdling scream. Veronica fell forward and onto me as her body went limp. I quickly shoved her off and let her tumble to the ground. Deep in her back was a long, wooden-handled forest axe, and standing over her was Priscilla.
Priscilla had whacked her with an axe and saved my life. I crawled off the ground and approached her. Panting, Priscilla looked at me and proclaimed, “I found the
