I had my eyes trained on the kids and forgot to watch the woods around me. That was a mistake.
I was just thinking they were all going to make it out safely when a shadow moved.
Suddenly a huge fanged shape leaped out of the woods.
I tried to twist away but the thing was too quick, too big.
“OOOOMPH!”
The full weight of the beast smashed into me and knocked me across the trail.
Then it had me pinned flat to the ground.
Chapter 40
The werewolf’s foul breath stung my eyes and burned the inside of my nose. My throat closed up as I struggled to heave it off me.
But strong claws pinned me to the ground. It hissed and I heard its voice inside my head. “You can’t move, little Gruff. There is no escape.”
Ripper!
I stopped struggling and the werewolf leaned back a few inches so the moonlight fell on its hideous face. Red eyes glowed with fury. Its lips parted in a snarl. I couldn’t help myself cringing at the sight of its needle-sharp fangs.
Ripper growled ferociously. The torn remnants of Mr. Clawson’s suit clung to his arms and legs in shreds. He leaned into my face again and his claws dug deeper into my shoulders. It stung like fire where his claws pricked and I felt my blood bubble and hiss from the wounds.
“The children belong to us!” Ripper’s voice scraped the inside of my head. “Join us! Taste blood tonight or die!”
“NO!” I screamed with all my force, bucking my back up off the ground. I twisted and heaved the monster off my chest. His claws raked my shoulder and at the fiery pain I brought my hands up and threw him off me.
That took Ripper by surprise. I could see in his maddened eyes that he wasn’t used to anyone fighting back. Before he could stagger up I leaped into a tree.
Ripper swung around, snarling. His spit flew, burning everything it touched, like acid. “I’ll get you,” he thundered inside my head.
Terror made me super fast. I swung from one tree to the next, racing through the leafy branches after my friends. I could hear them shouting and crying in panic as they stumbled along the trail. They were almost at the clearing.
I felt the werewolves gathering below, looking for me. They sniffed the air and lunged at shadows.
All around me I could feel the heat of their glowing red eyes. They gnashed their teeth and struck out at one another in frustration. Howls of pain and fury filled the night.
But there was something else, something worse. It was like an evil shimmer in the air or a bad, sickly smell that came from all directions at once. It needled at the back of my mind like a thorn I couldn’t reach.
What was it? Was I forgetting something?
And then suddenly I knew what it was I was sensing. It hit me like a kick in the stomach.
It was the werewolves’ hunger. More than anything they wanted to feed.
Chapter 41
I reached the clearing giddy with panic. But Kim and Paul were there, herding the other kids onto the bus as fast as they could.
“Hurry,” said Paul. “Move it. We’ll be safe on the bus.”
Kim comforted a girl who was crying. “We made it,” said Kim. “We’re back at the bus and we’re all here. There’s nothing to be scared of now. Nothing can get us inside the bus,” she repeated, helping the girl up the stairs.
In a rear window I could see Big Rick’s white face pressed up against the glass, huge eyes swiveling back and forth through the trees, looking for monsters.
“But who’s going to drive us out of here?” wailed a boy, shivering violently while he waited his turn to board the bus. “We lost Mr. Grunter and Mr. Clawson!”
Kim and Paul looked at each other and looked away quickly. They didn’t want to think about what had happened to their teacher and their principal. “Let’s just get on the bus first,” said Paul gruffly. “We’ll think about what to do once we’re all safe inside.”
“They’ll be along soon,” Kim said in a quavery voice. “Mr. Clawson and Mr. Grunter are probably right behind us, trying to figure out what kind of animal was chasing us. They’ll be here in five minutes and probably make us feel silly for running away.”
Kim looked like she was trying really hard to believe this. I made sure I stayed out of sight in the trees, my eyes roving the dark edges of the clearing for signs of werewolves.
My ears pricked up at a stealthy movement in the woods behind me. Careful to make no sound, I turned on my branch and peered down through the leaves. Nothing. I moved along the branch, searching the ground where the noise had come from. But all I could see were tree trunks and bushes.
Then I heard a disgusting drooling and slurping. My flesh crawled. My eyes darted to the spot and found a shadow that was not the shape of the tree beside it. I tensed, every muscle ready. Out of the dark, red eyes flashed for just an instant.
But it was long enough. Opening my powerful jaws, I growled viciously and sprang from the tree. The startled werewolf hissed in fear and leaped into the air, spinning away from me.
“GRRReeeeeeeee!”
My claws raked its leg and it howled in pain as it fled deeper into the swamp, away from the clearing and the children.
Anger pumped through my body as I looked around for more of the werewolves lurking in the shadows. I began to circle the clearing, keeping hidden in the trees, a low growl rumbling in my chest. But I saw no more flashes of hot red eyes
