Next door the werewolves were growling among themselves. Fragments of words began to appear in my head. That was how werewolf speech worked. The monsters couldn’t use human language but one werewolf could understand another, hearing the meaning right inside its skull. It made my brain crawl.
But why didn’t they scent me? I peeked around the door. The werewolves—about 12 of them—were gathered around a large table. They all had huge, elegantly padded chairs to sit in. Along the back wall were two wide picture windows looking down over the twinkling lights of Fox Hollow.
And along with the werewolves there were two humans scurrying around, handing out sheets of paper. That’s why they didn’t notice my scent! There were already humans in the room.
My heart seemed to slip back into its proper place. With other humans around, I might even have a chance to get out of there!
“All right,” growled a huge werewolf, rising to stand at the head of the conference table.
Some of the werewolves were drooling horribly as their blood-red eyes followed the movements of the two humans in the room. But they jumped to attention when the big monster brought his clawed fist down on the table.
BANG!
It was the leader of all the werewolves—the beast called Ripper! His thoughts were powerful, echoing inside my head. “Let’s bring this meeting to order. Parker! Give us your report.” Ripper’s eyes blazed as he dropped back into his thronelike chair—a bigger, fancier chair than the others.
My eyes widened as a vicious-looking werewolf rose on its hind legs. Could that horrible thing really be nice Mr. Parker?
It was.
“You all have a copy of my report,” barked the Parker werewolf, licking its fangs. “And as you can see”—he waved a clawed hand at several of the other werewolves—“the formula works. Now even new werewolves, like myself, can enjoy the advantages of the werewolf physical form on any night without having to make the commitment to full-blooded status. Unfortunately, there seems to be no possibility of making a formula that can transform human into werewolf without that special werewolf bite.” Mr. Parker fluttered his claws apologetically.
Ripper scowled. “That’s too bad. But at least there will be plenty of strong new werewolves now so we can work through the night. And as I suspect we’ll have to be ready in time for our big surprise, is that right?” He nodded at another werewolf, and Mr. Parker dropped back into his seat with apparent relief.
The werewolf beside him rose. “We are a little behind schedule.” The werewolf cringed as Ripper’s eyes blazed at him. “But we’ll be ready,” he added in a squeak that hurt my head. “At least the adults don’t suspect a thing. Some of the children are jittery but we managed to bite several kids, and the ones we couldn’t get to, well, no one believes them.”
“Uh, about the children.” Parker sounded hesitant. “Maybe a couple of them—”
“What?” bellowed Ripper. “Don’t you LIKE being a werewolf, Parker?”
“Yes, yes, of course I do,” whined the Parker creature.
“Then why shouldn’t your children like being werewolves, too?” Ripper pinned him with his fiery eyes.
Werewolves can’t turn pale but it almost seemed like the blood drained from Mr. Parker’s monstrous face.
“And if you like being a werewolf now you’ll LOVE it once you’ve made your first kill,” growled Ripper. “Which you will get to do at the very next full moon. Tomorrow night.”
My heart leaped in hope. Maybe all wasn’t lost. Mr. Parker hadn’t made his first kill! He was like me! There was still a chance to save him. And what was it he had been going to say about the children? Did he want to spare Kim and Paul? Was there a human part still inside him?
“Enough!” growled Ripper so loud that it hurt inside my head. The excitable murmurs of the other werewolves cut off instantly. Ripper rose up again, towering over them.
“You all know our mission. You know your places and your roles. We will not fail! Tomorrow night as the full moon rises we will turn every human in Fox Hollow into a werewolf—all those we don’t want to eat, that is!”
A chorus of cackles erupted but cut off abruptly when Ripper raised his paw. “One kill you leave to me. And we all know who that is.”
“GRUFF!” shouted the werewolves, making my blood turn to ice and my knees to jelly.
But Ripper wasn’t finished. “Remember, all the people of Fox Hollow must be made werewolves. Then WE control the town. After that, we’ll march on—to the next town! And the next! And the next! Now, get to work!”
The other werewolves began howling a chant, leaping onto their chairs, cackling and snarling. “We want the world and we want it NOW!” they shrieked.
They hurled themselves onto the table and huddled together. Then all at once they raised their hideous snouts into the air and began to howl at the top of their lungs.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
The heart-stopping noise echoed off the walls and the ceiling. It built and built and still the werewolves howled for blood, louder, shriller, higher.
Suddenly the huge panes of glass in the picture window exploded, sending jagged shards flying all over the room.
Chapter 34
Shrieking with glee, the werewolves bounded through the shattered windows and raced off into the night, calling to other werewolves still inside the building. Answering howls erupted from all around the Wolfe Industries complex.
I slumped to the floor, ears ringing, my whole body quivering with horror and disgust. I stayed there, unable to move, as the sound of howling drowned out even my thoughts.
I had to get out of there. I had to follow the werewolves. I had learned that, thanks to Mr. Parker’s new formula, there were even more of them than there should be on a night when the moon wasn’t full. But I hadn’t learned the most important thing: What was the “surprise” Ripper talked about? What were they planning
