You Lied

Annabelle had just turned twenty-one. She walked down the dark street with her fiancé, Nicholas, by her side. She should be happy. They both should have been, with their wedding only days away. But Annie wanted to drop out of college and settle down while Nick wanted her to stay in, get her degree, and start a career with him. They had been fighting and now they glared at the dark in a strained silence.

“Annie,” Nick sighed, “I don’t want to fight with you. Let’s make a deal.”

“What kind of deal,” Annie asked not wanting to fight either, her violet eyes stared up into his dark eyes hopefully.

“You get your degree,” He placed a gentle finger on her lips, “And if you decide you’d rather settle down than start a career after you can. Sound good?” “Yes,” She said smiling at him.

“Pinkie promise you’ll get your degree?”

“I promise I’ll get my degree,” Annie laughed hugging him.

“I love you, baby,” Nick whispered in her ear. But before she could whisper back a bone chilling howl ripped through the otherwise silent street. Large wolves stepped out of the shadows as Nick pushed Annie behind him. Werewolves were a problem. They attacked people for no reason and they could over power most grown men. Then they usually traveled in packs as well so no human stood a chance. Humans rarely went out after dark and when they did they would stay on well-lit streets and in large groups. Nick and Annie had wondered off alone into the dark…they had made themselves easy prey. Annie watched as drool dripped from gaping jaws and as others snapped open and close. The largest was a golden color with matching eyes he was the first to lunge though the others weren’t far behind. Annie remembered pain, the color red, and screaming. Then she heard gun shots as her world dimmed.

***

Ace took a deep breath and held in the scent of strawberries. His arms tightened around Annabelle pulling her bare body tightly against his own. He released his breath in a slow sigh that gently caressed her cheek. He smiled slowly down at her as he propped himself up on his elbow to look down at her. She was fragile looking with porcelain, long brown hair, dark lashes that lay gently against her cheeks, full red lips, narrow nose, deep violet eyes, and a small lean body that seemed to fit perfectly into his arms.

Ace glanced at the clock; her alarm would be going off in less than a minute. Ace smiled to himself. He reached out and switched it off as he leaned down and pressed his lips against Annie’s bare shoulder and trailed his lips up her neck to her ear then to her cheek then down to the hallow of her neck. She moaned slightly and hunched her shoulder to block him. Ace placed his hand on her bare stomach and made gentle circles with his finger tips and pressing his lips to her temple using his free hand to push himself up higher for better access.

“Ace,” Annabelle giggled rolling on to her back and blinking tiredly up at him, “What are you doing?”

“I thought I’d be better than that damned alarm clock,” His golden brown eyes staring down into her violet eyes.

“Mmm,” She said running her hand gently up his muscular chest through the golden hair covering it across his strong shoulders then through his mused golden hair,

“I guess I should be getting ready for school then huh?”

“Or you could call in sick,” Ace suggested shifting his weight over her as he pressed his lips into the hallow above her collar bone.

“Hmm,” Ace felt the vibrations down his body as she arched her neck and stabbed her fingers through his hair. Ace pulled her close to his body letting her feel his intentions. He felt her shift under him then he was falling. He landed on the ground staring up at the ceiling as her light laughter filled the air. Her hair brushed his chest as she leaned over the edge of the bed. Her eyes sparkled slightly as she looked down at him.

“You’re going to school anyways aren’t you...”

“You know I have to,” Her brittle smile could have broken a heart of ice. And Ace did know. He knew more than anyone that she had to. He’d been there when Nicolas, her fiancé, and herself had been attacked by werewolves. Annie had barely managed to escape with her life, Nick hadn’t been so lucky. Annie had been in the hospital for three weeks before the doctors had released her. Ace had been standing outside of the hospital when she had walked out. She had looked so broken and so hurt he had been unable to watch her walk by without saying something.

“Yeah, you better get your shower then.”

Annabelle rushed to the bathroom of the single bed room apartment she called home grabbing cloths along the way. Ace stood up and made the bed before pulling on his own cloths. He glanced around the bedroom listening to the sound of running water. He smiled halfheartedly at himself wondering how so much of his personal belongings had found their way to her room and knowing that if they had been at his house he’d be wondering how her personal belongings had found their way there.

“Well, Ace, who would have thought it,” Ace said to himself, “The wild wolf has become a regular domestic dog.”

***

Annabelle lounged on her couch and flipped through channels until she found an educational documentary. She stared at the T.V. knowing that she would have nightmares that night but unable to turn away. She wished Ace had answered her calls so he could distract her, but after three hours of not getting through she had given up. She watched as pictures of werewolves were shown highlighting different aspects of monsters. The voice that came from the speakers was deep and soothing as it talked about the origins of the beasts…

“…many of which demanding animal sacrifices. One young practitioner was approached by a demi-goddess with a soothing voice. The young man, according to legend, fell in love and she quickly convinced him she was a full goddess and that he was worthy of becoming her disciple. She wanted to prove to the gods that she was better than them and promised the man eternal life if he would give her a special sacrifice. A human sacrifice. The man was uncertain and voiced his concerns about angering the other gods and goddesses. The demi-goddess was angered and threatened to turn him into a wolf and hand him over to the disciples of the goddess of death where he would be sacrificed himself.

The young man was so frightened that he lured in a fellow disciple and proceeded to sacrifice him. The demi-goddess was over joyed. None had ever been given a human sacrifice before her, but she soon discovered why that had been. The man became mad. He began to kill the rest of disciples in his temple. After he had done that he continued to other temples and kill all in them. The gods became angry and as punishment demanded the Demi-goddess repair the damage. She appeared before the mad man and tried to threaten him again but he had no value upon his own life and attacked her. She died at his hands. The gods knew that they had to put a stop to him. They chose to turn him into the wolf the Demi-goddess had threatened him with for a wolf would have the strength to suppress the madness.

But the madness was too great and their magic became warped. The man was neither man nor wolf but both. He could change form at will and was no longer consumed by his previous insanity however the blood lust he had developed in his madness still ran rampant in his veins. He would prowl and kill but he was sane enough not to draw attention to himself. He discovered that when he left his victims alive but injured they would become like himself when he attacked a young girl who escaped into a hollow tree and emerged the next day able to take a wolf form as he did. Together they tormented the country side for years but the madness the man had believed gone would rip through their bodies every time they transformed and eventually it consumed them both. According to legend, since the madness is released during transformation if anyone kills a werewolf during a transformation they will become consumed by the madness…”

Annabelle turned the T.V. off and walked into her bathroom with the words echoing in her head. She slipped into a pair of Ace’s boxers and one of his T-shirts for comfort then proceeded to brush her hair and teeth. As she walked into her bedroom she shivered slightly. A cold breeze brushed her cheek from her open window. She walked over to shut the window turning her bedside lamp on as she passed it. A loud bang behind her made her jump and spin around. Standing, with his hand holding the door shut, was a man. He was tall and lean with dark auburn hair hanging in front of dashing green eyes.

“Hello,” His voice was like honey but the smile that spread across his face and into his eyes was the smile of a lunatic. Annie could feel her heart beat in her temples and all she could hear was its pounding as she took a shaky step back into her wall. His grin only grew and to her horror he began to change. His face elongated and the hair on his arms grew while the hair on his head shortened till it was the same length. Then his body began to grow and Annie could hear the sound of ripping fabric as his cloths ripped apart and dropped to her floor. His face was twisting into an elongated gaping muzzle filled with razor sharp teeth. Before Annie could register what had happened she was face to face with a wolf larger than life. Annie screamed as he lunged at her and that was the last thing she remembered.

***

Ace walked down the hall with angry strides. Everyone he saw took one look at him and flinched out of his way. He came to the end of the hall and through the door open. A man with auburn hair dashing green eyes smiled up at him and leapt to his feet looking just as proud as he could. Ace heard a gasp come from the corner but didn’t pause in his stride as he approached the other man who came up to him practically dancing with joy. Ace used both their momentums to his advantage as he brought his elbow up to meet the other man’s jugular. Ace turned while the other man fell to the ground. He crouched down in front of Annie who stared at him wide eyed. She had a livid bruise on her right temple that he reached out and gently brushed.

“Ace,” Annie asked in a shaky whisper as he felt tremors of fear shake her body.

“Ya, it’s me, Baby,” Ace said gently pressing his hand against her cheek with a

gentle smile, “Are you okay?”

“No! You hit me ass hole,” a raspy voice gasped behind him. Ace spun around and stood up in a single fluid movement. His temper flared as he let out an animalistic growl at the man standing only feet away from him rubbing his throat and flinching back looking frightened.

“You, Trey, are in more trouble than you can handle,” Ace snapped taking a menacing step forward, “You are lucky all I did was hit you. I have half a mind to kill you for bringing Annie here. What the hell was going through that head of yours?”

“You said that your life would be easier if you could keep her here,” Trey squeaked as he flinched back. Annie stared in horror at the two men. Her mind was trying desperately to connect the pieces in any way other than what they had. Ace and her abductor, Trey, knew each other. Trey was a werewolf. Werewolves only feared others. Trey was afraid of Ace. The only conclusion that she could come up with was that Ace was also a werewolf.

“And naturally that means you knock her out and kidnap her,” Ace’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“I was only trying to help,” Trey whimpered.

“Get out.”

“But…” “I SAID OUT,” Ace’s voice echoed in the room as Trey leapt towards the door. He shifted as Annie had seen him do in her room leaving behind a pile of shredded cloths as he bolted out the door with his tail between his legs. Ace slowly turned around to face Annie. He held his hand out for her and she flinched away.

“Don’t touch me,” She nearly screamed cringing into the wall.

“Annie,” Ace said on a breathless sigh moving towards her.

“No! You…I trusted you…and…and you’re one of them…you’re a…,” Annie couldn’t say the words. She felt like her world was turning inside out and upside down.

“Annie,” Ace crouched down to eye level with her placing his elbows on his knees. His golden brown eyes shined with pain, “Please listen. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Trey took something I’d said and twisted it. He’s a good guy really. His heart is always in the right place and his motives are good but his actions…lack that sometimes. You weren’t supposed to get hurt. You aren’t even supposed to be here. I’m sorry. It was all just a terrible misunderstanding. Please try to understand that.”

“You’re a…a…a,” Annie stuttered curling into a ball as far away from him as she could get when she whispered the word as if it were taboo, “a…werewolf…”

“…Yes,” Ace sighed hanging his head slightly before lifting it to meet her eyes, “I’m a werewolf. But I love you Annabelle. You have to believe me. I love you. Nothing will ever change that.”

“You lied to me…”

“No, Annie, I never lied. I never said I was human. I didn’t tell you. I kept the truth from you. But I did not lie,” Ace reached out for her again, “I’d never lie to you.”

“Get away,” Annie screamed as she pushed him away and ran out the door. She ran as fast as she could when she heard him call her name and give chase. The floor was cold on her bare feet. She didn’t know where she was but she turned into the first open door way she came to. The room was large and empty. She didn’t slow down as she ran to the open door on the other side of the room. She had almost reached it when a hand wrapped around her wrist and she crashed into the wall with someone press against her back.

Ace panted heavily as he trapped Annie between himself and the wall. He would have caught her sooner if he had changed but he knew the sight of the wolf she remembered the best that had attacked her would have only frightened her more. She whimpered slightly pressing herself against the wall with her eyes tightly shut.

“Don’t,” He panted, “Run from me. Stay with me at least until I get you home. It’s not safe.”

“I said,” something in Annie’s voice had changed, it was cold and hard but it had no emotion at all. As Annie spun around she pushed Ace away from her, “Don’t touch me.”

“Annie,” Ace was frightened by the look in her eyes. They were cold and hard like her voice with a wildness in them that had never been there before. She looked to her left and Ace followed her gaze to a hand gun laying on coffee table a few strides from them next to a magazine of bullets, “Don’t do it.”

Annie lunged at the gun and grabbed just before Ace could snatch it out of her reach loading the magazine into it. She spun back around pointing at him. Ace spun on his heel leaping into the air and began to transform into a wolf when he heard the gun shot. He felt the bullet rip through his back, felt it rip through his chest, felt his ribs shatter as it came back out, and he felt the cold floor as he landed on his side. Ace’s physical pain was nothing compared to what he felt when he saw cold violet eyes looking down at him. Nothing when he saw the recognition in Annie’s face. He lay in his blood gasping for breath staring up at her.

“You’re not a werewolf…you’re a liar. You couldn’t love me. The man you murdered did,” Annie whispered feeling tears feel her eyes. The words they will become consumed by the madness… whispered through Annie’s head over and over as she watched the golden wolf shutter for the last time. They will become consumed by the madness…