Double Jeopardy

From nearby, a wolf howled.\

She didn’t know how long she’d been running, but it had to be a long time. Her feet, shod only in thin moccasins intended for indoor use, were throbbing and tattered. She could feel them slip in the blood pooling inside the flimsy footware. She wasn't prepared for this.

As if anyone could prepare for thi

It was there. She knew it, could feel it. It had already caught up with her. Probably, at any second, it would take her. She was reminded of cat-and-mouse. The cat, toying with its victim, swatting, batting, allowing it to find temporary freedom and leaping on it again. She knew the mouse always lost, but still, she ran.

She’d run losing races before. There was no way she could win this, but stopping was out of the question.

Stopping was out of the question. Her friends and family all told her she was too old to start the sport, too out of shape to run every day to prepare, and, frankly, too much of a sissy to make the grade.

She crossed the finish line behind almost everyone else. Her and half a dozen other middle-agers, people who’d taken up running too close to the marathon to do anything except huff and heave across the finish.  She crossed the line, though, and dragged herself to the closest tree, leaning against it, doubled over to catch her breath.

She’d never felt more alive.

She liked the feeling, so she kept running, losing the weight brought on by both mid-life and Daniel’s death, and by sitting for too many hours at a computer. It was freeing. She simply loved the motion of moving her legs forward, of putting herself somewhere else. She loved to run.

She ran. Without thought or plan, she simply knew she had to keep going. She crashed headlong through the underbrush and low-hanging tree branches, holding her hands in front of her at times to block the worst of the undergrowth and prevent branches from hitting her face. She never cried out, no matter how bad the pain in her feet or the scratches to her arms.\

She ran past a huge oak, side-stepped, and leaned back against it. She nearly collapsed as she reached downward, grasping her knees for support. She tried to breathe quietly, hoping her quest for oxygen wouldn’t give her position away.

To  It.

She wouldn’t have believed that the beast was real, but she’d seen it, had smelled its breath, felt its claws slashing at her body. She looked down.

That was all the evidence she needed. The torn tee-shirt, the ripped skin, and the red splatters of blood that oozed thickly from the wide scratches. Her evidence. Barely visible in the twilight of this evening, darkened even further by the surrounding trees, it was undeniably there. She had proof – tangible, undeniable evidence to make herself believe and keep running.

It was real.

She dared close her eyes as she drew in lungs full of air. She could still see it.

Thick hair covering the face and body, an elongated snout, mouth full of sword-sharp teeth. It stood on its hind legs like a man, two or three inches taller than her. It reached forward, catching her shirt with its claws,

The word ‘werewolf’ entered her brain, threatened to scream from her mouth. She reached up a shaking hand, covering the lower half of her face in horror and in disbelief. She had to keep the word inside, had to stay silent as long as possible.

She’d heard it crashing through the woods behind her, chasing her from the resort, forcing her farther from people and light and help. They were near enough to the lake now that she could smell the dampness of the bank. What if it ran her into the water? How long oculd she swim... And could it swim? Of course it could, she thought as the phrase 'dog-paddle' entered her mind.

She wondered if she’d see the beast before it saw her. Or if it would sneak up on her, surprise her in the dark.

“It's a surprise, isn’t it?”

She ignored her sister, concentrating on the town around her. As they walked, she took notes about building structure, people, and bits of conversation they heard as they walked down the street. It had been lightly trafficked every day until today but was now busy with Saturday shoppers.

 “It’s romantic, isn’t it?”

"Romantic?" She’d looked up at Gwen, questioning her with an arch of the eyebrows and tip of her head. “What?”

“You’ve come here to write a romance novel, and you’ve found a romantic interest. You’re here writing about a small-town sheriff and, Judith, you meet one. Tall, strong, and … Ummm … deliciously good looking. Sheriff Alec Franklin. Mmmm; even sounds delicious.”

She’d smiled. “I don’t think you’d classify the sheriff as a romantic interest, Gwen. Interesting, sure. But I’m just using him for –“

“Sex?”

“Research, my slow-witted sister.”

Gwen laughed. “Well next time you’re doing your ‘research’, why not find out if he’s married?”

They stepped around the corner of the main street, heading for a small coffee shop and she bumped into the sheriff as he rounded the corner onto Main.

He looked down at her and smiled. “Why, hello, Mrs. Geisler. Good to see you today.”

He tipped his hat and Gwen poked her in the ribs. That pulled his attention to Gwen. “Find out if who’s married?” he asked. “I know ‘most everybody around. I could probably tell you.” As if drawn irresistibly back to her, he returned his gaze to Judith.

She looked up into his eyes, blinking.

His gaze burned back.

Eyes burned toward her from the darkness of the trees. Yellow eyes, intense, focused on her. She looked up slowly, hoping still that her cover was intact, knowing that the beast had gotten ahead of her and that she was standing in its full view. She thought she saw the corners of its mouth turn upward in a demonic kind of smile.

The werewolf moved toward her, almost hesitantly at first, then with the speed of lightning across the sky. It reached her in less time than it took her to draw in the breath to scream.

Her last scream.

It bound toward her, mouth open, fangs ready to tear her throat or her belly away and leave her unable to run again. Leave her lying bleeding and dying until it chose to dispose of her – to eat her.

She felt fear and nausea battle for control of her as the beast stopped only millimeters from her face. 'Cat and mouse, she thought. It prepared to lunge the final distance and she prepared for the end.

Without reason the wolf monster stopped, cocked its ears forward, and tilted its head to one side. Jude held her breath, not daring to draw attention back to herself. It looked away from her, swinging its head north, looking in that direction. Glaring back at her, the beast put its snout against her and hmphed into her face. She choked on the smell of it, struggling not to cough, not to move. Its head swung north again as if it was trying to understand some message unheard by Jude. Again, it pushed its long nose into her, hard against her throat. It bared its fangs and exhaled, almost like a sigh. The werewolf looked her eye-to-eye – its yellow eyes, narrow and angry, her green ones, wide and fear-filled. Then it dropped to all fours, stared up at her, and trotted off into the dark woods.

She could still feel its breath on her.

She could feel his breath on her after he’d gone. He was the first man she’d entertained, physically or emotionally, since Daniel died.

With Aled, she felt safe. He was a huge man, and a sheriff, but that seemed to have less to do with it than his quiet calm, controlled demeanor.

“You have a very old soul,” he’d told her at dinner.

She met his eyes and smiled.

He looked down as a slight blush touched his cheeks. Braving a glance up at her he shrugged. “It’s been a while,” he admitted. “My deputy told me to use that line.” He sat a second, grinned, and asked, “Did it work?”

“Is your deputy a young guy?”

Alec nodded. “Twenty-four.”

“Well,” Judith smiled, “that line would work better picking up a pretty, young twenty-something than a getting-up-there fifty-something.”

Alec lowered his head again. “Oh, for God's sake.” He looked back up. “I’m sorry, Judith.”

“No harm. It’s been a long time for me, too. Daniel died ten years ago this fall.”

“I lost Rosemond …” Alec stared out the partially opened curtain, “forever ago.” 

“Rosemond,” Judith repeated. “What an unusual name. I’ve never heard it.”

“She came from an ancient family. There was a Rosemond de Melot every generation from the beginning of France until1892. The name was passed from mother to daughter. Until there wasn't another daughter to inherit it.”

“Until your Rosemond.”

“Mine … of course.” The tone of his voice had changed.

Jude touched his hand. “What happened?”

Alec looked away. “A fool. A careless fool. A drunk who didn’t know when to stop …”

“Danny was killed by a drunk driver, too.”

Alec looked up at her, his face a mask. “Yes. He was drunk . I’m sorry that you had to live through that nightmare, too.”

“And it’s just you now?” Jude knew she was pushing, but couldn’t stop. "No little sheriffs running around?"

Alec shook his head. “I have a dog if that counts. He’s a good old beast, smart. He’s obedient and loyal to the end. He’d do anything for me; die for me, kill for me.” He seemed to realize he’d grown too intense and smiled, laughing a bit at himself. “At least, I think he would. He’s a little uncommunicative for a dog.”

“A shepherd?”

“No. A more primitive breed than even that. A wolf-hybrid, part European Grey Wolf and part … well, part whatever else he is.”

Jude smiled, and Alec leaned forward on the couch. The kiss wasn’t long or passionate or breath-taking. It was soft and lingering, his lips centimeters from hers for several seconds, his breath touching her face, his warmth cascading down her neck.

He stood suddenly. “I think it’s time for me to go on home, Judith.” He stepped toward the door.

Jude didn’t move. “Will I see you again?” she asked as he stepped into the sunset.

He nodded. “Count on it.”

She decided to see him as far as his car and followed, only a few seconds behind, but he was already gone.

She walked to the end of the short drive, looking down the lane for his car. She sighed at the thought of him driving away. She'd started to ask him to stay overnight. Wouldn't Gwen love that... Big sister playing naughty with her research subject.

Judith stood an extra minute, watching the sun glide toward the lake that seemed to swallow up the road as it dipped down a decline. Maybe tomorrow, she and Alec could picnic on the water's edge. The thought made her smile broaden.

It was then she felt the eyes watching her from nearby, heard the howl. She took a step toward the little bungalow, watching the area around her. “Alec?” she called. “Alec?”

It came for her then, bounding toward her with such ferocity that she stumbled backward as she watched. It reached her in only a few leaps, stopped just short of her, rose to its hind feet, and swiped at her. Its claws found her shirt, a few layers of her skin, and she turned to run, terrified.

“Alec!” she screamed.

But he ’was gone.

It was gone.

She wondered if it was possible that the werewolf simply lost interest in her since the chase was obviously over. For whatever reason, she couldn’t feel its presence anymore. She crashed forward, through the underbrush and trees, blinded by darkness and fear.

She stepped out, found no footing, and fell, landing on her knees and hands in the middle of a road. Car brakes squealed near her and she was caught in its headlights. She stared into them, unable to see, unable to think.

A car door opened and slammed and Jude heard hurried footsteps coming toward her, crunching on the gravel. She raised a hand in defense, striking out at the hands that reached for her. She was lifted to her feet.

“No!” she screamed. “Go away! No!”

“Judith!” Alec shook her slightly, got her attention, and pulled her close to him. “Judith, what’s happened?”

She couldn’t answer, couldn’t form another word, and her determination to get away from the thing in the woods dissolved into tears. Alec wrapped one strong arm around her thin, shaking shoulders and guided her to the car. He opened the door and set her inside, knelt beside her, and touched her knee.

“Judith,” he said, “I’m here. It’s okay; you’re safe now. Can you tell me what happened?”

Jude looked behind him, into the dark trees, searching for intense, yellow eyes. She imagined the werewolf springing from the woods, slamming into Alec before he could turn, tearing him into shreds. Terror rose in her throat again. “In the car,” she begged. “Get in the car.” Her words were urgent and rushed and Alec frowned at her, rising slowly and looking around before he shut her door.

She watched him walk around the front of the car, his long shadow dancing at the far reaches of her vision. She watched for movement around him, fear gnawing at her like the werewolf she’d eluded. She felt like she might faint before he returned to her.

As he opened the driver's side door, he whistled, a high-pitched, piercing sound that raged against her frayed nerves and put the hairs on the back of her neck at full alert.

“Now,” he said as he slid into the car, “what is it? What happened to you? You look … you look scared o death, Judith.”

She tried to form the word that she’d held inside during her neck-breaking trek through the woods. She grabbed his arm, squeezing, her torn nails digging into his flesh. She turned her body to face him, leaning forward to be near him. “W-w…” She drew a deep breath. “Werewolf!” she cried, the word exploding from her lips and filling the car, pushing into its vents and joints, echoing inside her brain.

Alec smiled. “Werewolf? Judith...”

Judith nodded, words caught in her throat as the memory pushed its way between her and Alec. “Teeth, claws … he grabbed at me …”

Alec looked down at her torn, bloody shirt. He seemed focused on it, mesmerized, unable to tear his gaze away. He lifted his head, but his eyes remained firmly locked on her nearly exposed breastJudith squeezed his arm again, insistently. “Alec!” she cried. “Alec! It’s out there! It chased me! It was going to kill me! You have to believe me, please!”

“It’s someone’s dog, Judith. That’s what I’m doing out here right now – looking for my beast. It was just someone’s dog.” He still hadn’t looked up at her. With his eyes lowered he smiled and licked his bottom lip. “There’s no such thing as werewolves.”

As Jude opened her mouth to protest, Alec fell straight forward into her. She caught at him, managed to keep him from going all the way down into her lap. She cradled his head against her chest, sure that the werewolf had broken out the side window, taken out the back of Alec’s head without them knowing it was even there.

Judith looked at the window. It was intact. No menace lurked on the other side. She dropped her gaze to Alec's thick, dark hair. No blood, no shattered skull or raked claw marks across his scalp.

"What..." she whispered. 

Pain exploded through her breast and she tried to pull away, crying out at the intensity of it. She heard slurping, felt Alec's tongue lapping against her skin just before he swallowed deeply. Judith tried to scoot back again, but Alec’s muscular hands grabbed her, one at the small of her back and one wrapping into the hair at the crown of her head. He raised his head and smiled at her. In the lights of the dashboard, his eyes glowed yellow, and his fanged smile glinted against his pale skin. She saw blood at his lips and looked down. Her breast bore two distinct fang marks, one just above the nipple, one an inch higher, slightly to the left.

He dragged her toward him, pulling her hair to force her head back. “There are no such things as werewolves, Judith,” he said in a breathless whisper as he leaned forward and down, pushing his face into the hollow of her exposed neck. His lips were centimeters from her for a few brief seconds, his breath touching her pulsing throat. She could feel the warmth of her own blood cascading down her chest, heard his whispered voice.  “Werewolves, no. But vampires ... yes.”

 His fangs sank into her flesh like a knife cutting into bread.

Her screams filled the car until they faded into nothingness.

 From nearby, a wolf howled.