Part 4 (1/2)

When Hanny was out of earshot, Mrs. Ryan walked into Corey's bedroom and put the tray down on his bedside table. ”It didn't drool on you, did it?” she asked in a low voice. ”Dad's calling Dr. Lamber to see if we need to take you to the emergency room. We should tell them if any saliva got on you.”

Corey sighed ostentatiously. ”The only thing that might need looking at, and I don't think it does, is my head, where I fell on it. I keep trying to tell you, Mom. That dog didn't hurt me. It only freaked me out. It didn't even try to hurt me.”

”Didn't try to-Corey, you said it knocked you down and went for your throat!”

”I know, Mom, but it didn't bite my throat. Itjust kind of stared at me and ran away.”

DARK DREAMS * 65.

”Probably realized you were poisonous.” Hanny, in her nightgown, had just poked her head into the room again. She took one look at her mother's expression and scurried away down the hall.

”I had the strangest feeling when I looked up at that dog,” Corey said. He was staring up at the ceiling as though watching a rerun of what had happened to him. ”I mean, it was a beautiful animal, a husky or something. Really pretty. Incredible green eyes. I've never seen a dog like it And I was positive it recognized me. That's why it didn't hurt me. I just know it.”

”No one I know has a dog like that,” his mother said.

”Me either.” Corey leaned back against his pillow. ”That's what's even stranger. You see, I thought I recognized the dog, too. For a second there, we were almost, like, communicating.”

He broke off and looked up at his mother rather sadly. ”I guess that couldn't happen, huh?” he asked. ”Must've been the b.u.mp on my head that made me think so.”

”Probably, darling. Try and relax, now,” his mother answered, and left the room quietly, care- 66 * Children of the Night ful not to let her son see the worry etched on her face.

”Well, hel-fo, Lila. How's Corey?” Karin Engals sauntered up to Lila as she neared her locker. The first bell was about to ring, and everyone was streaming into the building, slamming lockers, dropping books.

Lila shuddered inwardly as she remembered the way her drive with Corey had ended. ”He's fine,” she said carefully. No sense in letting Karin know anything, she thought. ”We're doing just fine, thank you.”

To her surprise, Karin was staring at her in genuine puzzlement. ”No, I mean how's he doing?” Karin insisted. ”How's he feeling? After the attack and all?”

Lila halted before her locker, staring at the other girl. ”What attack?” she asked blankly. ”You haven't heard? I can't believe it!” ”Haven't heard what?]ust tell me!” ”I can't believe it,” Karin repeated meaningly. A sly smile played around one comer of her mouth. ' 7 know. My mother knows. Everyone knows. I would DARK DREAMS * 67.

have thought you'd be the first person he'd call. . . . Anyway, last night Corey was attacked in the woods by the reservoir.”

”Attacked? By who?” Lila whispered. Her hands were beginning to shake. She hid them behind her back so Karin wouldn't see.

”Not by who-by what. A wild dog. It might've even been part wolf or something. It knocked him over and went for his throat, he said. He's lucky to be alive.”

Lila was sagging against the wall, whitefaced. Her backpack clunked to the ground, but she didn't notice. I can't breathe, she thought. ”Was he hurt badly?” she said faintly.

Karin looked almost disappointed at having to report good news. ”Not really. The dog-or wolf or whatever it was-didn't bite him, anyway.” The first bell rang then, but neither girl moved. ”It just ran away. Corey's got a concussion, though. A mild one,” Karin added reluctantly. ”He didn't even want to go to the hospital, but his doctor thought he should. His head hit pretty hard when he fell. So he'll be in the hospital for a day or so, just for observation. No biggie. Still, it's awfully weird he 68 * Children of the Night didn't tell you about it right away. I wonder why he didn't? Guess it didn't occur to him.” Karin looked at her watch ostentatiously. ”Well, time for homeroom.”

”Right,” Lila told her, with an effort. ”I'll. . . I'll get going.”

But she didn't move. She just stood there, leaning against her locker and staring blankly into s.p.a.ce. The school's front hall was emptying out now as the last few stragglers hurried toward their homerooms. A couple of kids glanced curiously at Lila as they pa.s.sed, but she didn't even see them.

I attacked my own boyfriend last night. I could have killed him.

It had been hard enough to wake up that morning and realize once again that the same transformation had taken place in the night. Hard enough to come up with an explanation for why she'd sneaked in so late without bothering to inform her parents.

It had been hard enough trying to prepare another explanation-this one for Corey. How was she going to gloss over the fact that she'd bolted out of his car for no apparent reason?

DARK DRBAMS * 69.

A few minutes earlier, these problems had taken up all the mental s.p.a.ce Lila had. But this new information blew them away like so many cobwebs.

Why don't I remember what happened?

Was the memory too horrible to face? Maybe it had been so traumatic that she'd blanked it out. Or did her perceptions change completely when she was a wolf? Lila had a dim vision of stalking something. Was it Corey? In her transformed state, did she stop recognizing people?

And would anyone make the connection between the ”wild dog” and Lila herself?

They can Y, Lila told herself firmly, and tried to brush the thought away. She hated herself for being so self-centered when she should be worrying about Corey. But she was frightened for her own safety all the same. There's no way they could possibly know it was me. No one saw me transform. The only person nearby was Corey, and I know he didn't see anything.

I hope he didn 't, she thought with a sudden spasm of doubt. I'm sure I got away out of sight before I. . .

But what if Corey had seen her turning into a 70 * Children of the Night wolf? What if he was keeping quiet about it for reasons of his own? Maybe that was why he hadn't called her.

This was worse than Lila could ever have imagined. All right, so I didn't really hurt Corey this time, she thought bleakly. But what would happen next time? How hideous an act would she commit? And would there be witnesses? Would anyone guess her terrible secret?

Tiredly, Lila rubbed her eyes and looked around. It was hard to believe that all around her normal life continued to go on. But it did.

”Goodness! You'd better get a move on, Lila. The second bell rang three minutes ago.” Mrs. Doughty, the typing teacher, interrupted her brisk trot down the hall to frown at Lila.

”I... thank you, Mrs. Doughty.” Lila's voice was weary. ”I'm just going.”

She couldn't stand here all day. But she couldn't spend much longer without some answers, either. That afternoon, when school was over, she was going to find out a few things about werewolves.

It's kind of like homework, Lila told herself with a DARK DREAMS * 71.

bleak attempt at humor. Research. They're always telling us how important research skills are, aren't they?

”Of a certainty several loathsome Aspects are common to every Werewolf. The Eyebrows are thick and long, meeting over the Nose with no Separation. His Teeth are of a reddish hue and sharp-pointed, like a Dog's; red, too, are his Fingernails, and of an Almond Shape. His Ears, lying far back on the Head, are uncommonly pointed. His Eyes and Mouth are dry; he suffers from dreadful Thirst and is likewise unable to weep. The Skin is scabrous and much scratched, and tending to hairiness ...”

Lila shook her head. This was the ugliest account so far. Every book she'd found gave descriptions of werewolves, most of which were nothing like Lila herself, but none of them gave any real information about how they lived, how the transformations worked, information Lila could really use. Was there any point in looking through these books?

She had shaken Samantha and Marci loose after school. ”You're going to the library?” they had asked incredulously.

72 * Children of the Night Until today, Lila had never known about the library's occult section. Most of its t.i.tles seemed to be about poltergeists and the witches of Salem, but there were a few books about werewolves and vampires and other late-night movie characters. Half-scornfully, Lila had tried several before picking out The Lore of the Werewolf.

The book turned out to be a facsimile edition of an eighteenth-century work, complete with antique spelling and clumsy old woodcuts that looked more quaint than scary. So far, everything Lila had read was wrong, at least as far as it applied to her. She didn't match the physical description at all-except for things that didn't matter, like having fair skin and light-colored eyes. Plenty of people have those without being werewolves. Nor did she hate bright lights. Not that she'd noticed, anyway. She didn't have a constant craving for raw meat. (Not when she was a human, she thought uneasily.) She also wasn't extremely hairy, thank G.o.d. These books have nothing to do with me.

What difference did it make if the lore was wrong, though? She had still turned into a wolf for two nights running, bright lights or no bright DARK DREAMS * 73.

lights. . . . Lila flipped through the pages again to find out whether it said anything about what turned people into werewolves.

Here, again, the book couldn't tell her much, except that seventeenth-century Europe must have been a horrible place to live. According to the book, werewolves were possessed by the devil. So, too, were ordinary wolves, the author claimed: ”Wolves are Demons, who verily prowl abroad in the Dark Hours, and urge Man to every kind of l.u.s.t and Murder, and to other infinite Crimes.” He went on to explain how to torture suspected werewolves to death. And, for good measure, how to do the same thing to any real wolves unlucky enough to find themselves caught by humans.

People could also become wolves if they had been conceived during the time of a new moon. (Gee, I'll have to ask Mom and Dad about that, Lila thought sarcastically.) Sleeping on the ground could cause it, especially if there was a full moon on a Friday night. Drinking water from a wolfs footprint and eating a wolfs brains could also turn someone into a wolf, according to the book.