HOWLING WOLF BAR

Angela POV

I have heard of stories of the wolves coming into town on the full moon and taking women. Some locals say it is a myth and others know it to be true. Some people have seen the wolves, and some have families that vanished, never to return home. I have never known one personally until now. My best friend is missing. No one has seen her in weeks. And no one seemed to care but me. It seems like everyone is covering up her disappearance. I want to find Deanne, but the only way to do that is to go into wolf territory to look for her. I know she would look for me, so I am not giving up on her.

I am not afraid. At least, that is what I am telling myself over and over. I dress in jeans, a t-shirt, a warm jacket, and running shoes. I am not sure if I can outrun a wolf, but I have to look for my friend. I have to find her tonight. If I can find one wolf or just one person not afraid to talk to me and tell me where she is located or simply that she is okay, I will be content. If Deanne is where she wants to be, fine, if someone took her, or should I say some wolf, then I will bring her home, one way or another.

I leave my apartment. I am shaking in my shoes if I am honest with myself. I am nervous. I am afraid that I might not come back home. I could be taken by the wolves too, but at least we would be together and could work to get back home together. I'm not fond of the thought of her all alone.

I drive my car to the edge of town, where the wolf bars are located. Deanne was seen here last by the only person willing to talk to me. He is not even willing to talk anymore. The only witness has a sudden case of amnesia. The wolves probably paid him off or scared him into forgetting what he saw that night. Whatever the reason, he stopped taking my calls and refuses to talk to the authorities about Deanne.

She went for a drink with a guy she met online in a chat room for singles. I told her it was a dumb thing to do. She knew nothing about him, But she did not listen to me. I was busy that night, or I could have gone with her. I should have been there to protect my friend. I should have dropped everything and went with her to meet the mystery man.

I have a lot of guilt about it, but the only thing I can do now is to keep looking for her. I am damn determined to find my friend one way or another. I will not give up on her. Her parents have suddenly stopped looking for her, which leads me to believe that a wolf paid them to stop looking. I wonder what their 26-year-old daughter was worth to them. They both have begged me to stop looking, but I refuse. Tonight I will have my answers. Tonight I will bring Deanne home with me.

I park my car, and I walk down to the Howling Moon bar and grill to see if anyone will talk to me. I go in the old rusted door and sit down at the most disgusting bar. I wonder if the health inspector has ever been in this nasty place. The other patrons are definitely wolves, and they are getting their eyes full of me. I bet not too many college girls come in here unless accompanied by a wolf. I can hear their chatter and growling. Fuck them. I am here to find Deanne.

An older lady wolf comes over to me. She smiles and smacks her gum. She looks a little rough around the edges. She has seen her better day, and it is in her distant past.

“Honey, I think you are in the wrong bar,” she says, smacking her gum loudly and putting her hands on her tiny hips.

I pull out a picture of Deanne from my coat pocket. “Have you seen this girl? She is my friend. I am trying to find her; please help me,” I beg her.

She looks at the picture and leans down at me, still smacking that damn gum. “Put that away, honey. Are you trying to get yourself killed,” she says.

She grabs a beer from behind the bar and puts it in front of me. “Drink this beer and then get the hell out of here before something bad happens to you, too. You do not want to end up like your friend, trust me, ” she says.

"What? Wait, please help me," I beg her.

"Listen up, buttercup, you need to drink up and get," she says, smacking away at her gum.

I sip the beer and watch the people in the bar. They are looking at me and whispering. Someone here knows where Deanne is; I just know it. Maybe if I hang out long enough, one of them will tell me, or maybe the bartender will say to me what she knows. She comes back after a few minutes. “Alpha is here; you best get out of here before he sees you, honey,” she says to me.

“Maybe he can tell me where Deanne is at. I am not afraid of him or any of these wolves,” I say to her.

“Evidentially, you are stupid too, now get the hell out of here, honey. I am telling you flat out you do not want to ask him anything,” she says.

“Maybe, I am stupid, but I only want to find my friend; please help me. What if it was your friend? Wouldn't you want to find her?” I ask.

“I am telling you, if you want to find your friend, you better get the fuck out of here before the Alpha comes over here,” she says to me.

“Do you know where she is?” I ask her.

The bar gets quiet as the Alpha comes in the back door. He looks around the room and spots me first. He looks at me and shakes his head. “Well, I bet you are going to find out,” she says to me.

I turn to see the Alpha staring me down. He is the most enormous wolf I have ever seen. His long black hair hangs down his back. His boots click and clack as he walks over and sits next to me at the bar. He is shaking his head at me and clicking his tongue as he stares me down. “Are you lost, little girl?” Alpha asks me.

“I think she might be, Alpha,” the bartender says.

“Not your concern Lia, shut up and bring me a beer,” Alpha says to the bartender.

Lia walks away to get the Alpha his beer. She returns a few minutes later to find the Alpha still staring me down. He is waiting for me to get scared and run away from him, but I am not afraid of him.

“So why are you here, little girl?” the Alpha asks me.

I sit up straight and look him in the eye. “I am looking for my friend Deanne,” I say to him sternly. I pull out her picture and place it on the bar in front of him. Alpha takes a sip of his beer and sets his beer down on her image. He makes that annoying clicking sound with his tongue as he looks at her picture through his beer.

The Alpha laughs at me. “I know where Deanne is; she lives with me now,” the Alpha says.

“I only want to know that she is okay,” I say to him.

“Fine, I will take you to her unless you are scared of the big bad wolf,” Alpha says to me.

“I am not afraid of you, wolf,” I say to him.

Alpha finishes his beer. He stands up from the bar and extends his hand. I take it. He leads me out of the back of the bar as everyone watches. We walk through the back to a car waiting for him.

“Get in, little girl,” he says as he opens the door for me.

I pause for a moment, but I get in the car. This is probably the stupidest thing I have ever done in my life, but I need to know Deanne is okay. Alpha goes around to the other side and gets in the car. He looks pleased with himself as he grins at me. He makes that clicking noise again. I wish he would not do that.

“You can get out if you are scared, little girl,” Alpha says.

“I already told you that you do not scare me, wolf,” I snarl back at him.

“Well, then let’s get this party started, little girl,” Alpha says to me.

He drives down the back street and onto the main road. I try to pay attention to where he is taking me.  Just in case I have to make a run for it later. He drives us out of the city and into the country area of town. Within an hour, we are deep in the woods. There is no way I can find my way out of here. I am at his mercy now. This is the stupidest thing I have ever done; there is no doubt now. I am in a strange car with a peculiar wolf going down an unfamiliar road. Fuck! What was I thinking?

“Are you afraid yet, little girl?” Alpha asks me.

“No, are you taking me to Deanne, or are you taking me out here to kill me? And stop calling me little girl; I am a grown-ass woman,” I snap at him.

“I would never hurt a woman,” Alpha says.

“Are you sure about that?’ I ask him.

“I am positive, miss,” Alpha says.

He pulls into a row of cabins and stops his car. He gets out of the car and comes around to open my door. I step out of the car. I look at the row of cabins in front of us. “Your friend is in that cabin, right there,” Alpha says to me, pointing to a small cabin in the middle of the row.

“I can just go in and see her to make sure she is okay, and then you are just going to take me back?” I ask.

“Yes, if you want to go back tonight, or you are welcome to spend time with your friend, miss,” Alpha says.

“Okay, thanks, wolf,” I say to him.

I walk across the gravel and through the grass to the cabin. I step up onto the porch, and I knock on the door. “Deanne, it is me, Angela,” I say through the door. I wait patiently for her to come to the door.

I hear some movement, and then people talking. I hear other women talking. I wonder how many are in there with her. It is true the wolves take women, and now I am here with the wolves. What have I done? I look back to see what the Alpha is doing, but I do not see him anywhere. I knock on the door again.

"Deanne, please, it is me, Angela. I came for you," I say through the door.

Deanne comes to the door. "You shouldn't have come here," she says as she reaches out to hug me. As I feel the warmth of her embrace, something pinches my arm, and everything goes black. I feel myself hit the floor, and then I feel someone pick me up.

"Angela," I hear Deanne say my name, but I cannot open my eyes. I let myself fade into the darkness. I am one of the women the wolves take now.