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"s**t! Tommy, did you hear that?" Kelly hissed between clenched teeth, clutching her red metal flashlight against her chest. Her rapid, shallow heartbeats seemed to echo within the light, causing the metal to hum gently between her clammy hands. Raised as a kid in the suburbs that practically nursed from the city, Kelly had never been one for the Calamity Jane lifestyle. She couldn't remember exactly who had thought of this little trip, but whoever it was would get Hell if they survived the night in this God-forsaken tent. It was packed to the brim and thick with the enduring stench of six pubescent teenagers crammed into a synthetic stink-dome. There were several bars of deoderant floating around amidst all the sleeping bags, blankets, snack bags, soda cans, and various articles of clothing. However, finding them would be an expedition worthy of several government funds. Safe to say the deoderant would have to bide its time until they started to clean up. Which would be never.
With a disgruntled mutter, Tommy glanced up from trying to open his tube of toothpaste, balancing his flashlight between his bare feet like a monkey would as he twisted in an awkward position, trying to keep the light of his eyes while he pulled at the cap. It seemed that everything was harder in the woods. "What, the idiot asking dumb questions? Yes, I seem to hear something along those lines." He deadpanned, though a charming smile played on the corners of his lips as he watched his friend from the other side of the tent growl and grab the nearest thing - a stuffed bunny rabbit - and chuck it at his head.
"Hey!" Came a squeal as a pretty young redhead reached out, trying in vain to snatch the toy out of the air. As she watched it rebound off Tommy's forehead, Jessie gasped, clambering awkwardly over the half-asleep bodies of her other friends as she grappled with the blanket until she had successfully captured the bunny, holding it lovingly against her chest with a motherly purr. After a moment, she glanced up at Kelly, ignoring the mutters of the three she was lying across none too tactfully. "K, don't do that to Arthur! He's a sensitive little bunny..." Pouting, she stroked the brown toy's forehead, whispering to it as if the thing had been a real baby Kelly threw across the tent.
Glaring, Kelly crossed her arms, staring at the side of the tent in frustration. With an arch of his brow, Tommy returned to his toothpaste crusade while Jessie was kicked to the other side of the tent by the three who had almost been asleep. Amidst all the groans and curse words, Tommy managed to raise his voice enough to grab Kelly's attention. "What's got your panties all in a twist, anyway? Didn't you like canoeing today?"
"Oh, sure." She retorted sarcastically, crossing her arms over the front of her baggy canary yellow T-shirt that sported a picture of Tweety Bird. "It was great. Especially that part where you threw me overboard." Having not hit her growth spurt yet, Kelly was merely five feet tall and petite, easily the smallest of her friends and therefore the one that suffered the most abuse. "And don't talk about water. I have to pee like Hell." Frowning, she shifted her weight over her sleeping bag, trying to relieve the pressure on her poor bladder.
Smirking, Tommy finally decided to ignore his defiant toothpaste, tossing it to the side where it probably wouldn't be seen for the rest of the weekend. It was merely Friday night, and they had until Sunday afternoon to teenage-up this tent. By the end, they'd see to it that there wasn't a clean square inch in sight. "Then go pee, you big pansy." He teased, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side, allowing a curtain of dirty blonde hair to fall in his face. "Unless you're chicken."
Ignoring the sudden chorus of chicken sounds that the three who were supposed to be sleeping suddenly emitted, Kelly glanced to the zipper door of the tent uneasily. "But...it's dark and unfamiliar..." She half whimpered, leaning forward just slightly to inspect the door. It was flimsy, so it really offered no protection from the scary things outside. Only the knowledge of companionship kept her from screaming her lungs out like a terrified little girl. Glancing back to the others, she found herself met with not-so-friendly encouragement, along with several threats against her life if she didn't go empty her bladder that minute. Finally, with a timid sigh, she grabbed her flashlight and crawled towards the door of the tent.
Won over by guilt, Tommy rolled his eyes. "Wait, Kelly!" He commanded, causing the girl to stop in her tracks. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll go check the forest ear to toe for any boogeymen. How's that sound?" When his friend broke out in an adoring grin, he smirked and grabbed her flashlight, awkwardly making his way over the protesting friends. Ignoring their pleas for mercy, the bony teen clambered out of the tent on all fours, not even noticing the dirt as it scuffed up his previously clean pants. Well, he was a teenage boy. They were bound to get dirty some way, may as well have been climbing in the dirt to protect the imagination of his hyper-sensitive friend.
After zippering the tent up behind him, Tommy shuffled his bare feet over the sticks and leaves that littered the clearing, swinging the cyclops beam of his flashlight around the quiet clearing. Nothing. There were some trees, leaves, and the remnants of their earlier campfire. The abandoned canoe was tipped on its end, facing down towards the earth. Harmless. Getting quite bored, he took a few more steps forward, peering into the bushes. Nothing. However, this sarcastic desire to prove to Kelly that she was an idiot got the best of him, and soon he had taken off in some random direction. Brilliant.
After at least ten minutes of wandering around in unfamiliar territory, Tommy finally got the bright idea to turn back. However, he wasn't quite sure where back was. He had taken a few turns on his little trip, and had no real way of telling where the tent was. The canopies of the trees blocked out most moonlight, keeping him securely in the dark. Wonderful. With a disgruntled sigh, he began to make his way in the direction that "spoke" to him best. However, he soon found himself face-to-face with a snarling tree. But trees didn't snarl. Freezing, Tommy stared through the thick darkness at what he was still sure was a tree. Slowly bringing the flashlight around to expose the creature, he quickly realized that Kelly wasn't such an idiot after all.
The light only angered the drooling beast, prompting it to charge silently towards him. Too confused to yell for help, Tommy dropped the flashlight in his haste and began running as fast as he possibly could, ignoring the pain in his feet as twigs, rocks, and roots pieced his soles. Had to get away. Had to keep running. Trees whipped at his face, leaving small scratches across his skin as he hurtled through the unfamiliar woods, powered only by his desparate desire to outrun this beast. However, humans never win, and he was soon overcome by the bristling creature. He didn't feel a thing as its jaws clamped around his waist, head twisted sideways before it lifted him off the ground and shook him like a rag doll. Lights out.
-[+]-[+]-[+]-[+]-[+]-
"Welcome to basic drum skills!" The blonde young man practically sang as he addressed the class of five. With an unimpressid arch of his eyebrow, Tommy glanced between his classmates and himself. One six year old boy who seemed more interested in sticking the drumstick up his nose than paying attention to their enthusiastic teacher. One ten year old kid with a kiddie mohawk, a chain wallet, and what looked like a magnetic earring. One bored-looking kid his age with black hair and an empty gaze. And one small, Asian girl. Well, they all knew who was going to be the star pupil. Staunchly refraining from laughing at his own, terrible, racist joke, Tommy finally looked up to the teacher, attempting a smile. When he did, the instructor only managed a faint half-smile back before looking quickly away and going on with the lesson. People were doing that a lot lately.
The first time it happened, Tommy had stood in the mirror for twenty minutes brushing his teeth and flossing over and over and over again. Nothing. They still looked fine to him, if only a little bigger and sharper. But they were still white! What was wrong with them? Even when he smiled in pictures, he saw his mom's hand flinch slightly before pressing the shutter button. It was really discouraging, especially when he had always liked smiling. Not in that campy, Will Ferrell way, but in the Tommy way. Trying to explain it would be impossible, so he wouldn't ever try. But still. He liked giving a grin whenever he felt happy, especially around his lady friends. And now, people were actually turned off by his smiles. Well, best to take out his frustration on the poor, innocent skins of his rented drums. Rock on, Tommy boy.
Contrary to his own prediction, Tommy quickly triumphed over both the Asian girl and the rest of his drumming class [though the six-year-old was no real contest], practicing much more than he had ever thought he would. This started as more a lark, something to entertain himself with. Plus, his parents thought it would help him heal from the attack in the woods, which was chalked up to some loony's loose dog. However, after three months of blacking out on the full moon and waking up covered in sweat and smelling of grass in his backyard, Tommy finally started to put two and two together. So that's why his teeth looked sharper. So that's why he had been going gym-crazy and building up muscle like nobody's mother. So that's why he went from liking his burgers "well done" to "medium rare." Of course, the "that" seemed completely preposterous, but it was his only explanation. He obviously couldn't just be some loony who went crazy over a dog bite. That made too much sense to be true.
So, instead of seeking psychiatric help for a possible mental disorder brought on by dog-bite trauma, Tommy began to try and learn more about this possible lycanism that had plagued him. It took weeks to get anything out of himself, but little by little, he found he could coax himself into some sort of half-transformation at night, when the moon was shining. A full moon took away all his free will, but a waxing or waning moon gave him just enough control to play wolf doctor. Fur, big fangs, ropes of drool, a tail, huge shoulders, it all came with the deal, and despite the fact that he was most likely a sinful creature shunned by God and all that was light and fluffy, Tommy loved it. He wasn't a power-hungry person, but he loved feeling strong and on top of the game. His drumming skill increased exponentially, and even started feeling smarter. Now, a lot of this was just psychological, brought about by his newfound uber-confidence. But maybe a tiny shred of that was thanks to that b*****d doggie that crunched his ickle ribs that one crazy night.
 rane.ben · Fri Mar 16, 2007 @ 05:11am · 0 Comments |
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