Cassandra
"You've really got to stop running through the forests like some sort of feral child raised by wolves." Claire picked out the little twigs and leaves poking through my nest of hair. "It gives off this air of vulgarness."
"What can I say," I said, shifting so that I was sitting on my heels, "when the woods call, I answer."
"And when Peter smiles, you swoon." She brought the back of her hand to her forehead and leaned back on my bed, mimicking my supposed, unrealistic, and definitely over exaggerated reaction.
I pivoted and swatted her leg. "Not true."
"Oh, yes, Peter." Claire slowly drew her hand over her thigh in a lascivious manner. "Touch me there."
Snagging my pillow, I chucked it at her head, stifling her next words. "You are despicable." I sat up a little straighter. "And for the record, I have never thought of Peter in that way."
Claire rolled over onto her stomach, cupping her chin in her hands and resting her elbows on the bed. She raised her eyebrows suggestively. "But you have thought about kissing him."
My face flushed, and I grabbed another pillow and slammed it into her face.
"I knew it," she said with a muffled voice.
Claire pulled the pillow off of her face and sat up again. "It's fine," she said. "I won't judge." Picking up a brush, she grabbed my shoulders and turned me so my back was to her. "But you've gotta tell me all the juicy details."
I groaned. "Gods, Claire."
"That's what best friends are for," she giggled. "Now,"—she abruptly stood—"it's time to get down to the business of attire." Claire stalked over to my closet, pulling open the doors. She whirled around and stared at me, jaw dropped. "All you've got is rags in here."
"It's not rags." I rubbed the back of my neck and glanced down at the floor. "It's comfortable."
"Well, comfortable won't do on a dinner date." Claire skipped over to her bag resting in the corner. "Fortunately, I have just the right medley of fabrics and colors for you." She whisked a long, flowing dress out of the bag. A soft shade of blue and woven from silk, the dress complimented my fair skin and auburn hair. I took it from her and held it against my body. The dress looked like the still reflection of the moon on a lake and, by the Gods, it felt like it too.
"It's beautiful," I said. "How did you manage to afford this?"
"Well, we didn't afford it," Claire replied. "It was a courting gift from a young man who thought he could win my hand in marriage materialistically. I accepted everything from him except his proposal."
I looked up at her. "Claire," I said sternly.
"What?" she protested. "They were gifts, and it wasn't like he wanted them back. Of course, I was going to keep them."
I slipped the dress onto my slender frame and twirling in the moonlight seeping in through the windows, I felt like a princess.
"I also brought you a matching necklace and pair of shoes." Claire held them up against the window, but I wasn't looking at them.
Just past the articles, I saw a white shape barreling down the glade towards my home. I nudged Claire aside, squinting my eyes.
"What is it?" she asked. Claire moved to stand beside me, shoulder to shoulder. Suddenly, Lune popped up in the window, and Claire screamed, falling backwards.
Hastily, I slid the window open. "Lune," I hissed, "what are you doing here?"
Lune disappeared, then reappeared, holding a sheet of paper in her mouth that read: I think I found the beast.
"Do you mean the cattle killer?" She nodded, and I gasped. "Oh my Gods." As quickly as I could, I untangled my limbs from Claire's dress and handed it back to her.
"Wait," she said, "what are you doing?"
"No time to explain," I replied, "but I think Lune found the culprit." I threw my leg over the window sill.
"You don't mean to tell me that you're going with her, do you?"
I landed on the grass beside Lune. "That's exactly what I'm doing."
"But—"
"I promise I'll be back in time for you to finish dressing me up for dinner." Then I nodded to Lune, signaling I was ready, and she took off running across the field with me in tow. "Are you certain this is the animal we're searching for?" I asked as we ran, crossing the treeline.
Her head bobbed up and down, though I couldn't tell whether it was a nod in confirmation or a result of her deer-like strides. I guess I would just have to wait and see.
Lune slowed in a clearing and peered around, raising her nose to the sky. She was tracking a scent, I realized. Her ears swiveled like a leaf caught in a wind, facing this way, that way, and then this way again. I wondered what she was hearing that I couldn't. Was it the rustling of a shrew scampering across dead foliage? Or perhaps she heard the crunching of bones as a beast chowed down on its meal and the moans of the poor soul as it was eaten alive? A small shiver ran down my spine.
Bless these inept ears of mine.
Suddenly, Lune's ears shot straight up, and she darted into the undergrowth.
"Lune, wait up!" I ran after her, pushing twigs and branches out of my way as I bushwhacked through the woods. She stopped abruptly, and I collided into her rear with an oomph. I took a step back and peered around her. A small gasp flew past my lips.
Before us lay the corpse of a cow, though at first glance, you might have mistaken it for an overgrown troop of mushrooms. The animal was in a late stage of decay, body stiff and grey. It looked like it had been sucked dry, skin pressed so tightly against the bone I could count each and every individual component of the skeleton. The eyes of the cow had rotted long ago and all that remained were hollow and sunken in eye sockets, housing dozens of maggots as they crawled in and out of tunnels formed by eaten away flesh. What was worse was the putrid air hanging heavy and humid around the corpse. I pinched my nose shut, trying to block out the smell, but it continued to linger.
"Well," I said, "we have the victim. Now where's the murderer?"
Lune cast me a shrouded glance then turned her head towards the ground a little ways off from the corpse. Dry, almost sand-like, dirt had been disturbed, shuffled in a way that displayed soft squiggly lines in the earth. Lune pressed her nose to the ground near the tracks and her ears flew back, pressing against her head. She crept forward and followed the lines, the realization striking me like lightning.
Tracks. Lune was following animal tracks. But what animal could have left prints as alien as these?
The trail led through a much more heavily wooded part of the forest, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease simmer in my stomach. Whatever we were pursuing had made it clear that it was not to be messed with. Killing more chickens and cattle than any other menace the town had been faced with, was it really smart of us to be hunting it alone? I was unarmed, and even if I had brought a shotgun with me, my aim wasn't exactly as sharp as Lune's claws. I would be defenseless. My companion would be fighting for the both of us, that is, if she could even fight. She seemed more like a puppy than a wolf, and puppies don't fare well in combat.
Lune slowed to a stop as we entered a small clearing. The earth had returned to its regular packed consistency and the tracks stopped where the grass began.
"Can you pick up a scent?" I suggested. "A clue? Anything?"
The wolf looked back at me and shook her head. I sighed.
We had reached a dead end.
"Okay, well, we can head back and try a different approach. In the meantime, maybe we could brainstorm possible ways to undo a curse and…"
Lune was crouched to the ground, ears flattened against her head, tail tucked in, and back arched. A low growl sounded from her throat.
"Lune? What's wrong? Are you—"
"Cassandra?"
I whirled around, and my eyes widened in shock. "What are you doing here?"