Garstang Town Centre 1800
As Annie alighted the bus in the town centre she took a quick look around. It was fairly quiet, just a couple of revellers moving from one pub to another. She set the route finder on her map, got her bearings and set off. She was soon on the country lanes leading to the circle but it was pitch black and not having Sabine’s superior eyesight, sense of smell and strength was going to make this hike more difficult for Annie. Guided by the light on her phone, she followed the route finder up increasing steep and winding paths. Had she had Sabine, Annie could have done this journey in half the time but now with her normal human abilities, she was going to have to slog out the two and a half hours this hike was meant to take. Once she was sure she had passed all the houses, Annie took the time to strip off her extra layers, she really didn’t need them and was beginning to feel like she would keel over from heat exhaustion before she got there.
The going was difficult, the fells were steep and the scree loose underfoot, Annie considered that it would have been easier if she hadn’t been so sleep deprived courtesy of the handsome stranger, but even being so tired and with many rest stops, by nine o’clock Annie climbed over the last slope and walked down the narrow path that would lead her to the wood that contained the Bleasdale Circle.
Walking through the wood without her wolf made Annie feel incredibly vulnerable, it was dark and creepy and if anything had decided to attack her she was practically incapable of defending herself. Every snap of a twig or rustle of leaves as small animals scurried about their business had her nerves stretched to their limits. Despite her jumpiness Annie soon emerged from the trees into the clearing which was lined with eleven concrete posts marking where a circle of timber posts originally stood. Annie walked to the centre where a burial mound had been excavated years before and sat down on the grass slugging from her water bottle while she waited for the moon to reach its peak at the point of the wood. It was said that funeral urns were discovered in the burial mound holding the ashes of the builders of the circle. Annie mused that it was probably a good thing the ancient wolves had cremated their dead as imagine the shock of the humans who discovered this place in 1898 if they had excavated a full werewolf skeleton. The funny thing about history was the way historic events were interpreted and shaped by modern human thinking. Many years ago while researching her personal family history, Annie realised that werewolves had not always been hidden from the human world. She had read many old documents where it was clear that the author was describing her kind and they lived side by side with humans. She knew that the land the Lunar Meadows Pack lived on was gifted to them by William the Conqueror for their military service during the Battle of Hastings. He probably knew that some of his soldiers were wolves as he gave them land that was secluded with no towns, villages, or fort, just an empty patch of land away from people. She had read poems about the Saxon King Alfred, where ‘Hairy men, as huge as sin with horned head’ were spoken about openly, and the amount of time wolves were mentioned in historical texts made it quite obvious that the existence of werewolves was common knowledge.
Wolf-men and women were mentioned in ancient literature in almost every culture so Annie had surmised that modern readers of these ancient texts took the mention of wolves and wolf-men as an exaggeration or fanciful thinking rather than fact. It seemed that the modern day humans didn’t want to see things they didn’t understand, she had no idea when the humans failed to notice or forgot about werewolves, but her race had been hidden for centuries.
Annie lay back in the grass looking up at the sky, the night was clear and the stars looked beautiful, she already felt more at peace than she had since meeting the stranger. As the moon neared the point of alignment with the wood, Annie felt the air begin to vibrate slightly, like an electric current was running through the ground. Annie raised herself to her knees, said a silent prayer to the Goddess asking for her divine assistance with Sabine and then closed her eyes to search for inner beast, just like she did as a young teenager to encourage her first shift. She slowed her breathing and cleared her mind before beginning her internal search allowing nothing to distract her, the vibrations around her grew and intensified to the point where had Annie’s eyes been open she would have seen the air shimmering in front of her. She was in such a deep trance that she didn’t notice as she tumbled sideways to the ground, as she landed on her side in a heap she thought heard a silvery voice in her head but the next thing Annie knew was Sabine’s voice trying to rouse her.
“ANNIE, PLEASE WAKE UP!”
Annie woke with a start, dawn was breaking and the dew was thick on the grass as she looked around disorientated. She had no idea how long she had been out, she tried to remember a strange dream she had but it was dissolving, splitting into fragments that seemed to make no sense and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t put them back together.
“Sabine! Sabine,” she sobbed, “You’re back.”
“What did you do, where are we?”
“We are at a stone circle, just like the one at home, the Goddess helped us.” said Annie wiping her eyes.
“I feel strong, how long was I gone?”
“A week, a very long week.” smiled Annie, overjoyed to have her best friend back.
“I think the Goddess spoke to me, before I passed out. I heard a voice saying something...something like...I’m not sure now.” She furrowed her brow trying to recall the exact words.
“I don’t remember anything after the man, where is the man?”
“I have no idea Sabine, I didn’t see him again and I left the next morning. I don’t know who he is or where he is from so I doubt we will see him again so don’t worry. I’m just glad you’re back, it’s been lonely without you.” said Annie sincerely.
The joy of having her wolf back was indescribable. Annie felt strong enough to shift but decided not to risk it in case there were humans out and about, she did however promise to take Sabine for a good run out as soon as she could. As they walked back to the town, Annie told Sabine about the journey home from Scotland, about work and generally catching her up on everything that had happened over the last week. There was quite a wait for a bus back once they reached Garstang, public transport was scant that early on a Sunday morning. Annie dug her fleece and jacket out of her rucksack and put them back on before they got on the bus, there weren’t many humans around but the weather was dull and the grey clouds, heavy with rain hung low in the sky. Traffic was quiet so it didn’t take long to get back home and Annie was already planning her day. She should have been exhausted but she felt awake, elated and alive. They arrived home at 08:30 and as Annie approached her front door she thought she caught a scent, as soon as she thought she could smell it, it was gone. She sniffed around some more but whatever she had smelt, it had disappeared completely. Shrugging her shoulders she decided she had probably imagined it so after rummaging around in her rucksack for her keys, she let herself in her house without giving it a second thought. After a quick shower, leaving her wet hair hanging loose down her back she donned some faded blue jeans and a white shirt. Leaving her feet bare she went down to the kitchen, turned to radio on and busied herself making some breakfast.