Trick or Treat - Pt. 01

"Trick-or-Treat!"

Sarah pulled open the front door with a smile across her face. She looked down at the three kids, flanked by their parents, who were waiting there with bags held open and smiles just as big as hers. The kids were dressed up, from left to right, as a Frankenstein's monster, a rather colorful video game character that Sarah vaguely recognized, and a-

"I'm a princess!" the little girl in pink and gold shouted excitedly. Her smile was easily the biggest of them all and, in her excitement, she started jumping up and down, one hand flapping while the other held the edge of the bag in her balled fist.

"Yes, you are!" Sarah agreed, her smile only growing wider. The little shimmery sequins sparkled and gleamed as the girl hopped up and down excitedly. Sarah retrieved several pieces of candy and placed them in the kids' bags, but had to try a few times before the excited girl slowed down enough for her to catch the opening. "Here you go, honey."

"Thank you! Thank you!" the girl shouted before turning back towards a woman standing near the front of the group of adults. "Mommy! Mommy, look! Can I-"

"Not until we get home, dear." the other woman said, clearly anticipating the next question. Sarah couldn't help but laugh as the woman looked up at her with a tired but happy expression. "Thank you. Happy Halloween."

"Happy Halloween to you too."

"Come on!" the little Frankenstein's monster shouted, already running away from Sarah's patio and across the lawn. "Let's go to the next one!"

"Hey!" one of the adults shouted. "What did I tell you about not stepping on peoples' grass? Slow down!"

"Thanks again." another adult called as the rest of the group filed down her front walk.

Sarah couldn't help but laugh as she watched them go. The night thus far had been nice. Lots of kids, lots of fun. It was cool, but not cold yet. The moon was full and there was just the slightest hint of a misty fog starting to roll in through the streets. Plus, almost every house on the street had decided to give out candy, making it feel much more homey than some years prior. Closing the door behind her, the smile she had followed her back to her easy chair.

The horror movie she had been watching sat paused from when the trick-or-treaters had shown up. On-screen, a young woman ran in terror from the beast that pursued her through the woods, just out of camera shot.

Picking up her phone, Sarah checked, but there was still no response from Ameer.

"Dude, you alright out there? She texted him for the third time that night. "Starting to think the monsters got ya."

She set her phone back down next to her in the hope that Ameer would get back to her soon. Or, even better, show up. The two had made plans a couple weeks before to enjoy the holiday handing out candy and watching a few select scary movies to celebrate the night, but she hadn't heard from him since earlier in the day. It wasn't out of the ordinary, perhaps, as her friend tended to get lost in his work. He was a bit spacy and this would be far from the first time something like this happened, but she always tended to hear from him the next day.

Still, she had hoped for the company on Halloween. It was Sarah's favorite holiday and it was always better with friends.

"Better be careful." she texted him again. "Or I'm gonna eat all the candy without you."

No response.

"Ahh, Ameer," Sarah said out loud as she clicked on the movie again and snagged a fruit candy from the bowl meant for the trick-or-treaters. "You suck."

As much as she wished she had company, she had to admit that the movie was good. It was the second one of the night of four that she and Ameer had selected. This one, "The Gorge", was one she hadn't seen before but one he had recommended. It featured a group of teens that were stuck at a campground when one of the counselors, interested in spending one last night with his summer girlfriend, sabotaged their ride out. From there, it was revealed that the campground was infested with werewolves, and the inability to leave meant that they were now being hunted and either being eaten or turned into werewolves themselves.

It was campy and fun and knew what it was about. Sarah had always enjoyed the teen-thriller monster movies and this one was easily getting added to her list to watch again when she could watch it without constantly pausing.

Sarah had always loved werewolf stuff in general. She found them cool, their legends interesting, and honestly, though she'd never admit it, maybe a little exciting. Something was enticing about the ferocity and the intensity, man turned animalistic, that just touched some of her buttons. She'd never admit it, but they got her heart pumping more than your average Dracula or mummy stuff.

Well, points to Ameer for his choices.

Over the next hour, she was interrupted only a half-dozen more times. Each time Sarah looked outside, she spotted less and less people wandering around. More houses were beginning to blow out their pumpkins and turn off their porch lights. On top of that, the fog that had just been starting to creep in was becoming thicker, making the street itself harder to see through the moonlight-dyed mist.

By the time the movie came to a close, she hadn't heard a knock in fifteen minutes.

"Bro, The Gorge was awesome. Sad you missed it. Are you showing up tonight? Hit me up." Sarah texted Ameer again as she stood to walk over and check out the two remaining movies. She was just deciding between another werewolf movie that Ameer had recommended, something called "Cookie Crumbles", and a 90's cult classic with all the Universal Movie Monsters called "Creature Crew" when she heard a knock on the door.

Glancing out from behind her living room curtain, the street was dark and misty; only illuminated by the fat, full moon that rested just above the tree line across the street. Sarah couldn't see anyone walking around outside and it looked like all the other houses were dark. She was probably the only house that still had her porch light on.

With a shrug, she started for the door and concluded she'd just give the kids the last of her candy and call it for the night. She could still enjoy another movie for the night at least without interruption. Or heck, maybe it was Ameer. Though he probably would have texted first.

Though, as Sarah pulled the door open, she found neither of those.

She didn't find anyone waiting for her.

Taken aback, Sarah stuck her head out her door, looking left and right. No one on the patio. No one tucked away in a corner trying to jump out and scare her. Nada.

"Hello?" she asked in the misty dark of the night.

No answer.

"Weird."

Sarah closed the door, but before she could even set the candy bowl down, a heavy CNKCNKCNK sounded on her door, making it rattle softly on its hinges. She quickly pulled it open again, only to once again reveal no one and nothing on her front porch.

"Oh. Okay. That's how it's going to be, huh?"

She walked out onto her porch, her focus on her yard, looking for the teenagers who had decided to play a prank on the last house with a porch light on. Still, she didn't find anyone. Sarah stepped forward onto her front walk, looking from left to right, but found nothing. Empty yard, grass, and bushes. The lone little tree that she'd planted earlier in the spring. Her car. But nothing else.

Turning, she walked over to her sideyard, just to make sure that no one was trying to get back there, completely unaware of the dark shadow that disconnected itself from beneath her car. It moved with a feral grace that belied the sheer size of the thing. Just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone, disappearing up her walk through her still partially open front door.

Unaware of what now lurked just inside her home, Sarah returned to her patio, popping the lids of the three Jack-o-Lanterns there and blowing out their candles. She then stepped inside, closed the door, locked it, and turned out her porch light.

"Silly kids," she said with a shake of her head.

She couldn't judge them too harshly. She'd been a kid once. While maybe something more was planned, she wasn't going to hold a little game of Ding Dong Ditch against anyone. If they were a problem, she'd say something, but for now, she'd just settle in and enjoy her movie. With a quick round through her house, she made sure that the windows and doors were all locked, the curtains were pulled tight, and, just to be sure, there wasn't anyone skulking about in her backyard.

Never once did she see the thing that was in the house with her as it moved quickly and silently. Always working to stay just out of eyeshots.

"Alright, Ameer," Sarah said with a sigh as she sat down, satisfied with her check of the house, and popped in the one other movie her friend had recommended. "Let's see what ya left me. Let's hope it's as good as the other one."

As it turned out, it was.

The movie starts with a rather macabre pair of teenage sisters, showcasing an intense disdain for humanity and an obsession with death and suicide. The imagery was strange and intense but changed quickly from concerning to horrifying when a beast that's been ravaging the local pets in town suddenly attacked one of the many girls, Cookie. Over the thirty minutes she'd been watching, Sarah had become completely enraptured in the gruesome film.

On the screen, a creature, huge and hideous, a werewolf from what Sarah could discern, growled and bellowed. It stalked after the girls as they ran through the woods, Cookie trembling and screaming from her injuries. By some measure of luck, they managed to get away, escaping the woods and back to their home where they were talking excitedly, trying to figure out what to do.

"Huh?" she asked aloud.

Something was weird with the film though. It seemed like the girls had escaped, but there very clearly was still a low growling. She'd heard it through the majority of the scene before, a constant undertone even when the beast was roaring and howling. But now it was still ongoing without the werewolf seemingly anywhere nearby. The rumbling, throat sound seemed to be covering some of the girl's dialogue.

Why couldn't they hear it?

Was the audio of the movie broken?

With only a slight intensification of the strange, growling noise that Sarah heard acting as a warning, she suddenly felt massive, clawed digits close around her mouth and nose. She tried to scream in shock, to jump forward, anything, but the thing held her firmly in place, her mouth closed tight, without even a struggle. The entire thing wrapped easily from one side of her head to the other. The hand, or claw, whatever it was, was covered in thick brown fur and tipped was jagged-looking talons on his finger. The undersides were rough and textured, but strangely soft. In some distant, not completely panicking part of her mind, it reminded her of a dog's paw.

"Trick. Or. Treat." a grave voice growled from above and behind her as a second clawed hand snaked across her body to grope at her belly. Or across her belly. The sheer size of the thing's claws was so big, it felt like it could touch clawtips by holding her around the torso.

Sarah whimpered and tried to scream, but the firm grip held her solidly in place, stopping her from moving at all.

"Enjoying?" it asked from behind her with a croaking laugh. On the screen directly ahead of her, the girls were researching local legends and discussing the possibility of werewolves being the explanation to the beast they were attacked by in the woods.

Sarah felt herself being lifted up and out of her easy chair, held by her face and belly. It didn't even feel like it tried like she weighed nothing to whatever this was. She was pulled up and over the back of it so she was held in a standing position directly behind the chair she'd been sitting in moments prior.

She still couldn't see it, but she could feel more of it now. Whatever this thing that had her was warm, almost hot. Being near it was like being near a space heater. It was soft to the touch, covered in fur that tickled against the bare skin of her arms and her neck. The exception was something rigid that ground into her back when she was pulled close. And it smelled...odd. It had an intensely musky scent that she couldn't quite place, but it was not unpleasant. It was intense but strangely enjoyable.

"Dont. Scream." the creature behind her said simply, digging the claws of his hands into the side of her neck and belly for emphasis.

And then she was free.

Sarah dropped to the ground, snapping around and pressing her back against the chair to look at her attacker. But what she found was that she needed to look up. Sarah wasn't very tall, but she wasn't particularly short either. However eye level for her seemed to be chest level for the furry creature before her. Her eyes traveled up, easily past six feet to somewhere between seven or eight, where they settled on the toothy, fang-filled muzzle of the creature.

It stood on two legs with its knees seemingly on backward, ending in thick, canid paws. The arms she'd already become far too familiar with appeared strangely too long for human proportions, hanging down well past its hips. Hips that, between which, sprouted a shockingly large erection, that stood rigid at attention. That was the only thing seemingly not covered in fur, as its chest, head, neck, and lupine muzzle all were covered in the same brown fur of its arms and hands. Behind it, swishing gently back and forth, a thick, fluffy tail ran back and forth against the hardwood of her floor.

Sarah knew at once what it was.

She'd seen enough of them through the movies already tonight.

"Ho- Holy shit..." she managed. "You're a fucking werewolf."

The beast's lips peeled back, baring its fingers, though Sarah couldn't make out if it was a threat or some sort of twisted smile. Another low grumbling growl echoed forth as it did so.

"What- Who- How..." Sarah's mind reeled, trying to find the words. Trying to find the thoughts. They raced around so quickly, there were so many of them, it was like her brain couldn't settle on just one. She kept looking the thing up and down. The fur. The claws. The teeth. Not to mention the apparent club that continued to stand at attention, pointed directly at her ceiling.

"Why? When?" it offered in its thick, grave voice.

The creature leaned down, arching its back to allow its too-long limbs to touch down to the floor, and bringing itself face to face with Sarah. She winced, sensing that the thing could just open the maw and fit her whole head inside, but instead, it looked at her. Met eyes with her.

The werewolf's eyes were great, yellow orbs, punctuating with black. They stared at her with an intensity and intelligence she'd never seen in any animal and made her feel vulnerable and exposed. Yet, despite how they seemed to bore into her very soul, they didn't feel aggressive. They felt hungry, but not violent.

Hungry, but not in a way her mind could seem to properly register.

"What do you want?" Sarah finally managed after trying two more times.

The beast sniffed heavily. Once. Twice. The eyes watched her. Tracked hers. But its nose roamed. It sniffed at her chest. At her neck. Lower. If took great whiffs of her scent, all the while watching her unblinking.

"What do you w- w-?" she tried again, but, losing her nerve under the creature's gaze, couldn't get the words out.

The thing did not speed up. It continued to take long, languid sniffs of her, stopping to take in, and coming back again and again, to her neck and crotch. In those areas, in particular, it seemed to push its great nose harder into her. It felt wet to the touch and left smears like an overzealous dog might.

With each pass, it seemed to circle her body, but it always came back to her crotch, pressing against it and sniffing deeply. Each time it did, Sarah whimpered, expecting something worse, expecting to be bit, to be mauled, to be hurt. But each time, it sniffed deeply, taking in her scent.

"What-" she started one last time but was abruptly cut off.

"You," it stated frankly, drawing itself back up to stand at its full height once more.

Sarah was conflicted. The creature towered over her, looking down its muzzle at her. The muzzle, which, was drawn further open into an even more grotesque smile. Part of her mind told her to run in terror. To flee. To get away. That this thing meant to kill her and eat her. But, it had already had the chance plenty. But then, with that thing sticking out of it...

"Ho- how?"

The thing arched an eyebrow. It was such a uniquely human expression, it was jarring to see its animal features.

"How?" it echoed in that grave voice.

"Are you going to eat me?"

That fanged grin widened even further and the creature's erection bounced lightly, a hint of moisture forming at its tip.

"Maybe."

Ok, you've got to be kidding.

The fear ebbed just slightly, replaced instead by...something. Sarah couldn't put her finger on the emotion. It wasn't fear though. There was a bit of annoyance at what appeared to be such an intentionally obtuse answer. The fucking werewolf was toying with her.

"Are you going to hurt me?" she asked, emphasizing the word hurt and still backing up further into her chair.

The silence that followed was long and pregnant with unspoken tension. The creature eyed her visibly, looking her up and down, never seeming to blink as it took in the sight of her. Finally, its gaze softened.

"No." It answered.

A breath Sarah didn't realize she was holding, anticipating that creature's response, was very slowly let out. She was still shaking, her hands gripping the upholstery of her chair, but the creature's response reassured her. It was intimidating. Terrifying. There was no doubt that it could have torn her apart a dozen different ways without an ounce of effort. And yet, here it stood, answering her questions.

The thing flexed its shoulders and twisted its neck, opening and closing its massive, fanged jaws briefly. Sarah flinched, watching it, but realized quickly that it was trying to adjust. It looked... uncomfortable. It flexed its huge claws and seemed to look away from her several times, finally breaking eye contact with her for the first time since entering.

She waited for it to stop moving, a good fifteen seconds of it seeming to actively avoid looking at her, before saying anything more.

"If- If you're not going to hurt me, then... why are you here?"

The thing's eyes narrowed threateningly as its head snapped back into place, glowering down at her. There was a warning in those eyes. Sarah felt judged, as though she were asking stupid questions and her teacher was telling her, without saying a word, how wrong she was for it. Then, with a snorting chuff, it flexed the mast sticking out from between its legs again, making it bounce against its abdomen.

"Need."

Again, it bounced its rigid erection, flexing its claws at its side. It almost gave the impression it was struggling with this effort. Though if it was struggling to do something, or not do something, was impossible to tell. The thought of it continued to chase away some of Sarah's fear, again replacing it with-

Well, she realized it was excitement.

"I think I got it," she said with a very small nod, biting her lip in consideration. With a single, trembling hand, she started reaching out towards the thing in front of her, and towards the swollen member that continued to bounce softly in invitation. She pulled back. "I think I got it. But...Look. You understand me right?"

The eyes narrowed further, but, after a moment, the muzzle dipped in a simple nod.

"Okay. Okay-" Sarah breathed hard, trying to steady herself. Hell, trying to take in what was happening. It was too insane to even process. "If. If I do what I think you're asking. You're not allowed to maim, kill, or otherwise hurt me."