(*Chapter 16*)

Chapter 16

I had felt like we were running for hours. By the time we finally stopped she said it had only been thirty minutes.

"Well that's long enough for me." I fell onto the earthen floor. Breathing hard and able to see my chest rise above my head while laying down. Claudia sat beside me. I looked up at her, my vision a little fuzzy. I was never much of a runner. Even being half giant dog, I still feel like passing out.

Claudia sat there. She was perfectly calm. Not breathing hard, almost not breathing at all, and no sweat rolling off her face. I was starting to get jealous.

I was almost gasping for air, she wasn't. I had sweat rolling off my feet, she wasn't!

"It's because vampires have no more liquid in there body." She looked down at me with a smile on her face. Then she started bursting out laughing.

"What's so funny?" I sat up on my elbows. I wasn't amused at all and got a serious expression on my face. Normally I would laugh with the person, but this wasn't a time. She just kept laughing. "I thought dogs didn't have sweat glands?" I said, hoping she would shut-up. She finally sat up, she was red and finally gasping for some air.

"I'm sorry." She said, partly laughing. "It's just," She started laughing again and pointed to my head. I tried to look up and saw this green wiggly thing squirming down my hair.

"AHHHHH!!!" I started screaming my head out. I HATED bugs. I always have. I started swatting at my head. Even when I think it was gone I kept swatting. I could hear Claudia laughing her head off under my screaming.

Then all a sudden we heard feet sweeping through the leaves. We both stopped moving. I started to look around and Claudia nudged me on the shoulder. I looked at her and she had her finger to her lip, telling me to keep quiet. We both got up as quietly as we could, then they came at us like an invisible tornado would a tree. Knock us right off our roots.

We got up with hurt backs. Did they have to hit us into a pile of sticks? We went back to back with eachother. They had disappeared. We started looking around at everything. Every little noise we heard our head would turn towards it. I didn't hear anything, so I closed my eyes.

I know your thinking, "Don't close your eyes! They'll kill you!" But I accually get better hearing when my eyes are closed. I put all my thoughts to the back of my mind. I had a completly blank head. It was as if my eyes were opened. I could see the woods. The trees, even Claudia. My ears were sharper and I heard someone, up. My "eyes" went up and saw one of the hench man standing on a branch. He wasn't even moving. Then he started to lunge. He started towards Claudia.

With my eyes still closed I yelled, "Twelve thirty!" She didn't move and she yelled, "What?!" I whipped her around and punched my hardest at "twelve thirty." He fell to the ground with his hand on his left eye. I was on my knees and my eyes were wide open. I punched someone. I finally punched someone. Claudia helped me up and said, "Now I know what you meant. Thanks." It looked like a smile was coming onto her face, but it was replaced with "Hee, ya!" While she kicked another hench man.

"We need to get out of here." She looked at me and I knew I had to change. I looked back at the guards and I was back to werewolf form. They made me really angry. That guy made my hand really hurt. So bad I was almost limping while running.

* * *

I saw Claudia a few feet away. She was going onto a highway. I stopped right at the edge of the woods. I can't go out there? Can I?

I saw Claudia stop and turn around. "Why did you stop? We need to go! I can smell them behind you!" She started waving herr hands for me to follow. I turned back into the woods and hid behind a tree. Well, not exactly hide, I was still a gigantic dog. I closed my eyes and started to think of my home. I thought of my parents, my friends, Jet. I looked down and saw two worn out feet. I ran back to the highway. Claudia was on the other side of the road. She had her back turned to me. I looked side to side. I'd rather be killed by the two hench men then by an on coming car.

WHen I felt the coast was clear, I heard them coming. I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. I burst across the road. Almost running into a few cars. There alarms were buzzing in my ears, but the wind mostly blocked them out. I finally reached Claudia. She had turned around when she heard the commotion. She looked at me with bright eyes. I turned around and saw the two guys coming. I grabbed her arm and started running again.

Just in time too, the people were getting out of there cars and forming an angry mob.

I kept running until I lost there scent. I finally put Claudia down and sat on a bench. I started to breath for air, but I figured out I didn't need to. I wasn't breathing hard, I felt my head and not a single sign of sweat. "Awesome!" I started to cheer to myself and I noticed Claudia behind me. SHe was staring at something beside me.

I swung my feet over the bench and when I looked down at my feet, I noticed I wasn't on a bench. I shot up and started swatting my arms and legs and soon enough, my whole body. I was sitting on a grave. I was totally creeped out. I just sat on someone's grave. I heard that if you sit on someoen's grave without giving respect they can haunt you for eternity.

I started to look down to give some kind of respect, but when I looked at the grave, I got eyes wider than Claudia's. The grave said, in big bolded letters, JACK. I looked at Claudia, she was walking back and staring at the ones around it. I started with her and turned around to look at them.

Right there in a nice line were our graves. All capitalized and bolded, CHANCE, CLAUDIA, JACK, MAGGIE. We looked at eachother. CLaudia got a horrible expression on her face. A mix between mad and wanting to cry, but she can't cry.

She walked over to her "grave" and stood in front of it. She puffed out air and slammed her fist into the middle of her name. The grave burst into pieces. She let out deep sighs and turned to Chance's "grave." She pounded her fist into that one, then moved to Jack's. She was about to slam her fist into it, but I ran in front of it. "My turn." She turned around and walked to where we were standing. I turned towards the grave and got ready to punch it.

Once I did, I ended up drawing back with my hand in my mouth. I started to tear up. I didn't even knock off dust. I pulled my fist out and started to feel myself turn. The warmth of my fur, the sharpness of my ears.

I was so angry I pounded my paw right into Jack's grave. I saw Claudia shield her face with her arm. I had sent pieces flying. I moved onto my grave and kicked it even harder. Claudia ended up falling into fetal position. I felt my clothes come back to my body and I ran to her. "I'm sorry. Maybe I should try anger management instead?" She looked up with a sarcastic smile on her face. I let her go and turned back to my hand. My knuckles were starting to bleed. My head was going to suck on them, but when I saw Claudia's expression I started to pull back.

She had a hungry and sad expression. I started to think, "She hasn't ate in a while." I looked back at her. With my good hand I reached for her pocket. She started to look at me with a weird expression. I pulled out her hankie-thing. I started to wrap my hand in it. The blood was already seeping through.

"I think you might have to a day or two to eat." I smiled at her.

"Thanks." She smiled back at me and started to get up. She stood in front of me and offered her hand. I reached with my good hand and grasped hers. I stood up beside her.

"Now let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps." She rubbed her arms as if she got chills.

"Really? I'd think you'd love it here." I really did think she would.

She got another angry expression and pointed towards he pile of dust and cement pieces. "Oh." I agreed with her and started walking, when we looked up. The graves in front of us were just like the ones we smashed. We started looking around and freaking out.

All of the graves were exactly the same. All of them were marked

CHANCE, CLAUDIA, JACK, MAGGIE.

I turned to Claudia hoping for something and all I got was a pouty face and crossed arms. We kept looking around and we made it official, all the graves were the same. She turned right around and was standing exactly infront of a CLAUDIA grave.

"This is war."