February 18, 2012

Upstate New York

"I hope Vivian won't be there." John said."

You know she will," replied Cerrydwen. "Her office is in the is in the same city as conference. You need to tell her to either stop flirting with you, or date you."

"I tried that. She just laughed."

It was a chilly February afternoon. and Cerry, John and I were in her Accord, driving from Syracuse, NY to Rochester for the annual Engineer's Week convention. John was a tall fellow, so I let him sit in the passenger seat. I was in the back.

We were going to represent our employer, Leightner McFarland Engineering, at the convention. Cerry and I were presenting about the success of our village streetscape project. I was the design engineer and responsible for the overall project. Cerry had designed the sidewalks, landscaping, and drainage.  John headed another design team, and was going to talk to prospective clients.

Vivian often flirts with John to the very limits of professional office behavior, and sometimes beyond. As soon as he responds, though, she gets frigid. It doesn't help that Vivian is a gorgeous redhead. Anyone could see why John hated it. Unlike most people, however, I can tell she has a serious case of the hots for him.  As in change her panties hots.  I can smell it.

I also know why she can't act on it. You see, Vivian has a secret. She is a werewolf. I can smell that, too.

How can I smell it? I have a secret, too. I'm a were-cougar.

I can understand Vivian's actions to some extent. Cerry flirted with me when she first joined the company. It was hard for me. She is very pretty - a brunette with blue eyes, fair skin, and delicious scent - with intelligence and personality to match. I wanted so much to ask her out, but I couldn't, and it wasn't because of the company's policy about dating subordinates. I finally had to tell her to stop.  

Viv apparently doesn't have that much self-discipline. That makes her a hazard to werefolk everywhere.  One slip in front of the wrong person, and it will be the Burning Times all over again.

"Well at least her hair makes her easy to spot," Cerry said. "Don't worry. Zach and I will run interference for you."

John's phone beeped. John looked at it and said, "The Thruway is closed ahead. Bad crash. Waze says take the next exit. It looks like we're taking the back roads."

"Well, crap!" Cerry said. "At least the full moon tonight will help." I was already feeling the tingle of energy from the moon. Felines like me aren't as strongly tied to the moon as werewolves, but we still hear Her call.

As we drove west through the upstate New York countryside, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset shining on winter snow front of us, as the full moon rose behind us. Cerry was enjoying it, pumping the clutch and flicking the Honda's shift lever from gear to gear and matching the engine speed to the curves and hills. She bought the Accord because it was one of the few sedans still available with a manual transmission.  That was another reason she'd be perfect for me, if only she weren't a mundane, a normal human.

We crested a hill and were greeted by the sight of an old farmhouse and barn across the valley, glowing in the light of the setting sun. As we dropped down into the shadow of the valley, I caught a flicker of motion off to the right. "Look out!" I yelled, just as a doe lept over the road. The grey blur chasing it crashed into the front of the car, smashed the windshield, and disappeared over the roof.

Cerry slammed the brake pedal hard. The ABS clattered like mad as the car slewed to a stop. We all got out. John went to check the damage to the car, and Cerry looked for whatever we hit. As I opened my door, the scent hit me. Werewolves! "Get back in the car, NOW!" I yelled. She looked at me, then behind me, and screamed.

Something slammed into the back of my head, and the world went red, and then black.