Chapter 1
It was a cold dark night in the woods and the moon was full. A wind rushed by and rustled all the trees nosily. An owl in a tall tree gave out a loud hoot and some wolves cried out in the distance, a long lonely howl. A branch snapped loudly and out of the bushes came a large, scraggly brown wolf with a small black bat riding on it's back.
"Hey Wolf, there is something I've been wondering..." the bat said.
"What's that, Drac?" Wolf asked.
"How long exactly have we been lost in these woods together?" Drac asked.
"Heh heh, it's been quite a long time. Years maybe, but how should I know?" Wolf responded.
Everything went to the pits a long, long, time ago. Drac had thought he finally found the life he had dreamt of living with a mother who loved him. His mother was slaughtered in front of him and then his house was set on fire. With Wolf the Werewolf’s help, Drac barely managed to escape.
"It feels as though we've just been walking in circles, everything is so confusing!" Wolf said.
"If I could fly, I'd be able to quickly find our way out of here and we'd be on our way to freedom!" Drac said.
"Drac....you can't change the past, all you can do now is hope that your wings eventually heal!" Wolf said.
"Ugh, sometimes I feel as though they never will...I still remember that feeling of being on fire as if it was only yesterday..." Drac said, he sounded as though he was about to cry.
"Oh Dracula, please don't cry...." Wolf begged.
"It's just Drac! Jeez, get it right already!" Drac snapped.
"Okay... I was just worried about you and all..." Wolf said.
"You know darn well Dracula is another vampire, I'm just Drac, not Dracula," Drac clarified.
"Heh heh...Drac..." Wolf muttered.
The duo of Drac and Wolf had continued on walking through the night, but yet another night had been wasted. They were nowhere near the edge of the woods and dawn was well on its way. Weakly, Drac hopped off of Wolf’s back. Being sneaky, Wolf licked Drac right as he was transforming back into his humanoid form.
"Ack, Wolf! You got my cape all wet!" Drac said.
"Heh heh..." Wolf laughed.
Still amused, Wolf transformed back into his own humanoid form. The two remained together as they have every single day since they got exiled to the woods. Working quickly, they crafted a makeshift cave out of branches, leaves, and anything else that was littering the forest floor. Here they rested, protected from the sun, waiting for the sun to set and the moon to rise again.
Twilight arrived, bringing its eerie atmosphere to light once again. The very last rays of sunlight were vanishing over the horizon, not that the horizon could be seen through all the trees. Like a wave crashing to shore, darkness swooped in and flooded to woods, eating up all the light. Wolf woke up and found that Drac was still asleep.
“Drac,” Wolf whispered.
Drac had placed himself on the exact opposite end of the cave before they fell asleep. Now, however, Drac was hugging onto Wolf. The Werewolf smiled sadly and gently removed himself from Drac’s grasp. Then, with the split open tip of his shoe, Wolf nudged Drac to get him awake.
“Go away... I’m tired...” Drac muttered.
“Drac, it’s nighttime...” Wolf whined.
“I said, go away!” Drac yelled.
“...fine... I will...” Wolf said with a huff.
The Werewolf crawled out of the cave and yawned loudly. The trees nearby rustled, catching his attention. However, when he looked up, nothing was there. He shrugged and wandered further into the woods.
Each step he took, a soft jingling sound occurred from the old silvery necklace he wore around his neck. The charm on this necklace is shaped like a lighting bolt with wolf ears on top of it. Mysteriously, the charm itself would sometimes change colors from gold to red, sometimes even turning completely silver. It was a friendship necklace from Drac and the grouchy old Vampire even had his own necklace. Drac’s necklace was very similar, but the charm was shaped like a heart with bat wings.
“I don’t need Drac... I can find my own way out...” Wolf muttered.
Wolf, however, could not find his way out. His stomach grumbled loudly, reminding him of his desire to eat. Wolf sighed and sat down in the dirt in his wolf form. It had been ages since his last decent meal and he couldn’t even recall what or when it was. On the bright side, Werewolves cannot starve to death.
“Food... I need food...” Wolf whined.
The trees rustled again. Wolf looked up and caught sight of a black cat climbing through the limbs of a nearby tree. Wolf perked up immediately. The cat swished its tail as though taunting him.
“Mmm... You look delicious...” Wolf said, his stomach growling again.
“Delicious, huh...? So you’d try to eat me?” the cat asked, turning to face the hungry Werewolf.
“Oh... Uh, I kind of thought you were just a cat...” Wolf said. “My bad...”
“Are you alone...?” the cat asked.
“Uh, technically, no...” Wolf said.
“Really? You look like you’re alone,” the cat said.
“Well, you see… I was with someone else, but… He told me to go away…” Wolf said, wincing.
“What a shame. It sucks to be alone in these woods…” the cat said, casually glancing at its left paw.
“Yeah… Wait! Are you on your own?” Wolf asked.
“I sure am! I was searching for something…but I became lost in this endless tangle of trees,” the cat said, “Perhaps, though… With a little outside help… I could escape… Who knows?”
“Great! I need help getting out of here as well! But… Uhhh… I kind of don’t want to leave Drac alone…” Wolf said, looking down at his paws.
“Drac? Is that the name of the guy who told you to go away?” the cat asked.
“Yep,” Wolf said, nodding his head. “He and I have been wandering these woods together for like over a hundred years.”
“My name is Katherine, but, you can call me Kat,” the cat said.
She jumped down from the tree. Quickly, she transformed into a witch with black and dark green hair. Wolf’s tail wagged in excitement. Never before had he seen such a gorgeous woman.
“Why so shocked? I’m a witch,” Kat said with a chuckle.
“Y-you’re so gorgeous!” Wolf exclaimed, his tail wagging even harder.
“Do you also have a human form…?” Kat asked, smirking a bit.
“I do! I do! See?!” Wolf asked.
He transformed back into his human form. He wasn’t exactly in good shape as he had been lost for a hundred years. His scraggly brown hair was severely matted and all his bones were showing. There hadn’t been anything to eat in such a long time, the only thing keeping him alive was his immortality.
“Oh! Uhhhh… My clothes are a bit old…” Wolf exclaimed, blushing in embarrassment.
“So I see…” Kat said, staring at him.
“Hey, hey, hey, guess what?! I have an idea! Maybe you could meet Drac! I think you’d like him!” Wolf exclaimed excitedly.
“Ah, well, if we HAVE to bring him with us… I suppose I might as well meet him…” Kat said.
“Come on, then! Hurry, hurry! This way!” Wolf said, transforming back into a wolf.
Kat followed quickly in her cat form. Wolf retraced his steps, but he nearly got lost. Back at camp, Drac was finally awake. Awkwardly, the vampire hid the branch that he was eating the leaves off of.
“Drac! Drac! Drac! I found a pretty woman!” Wolf exclaimed, his tail wagging so fast it looked about to snap off.
“Wha-?” Drac asked.
Kat made her appearance. She scoffed when she saw Drac. A little bit of leaf was stuck in his teeth. Kat transformed into her human form.
“See?” Wolf asked.
“Meh,” Drac said.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!” Wolf asked, absolutely obliterated by this comment. “HOW CAN YOU JUST MEH SUCH A GORGEOUS WOMAN?!”
“She’s a witch. I don’t trust witches, or wizards, or sorcerers, or mages, or magicians, or any other practicers of magic,” Drac said, suddenly stopping and trying to dislodge the leaf from his teeth using his tongue.
“What’s that in your teeth…?” Wolf inquired, squinting.
“Nothing! Nothing at all!” Drac exclaimed, accidentally revealing the partially eaten branch.
“You got a yummy stick and didn’t share! SHARE!” Wolf barked.
“Hmmm, who’s a hungry boy?” Kat teased.
“Oh! Oh oh oh! Me! I’m the hungry boy!” Wolf exclaimed, running in circles excitedly.
“Anyhow, Drac, is it? I suppose I won’t be of much use to you after all… Wolf told me you two are lost…” Kat said with a teasing purr. “Oh, but what would a witch know about escaping from enchanted forests, am I right?”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait…are you telling me that YOU of all people can help me escape the woods?” Drac asked, looking desperate. “I need to get out of here!”
Katherine transformed back into a black cat. Casually, she turned and climbed up a tree. Wolf looked sad, staring up at her intensely. Drac scowled and crossed his arms.
“Nope. I don’t think I will help you. You don’t trust me,” Kat said.
“What?! That’s not fair! Don’t you know I’ve been stuck here for over 100 years?!” Drac asked.
“So what? You can’t just insult people and still expect them to help you,” Kat said.
“Well, I would love your help,” Wolf said, wagging his tail again.
“Hmmm, you’re cute… Maybe I’d help you, but not HIM!” Kat said, glaring at Drac.
“What? No! No, no, no, no, no! Wolf is MY friend, you can’t just steal him!” Drac argued.
