Housepets: Curse of the Werenut, Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Grape had no idea how long she stayed like that, crying on
her front porch. She barely noticed as
the sky opened up and began to pour rain on her, soaking her fur and leaving it
sticking to her skin. Lightning flashed
and thunder boomed, but it didn't matter.
She'd failed.
All she'd been asked to do was keep Peanut from escaping,
and she'd let him walk right out the front door. Who knew where he was now? What would happen? Would he hurt somebody? Would he hurt himself? The thought of her best friend, her brother, lying dead in a ditch somewhere
caused a fresh wave of tears to erupt from her eyes.
"Grape!" someone shouted, but the cat couldn't work up the
will to see who it was. "Grape, what
happened?"
She felt a pair of paws grab her head and force her to look
up. It was Tarot. Sabrina stood behind her, holding some type
of plant.
"T-Tarot," Grape whimpered, "I'm so sorry!"
"What happened?" the Pomeranian asked again.
"I tried to do what you said," Grape explained weakly. "But I couldn't. Peanut changed, and now he's... he's..."
Taror closed her eyes and looked down, "Are you hurt?" she
asked. Grape shook her head, "Good. Now come on, we have to go find him."
Grape sat up, but couldn't meet Tarot's gaze, "You should go
without me," she said.
"No!" Tarot retorted.
"We'll need your help if we're going to find him and feed him the
wolfsbane."
"But I can't do anything right!" Grape howled. "I've mess up everything!"
Tarot's paw lashed out and slapped Grape across the face,
"Grape, stop it!" she shouted back.
Grape stared at the little dog, stunned, her cheek tingling.
"How dare you
behave like this?" Tarot went on.
"Peanut is in trouble, and we're the only ones who can help him!"
"But..."
"No buts!" Tarot interjected. "Get this through your thick cat skull: this
is NOT your fault! None of it is, so
stop blaming yourself!"
Grape looked away and hugged her knees, "But I couldn't even
keep him inside when you told me to."
"That..." Tarot paused, and lowered her head, "that was my
fault. I was so desperate to go search
for the wolfbane that it never occurred to me that you wouldn't be able to
control him when he changed. I'm sorry,
Grape."
Grape turned to look at the psychic dog, "But what can we
do?" she asked. "He's way too strong for
us!"
Tarot looked Grape in the eye, and then raised her paw,
"Even now that he's a wolf, Peanut and I still have our mental connection. Listen to this." With that, she placed her paw on Grape's forehead. At first, nothing happened, but then...
Help...
Grape gasped. That
was Peanut's voice!
Help me... I don't want to hurt anyone...
"Peanut!" she shouted, even though he was nowhere he could
hear her.
Grape... Tarot...
Grape... Help me...
Tarot lowered her paw, cutting off Peanut's voice, "Now will
you help us?"
Peanut's terrified voice still echoed in Grape's head. Without a word, she rose to her feet and
nodded.
"Good. Sabrina and I
will keep him under control," Tarot instructed her. "But we need you to talk to him. Even if the werewolf has control, there's
still a small part of Peanut in there.
We need you to talk to him, and maybe you'll be able to calm him down a
little."
"I already tried to talk to him right after he changed,"
Grape pointed out. "He didn't even
recognize me."
"It's the only thing we can do," Tarot said. "Now come on, we need to find him!" With that, Tarot turned and ran down the
street, Sabrina right behind her.
"But we have no idea where he is!" Grape shouted, running
after her.
"I think he went to Max's house," Tarot answered. "If Peanut got mad enough to attack him
earlier today, then the wolf will still feel his anger."
Grape blanched under her fur, "You mean that thing is going
after my boyfriend?!"
Not waiting for Tarot to answer, Grape put on an extra burst
of speed, leaving the other two behind.
"Grape!" Tarot shouted.
"Don't go alone! It's too
dangerous!"
But Grape didn't listen, she had to save Max! She rounded to corner in the roar and
gasped. Tarot had been right. The front door to Max's house had been
smashed, just like her own.
"Max!" she screamed, running up his driveway. "Peanut!"
A terrified scream rang out, and Bino came careening out of
the front door.
"THERE'S A MONSTER IN MY HOUSE!" He yelled, running past
Grape without a second glance.
Grape needed no further goading. She raced the rest of the way up Max's yard
and through the door. Claw marks gouged
the walls, and several more doors in the hallway had been beaten down.
"Max!" she called, not breaking her stride. She ran down the length of the house before
she found them. Peanut had managed to
corner Max in the kitchen, and was now holding the trembling cat in one of his
monstrous paws.
"Grape, you need to get out of here!" he yelled as he saw
her come in. "Don't worry about me, just
go!"
The werewolf bared its teeth and brought Max in closer.
"Peanut!" Grape shouted at the top of her voice.
The werewolf paused and turned to look at her.
"Peanut, put him down!" the cat ordered, speaking slowly.
"Peanut?!" Max exclaimed in disbelief.
The wolf growled threateningly, but didn't release Max.
"Put. Him. Down," Grape repeated, pointing to the floor.
With an angry snarl, Peanut threw Max across the room, where
he collided with the wall and slumped to the floor, unconscious. The wolf began to advance on Grape now,
holding its claws out threateningly.
"Peanut," Grape spoke to the monster, as she backed down the
hallway again, "I know you're in there.
You don't want to do this!"
For a moment, the wolf's eyes changed. They were no longer the savage beast, but her
friend's.
"Peanut?" Grape asked tentatively. "Is that you?"
"Grrrrrrr..." the wolf growled. "Grrrrraaaaaa... Grrrraaaaaaaaape?"
A relieved smile spread across the cat's face, "Peanut! It's okay!
Everything's going to be all right!"
The wolf shook its head, "Noooo," it replied, "Grrrraaaaaape... Run!"
With that, the wolf shook its head, and the feral animal was
back. With a howl of rage, it crouched
down and threw itself at Grape! Grape
had no time to react, and could only brace herself for the impact. The claws.
The teeth...
They never came.
Grape opened her eyes and saw the werewolf struggling
against some sort of invisible force, unable to reach her!
"Grape, get back!" Tarot shouted. She was standing behind the cat, holding both
paws out towards the wolf. She was
successfully restraining it, but her face revealed how much she was struggling
to do so. Grape willingly stepped behind
her. "Sabrina, the wolfsbane!"
The black cat shot forward, the strange plant in her
paw. She leaped nimbly into the air,
landing on Peanut's massive chest and clinging to his fur. The wolf howled and thrashed around, trying
to throw her off, but the stubborn cat refused to let go.
"Get it in his mouth," Tarot shouted, still fighting to keep
Peanut where he was. "Hurry!"
With grace that only a cat can have, Sabrina climbed further
up Peanut's body until she was within arm's reach of his mouth. Taking the wolfsbane, she reached up,
attempting to force it into the werewolf's mouth. But with one hand doing that, her grip was
loosened, and that was all Peanut needed.
He grabbed the black cat with one hand, wrenched her free from his body,
and threw her across the house.
"Look out!" Grape warned, but could only watch as Sabrina
collided with Tarot, sending them both skidding across the floor.
This wasn't good. With
those two out of commission, who was going to stop Peanut? The wolf snarled and turned to face her. Cold sweat ran down Grape's body. She should run. There was nothing more she could do
here. If she stayed, she'd only succeed
in getting herself killed.
The wolfsbane plant fluttered to the floor, only a few
inches away from where she stood. She
looked at it, and then back at Peanut. Her
heart began to beat faster, but she was suddenly filled with a sense of grim
determination. Peanut had been her best
friend ever since she'd been adopted by the Sandwiches. Not just her best friend, her brother.
With unwavering loyalty, he had always been there for her when she
needed him. There was no doubt in her
mind that, should the need arise, he would give up his own life for her sake.
And now, she thought, it was time for her to do the same.
Reaching down, Grape picked up the wolfsbane and charged at
Peanut! The wolf howled and raced to
meet her. At the last moment, she leaped
into the air, flying straight towards him.
But this time the wolf was prepared, and he caught her in midair. There was nothing Grape could do but tighten
her grip on the wolfsbane as Peanut swung her around like a ragdoll. Finally, just when she thought she was going
to lose consciousness, he stopped. With
a glare filled with absolute hatred, he opened his mouth and leaned down to
bite her throat. Just as Grape had
hoped...
Not giving the wolf a chance to react, she threw her arm
forward, sending it straight into the werewolf's mouth. The wolf instinctively shut its mouth, and
its teeth sank into Grape's arm. She
cried out in pain. More pain than she'd
ever felt before. More pain than she'd
ever known existed. But with one final
effort, she forced her hand open, and the wolfsbane fell from it, down Peanut's
throat.
The result was instantaneous. The wolf's eyes widened with shock, and it
began to choke. Its mouth opened, and
Grape's arm fell free. Peanut's hand let
go of her body, and she fell to the floor.
The wolf stumbled around the room, grasping its throat and making
gagging noises. Then, before her eyes,
it began to shrink. Every part of his
body began to slowly recede back its normal size. Peanut's bones crunched and his fur shortened
back to its normal length. With one
final howl, the wolf's voice turned back to the one Grape knew and loved, and
Peanut collapsed to the floor.
Grape looked down at her arm. There were several puncture wounds where
Peanut had bitten her, and they were all bleeding profusely. Her breathing was ragged. She was in trouble. If she didn't get help, she was going to die
from blood loss.
It didn't matter, though...
She'd managed to save Peanut...
That's what was important...
With that, her vision began to grow dark. In front of her, she saw Peanut pick himself
up off the floor. He stood up shakily, holding
his head.
"What happened?" he asked.
He turned to see her.
"Grape? Grape!"
As the rest of Grape's vision faded, leaving her in the dark
embrace of sleep, the last thing she saw was Peanut kneeling down to pick her
up.