The Wolves and I

I was back in the middle of the road tonight. The moon was brighter than I've ever seen her. I couldn't stop smiling as I made shadow puppets. I could see my breath float out of my mouth into the chilly darkness. I chuckled a bit, but I got so serious when I heard that soft growling. I was too far from the door and it was too close for me to run, so I waited. I breathed in through my nose and held the air in my lungs for a moment, before breathing it out slowly. I heard a stick snap and a furry foot came out of the shadow. My heart skipped a beat, but then raced to catch up. I heard a truck coming, so I slowly took a step back, not taking my eyes off that foot. The lights came around the corner and the truck came rushing by. The driver honked his horn at me, probably wondering what I was doing outside at this time of night, just standing in the road. Not an unfair question. When the truck had past, I saw it. It's gray, matted fur shimmered a bit in the moonlight. It's tail seemed a bit ratty, but it's legs and the rest of its body pretty much made it clear there would be no easy way out of my predicament. It's head was bigger than I would have expected, and it's snout was full of those fabled teeth I'd always been warned about. It took another step toward me, licking it's snout, apparently certain of the meal it thought it was about to have. I looked down the road, to where the truck had come from, only to see the silhouette of another one.
"Shit." I said, not kidding myself. I slowly took a step to the side, hoping maybe I could make it close enough to make a break for it. A third blocked off that way. I rolled up one of my sleeves and looked over my shoulder, half expecting to see a fourth. They didn't disappoint. "God damn it." I rolled up my other sleeve as they tightened their circle. There were no clouds in the sky for the moon to hide behind and I could hear her teeth chattering as the wolves got closer. Closer. And still, closer. I closed my eyes and took in what I thought would be my last breath, when I heard the scratching claws on pavement behind me. I opened my eyes and jumped up in the air, swinging my leg around, spinning my foot right into the furry bastard's head. It didn't have time to yelp, but instead I heard its neck crack as it fell limp to the ground. The two in the road rushed at me at the same time. I rolled over on my back and they crashed into each other, but didn't seem too hurt, when they got back up. Now, the three of them stood in a line, still licking their snouts, probably glad they'd have less me to share amongst themselves. There were still no cars to help me. Again, the two on the sides came at me at the same time. I charged the one on the left, punching it square in it's big wet nose, before spinning around and nailing the second in the face with my elbow. What I didn't count on was the third one, which I couldn't see anymore to run around to my back. As my elbow made contact with the second wolf's face, a huge paw slashed me across the cheek. I took a step back, my heart beating ridiculously fast and wiped the blood from my face with my hand. It coated my hand with one pass. Now, furious and determined not to die, I stopped the second slash with my forearm, which didn't go unscathed. I grabbed the wolf and trapped it on its hind legs. It snapped at me, but I turned it around, using it as a "human" shield against the other two. Then, I sent my fist straight down on what I guess you could call its elbow, and listened for the satisfying crunch, which came, perfectly. The wolf howled in pain and I let it go. It hobbled back and toppled over, struggling to get up as the other two, once again tried to double team me. They both came at me from the front, and there was no chance they'd fall for the same trick again, so, when the one on the left jumped first, I caught it in mid flight and pushed it over my head. I heard its neck crack as the one on the right knocked me over. We both hit the ground pretty hard. It was up before me and grabbed me by the arm in it's mouth. I'm not gonna lie. I screamed like a small child as its teeth dug into my bicep. I thought a good hit to the head would get it off me, but its teeth only went in deeper. It started to pull me off the road, when a bit of light started to appear around the corner to the south. My eyes watering, blood soaking my shirt, which I could hear ripping, I pulled back against the fangs in my arm; probably a bad idea, but when those lights came into view, I knew what I had to do and ignored the horn which blared at us to get out of the way. I punched the wolf in the ribs with my good arm and dragged it into the middle of the lane. The truck came and ripped the wolf out of my arm, but spun me around and I slammed my head on the side.
I woke up in a puddle of my own blood. Groggily, I pushed myself up of the ground and sat in the road. I turned to see my arm in the moonlight. It was fine. My shirt was bloody and ripped, but the wounds were gone. In fact, my arm felt amazing! I looked around and didn't see the fourth wolf anywhere. Assuming it just hobbled back into the woods, I got up and stretched. I yawned, but I noticed it sounded a little weird. Assuming it was just the concussion I probably had, I ignored it and picked up the two wolves and tossed them into the field. Into the middle...of the field. From the road. It's a pretty big field. Now, thoroughly confused, I stumbled inside and sat down at my computer to tell my story. I could really use a steak.

Nick and the Big-ass Demon

I stood in the middle of the road, peering through the evening's foggy darkness as the moon watched, nervously from her perch in the sky. Across the field, to the east, the trees shook. I held my spear, an old dowel with a point whittled on one end, tightly in my hand and took a deep breath. I could hear the rush of water from the river behind the trees and the sound of heavy breathing, but not my own. The rasping breath seemed to struggle as it dragged air into its lungs. A choking growl came and the leaves trembled.
To the south, a bit of light began to grow and an engine revved. I took a few steps back, keeping my eyes on the far branches as a large truck, roared down the road. I turned my eyes away as the bright lights zoomed by. I raised my head again, and watched as truck's red lights dwindled, finally disappearing around a bend in the road. I turned my head back to the treeline.
"Come on," I said, in a hushed tone. The moon took refuge behind a cloud. My eyes readjusted to the darkness quickly. The brambles across the field gave a violent shake and a black mass shot into the sky. It reached the acme of its height and a pair of broad, leathery wings erupted from its back. It floated down to the ground, landing with earth shaking force, despite its attempt at grace. As the creature landed, the moon reemerged, revealing a pair of beady black eyes, resting in a giant head. Atop the head were two horns, one broken, the other long and curved, like a wildebeest's, and a pair of pointed ears, like those of a bat. Below the eyes, a pair of narrow slits opened and closed as the cool night air was sucked in and out of the monster's lungs. The rest of its body was much like that of a twenty foot tall man, save for the hooves, which dug deep into the grassy field.
"There we go," I said. "How are you, Caldar?" The beast said nothing and drew a giant, gnarly scimitar from a sheath on its belt. It stepped forward, shaking the ground with each stride until it stood in the middle of the road, blocking out the moonlight, casting a giant shadow on me.
"I'm tired," the beast grumbled. "What do you want?"