Excerpt: Bite Back

The door slid open nearly silently, well oiled despite its age. Comfort stepped inside in front of Randolph. The first thing she noticed was the smell or rather, the absence thereof. She immediately knew that she was around werewolves or neat freaks. No one else lived like that. Though the house was far from immaculate, from where she stood in the entryway, she could see several things on the floor, there was almost no smell. Not air freshner, not garbage, nothing.

A werewolf’s sense of smell was good. At home Comfort was forever saving her mother’s concoctions from burning in the oven. She could just catch it before anyone else. In the same way, perfume was often overwhelming. A bad trip past the makeup counters at the mall sometimes gave her migraines. So, it was a relief to step into a house that was literally devoid of scent. She breathed deeply and sighed happily, once again ignoring Randolph’s chuckle.

The house was surprisingly bright inside. She looked up at the high ceiling. In front of her was a short hallway with a number of doors leading off from either side. She walked down the short hallway, Randolph following behind her, uncertain as to what she’d find.

At the end of the hallway was a large living room. Comfort could hear the television babbling from the room and felt all of her nervous energy return. She twisted her hands together and took a few steps further down the hallway.

“Who’s there?” A voice stopped her in her tracks and she turned to Randolph, her eyes wide.

“It’s me,” he called to them.

“Oh, hey man. You’re back. Did you bring that stuck up bitch back with you or did she decide she was too good for us again?” The room burst into laughter. There were at least three male voices and one female. Comfort felt her face flush. Embarrassed and angry tears filled her eyes. She angrily dashed them away, unwilling to cry in front of these… these werewolves. She would never allow herself to cry in front of them. She thought the word werewolves with an especially unforgiving hatred. These stupid werewolves, again the anger, had never even met her and they were… well they were just awful. Just as she opened her mouth to say so, one of the boys came around the corner. He stopped suddenly, adding to the tableau of not moving figures.

“Oh shit.”