My entry for the 2024 Halloween Contest. There are themes of reluctance/noncon here.
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Lana was the brave one in the group. While her friends cowered by the tree line, it was Lana who crossed the dark front yard, the beam of her flashlight sweeping across the damp grass.
"You idiot!" hissed Sapphire, her best friend and self-proclaimed scaredy-cat. "Get back here! You're going to get killed. Do you not watch horror movies?"
Lana rolled her eyes and looked back. Sapphire was tucked in between Tyson and Beau, whose expressions were equally appalled.
"I'll be fine," she said. "Now, shush!"
Lana continued in the direction of the house that towered ahead. It had definitely seen better days. The wooden shutters were hanging off the hinges, crooked and derelict, and the front porch had halfway caved in. Ivy had crept up both sides of the house, now dead and brown in the crisp October air.
In all of her years of ghost-hunting, Lana had never heard of this place. When she mentioned this to Sapphire, her friend had said, "Well, maybe it's not haunted and that's why you've not heard about it!" But standing in front of it now, Lana knew something was strange here. Her senses were tingling. Her nerves were sizzling.
She reached the front porch and turned to look back at the group of three still huddled by the woods. She could just make out their shadowed figures in the wash of moonlight.
Treading carefully, Lana moved across the porch, making sure to avoid the loose boards. When she reached the front door, she saw that it was not even closed. It creaked open with just the push of a finger.
Lana waved the flashlight around the entryway, shocked by how beautiful the place actually was. It was dilapidated yes, but the details were gorgeous: the carved banister leading upstairs, the old portraits nearly dangling from the walls. A crystal chandelier hung over what looked to be a sitting area, where a single old chair was covered in a mountain of dust and cobwebs.
She could tell the home had been stunning at one point.
Lana was about to move into the kitchen when she heard a sound from above.
"Hello?" she cried, her heart racing faster now.
It wasn't the sound of a mouse scratching over the hardwood floors. No, this had been a heavy sort of something. Was it a ghost telling her she wasn't welcome? Lana tried to calm her breathing. She lived for this sort of thing, but that didn't mean she was immune to fear.
Slowly, she walked up the stairs, keeping her eyes peeled above the whole time. There had been one instance over the summer when an old wooden chair had seemed to fling itself down the stairs in her direction, just missing her head.
At the top, Lana moved the light down the hallway, and the noise reappeared. This time, however, it was much clearer. It was a growling sound, but almost... humanlike? She couldn't understand it, couldn't place it entirely.
"Hello? Is someone... there?" she said, tapering off as she saw a light flicker on in one of the rooms. Lana pictured Sapphire's face when she noticed the light in the window. Yes, her friends would be pissing their pants by now.
"RRAGGHHH!" came the growl again, deep and violent.
The color drained from Lana's face. She froze as the farthest door down the hall flew open, revealing a huge dark figure who seemed to take up the entire hallway.
Lana turned and ran down the stairs as fast as she could, but the figure leapt over the highest railing and crashed to the floor below, cutting her off.
"Please!" cried Lana, sobbing in terror. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I'll leave! I'm so sorry!"
Her face was in her hands, but she could feel the thing's presence beside her. It was warm and heaving, its breath hot against her face.
"Who are you?"
It was a "he." It was a... human?
Shakily, Lana uncovered her face. She looked down at his large feet, covered in hair or what looked to be fur. "L-Lana. I was j-just trying to explore and--"
Suddenly, there was a finger underneath her chin, lifting her face.
Lana squealed and gasped in utter fear as she finally opened her eyes to look at the beast in front of her. He looked human enough: a large, bulky man with muscled arms and a very defined chest. Dark hair covered most of his body, which was totally naked aside from a shredded piece of cloth around his waist, covering his...
Lana looked up at his face and was taken aback. He had a scarred, gnarled sort of face with what looked like fangs as he sneered at her. The same dark hair/fur that covered most of his body also hung around his features, shrouding his face. He had the darkest eyes Lana had ever seen, and they seemed to blaze as they looked at her.
"Again, I am sorry," whispered Lana. "I'll leave."
"Wait," the beast said roughly. "I need something from you."
Lana's eyes widened. She was sure this was where she was going to die. She had a sneaking suspicion that the "thing" the beast needed was her blood.
"Food," he said finally. "Please... bring me food."
Lana tilted her head to the side, red hair rippling down her shoulder. "Food? Are you... do you live here? I can call someone and they can--"
"No!" the beast spat. He began to walk around in small circles, and Lana got a good look at him. He appeared to be half-man, half-wolf. She had never seen anything like him before. She noticed his hands and the claws that appeared retracted there.
"What kind of food?"
"Meat. Raw, bloody meat. Lots of it."
Lana swallowed hard. "I can come back tomorrow and drop some off. Is that okay?"
She had no intention of returning to this place, but she wanted to leave in one piece.
The man creature looked at her suspiciously. "Many have said the same. None have delivered." His lips pulled back, revealing those intimidating fangs. "Forget it. Leave now before I turn YOU into my dinner."
A wet sob left Lana's lips as she hurried for the door, pulled it open, and tore out into the night.
"What, what?!" shrieked Sapphire as her friend sprinted toward her. "What was it?"
"There's a-a thing in there!" said Lana. "Come on! Let's get the hell out of here."
"What kind of thing?" Tyson demanded, as they hurried through the woods and back in the direction of their car.
"A werewolf? A homeless man? I have no idea." Lana was shaking from head to toe. "But I do know one thing--we are never coming back here again."
**
The next morning, Lana spent hours doing research. No, there had been no werewolf sightings in the area. She wasn't even sure she believed in werewolves.
But who WAS that guy? He had to have been over seven feet tall. There was something non-human about him, that much was true.
Her phone vibrated, and Lana opened her texts.
"Was thinking I'd get to your place at 8?" Sapphire had written.
It was Halloween, and the plan was to get ready at Lana's house and then go bar hopping in town. Lana's mouse costume was laid out on the bed. It was a lazy, last-minute idea created when Lana found an unworn gray dress in her closet. All she needed to buy were the tail and ears.
