Werewolf Queen

Like Guardian of The Sacred Fire, this is incomplete. I am file 13 a lot of stuff. As with GotSF, I am giving permission to use this story as you see fit. If you finish it and get it published, please at least put me in the dedication (Krystal Henry) I don't want royalties or anything. This is Jade's story. It is the ENTIRE story that I have written. It never received an actual title, so naming it is up to you. It is seriously named ShortStory.doc on my laptop...This is filled with a lot of clichés too. Honestly i think my writing days are over. So i am sharing what i have and giving you, the readers, permission to add on, or change whatever you wish. In this story, the point of view does change from character to character. i hope it doesn't get too confusing.

-JadeStormborn

*****

I felt the engine jerk and my car sputtered. I pressed on the gas but it did nothing.

"Son of a bitch!" I yelled at it. I pulled over as far as I could before it came to a stop on its own. "Really? Three miles outside of town you decide to crap out now? Why not in the driveway? Or a block from home?" I said to the damn car as I popped the hood and waited for a car to speed by before I got out. I opened the hood and stared down at the thing I never understood. Don't get me wrong, I can change the oil, make sure coolant, oil, and wiper fluid were all at the perfect level and even change a tire, but for the life of me the rest of the motor was alien.

"You piece of shit!" I screamed at it and kicked it. Something hissed at me.

"Do you think that will really help it?" A man's voice asked. He had appeared behind me in a truck I didn't even hear thanks to the semi that went by.

"I've had the damn thing for a couple of years now, paid more fixing it than I bought it for."

"You sure you went to the right mechanic?" He asked. "May I?"

I nodded. I had a 1969 black Firebird. It was my first and only vehicle and I paid a whopping $800 for it. But it was me. It was my baby. I couldn't have pictured me in anything else.

"Looks like you have a hole in your radiator and you need a new hose to it too. If you could get the parts I'd gladly fix it for you."

"I appreciate that, I truly do, but I don't even know who you are." I said.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Derek Tillman, new to town. My family and I just moved to Lone Wolf last week." He said.

"Jade Woods. I live over on Walker Street." I said.

"The HUD housing?" He asked.

"Next door really. The grey brick house."

"Cool. I live right outside of town."

"The house with the propane tank out in front?" I asked.

"That's the one." He answered with a smile.

He leaned over once more to look at the engine and I couldn't help but look at his ass. Don't blame me. It's a human thing.

"So how old are you Derek?" I asked.

"24." He answered. "You?"

"23." I told him.

He turned and looked at me. "Would you like a tow?" he asked.

"Sure but I've never done that before." I told him.

"No worries. My brother has." He said and I looked over at his truck. I didn't even realize he had a passenger.

"Would he mind?"

"Not at all. Would you Solomon?" He called out.

His brother got out of the truck and greeted me. He was quiet and looked at his feet after the greeting.

"He's shy but he's a good kid. He doesn't do too great in the sun."

"Then you came to the wrong town. Hell the wrong state." I said. "He got a license?"

"Yes ma'am." Solomon said and pulled out a brand new Oklahoma State driver's license.

"You mind riding with me? He gets nervous around new people." Derek said.

"Um." I wanted to say no. The piece of shit was my baby. No one has ever been behind the wheel but me...well the mechanic too...but no one other than him.

"Don't worry; we'll be ten feet away if something happens." He said and grabbed a large hooked chain from the bed of his truck.

"Okay." I said and Derek got on the ground and hooked my car to his truck.

I watched as Solomon got into my car and I nearly cried. I worked my ass off at my first job when I was 16 to get it. Kids now days get their vehicles bought by mommy and daddy. My dad told me I wouldn't appreciate it if I didn't buy it myself. He was right. The cheap bastard. Don't get me wrong. I love my father very much. In fact I still lived with him. Not because I wanted to stay with him forever but because I couldn't bear the thought of him being alone. Since mom died five years ago he's never been the same. Kind of hard to continue life without the person you've been with for 20 years. I've gotten off topic haven't I?

I got into Derek's truck and was relieved by the air conditioning. A convenience my car never had since I got it. The heater worked excellent, but in southwest Oklahoma you'd only use it for a month...if that.

We pulled out onto the highway with the flashers on and I watched in the side mirror at my car being towed along.

"If I can ask, what brought you to the wonderful town of Lone Wolf?" I asked.

"It's different. We come from Seattle. I'm starting to miss the rain." He answered.

"Yeah, say goodbye to it. We see rain in March, and April, mostly May, sometimes June, but usually not again until late September. El Nino years are the best. We get rain twice a month on those years."

"Why mostly May?" he asked.

"Tornado season." I answered.

"Are there a lot around here?"

"Do you have a cellar?" I asked.

"Yeah but we're using it for storage."

"Be best to clean it out and put a radio, batteries, some water, food, and flashlights down there. Cots too if you can manage to sleep through a tornado."

"So I take it you get a lot?"

"Not really, but would rather be safe than sorry. We've had too many too close by lately that my dad had one put in." I said and continued to look at my car.

"So what do you do for a living?" he asked me.

"There is a small diner right as you come into town."

"Yeah, Rumors right?" he asked.

"Yep."

"You waitress?"

"And cook, and clean. It's too small a town and not a lot of staff so we switch off. Two others run it with me." I answered.

"Run it? You own it?" He asked.

"Co-own." I told him.

"That's cool." He said as we went of the railroad tracks right after the gas stations. There were two of them. One for the public and the other for Planter's Co-Op. They harvest wheat and cotton and fertilize in between seasons. If it weren't for the Co-Op the town would have died a long time ago. If you wanted to grocery shop you had to travel 8 miles to Hobart or 27 miles to Altus...well there is Mangum also about 23 miles away but they price gouge.

"So what can you tell me about Lone Wolf?" He asked.

"There is a whopping 273 people in this town before your family moved here. The graduating class this year has three kids. Even though it's called Lone Wolf it is the home of the Coyotes...yeah I don't get it either. There are two cops mainly for show. If you ever need them you got to call their house or cell phone. I'd call Daniel, he's the sheriff. Richard is a fat dumb ass and a prick. He thinks just because his fat rolls hide behind a badge he's head honcho in this town. You want to talk to who runs this town talk to Margery in city hall. There is no Mayor, the post office is only open for 3 hours, and the school goes from 8 to 4 and no school on Fridays. There is no crime. Compared to a big city this will be a hell of a change. A traffic jam is 3 cars waiting at a stop sign. The only real noise is the train that comes through during harvest seasons. Every once in a while you'll hear a plane but not very often. And I think that's it." I said as we pulled up to my house. I instructed him just to pull up into the grass next to the house. It was easier than getting out and pushing it up the driveway.

My house wasn't that great on house standards but it was nice. In a big city it could run up to 100 grand-but that's a big city-my dad bought it when I was a kid for just under 40 grand. Another reason I love small towns, cheap realty.

"Just to warn you I live with my dad, I'm sure I can explain later. Come to the diner tonight and I'll give you and your brother a free meal for helping me." I said and got out of the truck. Derek and Solomon got out and unhooked my car.

Just then my dad walked outside. "What happened?" He asked.

"Broke down, the two nice men helped me." I answered.

"I'll take a look at it in the mornin'." He said and went back inside.

My father is a man of few words, well since mom died.

"You still want me to fix it?" He asked.

"If you don't mind. He'll look at it and he'll say, 'Well Jade, it's broken, time for a new one.'"

"Just give me a call when you get the parts." He said and went to his truck and grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper. He jotted down his number and handed it to me.

"Come to the diner around 6, it's usually not busy on Fridays. You won't get stared at or have to have dull conversations with senile old men." I told him.

"We'll be there." He said as Solomon gave a brief smile and got in the truck.

I sat and tapped my fingers on the table. Nikki was flipping through the channels on the TV and Jessie was doing a crossword puzzle. We stayed open until 9 but it always died at 5. There were sometimes a few stragglers from the highway headed towards another town. Except Sundays. For some reason Sundays were busy from the time we opened to the time we closed. If it weren't for the need to get out of the house the girls would agree to just open on Sundays. But unfortunately life is pretty boring in a town with nothing in it.

I heard the bell over the door ring and I looked up. Derek and Solomon came in. I was able to look at them without agitation over my car. Derek was tall with short dark brown hair and grey eyes. Solomon was almost his height and was the epitome of hive breeding. Bright blonde hair, striking blue eyes, and his skin was like cream. No wonder he hated the sun. He probably blistered if he were outside too long. I would know, I'm as pale as he is. Despite the constant sun I've never been able to get a tan. Ever. If I'm outside longer than ten minutes I need sun screen, even in the winter.

Derek smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Just sit anywhere." I said and got up and got two menus. I took it to them and Nikki had already got their drinks for them. That woman was quick when a hot guy was involved.

"Take your time." I said and Nikki pushed me to the kitchen.

"He's the one that helped you?" She asked.

"Um, yeah." I said.

"You didn't tell me he was gorgeous."

"I was more worried about my car than the guy." I said.

"Do you mind?" She asked and gave me her look. It was the look of she wanted him.

"Why ask my permission? He's a stranger that helped me, that's all." I said. "Go take their order, I'll cook for you." I said and we switched aprons. So much for makeup. The kitchen stayed at 100 degrees even on the coldest day of the year. The cook never wears make up because she'll just sweat it off. Nikki on the other hand didn't need makeup. She had a natural beauty that was hard to find. Her lashes were long, her cheeks always stayed just the right shade of pink and her lips were a natural rouge color. Was I jealous? Just a little. I on the other hand didn't wear much. I just mainly do eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss. I hated the liquid and powder shit. Made me feel like I was wearing a mask. Plus it clogs pores and I had bad acne as a teenager, I didn't want to have it again. Jessie on the other hand disagrees that I need makeup. She said I used to be the ugly duckling that finally turned into a beautiful swan. She said it was the braces. Yep I had braces for four damn years in high school. I officially hated dentists. I used to be scared of them. Now I just hate them.

Nikki came back into the kitchen with the order and I looked it over. It was simple enough, two rare steaks with mashed potatoes and gravy and corn on the side.

I went and washed my hands and then went to the cooler and saw a pile of steaks from small to large. I walked to the dining room. "How big do you want them? We have one from the size of your palm to the size of your head."

"What's the easiest for you?" Solomon asked.

"It doesn't matter to me hun, you see, you didn't have to pull over or even tow me home. I'm paying you back in the only way I can."

"The bigger the better." He said quietly.

"Alrighty then." I said and went back to the cooler and grabbed the largest steaks. I put them on the flat stove and the cold meat hissed against the heat. I hadn't put up the mashed potatoes or corn yet so I went ahead and put them on the plates. Working in restaurants you mass produce things. Some things can be used all day, most can't. Corn can and so can potatoes but I have a reputation of the freshest food in the county. I remake things every hour. I know it's a waste of money but it's also why I get the business I do.

I put the steaks on plates and rang the bell. I went to the back and washed my hands again. Can never be too sanitary.

Jessie grabbed the dishes I used and went to wash them. It was close to closing time and she wanted to get home early for her late night date with her girlfriend Lauren. Yes as in a couple girlfriend. They were more in love than I'd ever seen anyone, well, except mom and dad.

"Just put them in the wash and I'll get them. Tell Lauren I said hi." I told her.

"You sure?" She asked.

"Yeah. Ain't got anything else better to do." I answered.

She rinsed them off and put them through the dishwasher. She put up her apron and left.

I went out to the dining room and Nikki was back to flipping through channels.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

Solomon nodded with a mouth full of food.

"How do you manage to get the meat so tender?" Derek asked.

"I add an array of spices to the meat when I get it so it seals in the juices and makes it juicier therefore making it that much more tender." I answered.

He ate another bite and I smiled. I sat next to Nikki and she stopped on the weather channel. Shockingly we had a storm moving in. I went to the front doors and saw lightning back by the mountains coming from Granite.

"Yeah, I say we don't get rain, and we get rain." I said with a smile.

"That's how it happens." Derek said. I looked back and he had already finished.

"Want anything else?" I asked.

"I don't think I could eat for days after that." He said and got out his wallet.

"I said it was free, I meant it."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"You'll get to know Jade. She never says what she doesn't mean. Even drunk she's that way." Nikki said. "And Miss Chivalry here still believes in honoring someone's word. When she says she'll do something, she'll do it."

"You don't find people like that anymore." Derek said as he waited for his brother to finish eating.

"So how old are you Solomon?" I asked.

"Twenty." He answered.

"I remember twenty. Thought I knew everything. It took me another year to realize I knew nothing. I'm hoping to learn something by the time I'm 30 but I'm not holding my breath."

"You like to learn?" Solomon asked.

"Sarcasm sweetie." I answered and looked back out at the incoming storm.

"So you never told us why you still live with your dad." Derek said.

"My mother died when I was 18. I couldn't leave him alone. They'd been together for twenty years. He doesn't know how to live alone."

"That's mighty good of you." Solomon said after taking his last bite.

"You do what you have to for family." I told him. "Nikki, go home before it starts to rain, I'll finish up here."

"Yes boss-man." She said and did a sarcastic salute. Nikki was my childhood friend and is only one that I really let talk to me that way. She gets it from me too. We had a bond that was as close as sisters but lately we had drifted apart. She had found alcohol and loved it. Jessie and I almost made her leave the restaurant for good after she came in drunk for a month. Tonight she would go home to her jack ass boyfriend and drink down a bottle of Captain Morgan and they would fight. I would get a phone call and would have to go pick her up around 2 in the morning. She would crash on my bed while I took the couch. It was Friday. It would happen.

We closed Saturdays; even we needed a day off. But it was mainly for Nikki's drinking. I hated it when she came in with a hangover. It pissed the customers off and pissed Jessie and I off more when we had to catch up on her slack. I was thinking about closing on Thursdays too but it was still just a thought.

Nikki made a dash for her car as rain started pouring down.

"Welcome to tornado season." I said. It was early April and it was actually getting an early start. I turned the TV to a channel with radar and there were warning all over the place for a severe thunderstorm. That's when I saw the hook echo before the meteorologist brought it up. It was showing more towards Elk City but tornadoes didn't always follow the way of thunderstorms. I remembered May 3rd of '99; the storm headed northeast, the tornado moved south. That was when they redid the Fajita scale because technically it was an F6. There is no such thing as an F6. So now it's an EF5. Enhanced Fujita scale.

"Are we safe in here?" Solomon asked.

"Yeah, it's up towards Elk City. See?" I said and pointed at the hook echo. What I didn't tell him was there could be more than one in a storm but I only saw one echo. I turned my attention to them and took their plates back to the kitchen. I would leave them for morning. Even I didn't want to be in the old building if a tornado did come. Saturdays were my days to come in and figure the bills.

I walked outside and looked at the clouds. It didn't get dark now until about 9 and it was only 7. The clouds were lumpy and I didn't see any wall clouds which was a very good indication that we weren't going to get anything but a good light show. The clouds held a tint of green to them. Hail.

"I'd get your truck in a garage or something." I said as I came back inside.

"Why?" Derek asked.

"See how the clouds are green? It's a sign of hail. Green and orange are hail, but not always orange. Usually when the clouds turn green the temperature drops a few degrees."

"So glad you know about storms." Derek said and grabbed his keys.

"When you live in tornado alley all your life you learn it. I know how to read radar just as good as a meteorologist. In Oklahoma during a storm, if someone tells you to seek shelter you do it." I said.

"So do we take shelter?" Solomon asked.

"When the sirens go off." I answered. "You'll be able to hear them. Or I show up banging on your door." I put a smile on that.

"Well then, for that reason I hope there is one." He winked at me and he and his brother left.

My jaw just fell open. Here I was just a plane Jane. I had dirty blonde hair with blue green eyes. I say blue green because depending on what I wore or my mood they were either blue or they were green. Today they were blue. Some days I see them grey but those are rare days. I'm only five foot six inches and I had freckles across my nose. I had the kind of face that people never picked out. I had a lot of my mother in me, her hair and eyes. But my cheekbones were my dad's. He had some Cherokee and Black Foot in him from way down the line but his side of the family inherited the cheekbones. Dad had the black hair and brown eyes, and in the summer people did mistake him for Indian but he just tanned extremely well. In winter he's as white as I am.

I watched Derek and Solomon drive away as I called my dad. He answered on the second ring.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes, locking up now." I said and went to turn out all the lights. By the time I locked the door my dad was waiting for me. I got in his truck and the hail started to fall in pea size.