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I’d finished my book of crossword puzzles faster than expected. I didn’t have time to get a new book for my next shift meaning I would be very bored at night. I met up with Rusty and he shoved a bundle of books into my chest. I looked them over finding them to be some old word search books. Some with pages torn out, or puzzles already finished. I wanted to point out those facts but knew Rusty would give me some attitude if I brought it up. I think he rescued the books from a recycling bin from somewhere. At least I had something to do.

I didn’t really have a chance to look at the books. For once we were a bit busy on that long stretch of highway actually doing our jobs. There were a few drunk drivers and people speeding. We found out some sort of bonfire party was happening and that’s where all the trouble came from. Sure enough, a call came in for a large loud gathering of underage kids drinking. We needed to wait on a few other police to help break up the party. I don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun but this party got dangerous and stupid. The teens created a fire too large that nearly burned down the woods if we hadn’t gotten the call when we did. The tower of flames scorched some of the nearby leaves and I thought it was a miracle nothing been burned down before we got there. The morons were also putting spray paint cans in the flames which could have killed someone. Besides a few drunk and scared kids who to threw some punches, we didn’t bother arresting anyone for the underage drinking. We just made sure they were collected by their parents or a sober driver. The fire department had been called already. The firemen got right to work to put out the bonfire, cursing the ones who thought it was a good idea to start one in the middle of the woods. It was one of the more exciting shifts, but in a normal sense. I expected this sort of thing when I signed up for this job and not monsters in the woods.

On the way back for the night we drove down the highway, our clothing smelling of smoke. I got started on notes for our reports so I didn’t notice what Rusty saw along the road until he started to pull over. I looked up to see a car just sitting abandoned. It was morning but we still had a few hours before the sun rose. The car sat empty; all doors open but no lights on. Rusty got out and I followed him wondering if someone just got into car trouble, or this was a dumped stolen car.

Rusty was tense. His hand hovering over his gun and I did the same unsure of what to expect. I followed behind him and got out my flashlight to see the car better. Strange things happened on this long stretch of highway. I’d already experienced two weird nights but Rusty said supernatural things didn’t happen often. I must be lucky that I already seen so much in such a short time being on the force.

I stopped beside the backseat of the car and shone my flashlight inside. The inside dirty and the seat torn in one spot. This had to be someone dumping a stolen car. If it wasn’t stolen then the owner would have brought it into be recycled. Metal prices around here was worth the cost of towing the car. Most people needed the money so even if they only got thirty bucks after paying for the towing, they would put in the effort to bring it to the scrap yard. Why waste the time getting it all the way out here if it wasn’t stolen?

“Should we call for a tow?” I asked Rusty.

I didn’t dare touch the car and just kept looking it over. The thing looked like it sat outside for a while. Some rust starting around the wheels and a bird's nest stuck in the empty back tail light.

“Get back to our car.” Rusty hissed in a low voice I’ve never heard from him before.

I froze not understanding what made him suddenly so upset. He was looking off into the overgrown field on the side of the road, his flashlight catching something in the dark. A shape moved in the grass and I moved a few steps closer to our car. I jumped in fear when a dark form jumped into the road. Here I was hoping I wouldn’t come across anything strange for a while.

I stared at the monster, unsure of what I was seeing. The thing looked far too pointed to be anything natural. It was almost like a pitch-black wolf and yet... wrong. The snout long and came to a sharp point, along with the ears. The body of spiky rough fur being supported on legs became pencil thin and the paws weren’t there. Just small needle thin points sticking into the ground. The tail long and flowing also ending in a sharp point. The face turned towards my own, the red eyes almost an expressive as a human’s.

“You get head start. Run.” The monster spoke in a voice much like a wheezing laugh.

I looked at Rusty to catch his eyes. There was more of these creatures in the fields and we couldn’t take them all. Could we get past this one to get to our car? Rusty aimed his sidearm and fired. The thing jumped around in the road laughing at us. No matter how hard Rusty tried to hit this monster, it was too fast. I considered our options. Run and get eaten, or try for the car and get eaten. Then another option came to us. One I didn’t want to take but might be the only way to get out of this alive. Well, not alive but maybe end in a death that wasn’t being eaten but these wrongly shaped wolves.

A pale white hand waved at us from behind the trees in the forest. I knew it belonged to the monster of the forest I’ve come across before. I didn’t want to deal with that thing either. A wolf came forwards and tore off a piece of Rusty’s sleeves and gave him a minor cut. We didn’t have a choice but to run.

I rushed around the old car and grabbed my partner by the back of the shirt. He wasn’t easy to get moving. More of those wolves came from the grass, drool dripping down from their sharp mouths, catching the light of the moon. Soon Rusty was the one dragging me alone and into the woods. Those creatures hot on our trail, laughing the entire time.

Black shapes darted through the trees. I heard them jumping around behind us, slamming into the bark causing leaves and small branches to fall down. We ran hard and for someone his size, Rusty kept up pretty well. My chest ached wanting a break. The laughing coming from behind us kept me going. In sheer fear I pressed on convinced the moment we stopped; we were dead.

My partner snagged a branch and faltered for a second. That was all it took. One of those dark wolves came down from the trees and onto of Rusty, knocking him to the ground. I shouted and drew my gun. I fired shots into the monster at such a close range I knew I hit it even in the dark. The monster looked up and met my eyes with dark red ones. A grin came over its point face that caused the eyes to nearly close in glee. It let out a long loud laugh and jumped away. I didn’t know if these things were playing or really wanted to kill us. Might as well be both. I got down to help Rusty and see what the wolf did to him in the few seconds of attacking. His back covered in cuts and I winced seeing a large puncture wound on his shoulder. I grabbed his good arm and put it over my shoulder, half dragging the larger man along into a clearing.

Rusty made an effort to stand up. I faced my back on him and he did the same, trying for us to be able to cover each other’s blind spots. My hands trembled slightly listening to that never ending laughter out of the woods. Red eyes moved in the dark, their voices mocking us. We needed to do something. I doubted my gun would be enough to kill one of these monsters let alone a pack of them after one literally laughed off a few bullets. A wolf got brave and darted into the clearing. I acted too slow. These bastards far too fast for me to react.

The wolf grabbed Rusty by the leg and he fell to the ground. But he also pressed a gun to the thing’s forehead and fired which was impressive of him. The wolf backed off, spraying black blood and laughing the entire time it ran back into the woods.

“What the hell are these things?” I questioned nearly out of breath.

I got down low trying to see the damage the sharp teeth did to my partner’s leg. His ankle was bleeding pretty badly.

“No idea. They're not from around here.” Rusty replied, sounding awful.

I started to think we weren’t going to get out of here alive. My thoughts were almost confirmed by another wolf coming in. I fired and it did nothing. The thing reached my injured partner, pushing him back to the ground hard enough to knock him out. I jumped on the monster, arms wrapped around its neck and spiky fur jabbing into my body. It yelped in shock and started to buck trying to get me off. I held on fast, legs flailing. I needed to wrap them around the thin body to stay on. It ran around in circles, no longer laughing but the others in the trees did. The bunch never saw anything so funny. As long as I kept this thing from eating Rusty and kept the other amused, I was fine with them cackling. My arms burning from the effort of holding the beast but I refused to let go. It even rolled on its back a few times, jabbing sharp rocks and twigs through my uniform. This sucked but better than getting eaten.

I didn’t have a clue how long it took for my strength to give out and for my body to finally get tossed off and very painfully against a tree. The wolf shook itself and started to head towards Rusty again. I shouted at it to stop but not recovered enough to stand just yet.

“We not eat you! Only half-breed flesh tonight!” The wolf snapped back, looking a little worn out from running around with me on its back.

Half-breed? What was he talking about? I looked from him and Rusty trying to figure it out. My partner looked pretty normal. Dirty brown hair and light skin. I didn’t think he had anything but white toast DNA in him. Was this monster talking about something not human being a part of my trusted partner? I got to my feet ready to defend Rusty again. The wolf also put up its guard, apparently not wanting to go through trying to get me off his back again.

I nearly screamed when a soft fingertip touched my back from behind. A long pale hand reached around a tree holding a circle made of white twigs twisted together. I looked at it confused. The hand used a finger to point over to the wolf while still holding onto the twigs. It opened its hand and I caught it before the circle dropped to the ground. I held onto the thing made of twigs thinking it was useless. The wolf froze in its tracks and the laughing stopped in the woods.

“What... you have?” The beast asked sounding worried.

I took a step forward and it took a step back. My heart going crazy in my chest from fear and I refused to let it show after I somehow gained an upper hand. Faces of the other wolves came closer through the leaves and bushes, all very interested in what might happen in the next few seconds.

“We not hungry. Just a oops. Us leave. Fun over. Ok? You-”

I jumped forwards, circle in hand and the wolf let out and anguished cry. Bu some miracle I caught it before it ran and got a grip on it. I forced the collar made of branches around the monster’s neck listening to a horrible howling sound coming from it. I hated the sound. I was as if I was kicking a poor dog. Once the collar was in place the beast tensed up like a statue.

Slowly it tipped over, falling to the ground, legs stiff. I reminded me of a cat after you put a sweater on it. I stood, breathing hard waiting for the wolf to do something. Soon the legs started to move, making it kick around in a circle in the dirt. It almost looked funny in a pathetic way.

The sun started to rise over the trees making the other wolves to scatter. Each going off with a weird laugh as if they were just as confused as I felt leaving the scene behind. The one with the new collar finally got up and bolted, running into a tree or two as it fled.

That was weird. Really weird. I didn’t have time to worry about what just happened. I needed to get Rusty out of the woods. I carefully woke him up and helped him to his feet. In the grey morning light, his wounds looked better than I thought they were before. We hobbled through the woods completely lost. A hand came from behind the trees and I started towards it. Rusty pulled back but I pushed him forwards. This time the hands helped me out. At least I thought so. I didn’t know what that collar did or if the wolves left because the sun started to come up.

I followed the hands and they guided got us to the road nearby our parked car. I watched some dark shapes in the over grown field pushing the car that made us stop in the first place with their sleek pointed bodies. In the last shadows of the night, they disappeared along with the old worn-out car. Those wolves taking the prop they used to lure in victims with them. I gave one glance back towards the woods and saw a single hand peeking out from a tree. It must have noticed my gaze and gave a thumbs up, which I returned behind Rusty’s back.

I didn’t know why the creature of the forest helped this time around. Things that lurked in the night sure are fickle.

I got my partner home but he refused to make a report about his injuries or go to the hospital. He really didn’t look all that bad considering, so I left him alone to go home, unable to sleep from being so wired after the previous night's events. I treated my own cuts and bruises then made an attempt to rest. I gave up around dinner time only getting a few hours of sleep.

I knocked on Rusty’s door making him regret the fact I knew where he lived. I’d bought some pizzas with me thinking it might put him in a better mood. He took them from my hands and considered slamming the door on my face. We sat on his front porch and I kept a close eye on him seeing how badly he was hurt. I wanted to bring up something. He must have known and refused to speak until I did.

“Uh so... one of those things last night called you something weird...” I said, feeling just as scared digging around in my partner’s personal life as I did while defending him from wolves.

“A half-breed?” He asked, not skipping a beat.

“Yeah... That.” I replied not sure what else to say.

He let out an annoyed noise that nearly made me run down the front porch. He didn’t want to tell me this and I really didn’t have any right knowing something so personal.

“My mother wasn’t human but my father was. I have no idea what she was, and left pretty soon after I was born. Aside from healing up pretty fast I don’t have anything special powers from her.” He explained.

Well, at least I now knew I didn’t have a cool partner with supernatural powers to fight creatures of the night. That sounded fun in theory but after the few encounters I didn’t want to deal with any monsters again. Half or otherwise.

“Why did the woods help us out last night?” He asked and I shook my head.

“No idea. I hoped you knew. I’m guessing whatever is in those woods wants to kill me with its own two hands. Or it has a crush on me.” I added the last part as a joke.

Rusty nodded and I wanted to scream. He should not have agreed with me with that last statement. I might be alright making friends with a forest monster but how would anyone even go about dating such a thing, even if they were interested? No, that thing needed to want to kill me. The other alternative frightened me too much. After I knew my partner was going to be alright for tonight’s shift, I left ready to see him a few hours. He warned me to stay away from the woods and I still had time to request a transfer. I wondered if I really could do that. It already felt too late for me to leave this town behind, creatures and all.

I arrived back to my apartment, keys in hand and wanting to get some more sleep before work. A shape by my door made me stop in my tracks. Something dark black sat outside my apartment. I wasn’t the same shape as the wolves last night or big enough to be one. I thought someone’s dog got out. I carefully walked over to it, the black dog raising its head. I reached down to check the collar for a tag to find nothing. The collar feeling old and worn, the edges frayed along the sides.

Bringing a strange dog inside your place wasn’t really a good idea. But I didn’t want it running off before I got animal control over to bring it to a shelter. I opened my apartment door and the dog walked right inside as if it owned the place. It walked over to the couch, sitting down in seconds of coming inside. We both stared as each other as if it expected me to say something. I looked it over trying to figure out the breed. It looked like a type of husky, but black and with shorter fur. It must be some sort of mut with all these weird features. The mouth opened showing off perfect white teeth.

“Are you hungry?” I asked it, not expecting and answer.

“What you have?” The dog answered back.

I jumped back against my front door, face drained of color and dropping my phone in the process. My mouth too dry to speak. It took me a few seconds to recover enough to find any words.

“You just...” I started then it sank in. This dog sounded like the black wolf from the night before.

“You put collar on me. I am in service of you. First, we eat. What you have?” It asked again, teeth showing.

God damn it. I didn’t have time for a dog, let alone whatever this thing was.

“I don’t suppose if I take off that collar, you’ll just leave...?” I suggested.

“No. I eat you.”

Well, I’ll need to figure something else out. I didn’t really have much at my place so the dog needed to wait until I came back with some roasted chickens from the grocery store nearby. At least they had deals on buying two of them. I even looked up to make sure the spices on which chickens were dog friendly. I got back and my new pet wasted no time eating two whole chickens, bones and all.

I patted his back as he ate, warning him to rest afterwards. I heard dogs or other animals can really mess up their stomachs if they ate too fast and then ran around after. Maybe that wasn’t true but I didn’t want to risk hurting my pet so soon after getting him, unwanted or not. I didn’t want to leave him alone for the night while I went to work but didn’t have anyone to call over to watch over my talking new pet. I put on the T.V and that seemed to make him happy. His short attention span made a children’s channel the best for him. I got ready for work and adjusted his collar making sure it wasn’t too tight. At least with a talking pet you can ask him if he needed to use the washroom. I left him alone wondering what kind of mess I might walk into when I got off work.

I think the monster of the woods knew what it was doing. I mean, why kill or eat someone when you can make them suffer by forcing them to take care of a new supernatural dog? Rusty noticed my mood when I got into work and decided I didn’t want to tell him about the dog right then. I needed to introduce him to the monster that almost ate him in a tactful way. I dreaded that almost as much as any new creatures we may come across on our job.