Forgotten by Catherine Gardiner Page B

before it wakes up!” Suzanne said urgently.
    “I’m trying my best …” Her words trailed off. She released the wolf and stepped back. Its eyes were open.
    But it had been moved enough. Suzanne scrambled away, heart beating wildly in her chest.
    Please let Emily and me live through this , Suzanne prayed silently.
    The wolf lifted its head and shook it groggily. Then, spying Suzanne closest, it bounded for her.
    Suzanne felt the wolf’s fur against her leg as it lunged toward her, knocking her off balance. She hit the tiles, hard. Tears burned in her eyes, momentarily blurring her vision.
    “Suzanne! Watch out!” Emily screamed.
    Suzanne was aware that Emily had just said something but the words that Emily had spoken seemed foreign to her ears and she wondered if Emily had been speaking to her in French, her native language.
    The wolf moved toward Suzanne stealthily and methodically, its powerful jaws ready to rip up flesh.
    The wolf lunged.
    Before it could make contact, Suzanne twisted the bottom half of her body and kicked at the wolf with her right leg. It connected with the wolf’s shoulder, causing it to howl with pain and fury. Suzanne smiled, pleased that she caused the wolf some distress and gained some valuable minutes for herself.
    Realizing that Suzanne and herself needed help, and that she was the only one able to get it, Emily rushed for the door. She twisted the knob – but nothing happened.
    Emily twisted the doorknob again, harder.
    The door remained closed. It moved not an inch.
    No, this is not happening! And why is this door locked from the outside?
    Emily started banging on the door as loud as she could, hoping someone would come. But no one could hear her: everyone was in the gymnasium, the music and cheers overshadowing the noise from the girls’ locker room.
    Emily turned back toward her friend to see that the wolf had hold of Suzanne’s cheerleading skirt, ripping the material with its teeth.
    “Suzanne!” Emily cried, rushing over to help.
    Hearing Emily approach, the wolf let go of Suzanne’s skirt and whipped round its head, its eyes glowing like hot coals, and growled before launching its attack.
    “Go!” Emily screamed at Suzanne. “Try and find a way out while the wolf’s attention is on me!”
    “Emily, no! I can’t leave you!”
    “Go!” Emily screamed again, then doing a triple somersault, she landed in front of the wolf. I have to get it to want to attack me instead of Suzanne!
    “Aww, I feel left out!” Emily expressed sarcastically.
    “We wouldn’t want that!” the wolf replied, its voice slightly feminine.
    “So you can talk? There I was thinking that you were just dumb. Oh well.”
    “I’m not dumb!” the wolf growled. Emily paused and realized that, for the first time, the wolf had lost its focus and that she could use this to her advantage.
    “Has anyone ever said that you have a really nasty temper?”
    “No one has normally lived long enough!”
    “Now I have a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I didn’t know you felt that way. I’m honored.”
    “Shut up!” the wolf snarled.
    “But I thought we were getting along since you were letting me talk,” Emily mocked.
    Without warning, the wolf lunged at Emily. Stepping backward to dodge, she somersaulted into the air, landing between the wolf and Suzanne.
    The wolf skidded to a halt.
    “Suzanne, I need that baseball bat which is on top of the lockers over there,” Emily whispered.
    “Emily, be careful – I think she’s a rogue,” Suzanne warned, before jumping up onto the bank of lockers she was standing next to.
    The wolf chuckled, “Blondie’s correct.” Then, directed toward Suzanne, “Would I be right in guessing that you’re from the lupine family?”
    Suzanne looked puzzled for an instant, unable to concentrate on what the wolf was saying to her.
    Seeing the confusion etched on the blonde girl’s face, the wolf chuckled again before offering an explanation. “You’re a werewolf, like