EXT. CRASH SITE - SAME

DUSTIN and HARLEY attempt to run, dragging unconscious OFFICER MUDWIN in their arms. The man’s bulky body is awkward to maneuver.

The TAN WULVER catches up and pounces down on the officer. The boys slam against the asphalt, both caught under the officer’s weight.

Dustin draws the iron blight knife. He stabs the wulver in the arm. 

It squeals in pain, staggering backward. It speaks again in what could only be assumed a curse.

Harley climbs out from under the officer and pulls Dustin free.

The wulver throws the knife aside. The stab wound steams. Baring teeth, snarling and hissing at the boys, it flicks its oily black tongue. 

They step back. 

Harley’s eyes shift to the shine of the knife in the dirt. The wulver follows Harley’s gaze, its pupils narrow, ears down, back puffing, tail whipping. A challenge. 

Harley backs up farther, standing defensively in front of Dustin.

DUSTIN: Jacqueline!

The wulver puts its front paws back on the chest of the officer, leaning in. It opens its mouth and begins to devour the man’s soul. The luminous white energy flows from the officer’s mouth into the wulver’s. 

JACQUELINE, still in wulver form, charges forward, tackling the tan wulver. They tumble into the road.

Pulled into consciousness, the officer hunches over, choking for breath. Groggily, Officer Mudwin’s gaze sweeps from the vehicle, to the boys, then to the wulvers… 

He shoots up in a fright, aiming his gun shakily. He winces from the bite on his shoulder. Black veins creep up his neck—same side as the bite.

OFFICER MUDWIN: Sweet Mother Mary, there’s two of ’em! You kids get back!

Harley shakes his head and points to Jacqueline. She’s trapped, viciously biting and scratching the tan wulver on the ground in a dog fight.

HARLEY: No! Don’t hurt the black one sh—I mean, “it” is trying to help!

OFFICER MUDWIN: (disgusted) What? No, kid, you need ta move!

Harley glares at the officer.

HARLEY: I said no!

Harley stands between the officer and the dueling wulvers.

OFFICER MUDWIN: What in the…? You have a death wish?

Officer Mudwin charges forward, knocking Harley to the ground. He readies a shot. 

Seeing the gun aimed at Jacqueline, Dustin jumps on the officer’s back and grabs for the gun.

BANG!

The tan wulver bounds on all fours before gliding away a couple feet off the ground, uninjured. 

A massive scorch marks the road beside Jacqueline’s startled face. She pants in exhaustion, her fur covered in various scratches, splinters, and dirt. 

She looks up at the officer. He throws Dustin off his back and loads another shot. Jacqueline slowly rises to her feet and lifts her paws defensively.

JACQUELINE (WULVER FORM): Umm… I’m friendly? 

Officer Mudwin jerks his head back critically. 

JACQUELINE (WULVER FORM): (under breath) Yeah, didn’t work last time, either, did it?

Officer Mudwin sniffs the air. Blinking, he turns to the woods. A roaring fire has spread across the tree line.

Jacqueline scrambles away, rushing back in the direction of their bikes. Her long tail accidentally snags the officer’s ankle, knocking him over with a GRUNT.

JACQUELINE (WULVER FORM): (over shoulder) Sorry!

The teens flee into the woods. The officer reaches out after the boys.

OFFICER MUDWIN: Wait!

They disappear between the trees.

In the distance, three UEA vehicles approach.

OFFICER MUDWIN: NOW ya come!

Exhausted, he relaxes on the road. 

— — The teens run back to their bikes. Jacqueline shifts midair, dropping roughly, shoes sliding in the leaves and dirt, barely sticking the landing. 

They all fumble to mount their bikes and race down the path as fast as they can, Dustin at the forefront.

EXT. NATURAL TRAIL - LATER

Houses in the distance. A large park to their side. HARLEY and DUSTIN maintain their speed while JACQUELINE lags.

She wobbles. Harley looks back.

HARLEY: Jacks?

Jacqueline pulls her bike off to the side, crushing dry leaves. She hops off, falling to her knees.

HARLEY: Jacqueline!

The boys stop and rush to Jacqueline. Harley falls to his knees beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

HARLEY: A-are you alright? What’s wrong?

JACQUELINE: (panting) I’m fine! Just tired. I—gah!

She flinches in pain when she touches her arm. A sharp chunk of wood is lodged deep in her forearm.

Harley recoils, looking sick.

HARLEY: Oh! 

He puts a nauseated hand over his mouth.

HARLEY: Oh boy… 

Jacqueline looks at the wound, shrugging.

JACQUELINE: That’s not so bad. (chuckling) I was more worried about getting mauled. That wulver was MAD!

Dustin sits on his knees next to Jacqueline.

HARLEY: Not bad? You have wood skewering your arm!

DUSTIN: Here, let me see. 

Jacqueline nods and holds her arm out.

Harley looks away.

Dustin plucks out the wood and splinters. A thin line of Jacqueline’s blood drips onto Dustin’s hand, holding her arm in place.

DUSTIN: It’s not ba—Ah! What the! 

He hisses and shakes his hand. She flinches back.

JACQUELINE: What! What happened?

Inspecting his hand, no damage. He looks up.

DUSTIN: Your b-blood is HOT! 

JACQUELINE: More changes?

Harley cringes at Jacqueline’s wound.

HARLEY: What do you mean “more changes”?

Dustin points curiously to the wound.

DUSTIN: Is it smaller now?

Jacqueline moves her arm and looks at the scratch. Still prominent, but closed, no longer bleeding.

JACQUELINE: (getting up) Oh! Uh, yeah, I forgot to tell you guys about that.

Dustin and Harley get up as well.

DUSTIN: Huh?

JACQUELINE: I got a cut on my hand yesterday, and…

She raises her hand.

JACQUELINE: …it healed overnight.

HARLEY: You have super healing now too?

JACQUELINE: Add it to the pile. Even my teeth are different.

HARLEY: What’s wrong with your teeth?

Jacqueline pulls her lips back, revealing the small fangs.

DUSTIN: Fangs?!

JACQUELINE: That happened yesterday.

HARLEY: (laughing) It looks like you filed them.

She begins to pace, working herself up.

JACQUELINE: And back there, that wulver threw a tree branch at me, but it went THROUGH me!

HARLEY: You used a power? That’s great!

JACQUELINE: Yeah, but I don’t know how I did it. A-and now I think I have higher senses too! I heard that car way before you guys did, and everything smells way too strong!

HARLEY: Hey, calm down. It’s a lot for—Are you alright?

She wipes at her eyes and sniffs.

JACQUELINE: You smell like mint. For some reason, it’s making me sick.

HARLEY: I shouldn’t. Uh…

Harley checks his pockets and pulls something out of the back pocket of his jeans. He holds it in front of him.

His eyes widen, realizing it’s an unopened condom. He clenches his fist and pulls back. Jacqueline grabs his arm and snatches the condom from his hand. 

JACQUELINE: What’s this?

She begins reading off it out loud, stepping away. She dodges Harley as he attempts to get the condom back.

JACQUELINE: (grinning) “An irresistible mint flavor sure to drive them wild…” Wow.

Jacqueline gives Harley a half-lidded stare, full of snark. He glares back, unamused. Dustin laughs.

JACQUELINE: Is this for Lilith?

A heavy blush spreads across Harley’s face.

HARLEY: No! I… It’s just in case! G-give it back!

JACQUELINE: Alright, alright.

Jacqueline flicks the condom to Harley. He fumbles to catch it, then stuffs it back in his pocket with a huff. Jacqueline can’t help but smile.

JACQUELINE: We should start calling you mint d—

HARLEY: —NO! We shouldn’t! Didn’t remember I had it on me, jeez…

A snort slips out of the corner of her mouth as she laughs. She sniffs her hands and pauses.

JACQUELINE: Aw man, now my hands smell like it!

Dustin quirks a brow at her.

DUSTIN: That’s your own fault.

Harley coughs uncomfortably.

HARLEY: So how does it feel knowing you saved a man’s life today?

Dustin leans in.

DUSTIN: Terrifying. Let’s never do it again.

HARLEY: I wasn’t asking you!

Harley pushes Dustin away jokingly.

JACQUELINE: Uh, doesn’t feel like I did anything other than get my butt handed to me and start a forest fire.

HARLEY: You stopped that wulver in the middle of sucking a guy’s soul out. He’d be dead right now if it weren’t for you.

JACQUELINE: Yeah, yeah. Hey, I’m kinda tired… and in pain, so… 

HARLEY: Right.

DUSTIN: Yes! I want to go home.

Harley and Dustin mount their bikes. Jacqueline carefully and painfully gets on hers.

HARLEY: You ok making it home?

JACQUELINE: Definitely, only a few blocks away.

HARLEY: Alright, see you tomorrow.

The teens pull off to separate streets.

INT. SHULL HOUSE: ENTRYWAY - LATER

DR. SHULL sits on the couch, working on a tablet, as JACQUELINE enters the house. 

Jacqueline rolls over the back of the couch and flops onto the pillow next to her dad’s lap.

Dr. Shull jumps but relaxes and places a hand soothingly on her back, glancing at her.

DR. SHULL: It looks like you had an exciting day.

Jacqueline pops up in alarm.

JACQUELINE: What?

DR. SHULL: You’re covered in scratches.

JACQUELINE: Oh.

Jacqueline plops her head back down. 

JACQUELINE: Rosebush…

… 

He pulls Jacqueline’s hair tie out, making her hair fall free. She stirs.

JACQUELINE: (groggy) Hey!

DR. SHULL: Don’t you dare fall asleep on me. You are way too big for me to carry now. 

As Jacqueline sits up sluggishly, she focuses on his tablet.

JACQUELINE: Working?

He nods.

DR. SHULL: It looks like I’ll have my work cut out for me in the next couple of weeks.

JACQUELINE: What’s up?

DR. SHULL: I don’t want to worry you too much, but please be careful going out for a while. There seems to be more “activity” than usual.

JACQUELINE: You mean more wulvers?

DR. SHULL: And the like, yes. Just today, a spat between two wulvers caused a forest fire around the abandoned industrial district.

Jacqueline perks up. Her eyes flick between her father and the tablet.

JACQUELINE: Oh yeah? Do you know anything else about the wulvers?

Dr. Shull adjusts his glasses.

DR. SHULL: Why the sudden interest?

Jacqueline holds her arm tensely.

JACQUELINE: I just… I don’t know. Since yesterday happened, I’m curious, I guess? 

He smiles. 

DR. SHULL: Well, you showing interest in my work is always appreciated. I know how you feel toward the UEA, and I’m going to support you with whatever career you choose—

JACQUELINE: —Dad.

DR. SHULL: But I believe you’d be happy there. You don’t have to be a hunter. There are plenty of positions if you change your mind.

JACQUELINE: I know, Dad… Um, the wulvers?

DR. SHULL: Yes! The wulvers. Seeing as the event happened not too long ago, the full report hasn’t released. What’s here, however, has me excited.

Her eyes narrow.

JACQUELINE: Excited?

DR. SHULL: One of the wulvers reportedly has grey eyes!

Jacqueline cocks her head to the side.

DR. SHULL: Of all the eye colors, I’ve seen lime green, yellow, brown, orange, red, and even pink, but never grey.

JACQUELINE: What does that mean? W-why is that exciting?

DR. SHULL: I’m excited because we’ve never seen this before. Could it be a genetic mutation? Maybe it is normal and just exceptionally rare? The only way to find out is by catching it.

Jacqueline grips her arm a little tighter.

JACQUELINE: (under her breath) Oh, awesome. 

DR. SHULL: What was that?

JACQUELINE: (coughing) Since “it” got away, did they pick a name yet?

DR. SHULL: They named it SilverEyes.

JACQUELINE: Huh, I could have guessed that…

DR. SHULL: (chuckling) Yes, it’s not the most extravagant of titles, but it’s straight to the point, and you know what you’re looking for. So it serves its purpose.

JACQUELINE: What was the other wulver named?

DR. SHULL: It is… (scanning through report) CarCrasher!

Jacqueline stifles a laugh.

JACQUELINE: Wow! That’s… 

DR. SHULL: Again, it’s a suitable method of describing and identifying each creature, regardless of how ridiculous some may sound.

JACQUELINE: I guess so.

She gets up and stretches.

JACQUELINE: Well, I’ll leave you to your work. I’m gonna go to my room and probably pass out… 

Jacqueline begins up the stairs. Dr. Shull calls after her.

DR. SHULL (O.S.): Do you want me to call you for dinner?

JACQUELINE: (calling back) Yes! (muttering) I’m starving to death…

— END —