Black cloths. Dark night. The moon was no longer full, but still pretty big. Though now the summer rain had covered the sky. As Jack waited outside the house, hiding in the bushes, he wondered weather or not Oliver's parents were werewolves as well. He hoped not, but something was going on and he wasn't about to abandon his... friend... pet... lover... What ever Oliver was to him.
The lights in the house had been out for a while now. It was time. Front door, locked. Yard door, locked as well. No dog doors. He looked around the house till he found a window that was ajar on the second floor. But how to get up there?
Jack climbed the concrete wall that ran along all the houses and gardens in this neighborhood. The half drizzle half fog made it feel like Jack was perspiring in the warm night air. Very quietly, he opened the window all the way and climbed inside.
Oliver's mother lay in a single bed fast asleep. Jack didn't even breath as he tip toed over to the door. The father's side of the bed was empty. Hopefully they were just sleeping separately for some reason. If not, it meant that Oliver's father was still awake somewhere in the house.
The floor boards gently creaked underfoot as Jack moved down the dark hall, checking every room along the way. A bathroom. Dining room. Guest bedroom. Then came a locked door. This must be it, Jack though. He had come prepared, knowing that Oliver would be locked in.
He pulled out his make shift lock picks. Reading about this online and practicing at home had been a help, but this was a tough lock. Finally the wooden door creaked open slowly. Inside was a cluttered two man study that looked almost like a laboratory. It was large. Two desks full of papers and books. A book shelf with even more tomes. Several machines of unknown use. And jars and chemistry bottles all around. Some filled laying on desks and others safely stored in a little fridge in the corner. Scientists who took their work home with them, then?
He closed the door and moved to check the next room. Just a guest bedroom. Not the second floor then. Just as he turned towards the stairs, he heard footsteps. Quickly and quietly as he could, Jack stepped into the dark guest bedroom, leaving the door just barely ajar. He heard the creak of the stairs as someone came walking up them, then noticed the faint trail of water drops he'd left in the hall. All he could do was hold his breath and hope it wouldn't be noticed.
Jack's father walked past with a steaming cup in his hand, completely oblivious to the intruder. His shoeless foot barely missing the little puddle where Jack had stopped check the room. The man pulled out a key from his pocket and went to open the sciency room. He stopped, took a step back and looked at the floor where Jack had stood the longest in order to pick the lock. There was probably quite a few droplets there. In addition, the door was still unlocked. The man would know! Jack pressed his lips tight as the man bent down to examine the puddle. The coffee in his hand spilled as he did so, making him grunt at the burn. Puddle forgotten, the man hurriedly unlocked the door to put the cup down, not even realizing that it had already been unlocked.
Jack waited nearly five minutes before he dared move out of the room again. The stairs creaked painfully loud as he descended, but thankfully no one seemed to have heard. The house was different from his own, but there were a lot of similarities. It was clearly built by the same company. A hallway, kitchen, living room, washroom and another bathroom, but still no Oliver. The only room left in the house was the cellar.
Jack had a cellar as well, but that was mainly for storage. It wasn't the kind of place anyone would live. Then he remembered what Oliver had told him about there not being any windows. The cellar door was locked, but not for long.
Jack went down the creaking stairs and with dismay came to a thick, secure, steel door. A digital code lock was installed in the wall next to it. Shit. When Oliver's parents grounded someone, they did it seriously. There were however two unlocked hatches to the door. One slot at the bottom to send food threw, and another hatch to slide aside at eye level. Jack looked inside. Something was definitely very wrong with this hole situation. No one would do this to their own child.
The room was completely bare, square and concrete. No windows. A ventilation system too small to use to escape. One light in the ceiling and one black wolf chained to the far wall and asleep on a collapsed cardboard box.
Why was Oliver a wolf? Shouldn't he be a human when it wasn't a full moon, or was that just a myth? Maybe the moon had nothing to do with it and it had more to do with the day-night cycle? Jack really knew very little of werewolves. At least the parents had both looked pretty human a minute ago. How was he supposed to open up this door?
“Oliver,” he whispered threw the hatch. The wolf looked up, ears pricked to attention. It trotted as close as it could to the door, whining as it pulled on its leash.
“I don't know if you can understand me, but I'm going to try to get you out.” The hound wined again. The sound pulled on Jack's hart strings. How was he supposed to get this door open?