"I vote for Chanice," said Renata. "After all, her friend Spike's already agreed to join the skulk."
Jezebel nodded. "Smart thinking."
The three girls walked up to Chanice. "Hi, Chanice!" Renata said, her lips curling into a joking smile. "How was school today?"
Chanice threw back her head and laughed, her cornrows flapping in the breeze. "Haha, good one, Renata! I really wouldn't know. Didn't feel like going today. I've been here with Spike for hours. She'll be back in a minute; she's tagging another store. She's a goddamn wizard with graffiti! So, what's up?"
"We have a little offer for you, Chanice," Jezebel said, winking.
"Ohhh...?" Chanice asked, smiling lustfully. It wasn't every day the two most celebrated skanks in school (aside from Skyler Bentley and Ashlee Kline, of course) made her an "offer". She had a few theories about what said offer might be. She hastily adjusted her ripped jeans and smoothed out her black Blink-182 t-shirt, trying to make herself look presentable.
"Yes," said Ruby. "Have you ever seen a horror movie about werewolves?"
"Sure," Chanice shrugged. "Hey, I don't think I've seen you around."
"The name's Ruby Reynard," said Ruby. "My family just moved in. We're only staying a few months."
"I'm Chanice Hamlett," Chanice said, shaking Ruby's hand. "All you need to know about me is I love punk fashion and music, I think school sucks ass, I have zero intention of working a crappy nine-to-five job for a tyrannical boss I hate, skateboarding is the meaning of life, and Spike's my best friend."
Ruby smiled. "Then I think we'll get along just fine. I'm something of a rebel myself. Now, back to what I was saying about werewolves. Did you ever stop to ask yourself if those movies might not have been entirely fictional?"
Chanice's jaw dropped. "What are you saying?! That werewolves are real?!"
"Not just werewolves," said Ruby. "There's also werelions, werecats, werecougars, werecoyotes, wererabbits, wererats, werehyenas, werebats, weretigers, weresharks, werecheetahs, weredeer, werebison, werebears, werehawks, werejaguars, weregazelles, werecrocodiles, weresnakes... and werefoxes. The world of werebeasts is filled with incredible variety, Chanice. For example, Renata and I are werevixens. Jezebel isn't human either, but she isn't a werebeast. She's a succubus, a sex demon."
Jezebel kissed Chanice's ebony-skinned hand. "I'd be happy to show you sometime, beautiful."
"I'm starting my own skulk," said Renata. "It's like a pack, but with foxes. I've been scouting for possible members, and you seem like a natural werevixen to me. You interested?"
"Did Lucas Herrick put you up to this?!" Chanice snapped. "Well, you can go and tell that joker that he's out of his damn mind if he thinks anybody believes in werebeasts in 2022!"
"They're telling the truth, Chanice," said a voice from behind Chanice. The black girl turned around to see her best friend Spike looking at her with an amused smile. "I know, I know, it sounds fucking stupid," the graffiti artist admitted, "but I saw Ruby transform with my own two eyes. I'm planning to join their skulk."
"You... you're serious, aren't you?" said Chanice. "But... how can werefoxes be real? Magic and monsters are just pretend, right?"
"Watch it with the M-word!" Ruby growled. "We magicals really don't appreciate being called 'monsters' by bigoted or clueless humans. Words hurt!"
"Sorry," said Chanice. "I just have trouble wrapping my head around all those creatures you see in movies being real."
Spike smiled knowingly at Ruby. "You could always show her, Foxy Gal."
"I think I will, Spike," Ruby grinned. She glanced around the open-air mall to make sure nobody was watching. The werevixen then allowed herself to assume her true form, red and white fur sprouting all over her shapely body. Chanice watched in amazement as Ruby's feet stretched out into paws and a bushy tail burst out of her pants as her fingernails sharpened into claws. The werevixen's already furry face pushed out into a vulpine snout as her ears grew pointy. She posed for a second. Her clothes had not torn, but her expanded butt and breasts stretched them tight. "Well, what do you think now?"
"Holy shit!" gasped Chanice. "You really are a..."
"...Werevixen," Ruby said proudly as she reverted to human form. "So are all of my family. I was born that way, but Renata needed to buy a belt from a witch to change. She can do the same for you."
"She's gonna do it for me soon," Spike smiled, running a tattooed hand over her purple mohawk. "It'd rock if we could be werefoxes together, Chanice."
"Could be cool," Chanice mused. She looked at Renata. "What's it like?"
"For starters, you get enhanced senses and a slight healing factor," said Renata. "Unfortunately, silver really is bad for us, just like in the movies. Don't worry, silver burns can be treated by our shamans."
"Cool," said Chanice, "but what's living as a werefox like?"
"You'll love it," Renata smiled. "Nobody tells a werefox what to do. We're free-spirited and capricious, going wherever our whims take us and doing what we feel like when we feel like it. We drift across the country like leaves on the breeze, we play tricks on humans, and we have lots and lots of criminally good sex with whoever we feel like."
"Which isn't difficult for us," Ruby added. "People are just sexually drawn to us. I don't know if it's pheromones, our sexy vulpine bodies, or our charming, devil-may-care personalities, but, whatever it is, it works."
"Sounds goddamn sweet, doesn't it?" Spike said, patting Chanice on the back. "Think about it, nobody'd ever make you go to school again. You wouldn't have to get a shitty, soul-sucking job after graduation. You can just roam the country having adventures."
Chanice grinned. "I'm in!"
"Fair warning," said Renata, "werefox wildness is usually a hard-to-control compulsion that gets our kind in a lot of trouble with humans and our fellow magicals alike. We act without thinking how much our behavior could hurt other or piss them off. Fortunately, I have a potion that calms those instincts to a manageable level. I've been trying to get Ruby to take it, but she can be pretty stubborn."
Jezebel shrugged. "Some werefoxes just really enjoy chaos."
Ruby nodded to the succubus. "Damn straight!"
"So, how does becoming a werefox work?" asked Chanice. "You said something 'bout a belt."
"Yeah," said Renata. "I bought a foxskin belt from a witch named Morgana. Her shop's the place to shop for a magical being in Stokerville. She told me that wearing it just once would permanently turn me into a werevixen. And it worked! If you do the same thing, you can transform too and join my skulk. Once I have enough recruits, we're all gonna meet at the Roberts house while Flora and Marley's parents are at work. Then we'll all take turns using the belt to transform."
"Why the Roberts place?" asked Spike. "Are Flora and Marley part of the skulk?"
"Flora definitely is," Jezebel answered. "I don't know about Marley, though. We haven't talked to her and, for all we know, the vampires, werewolves, or werehyenas could've snapped her up already."
"Vampires? Werewolves? Werehyenas?" repeated Chanice. "Just how many kinds of monst—uhh, how many kinds of magicals are out there, guys?"
"More than you can imagine," said Jezebel. "In this town alone, there's a vampire clan, a werewolf pack, and emerging werehyena pack, Ruby's skulk, a small succubus community, and a witch and her two apprentices. The vampires and werehyenas are taking in new members, and the werewolves might do the same if they wanna keep up with their undead rivals. They definitely will if they find out that the werehyena pack exists. Yeah, the werewolves don't know about the werehyenas, so don't go blabbing to them."
"Got it," said Chanice. "Well, Spike and I are gonna go grab a bite to eat now. See ya at Flora and Marley's place when you're ready for us! Tell them to share their weed when we get there!"
As Chanice and Spike left, Renata glanced around the open-air mall for more recruits. Paige Nielson was still gleefully cleaning out stores, her coat now bulging with stolen merchandise. Across the street, Lainey Castle and her boyfriend Logan Stahl were trying to fast-talk their way into Vodka Voodoo Bar & Grill, insisting that they were totally over 21. Hmmm, Renata thought. They're both known troublemakers, and I know for a fact that Lainey's bi. Perfect!
"See anyone good?" asked Ruby. "You and Jez know this town better than me."
"Paige is still here," said Renata. "A shoplifter that dedicated was born to join a werefox skulk! I also see Lainey and Logan doing their usual thing: trying to con their way into places they aren't supposed to be."
"Sounds like good pickings!" Ruby cheered excitedly. "Where do we start?"