Coyote

Written by: Twizzler0171

The Greatest Story Ever Told is one of the latest contests to hit the No Nutritional Value board. Contestants are given requirements for each Chapter and must write an original short story fitting those requirements. All in the hopes of writing 'The Greatest Story Ever Told.'

The critics then review, anonymously, and rate each story out of 10. The person with the lowest rating is then eliminated from the contest, while the person with the highest rating gets their story published in the Pink Ink for all to see!

There are some fantastic writers on PPT and this is a chance for them to shine, I hope you come along and read their efforts here, and be sure to keep an eye out for future entries in the Pink Ink!

This chapter the contestants had to write a scary story featuring a non-human main character. The highest rated story was Coyote By Twizzler0171.

Coyote

Kivo turned his head upwards to look at the sky. Sighing, he gazed sadly at the point where the moon should have been. Thick, dark clouds hovered menacingly above, hiding the light of the glowing orb. Just like the past few months. Again he would not be changing; again he would be stuck in human form. This wasn't right; it wasn't possible that it was from normal causes.

And to make matters worse, Kivarin was missing. The one person in the world he felt he absolutely had to take care of, gone without a trace. Kidnapped by the Vampires, no doubt, taken to wherever their Lair was.

He felt responsible for the whole thing. It was his fault she that she had ever turned into a Werecoyote. He was the one that had given her that fateful bite, one that would change her life forever. He could remember the day it had happened as clearly as if it was yesterday, even though it had happened ten years ago, on Halloween. The night when Ghosts roamed and Ghouls spooked, Witches flew upon their broomsticks, and other 'spooks' (as the trick-or-treating children so fondly called them) doing their things.

Surely that didn't make a difference though? It must have been just a coincidence! But Werecoyotes were not common, rarer still did they bite. No, they were tricksters, and liked much more to play tricks on people. They only bit when deeply provoked, or when they had good cause... and Kivarin had been one of the provokers, other than that, Kivo had had no reason to bite.

With a deep sigh, Kivo started to walk. He didn't know where he was headed, and he really didn't care, just as long as he got somewhere. He would look for clues of where Kivaran could be. That was all he could do, until he learnt more. He kept his eyes open, searching about for anything that might be of help.

Before he knew it, he found himself somewhere. He had heard of it before, but had never really paid attention to the people that told him of it, as it usually was so far out of reach, this Indian Village. He was quite surprised to have found it; he must have been wandering and walking for longer than he had thought. Kivo looked around, a surprised look on his face, until he was motioned into one of the houses by the resident.

Kivo followed the person, walking inside until they reached the center of the house. It was then he realized it wasn't exactly a house, but actually the place where they held Tribal Council. With a motion towards the center of the room, the person that had guided Kivo there left without a word. With a deep breath, he continued on, wondering why the Indian had taken him there.

"Greetings, Stranger. I am called O'kome." The voice was spoken by an old Indian in the middle of the room He had long white hair carefully tied back in a braid. His gaze was soft as he looked upon Kivo, and the brown, almost gold eyes, seemed to hold some secret that they would not tell.

The Indian took a few steps towards Kivo, and then when he was close enough, took Kivo's right palm in his hands. He examined them for awhile, and then paused for a second. After awhile, he finally spoke once more. "Your spirit guardian is the—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Kivo interrupted. "It is the Coyote."

O'kome nodded as a solemn look crossed his face. "Yes. You have been told this before?"

Kivo shook his head, not really wanting to go into very much detail. "No, I haven't, sir. I've known it for quite awhile though."

The Indian nodded once more, staying silent as a thoughtful look crossed his face. His eyes flicked over Kivo slowly, examining him carefully, not missing a spot. Kivo shuddered involuntarily – for some reason, the gaze unnerved him.

"You are frightened of something," O'kome commented. Without awaiting a response, he continued. "It is okay to be frightened, young one. Things happen to make us fear, but the best thing to know about it is how to control it. To control fear is to rightfully have it, but to let it loose is to abuse it."

Kivo nodded. He waited for the Indian to say something more, to explain his reasoning, perhaps, but nothing came. With a nod O'kome turned away.

"Good bye, young Stranger. Perhaps we shall meet again sometime soon. Until then, remember my words." With that said, O'kome walked slowly out of the room.

Kivo stood there for a second, unsure of what to do. He stood there, waiting for someone to come, or something to happen. When nothing did, however, he turned and left the way he came, and then continued on through the village. He was only slightly surprised when no more interruptions stopped him on his way.

Hours passed, and the village soon became just a memory in Kivo's mind. He had no clue what time it was, but he knew that dawn should be arriving soon. The area surrounding him was just a desert, with no sign of change except for a large cave made out of a sand dune a mile or two to the right. The entrance was very small, not much could fit inside, but he could tell that it deepened farther in.

Kivo stopped, staring at it with a confused look on his face. As far as he knew, it hadn't been there recently- of course, he hadn't been that far out into the desert for many years. But it looked very deep, and there was something that wasn't quite... natural about it. It wasn't until a bat flew in that he understood what it was.

"A Vampire's lair," Kivo hissed out. That meant that Kivarin would be somewhere around here... but where? Surely she couldn't be in the cave- the entrance was much too small for her to enter, in any of her forms. That meant that she was out of the cave, but where would she be hidden?

Unless... Maybe there was another entrance to the cave, cleverly hidden so that those that didn't know where it was could not find it. Kivo's grinned at the thought, and immediately began searching for anything that might indicate a hidden entrance or anything that might open one.

He found nothing, even after brushing his hand against every inch of the cave. With a deep sigh, he turned away. He kicked the sand as he went, angry and disappointed.

He was quite surprised when his foot hit something. Something that was hard and usually wouldn't have been in a desert. He knelt down to begin uncovering it, and was quite surprised when he saw that he had kicked the handle of a wooden door, that had probably led to a cellar in times past.

With some work, he forced it open. A length of stairs greeted his eyes, and he hurried down them carefully and cautiously. He was as quiet as possible, for he did not know what things lurked in the shadows.

As the stairs ended, Kivo entered a large room. It was mostly empty from what he could see, all that was inside was a medium sized crate, and he didn't dare look up to see what else there was.

Taking a deep breath, he neared the crate. It was of an old fashioned type, with a lot of spaces air could enter, so it was easy to see what it held. A Coyote gazed at him mournfully, maw open half way and her tongue hanging out. Her sides were thin, as if she had not had food for a couple of months.

"Kivarin," Kivo whispered softly. They had caught her on the full moon, and had not let the light of the sun touch her. Evidently she was of more use to them in her coyote form, but why?

"Get out of here, boy, or I'll let the coyote loose and she'll rip you to shreds," a voice growled from behind him.

Kivo turned around slowly, an idea forming in his head. He eyed the speaker carefully- for a Vampire, he looked almost normal. That would most likely mean he was immune to daylight. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

"Why, I bet that scrawny pup couldn't even rip a piece of cheese to shreds, let alone me," he said, his voice taunting. He kept his stature straight; as if he was really confident Kivarin could do no harm to him.

"We'll see about that, boy," the Vampire hissed in dissent. He reached towards his pocket and pulled out the keys, then without a further thought neared the crate to unlock it. The door fell open and Kivarin leaped out.

"Get 'im, girl! He'll be your only dinner for awhile now!" the Vampire yelled in glee. His eyes held a sickening gleam, and his fangs showed.

"Come on, this way! Follow me!" Kivo said, motioning to the coyote. He ran up the stairs quickly, not bothering to slow. Time was of the essence, and time he had none of.

As he forced open the door open and pulled himself through, he noticed that the clouds had gone and that the sun was rising. He had no chance to enjoy this fact, however, as the door was slammed closed, and another Vampire grinned up at him. Turning to face him, Kivo gasped in surprise.

It wasn't often that such a thing happened, but it happened anyways. Every once in awhile, either the sun or moon paused in their orbit and let the other catch up slightly. It was this time that Werecoyotes feared most, because it was then they could not control themselves. They turned into half man, half beast, with the beasts mind controlling, and the man mind making it even more dangerous.

Already Kivo could feel the changes happening. Fur raced across his arms and legs, his nose elongated, turning into a snout. All changed until he looked much like Werewolves are thought to be like, only, a Coyote.

He snarled, and jumped towards the Vampire, going after the first 'living' thing he saw. He had no control over himself, it was as if he was caged, and could not get free. He panicked, trying to take over, yet he knew inside it would not work.

To control fear is to rightfully have it, but to let it loose is to abuse it.

The Indian's words echoed through his head, and finally, he understood them. He calmed what part of the mind he could, and then, slowly, reached out into the animal part. Small bits at a time, he worked to control himself.

He landed on the door, his weight making it break. He heard his leg snap, and felt a trickle of something he really didn't really want to know what it is run down his arm. He yelped a shrill yelp, and then snarled once more at the Vampire. But things were different now. Now he, Kivo, had control of himself, not the animal which was let loose only when this happened, the animal which had bit Kivarin.

The Vampire neared, unsure of what to do. His eyes showed fear, his pace was slow. Kivo waited, acting like an animal. If the Vampire knew what happened when this happened, it wouldn't do any good to let him know that Kivo had control of himself.

When the Vampire was close enough, Kivo grabbed one of the wooden shards that had been made, and jabbed it through the Undead being. A relieving shriek of pain reached his ears, and within seconds, all that was left of the Vampire was a bunch of dust, already drifting away in the light wind.

Kivo grabbed another stake, and jerked himself free. He limped down the stairs once more, meeting the first Vampire half way down. With a shrill yelp, he lunged towards the Vampire, and staked him as well.

With that done, Kivo fell down, whining in pain. Kivarin ran towards him, an anxious look on her coyote face. She emitted a small growl of warning, and then yipped to make it clear she wanted him to go up.

Kivo nodded, and forced himself upwards. Had he not have been in the form he was, he wouldn't have been able to do this. Slowly, Kivarin helped him up the stairs and once more into the light of day.

Everything had gone back to normal. Once more the moon had sped up, and was out of sight, the sun slowly rising. Everything was silent for a few moments as the two changed back into humans.

A noise was heard, and Kivo looked up. Kivarin had tensed, but, for some reason, Kivo knew the presence was not there to hurt them.

A coyote looked up at them, his brown, almost amber eyes, directed mainly at Kivo. They seemed to hold some secret they would not tell, but, they also held a happiness of some sort Kivo had never seen before. With what seemed to be a nod, the Coyote ran off.

"Of course. O'kome. An Indian word for Coyote..." Kivo said, laughing to himself. He hugged Kivarin lightly before continuing.

"Come on, you. Lets go home, we both need some looking after."