The Werewolf of Misty Valley

By Donald H Sullivan

A young couple inherit a house in the mountains of western North Carolina near a small town settled by eastern Europeans in the 18th century. They laugh and shrug off a local myth of a werewolf that roams the valley when the moon is full. Days later the husband is bitten by an animal while hiking, and the locals warn Peggy that he may have been bitten by the werewolf and become one himself at the next full moon. She is terrified when he begins acting strange as the full moon nears.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365011160

Donald H Sullivan

I'm a native Floridian, retired from the US Army, I started writing in the army, mostly training and tech manuals. Boring stuff, but it whetted my interest in writing. I've written sci-fi, thrillers, mysteries, humor, fantasies, horror, and more. I'm now living in NC. While in the army, I served in air defense artillery, military intelligence, and psychological operations. I also worked in Federal Civil Service as a quality assurance specialist, ammunition surveillance. I love writing, reading, most kinds of music, and animals--especially dogs.

Book preview

The Werewolf of Misty Valley

Title Page

The Werewolf of Misty Valley

Donald H Sullivan

Copyright Page

Copyright 2011 Donald H Sullivan

ISBN:  978-1-365-01116-0

Revised March 2016

This is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance of the characters herein to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

~~*~~

The Werewolf of Misty Valley

Chapter One

Chuck Davis and Danny Pickett were lost in the deep woods.  A bright full moon shown down from a cloudless sky, but only a small amount of the light filtered through the tree tops to help light up the gloomy forest floor.  The two men were trudging through the sparse underbrush trying to find their way back to the hiking trail. 

Chuck and Danny, both in their early twenties, were avid hikers.  They were experienced, but Misty Valley Trail was a new one for them and they lost their way when they came to what appeared to be a fork in the trail.  They took the wrong fork, and by the time the trail was starting to peter out they realized their mistake.

To make matters worse, they were crossing a shallow stream using rocks in the stream as stepping stones when Danny slipped on a rock and fell. Chuck, who had already crossed, came back to help him.

I'm OK, said Danny, My backside's wet…it's a good thing the weather's warm, so it won't take long to dry out. But my pack broke open and some of the stuff fell out.

They found most of the items and returned them to the pack. We'll have to backtrack to pick up the main trail, said Chuck, but we've already lost a lot of time.  It's already dark, and we still have to get back to where we parked the pickup."

Funny how the fork we took lasted so long before it ended, said Danny.  It looked like a part of the trail we were following, too.

Chuck nodded.  Yeah, it sure did.  It must have been an old Indian trail.  He laughed.  We probably weren't the only ones fooled.  They ought to put up a sign or something warning people.

Well, to be fair, the park brochure did say that it's in an unimproved area and that trail maintenance is only minimal, Danny observed.

Chuck laughed.  Well that's what we were looking for, wilderness.  Misty Valley is near one of the wilderness areas in Western North Carolina, and this trail is near the area.

~~*~~

The hikers backtracked and then continued following the main trail until they reached the paved county road.

I can see the truck, said Danny.  We're on our way home.

As they approached the pickup Chuck stopped. Go ahead and start the truck, Danny.  I gotta take a leak.  I'll be right with you.

Danny hopped in the truck and started the engine.  He glanced in the rear view mirror and saw that Chuck had finished and was walking toward the truck.  At the same time he saw a figure emerging from the woods behind Chuck. 

Run, Chuck.  A bear's behind you!  Danny reached for the 9mm in the glove compartment as he yelled.

But it was too late; the creature was already mauling Chuck.  It dropped Chuck's body and