Eleven-year-old Robby loved his little brother, but right now he thought he was being a royal pain. "You know why. For Pete's sake you've been told, over and over. Mom's a cop and she's worried about that guy who's been kidnapping and molesting children in this area. He's done it every Halloween for the last six years, and they've never been able to catch him. And there's the other reason too."

Bending over so that he was eye to eye with Teddy, he said, "And since Mom is working, I had to stay behind to look after you. Now if you don't stop whining I'll tickle you until you scream."

Now Teddy loved to be tickled, despite vigorous denials to the contrary, but he was too upset about not being able to go out for Halloween to be in the mood, right at this moment. He turned around and folded his arms over his chest, sticking out his lower lip.

Robby looked at that determined little back and knew that if he didn't take him out, Teddy would probably sneak out. "Oh, Teddy," Robby said. "Mom's going to kill me, but I'll take you out for a little while, but we can't stay out for long. That is if you promise not to whine when I say we've got to come home."

Teddy flung himself at his brother, and flinging his arms around his neck gave him a slobbery kiss.

Despite his misgivings, Robby was enjoying himself, even though he wasn't in costume. Teddy was getting plenty of loot, and he was good at sharing. They were walking along a darkened stretch of the road and he decided that they were only going to hit one more house and then they were going home. Teddy was drooping with tiredness so he wouldn't object. He'd be glad to get back home, though he wouldn't be able to enjoy any of the candy until later.

But then a dark van pulled up beside them, the driver leaned over and opened the passenger door, and the man pointed a small gun at the two boys. "Get into the van, now."

"What do we do, Robby?" Teddy asked in a whisper.

With resignation Robby said, "Get in the van, Teddy. We don't have any choice. I knew this was a mistake."

He boosted his little brother into the van, and climbed in after him. The man put makeshift hoods over their heads, pushed them down, and drove off. The drive was brief, only taking about fifteen minutes, but it took them out of the two boys’ little town. He pulled into a garage and closed the door with a garage door opener.

He said get, "Take the hoods off, and get out of the van."

Sighing Robby took off their hoods, opened the door, got out and then helped his little brother down. The man got out of the van and came around the back. When he reached the other side, he found only the older boy. Surprised, he yelled, "Where's the little boy?"

Robby ignored the question, looking at the man calmly, "Mister, you made a real bad mistake. My Mom's a cop."

"I don't give a damn, she can't help you, I never been caught!" the man boasted.

"Oh, I don't mean that she'll be able to help us," Robby said, "I just mentioned it so you'd know how come I know your gun is really just a lighter."

"If you knew I just had a lighter, why did you get in the van?" the man asked, puzzled. "Why didn't you just yell or somethin'."

Robby shook his head, "Oh, I couldn't do that. Teddy was too close. We couldn't afford getting involved with the police. I'm sorry about this, mister, but you're a evil man so it won't really bother me very much."

And his eyes began to glow, and the man was petrified with instinctive fear, as he saw one of man's terrifying myths became reality, as one of the little boys he had planned to molest changed. The last thing he saw was a wolf leaping at him and he only had time for one last scream, before the wolf, tore out his throat.

Robby changed back to a boy, and stood staring without pity at the man he had just killed. He said softly, "Teddy, you can come out now," and a puppy scrambled out from under the van. He made a wry face, "God, I hate the taste of blood."

He picked up his brother, and got a couple licks on the face. He stroked his brother's back as he looked down at him, "Why are your licks, as a puppy, so much less slobbery than when you're a boy?"

Not expecting an answer since he would have to be in wolf form to talk to his brother, he just got another wriggle of pleasure. "Now maybe you'll believe Mom and me when we say you can't go out. Since it's almost a full moon and you won't be able to control your change until you get older, you've got to stay inside where you'll be safe. It shouldn't be too much longer, I was just under seven when I started to control the change."

"I'm afraid we'll have to leave the candy, we must be in Cormier, and that's eight miles from home, so we won't be able to carry it." He looked up as a sudden pounding on the roof of the garage, heralded the arrival of a hard rain. "Oh, great, another thing I just love, wet fur."

"Well, they've got our fingerprints, but that won't matter since we've never been printed. I'd have a real problem if our DNA didn't change when we change, and I ever got in trouble." Striding over to the door, he put Teddy on the floor, and his brother sat on his haunches panting, as Robby pulled his sleeve over his hand to open the doorknob. "There's no sense giving them any additional clues if don't have to."

He changed back to wolf form and he and Teddy padded out into the rain. *I hate rain.* he thought sourly.

Teddy thought, *I love it!*

*I know, but if you splash me again, I'll bite you on the tail.* and settling down a little, Teddy padded after his older brother. It might be a human world but werewolves are very adaptable.