Wyn Nog

Note: contains mild body horror and brief references to animal deaths.

Wyn Nog

Shani arrived at Wyn Nog College on a steamy September afternoon. She wasn’t sure what to expect from a prestigious East Coast women’s college. She had received a full scholarship for outstanding basketball performance. Her parents were overjoyed. So proud. Nobody in the family had ever been able to attend university. Shani felt pressure to do well now that she was here. At least she knew she could hold her own on a basketball court.

The campus sprawled with green lawns. At the entrance, a Gothic archway boasted a large bronze sculpture of a fox reclining, its bushy tail wound around its neck. The fox - the Wyn Nog mascot - was a symbol of the Greek goddess, Circe, associated with transformation.

After registering at the office, Shani hoisted her backpack and headed towards Skulk Hall where she had been assigned a dormitory room and roommate. She was relieved to see other students dressed like her in t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. Some older students wore fancy dress but Shani didn’t really notice as she was taking in the grandeur of the campus.

The buildings were nothing like Shani had seen before. A far cry from the city’s brownstones and high-rises. Spires and arches, columns, flying buttresses and stained-glass windows. It felt a bit creepy, she thought. She half expected bats to fly out of the eaves and witches to fly by on brooms. Frankly, Shani was happy to be away from her family. Dad’s drinking, the endless financial shortcomings, Mum’s struggle with her health and Shani’s older sister’s ongoing dramas with drug use. She would miss Chicago though. The city was home. Had always been her home. Her friends were all there, their favourite haunts.

The steps to the 3rd story dorm room were old and creaky and she was relieved to find that despite the aged wooden hallways and doors, the inside of the room had been renovated and was comfortably modern.

“Hi there,” a young woman with straight blond hair and blue-green eyes sat bouncing on one of the beds. “I’m Barb. Just checking out the bedsprings. At least the room isn’t as Greek as the rest of the place!” She giggled. Bounced up and down a few times.

“I’m Shani. From Chicago; what about you?” The girls shared preliminary introductions and discovered they were both at the college on scholarships.

“No way in hell my family could afford $50,000 to send me here!” Barb snorted. “We qualified cos I did well on the SATs. What a wank!”

The two freshmen hit it off right away, and in the coming days they stuck to each other like magnets.

“I don’t know what I would have done without you,” Shani confessed one night. “This place is pretty strange.”

“I know, right?!” Barb practically shouted. “I mean I came here to get a degree so I can get a good job. But Hell Week and Lantern night, pranks and chants?!”

During Hell week, upper-level students pranked the first-year students. They were locked out of the dorms for an hour encircled by the older students who strangely barked and yelped at them. Another day they had to perform silly tricks before entering the dining room for breakfast.

“Well at least we’ve been able to laugh our way through it all,” Barb smiled.

“Did you notice how some of the upper-level students are wearing large red bum bags around their waists?” Shani whispered.

“Yeh, I guess they keep their keys and phones in there. Maybe we’ll be given ones like that at one of the weird ceremonies.”

On Sunday in the second month, Shani and Barb went for an early morning jog across the campus. They slowed as they rounded the corner of Vixen Residence. A dozen women in red-orange cloaks and caps played croquet.

“Strange,” remarked Shani. “And they all look like they have their bum bags on underneath.“

“What planet are they from?” asked Barb. “I like croquet though. Maybe they would give me a crack at it.”

The girls giggled and headed back to work on their first assignments due later that week.

Several weeks into the first semester, the campus was abuzz with the upcoming Wyn Nog Friendship Pole ceremony. First year students were told to show up in red and orange clothing and sneakers.

“Sounds festive,” Barb commented.

“The only red clothing I have is my Chicago Bulls t-shirt.” Shani chuckled. “Happy to wear that. And the Air Jordan sneakers that my team back home bought for us when we went to the finals.”

Shani and Barb met at Madyn Archway where their class was paired with the Juniors. Two seniors in red furry cloaks and hats and the usual bulge of the bum bags stood at a podium.

“They must be boiling,” Shani whispered to Barb.

The taller of the two seniors gave the order of proceedings through the megaphone.

“This archway is the den of the Wyn Nog totem, the Fox, symbol of transformation. All students must greet the Vixens with barks, yelps and howls. We don’t want to displease our furry friends or you may find yourself transformed into a gnarly beast! After the opening chant, we’ll follow the ‘Fur Maidens’ in formation around the poles and through the archway. Once through, tea and meat pies will be served in the Madyn dining area.”

The familiar Wyn Nog chant began. By now everybody knew the words.

“Vixkata skulko skulko kay, ya ya ya vixay Wyn Nog!”

The entire assembly of 600 or so students broke into howls and barks. Shani felt a shiver go up her spine. She glanced over at Barb and was surprised to see Barb fully enjoying the howling into the now darkening sky. They approached the archway, Fur Maidens standing one on each side‑taking notes on writing pads.

“This is too weird,” Shani whispered across the room when both girls were in their beds.

“Aw, just a bit of fun,” Barb replied.

“Something’s not right.” Shani shook her head.

Barb howled lightly into the room and something in the sound made Shani go quiet. She thought about all that she was learning in her classes and the fun she was having on the basketball court. The school culture, though, felt out of reach for her. The rituals could be from a medieval horror flick. Maybe she could transfer elsewhere next year. Shani knew she was strong willed, competitive. Surely, she could handle this.

Beautiful autumn ambers, oranges, and reds transformed into white snowy lawns as winter arrived. Shani felt Barb drift away—often hanging out with what Shani secretly referred to as the bummers. Barb played croquet and joined the ceremony organising committee. Shani thought she could hear her howling and yelping in the shower and sometimes in her sleep.

Shani kept her head down with her studies. She struggled with English lit and Philosophy, but fortunately Maths had always come easily. She never tired of the basketball court and spent her spare time shooting hoops with her teammates. Not the greatest skill level, but they were keen and she was soon voted in as Team Captain of the Foxes.

Spring arrived with an array of yellow and red tulips and daisies. Shani loved the lush pink and white blooms of the cherry blossoms that bordered the paths along the campus. Jogging at dawn, she sometimes discovered a dead rabbit or cat whose entrails had been gutted. Perhaps a fox, she wondered, added to a growing uneasiness. In her room, she immersed herself in exponential equations. She didn’t want to disappoint her parents but she felt increasingly that this school wasn’t for her.

A week before final exams, midnight came and went. No sign of Barb. Shani wondered if she had found someone to spend the night with. It was possible, but something niggled at Shani and she decided to take a look outside.

She flew down the stairs two at a time in her track pants and sneakers. The evening air was cool and the sky was full of stars. Tomorrow was the first day of May and the final ceremony would take place around the Maypole with a big parade and a feast that was said to be a real treat.

Shani could hear singing coming from the cloisters inside Madyn Dining Hall. She slipped into the Hall and peeked through the entrance to the enclosed gardens, letting her eyes adjust to the candlelight that shone from lanterns placed around the circumference.

Fur Maidens held long white ribbons that extended from the pole, weaving through each other as they danced around the Maypole. A series of yelps and barks accentuated their movements.

“Awwooooooooo! Arrroooooooo! Yip yip yip.”

Shani froze. Her eyes were drawn to the Maypole where a woman was howling. It sounded like Barb. It was Barb. Barb was tied to the Maypole. Naked except for a fur cloak loosely wrapped around her shoulders. Her face pointed to the moon as she howled vigorously into the night sky. Shani raced into the circle, through the women, the ribbon tangling around her body. Barb stopped her howling.

“Barb, Barb, what should I do? Are you hurt?”

Barb vigorously shook her head. “Go home Shani. Go now.”

Shani moved in closer. “But Barb, it’s me. Here, I’ll untie these. This isn’t you, Barb!”

For a moment, Barb met Shani’s eyes, softly. “Leave me alone Shani. Go home now,” she insisted. And with that, she resumed her howling. Eyes closed, fully enthralled. Ecstatic.

It took Shani several minutes to loosen herself from the ribbons. She sprinted back to her dorm room. Slammed the door shut. Threw herself on the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

In the wee hours of the morning Barb returned to the dorm. Shani lay still, squinting through her eyes. Barb was dressed in the full costume now, fur cloak, cap, and bum bag. It was dark in the room but Shani could see Barb remove the cloak and then the bum bag that lay beneath. Shani bit her finger to stop from making a sound as she saw what looked like a long bushy tail emerge from the bum bag. A furry orange long tail, that seemed to be attached to Barb’s body as she got into bed.

Shani barely dared to breathe during the hours that followed, waiting for dawn when she slipped out of bed. She quickly sent a text to her parents.

Mum, Dad, on my way home. Don’t come for graduation. I’ll be on the next train. You won’t believe this. Sorry.

Shani grabbed her backpack and quietly left the dorm. Waiting for the train, she almost convinced herself to turn back. Surely she could stick this out. It couldn’t be as bad as Dad banging about in a drunken rage. But when the train arrived, Shani boarded and breathed a sigh of relief to see the Wyn Nog train station disappearing into the distant past.

As Shani reached up to stow her backpack into the overhead rack, she felt a strange sensation at the base of her spine. She reached inside her jeans. An itchy lump. Her mouth twitched involuntarily.

“Yip yip.”

Looking around at the other passengers, she wondered if she had imagined the sound. But then she saw several people quickly look away. Stunned, Shani collapsed into her seat.