Hair of the Wolf (18 page)

Tabitha gathered her thoughts then continued. “Her slaughters grew worse once she was turned. She would wipe out entire villages. And she came after us. Our bloodline. So we came back after her. The feud came to the first head during World War Two.

“Can you imagine an entire town that looks like the leftover sets from a B-slasher flick? The descriptions chronicled in our pack history … It was a bloodbath.”

“This vampire, supposedly turned by Vlad Tepes himself, was openly feeding on the citizens, and those left alive were broken, inside the head. They were people, but they acted like Renfield from the novel
Dracula
. Eating bugs, laughing at petty cruelties, and being driven by their basest instincts. Frothing at the brain—that’s how they talked about them. So they challenged the Vampire, tried to save what they could from that evil influence.”

Tabitha frowned. “Of seven pack-mates, only three escaped alive from that town.”

She shook her head. “When I was a pup that story always frightened me. When I got older … it motivated me to train harder. And it’s lucky for me that it did, even though it didn’t really matter. She caught back up with us in 1973.”

Drew motioned towards the kitchen and caught Eliot's eye. The younger man nodded, then tossed the lanky older fighter a can of Fosters.

Tabitha wiped a tear from her eye and continued. “Fighting a vampire like that is … well, it’s nothing you guys are ready for. When you battle a non-Feral you have to fight their willpower. They push into your head and they turn your own mind against you. The longer they’ve been around the stronger their willpower is.”

She met each of their eyes. “Ferals are weak in comparison. You just have to fight the beast. When she caught up to us, we had no idea she was coming, and before I had even shifted, both of my brothers were dead. We had been sitting around a beach fire, enjoying the ocean. There was a light mist, and then she was just there and blood was flying everywhere.”

Jenna, always empathic, was openly crying.

Josh was pale and just said. “Jesus.”

Amber chewed her lip and raised her eyebrows questioningly towards Tabitha.

Tabitha smiled sadly. “No, Amber, I'll finish the story. I don't want to relive these memories just to tell you the story another time so you can hear the ending. We fought her. We fought with everything we had, every trick we knew. And one by one we all died. I think she left me alive because I was the youngest. Here are the final moments I remember. My father, Raymond, was in front of me attacking her. She caught him by the muzzle, then sank her fangs into his neck while staring me in the eye.”

Quiet tears ran down her cheeks. “Her eyes went red and violet. I couldn't move a muscle while I watched her drain my dad. Then … the world melted away, like a Salvador Dali painting. I felt something rip through my hands and feet. I was being crucified. And then I was burning, on fire, stretched out on a cross in my mind. I woke up from that nightmare almost a month later in a state hospital.”

Tabitha's voice, dripping sorrow, changed. All at once there was steel there. “You will
die
if you seek vengeance against the vampires. We are half the strength and nowhere near the skill of my elders. What we do is clean up their messes, and keep the average people of our land safe. This is the Lore, and the Law can be damned. Do you understand?”

Shocked by the sudden swing in words, the pack all nodded. Drew grinned to himself as he polished off his beer. Jenna twined her fingers through Josh’s and whispered to him “She’s scary. Just when you think you've found the softest part of her, she turns into a rock.”

Eliot chuckled, and everyone turned. “Don't worry. We're not stupid. Just protective of you.”

Tabitha nodded. As usual, on the rare occasion you caught him talking, Eliot had something useful to say. “The duty of protection is mine not yours, young ones. I am the elder, and the reader of the Lore.”

She glanced at Amber. “For now anyway. And I will protect you. I love you all the more, my pups, for being the way you are, though. If that suffices for everyone, I suggest we stop burning daylight and get ready to kill an undead.”

A chorus of “yes, ma’ams” reverberated around the room, and the wolf pack finished getting ready.

***

Skid, Wells, & Jonathan

Jonathan adjusted the burka and pushed the sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, getting them as flush as he could with his face. Taking a deep breath he opened the door of the heavily tinted Town Car. He stepped into the daylight, shutting the door behind himself. The car pulled away.

He was in the warehouse district of Denver, north of downtown and just off of the Platte River. Large, wide buildings, all a little run down, stretched up and down the street in both directions. He walked up to the large double doors of the windowless building he had been dropped off at and knocked.

The door swung open, revealing a short, muscled, shirtless teenage boy. The boy cocked his head to the side, studying Jonathan.

“Oi, Wells.” He shouted back into the warehouse. “There’s a transvestite vampire at the door. You order a kinky stripper or somethin’?”

He looked back to Jonathan. “The Ray Bans are a bit out of costume, dude.”

Jonathan chuckled. “It is a protective measure, young one. I see your accent is fading.”

Skid raised an eyebrow. “Dunno how you know about that, but yeah.

Wells walked up, wearing black sweats with a towel slung over one shoulder. His short blond hair and goatee were beaded with sweat. “Jonathan! What an unexpected surprise! And what a novel outfit. Move aside, Skid, let the vampire in.”

“Thanks, Wells.” Jonathan headed into dark of the building. The doors closed behind him, sealing away the deadly sunlight. Jonathan pulled off the sunglasses and burka hood then turned around to face his friend.

Wells was leaning against the closed door, grinning. The boy was looking a bit confused. Motioning with his eyes and a raised eyebrow, Wells posed the question,
What do you think of the boy?

Jonathan extended a hand, introducing himself. “Hello, I’m Jonathan Harker.”

Skid’s eyes got wide. “Cor! The dude Wells was tellin’ me about that Harker in
Dracula
was based on?”

Jonathan chuckled. “Yes. One and the same. And your instructor here was one of the people that saved me from him.”

He jerked a thumb in Wells’ direction. “Don’t tell him though, it’ll just go to his head if you do. But you. You’re the Angel. You haven’t aged a day in forty years. Impressive.”

Skid grinned. “I’ve actually gotten about a year older. Not immortal, just slow to age.”

Wells pushed himself off the wall, heading further into the warehouse and talking over his shoulder. “Come on in Jonathan. I know you didn’t brave the sunlight, or that ridiculous outfit, just to come compliment my student. What’s up?”

Jonathan followed him, Skid trailing behind. “Dracula, that is, Vlad Tepes … and Liz Bathory, have unleashed a feral vampire upon the city. Bathory guided it, protected it. There’s no reason for that unless … she knows about you two, or she knows the wolves are here.”

“Skid already faced it, Jon. It ran from the sword.” The hallway exited into a large workout room. Wrestling mats, punching bags, and practice dummies adorned the room. Weapons of all sizes and shapes, ranging from pistols to traditional Japanese blades, adorned the walls. Wells turned to face him. “This is all happening faster than it was supposed to.”

Jon blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Loki, Coyote, whatever you want to call him … he struck a deal with me. Thirty-three years ago, he promised to protect the wolves for me for thirty-five years. I should have almost two more years to train the kid. You’re not ready, right Skid?”

“Supposedly not. Why can’t you kill the Feral, mister fancy vamp? Can’t a big bad elder like you kill a fairly new feral?”

“I can’t get involved yet, and risk facing Bathory this soon. My course is headed towards Van Helsing.” He fiddled with the burka hanging in his hands. “I need your help.”

Wells watched him silently, and Jonathan could feel Skid’s questioning eyes behind him. The man used silence like a weapon, emptying the room, and Jonathan filled it with speech. “The wolves are about to fall into the trap. They won’t survive.”

Skid walked around Jonathan to Wells, staring silently at him. Teacher looked to student and finally broke. “Okay. It ran from the sword once. You can go. But be careful. I’m still not convinced you are ready.”

The gutter-punk nodded. “Guess I finally get to shave my head again, eh? Don’t give ’em anything to grab on to.”

Wells shook his head. “You two will be the death of me, I swear.” He looked at Jonathan. “Ditch the ridiculous outfit and chill here till nightfall, man. I can’t stand the idea of you traipsing around town looking like that. It’s almost as bad as Bathory wearing the same Tony Manero dance suit for the last thirty three years.”

Jonathan chuckled. “Well, if I had us on my ass, I’d be concerned with Stayin’ Alive too.”

***

The Wolf Pack

They were uncharacteristically silent as Josh drove them back to the storm drain that Amber had found. Each was dealing with their own thoughts, getting ready for a terrifying experience.

Drew alone didn't sit still, instead taking the time to stretch and limber up his muscles. Stripped down to just his shorts, criss-crossing lines of scars could be seen across his torso, arms, and back. It took Josh a moment to find a spot to park the bus at, but finally they were ready. The group piled out, walking carefully and quietly over to the drain cover.

Tabitha looked around at everyone one last time. “The second you're in the dark, I want you shifted. You'll need your extra senses. Got it?”

Everyone nodded.

“Good. I'm going down first. Drew, pop it for me. You take rear guard.”

Drew nodded. He reached down with his right hand and grabbed the cover of the drain. His muscles bulged, his arm elongating and getting thicker as he flexed it, then the storm drain cover popped off and he was fully human again. He grunted a little and got his shoulder under the drain cover, holding it up with his entire body.

“All right.” Tabitha took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

With a light splash her backpack landed in the sewer below. She tucked her knees up, and hopped in, spinning around and kicking down onto the ladder rungs, catching herself right at the lip of the entrance. “Discipline and calm, kids. Keep your heads, and stay focused, okay?”

Everyone was nodding yes as something flashed in the darkness below her and she vanished. No scream, no noise. One second she was there, the next she wasn't.

“Shit!” Drew threw back the cover with so much force that it dented the Dumpster it crashed into. “Follow me in.”

He hopped forward and was in wolf form before he landed in the sewers. The pack could hear him growling as they followed him down. As each of them reached the bottom of the ladder they shifted obediently to wolf form, except Eliot. He dropped down, slung off his backpack, and started rifling through gear. Technology wasn’t something the wolves had ever used, being as focused as they were on the lore and the laws, but he had a few tricks he wanted to try.

Jenna put her nose down to try to catch Tabitha's scent, and almost fell over whimpering when she inhaled. No scent. She growled.
Can't smell anything down here. Use your ears and eyes. Nose is a bad idea.

Drew spun around, snarling, as blood splattered across the rest of the pack. His left flank was torn open, but he had a vampire's wrist in his jaws, and was jerking his head back and forth. A wolf has a jaw capable of tearing out a man's throat in a single bite, and werewolves are even stronger than normal wolves. But Drew was fighting against supernatural strength and losing.

As the rest of the pack leapt forward to join the fight, they saw Drew’s hind leg buckle under him. The Vampire started to lunge forward, but he reversed his momentum and pulled back as he saw Amber’s black form come sailing over Drew. She snarled and snapped at his neck, forcing him to bring his arm up to try to deflect her, but she had purposefully overshot her jump and sailed past him.

Seizing the distraction, Jenna and Josh darted in low on his flanks, ripping gouges of muscles out of his calves. Jenna spun and darted back to protect Drew, who was pulling himself back, still snarling. Josh kept his momentum, ripping at the Vampire’s leg, and spinning the creature around like a top as he loped up to Amber.

The Vampire hissed, exposing its fangs, and in a barely human voice spoke. “Dogs. Eat your blood dogs. Come play dogs.”

Tradition should have made the Vampire’s voice sound like the opening of an ancient crypt, or possibly cobwebs should be heard in his voice while it made spiders creep down the listener’s spine. He just sounded like a junkie in detox who got clubbed in the head; kind of a jittery loud whisper, slurred, without a lot of capability to think behind it.

His eyes kept darting back and forth as he twisted his torso to keep all four wolves in his line of sight. Looking into his eyes, the pack saw nothing but a rabid animal inside. And there was only one thing to do to a rabid animal.

Put it down
, Drew growled.
Carefully, though. Harry it, and don’t give it a chance to close with any of you.

Aye, aye, captain obvious,
wuffed Amber. It sounded like a sneeze, with her trying not to laugh, and was so out of place that the Vampire spun around to her, suspecting an attack at his back. Josh lunged forward, ready to strike and fade. And that’s where it all went wrong.

Tactics like that only work when a creature is trying to preserve itself, but the Vampire was insane; its soul was stripped away and ripped to shreds when it had been turned and lost its mind. All that was left was a beast that was driven by hate. When Amber didn’t attack him, he charged her and Jenna instead.

Josh’s jaws closed over empty air as the Vampire took Jenna and Amber unexpectedly. There was a sickening crunch as his claws sunk into Jenna’s chest, ripping through her fur and muscles. He sunk his hands into her ribs and swung her around, smashing her into Josh and sending them both crashing into the sewer wall. They landed in a heap and neither moved.