Lycanthrope Ch. 02

"I can't imagine what his wife is going through," Travis said.

Nick leaned back against the snow-frosted truck and sighed.

Travis had never really known Nick Miller all that well. The Englishman was enigmatic and something of a town mystery. All anyone knew for sure was that he was from a small town just outside London called Olenshire and that he was a book dealer. When he set up shop just down the street from the Timberline Bank, a lot of people thought he was out of his mind. For a small city like Breystaff, where the literacy of the average person was usually always somewhere between the sports page of the Redding Record Searchlight and MAD magazine, the peddling of Dickens, Shakespeare and Brown seemed a fool's errand.

But Nick had prospered. The spring and summer seasons were good for well-to-do tourists from down south, temporary immigrants seeking refuge from places like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. He'd managed to keep his quaint bookstore alive in a town were two or three new businesses opened and folded with a fiscal year.

Travis had been in a few times during his last year in high school looking for old hardbacks by Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Beyond their mutual appreciation for King's work, they hadn't talked about much else. Travis had heard a rumor Nick was gay, which was fine by his accounting. Live and let love. It wasn't for him to judge. But every so often, mostly when he was on his way home from school he would see Nick talking up women he had never seen before. They were always from out of town, and always far more beautiful than anyone living in the city limits.

'He imports his women,' Carter had been fond saying, 'When you're eccentric and rich enough, you can import anything.'

Travis figured that was probably as close to the truth as any could get. Next to the Carson and their waste disposal monopoly, Nick Miller was probably the most successful man in town. A lot of the single women had cast their bids to gain his attention, but he politely and effortlessly disengaged them. It was as though Nick Miller wanted nothing to do with the women of Breystaff. With the exception of a few, Travis could understand that. When every girl walking through your door had dollar signs across her eyes, it was hard to find genuine companionship.

"I think I hear a snowmobile," Nick said quietly.

In the distance, the low snarl of a motor working hard floated through the woods and met their ears.

"It's Hubbard," Brain called to them and waved his flashlight.

"Turn on the headlights," Nick said suddenly and began sweeping the snow away from the front end of the truck.

Travis opened the driver's side door again and felt around for the light control. The snow on the windshield lit up as the lights came on. Nick stood back from the burning lights and smiled, "A little extra illumination so good Mr. Hubbard doesn't pass us by."

"Fine by me," Travis said, "I don't want to be out here any longer than we have to be."

Through the trees down the road, Travis could see a bright headlight twinkling and speeding towards the curve in the road. Hubbard was indeed coming fast, the roar from his snowmobile engine loud and grating. Carter motioned for them to join him by the roadside as the snowmobile rounded the curve and came into full view. Travis and Nick hurried back to the road as Hubbard slowed to a stop in front of them.

"Hell of a storm," he breathed and disengaged the ignition. He popped his goggles off and rested them on the forehead of his snowcap, "Walsh says you found the truck?"

Nick motioned back into the woods, "There."

Frank Hubbard looked to the truck and its headlights. He scratched his dark beard and shook his head, "No sign of David or the boy?"

"None," Carter said, "Anybody find anything further down the road."

"No," Hubbard said regretfully, "I'm sorry, Carter."

The four men spoke for a few minutes more. As they did, a set of green eyes watched from one of the thick trees above them. The creature recognized the scent of the man, of Travis Goldsmith as readily as it did the scent of his woman. A fire burned deep in his gut as he waited patiently. The creature could sense the irony of them coming to this place. It was the place he had made his first kills. It was the place he had first become.

It was the place where he would now feed.

***

"Eve," Catalina asked as she locked the front door of the clinic and closed the blinds, "Do you think they're okay out there?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Eve said, thumbing through the latest issue of People magazine, "Did you know that Brittany Spears little sister is pregnant?"

"No," Cat looked out the large windows of the lounge. She wished Travis were with her, not out in the cold.

"I mean this is bullshit," Eve shrugged, "She's sixteen for crying out loud. Those Spears girls are messed up. Know what I mean?"

"No," Cat repeated, her mind a million miles away. Her fingers graced behind her ear and felt the wound there. She couldn't remember getting it during the altercation on the highway the night before. Had Travis not noticed it, she probably wouldn't have even realized it was there. The small cut felt hard and narrow under her fingertips, scabbed over and healing.

"One sister is ape shit crazy and the other is knocked up," Eve laughed, "You watch, the next thing we'll hear is Brittany is pregnant again. You watch."

Cat stood at the window and watched the snowfall. She could feel a pressure in the back of her mind, something powerful and hot trying to birth itself. Perhaps it was a memory, or just the overwhelming ramifications of what she and Travis had done last night finally hitting her. She crossed her arms across her chest and sighed. She had enjoyed every last minutes of her time with Travis. She felt more alive now than she had in years.

And yet, something was wrong.

Her thoughts drifted to Travis and the night they had shared. She recalled the heat and touch of his naked body to hers, they way he looked during the act and restraint on his face before an orgasm. She felt herself becoming hot at the recollection and she shifted her weight onto one leg, hip jutted out and one finger to her lips. She was keenly aware of how aroused she was becoming. The slick heat between her lips, seeping out from within her demanding sex was both wonderful and agonizing.

And then something happened. She could still hear Eve going about the fucked up Spears sisters but she was no longer listening or even in the clinic for that matter. She was in the middle of the woods. She could feel the snow falling on her and she could feel the icy wind against her legs. Cat shivered and drew her arms tightly to her. It was as though she had left her body and was somewhere else entirely, yet in two places at once. Her mind reeled as she viewed both the clinic and the woods at the same time.

As her body stood in the middle of the clinic lounge, she breathed deeply. From her lips came the frosty mist of a cold December's night. Through this double vision, she looked to the wall and saw the thermostat was still set at seventy-five degrees.

She opened her mouth to speak, but found no words.

At her feet was the ghostly apparition of snow, thick and cold against her legs. It was red snow. The snow was soaked with blood. Her stomach flipped as she looked across the snowy pack and saw a body lying before her. It was the body of a small person, short and no larger than a child. His face was gone, a dark bloody mess of tissue, muscle and bone. But she could see eyes.

'The boy,' she clapped her hand to her mouth, 'Michael...'

A bloody trail of red led off into the shadows, punctuated by odd footprints she didn't immediately recognize. She wanted to follow the tracks, but could not move. Her body was not her own anymore. She was as frozen as the water falling from the night's sky. She looked back at the snow. There was so much blood.

'Oh please Jesus no,' she prayed.

Then something caught her attention to her left.

Voices met her ears, and she recognized the deep tones of Travis Goldsmith immediately. She looked and saw him standing with three other men in the snowstorm, huddling and talking. The man on the red snowmobile was Frank Hubbard. She recognized him because he brought his old bloodhound Cooter in every fifteenth of every month to have his nails clipped. Beside him stood Nick Miller, the book dealer and then one of the Carson kids, probably Carter by the looks of him.

'Travis!' she called out, but only heard the groan of the north winds through the evergreens.

'Travis!'

And then Cat heard a low, wet growl.

It surrounded her and soaked her being. Her heart skipped several beats as she looked around. Sometimes the woods would give way to the reality of the clinic and then back to the dark forest. She could still see Eve sitting behind the front desk, the magazine raised up and her lips working silently as she talked. The image of her glimmered transparent and gave way to what lay beyond her. The woods became visible again like the bottom of a pond through ripples of water and she could see glowing eyes.

'The thing from the road,' she thought, 'It's there...'

She turned to warn Travis but could find sound in her throat.

'This has to be a dream,' she thought.

The creature emerged from the shadows of the trees, walking slowly and gingerly on all fours, stalking the men by the road. She stared at the creature and recognized the thick dark fur and the bushy wolf's tail. It moved a quietly as the snow fell to the ground. It's massive, primate-like paws sunk into the snow pack an inch or two and then moved forward. Thick ropes of drool hung from its maw, dribbling from pink gums and a black muzzle.

And those emerald eyes looked right through her.

'What are you?' she whispered silently as the wolf neared her. It was huge, even larger than she remembered it being. It was like a man, only not so much as one could classify as it a man. Still, it watched with a curiosity and anticipation of a death row serial killer. The wolf licked its chops and then passed right through Catalina's body.

She gasped as the body of the creature traveled through her own. She could feel the fur and the powerful beat of its heart, thundering like a drum and yet steady, calm and in control. The wound behind her ear split and began bleeding, a sharp stab of pain shooting through her skull. Catalina felt dizzy, as though she might pass out as the wolf finished its passage and continued on.

It was going to kill them.

She knew it.

She could feel it.

She could feel it as though it had been her own impulse.

"No!" she cried out.

Eve jumped up out of her seat, nearly falling over backwards as the magazine fell from her hands. The black office chair she had been sitting rolled back to the wall and rebounded as she looked at Cat wide eyed, "What's wrong?"

Cat was back in the clinic, her body freezing and yet warm. She looked around, feeling dizzy and nauseated as though she had been a roller coaster ride. She could still smell the wet fur and the carrion breath of the beast as she turned and grasped the counter of the front desk for support. Her hands were shaking badly and she was dimly aware of the cold sweat that had broken out over her body. Eve hurried around the desk and held her arms.

"Cat?" Eve asked her, "Cat, you okay?"

"I don't know," she put a hand to her mouth. Her fingers were as cold as ice cubes.

"Jesus, you're shaking," Eve said and then, "Oh my God, you're bleeding."

Cat reached up behind her right ear. She didn't even to wonder from where she was bleeding. She already knew. On her fingertips was a smear of dark blood, more than should have come from an already healing wound.

"Cat?" Eve turned her around to look at her, "Catalina?"

Cat felt as though she might pass out, but she steadied herself and said, "I'll be okay."

"Like shit you will," Eve replied, "Sit down."

"In the woods," Cat said, her vision still blurry from the phenomenon she had just undergone, "I saw them in the woods."

"Saw who?"

"Travis," she said, "I saw Travis and Nick and-"

She could see the green eyes again, feral and hungry.

"Oh God," she grabbed Eve and pushed her away as gently as she could. Cat nearly stumbled behind the front desk and grabbed the phone. Her fingers felt a thousand miles away as she tried to dial out.

"What is it?" Eve nearly shouted, "You're scaring me, Doc."

"The boy, he's dead!"

"Who? Michael Carson?"

"Yes! He's in the woods and-"

"Cat, wait a minute..."

"It's after them," she breathed as she punched in the numbers for 911, "It's coming."

"It?" Eve looked at her incredulously, "I think you better slow down."

"Godammit I saw it!" Cat yelled at her. Eve shrunk back, her hands up inoffensively.

"Doc," she said calmly, "You've been here the whole time."

Cat waited for the phone to ring, but was greeted by silence on the end of the line. She waited a few more seconds and slammed the phone down, "Nothing fucking works!"

"Catalina," Eve said, "Calm down. What did you see?"

"I saw a werew-" Cat stopped herself. She had almost said it. It was beyond belief, but she had nearly come out and named the beast by its popular moniker. Cat shook her head and sat down in the receptionist's chair. After a few moments, she said, "I need to borrow your car."

"How about no, doctor?"

"Eve, please."

"Look outside, Cat," she pointed to the windows, "We'll be lucky if we can get home in the next fifteen minutes let alone drive out to the logging road and check on them."

"But-"

"Cat," she said calmly yet firmly, "You probably had a waking dream. How much sleep did you get last night?"

"None."

"That's because you were having sex all night long," Eve laughed, trying to lighten the mood even though the mention of the event made her stomach flip, "You need some shut eye. That's all."

Cat looked at her. It all felt too real to be a dream. It couldn't be a dream.

"Besides, with David and his little boy missing your brain is probably making up worse case scenarios."

"Maybe," Catalina sighed and looked to the floor. She said, "I don't feel so good."

"There's a news flash," Eve smiled warmly, her eyes still wary of her friend's odd behavior, "You're pale and sweating and bleeding."

Cat looked down at the blood on her fingers. It was so red against her color-drained skin. She said, "I think I'm going to go lay down for a few minutes."

Eve nodded, "That's a good idea."

Cat stepped out of the lounge and down the hall to her small office. Once the door was closed and locked, she sat down heavily in her chair and put her hands to her face. The blood on her fingers smeared across her forehead like some kind of pagan mark. She no longer cared. She could still see the eyes of the dead man and boy in the snow. She could still feel the green gaze of the wolf on her. Travis was out there with that thing. Or was he? Either way, there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. She felt so confused, like she had been drugged.

"What is wrong with me?"

***

Travis looked back at the truck, "I have a bad feeling about this. It doesn't feel right."

Hubbard grunted, "As if anything should feel right about it."

"Can we expect the Sheriff and a plow coming out this way anytime soon?" Nick asked as he finished the last of his cigarette.

"I imagine so," Hubbard scratched his bearded chin, "You guys had better head back down the road before your ride gets snowed in."

"Where the hell could Dave had gone off too?" Carter muttered.

"Have a little faith," Travis patted his friend on the back, though he couldn't bring himself to take his own advice.

"Well gentlemen," Nick said softly, "Let's get going shall we?"

And then something splattered across Nick's face. Travis only saw the blood mere seconds before something big knocked him over. The world spun and he was in the snow, his ribs aching and his eyes sparkling with stars. He could hear a scream and Carter scrambling backwards in the drift. Travis got up in what felt like slow motion, blood-soaked snow caked to his clothes, and looked around.

Nick was still standing in front of the snowmobile, partially illuminated by the bright headlight. He was streaked with blood, and Travis thought for a minute Nick had been wounded. He blinked, "Nick?"

Nick only looked at him, his blue eyes wide and dumbstruck. He shook his head then looked over to where Frank Hubbard had been sitting a moment earlier. The owner of Hubbard's Hardware was gone. Travis staggered over to the empty saddle seat and grabbed the handle grips of the snowmobile. He looked around frantically and saw more blood on the gauges and small windshield of the compact machine.

"What the fuck?!" Carter wheezed from his place in the snow, on his ass and mouth wide open, "What the fuck was it?"

Nick, still dazed only stood there and touched his bloody face.

Travis looked over the snowmobile and to the road beyond. The snow was unbroken save for some dark patches where the life had been torn from Hubbard's body. And then, fifteen feet away he saw trampled snow. He hurried over to where whatever had snagged Hubbard had landed. He couldn't wrap his mind around the distance. Fifteen feet in the air before it had landed, carrying a grown man.

From the landing site on into the woods were tracks. Travis had never hunted before, but he knew animal tracks when he saw them. More blood was pooled here and there on the top of the icy pack, ugly, steaming and black in the muted evening light against a bluish sea of snow. His heart was pounding in his ears as he took a few tentative steps towards the woods. He could hear the rustling of bushes and snapping of dead branches. Something was moving fast, impossibly fast through the forest.

"Travis," Nick said finally, "Hubbard?"

In the shadows of the winter-laden woods, a man screamed.

"Get on the snowmobile," Travis said.

He turned and saw Carter looking at him from the snow, still in shock.

"Now!"

The three men scrambled for the snowmobile as more screeches and howls came from the woods, echoing and reverberating like phantom wails. Travis started the ignition and the snowmobile roared to life. Carter had his arms wrapped around Travis's waist and Nick was pretty much standing on his knees on the two side running covers for the treads.

Snow sprayed everywhere and they were off down the logging road as fast as Travis could make the damn thing go.

"What about Hubbard?" Nick yelled from the rear.

"That thing got him!" Carter shouted back angrily, "Didn't you fucking see it!"

"We can't leave him back there," Nick insisted.

"You fucking go back, man!" Carter hissed, and then followed with a miserable moan, "Oh shit, Travis."

"What?"

"It's following us!"

Travis looked back over his shoulder at the world speeding away from them. In the dim blue light of the winter night, just beyond the grimacing faces of Carter Carson and Nick Miller there was a dark figure running after them. No, it was more bounding after them, the way a wolf runs at high speed. All four legs touch the ground only to spring the body forward. He could just barely make out the tail and the pointed ears.

But it was the green eyes, burning like two demonic coals in the living shadow that made Travis believe what his mind was insisting wasn't true.

"Go!" Carter screamed in his ear, "Go, go, go!!!"

***

As Catalina waited in her office for Eve to finish locking up, she found discovered that her heart was beating fast. She knew she had fallen asleep, but she felt awake and alive and filled with energy. She was running. She was running fast, chasing them down. As the dream played out, Catalina leaned back in her chair, head tilted back so far over the back of the chair that the cords in her neck bulged out. A smile crossed her face.