B008IFNJZM EBOK (51 page)

             
Tom looked at her hand as she pointed directly across from them with two fingers.

             
As she sat there pointing, she slowly spread her two fingers apart to indicate that the two strangers were separating.  Tom pulled Crosley’s gun over to him as well and removed the safety.  He now held his rifle ready to respond to Iolana or something coming out of the woods. 

             
“They have stopped and they are close enough to watch us.”

             
Tom began to search the wood across the campfire as the light continued to flicker and dance on the trees.

             
“Tom, they are changing into werewolves.”

             
Tom was ready as he waited for the attack.  He could see a single pair of eyes now occasionally across from him in the thick brush.  The two animals leaped out on all fours and stood upright.  Tom fired the first weapon and from his low angle, cut head off just above the eyes.  Iolana disappeared.  The second werewolf momentarily stopped as the other let out a wounded cry.  For a brief second, he saw Iolana behind the creature as if fell.  She picked up the upper half of the creature’s head and threw it into the fire.  The body of the injured werewolf changed into a black figure and crumbled into dust as the other one charged.  Tom had got up to his knees and quickly aimed the second gun and fired. The flying blade missed and tore off an arm.  Firing from an angle had turned the blades sideways.  The creature screamed and picked up its arm and held it close waiting for it to heal and reattach itself to his body.  Iolana appeared at his side with a second round.  The creature started to turn around and retreat for help.  Tom fired a second pair of flying blades and cut the head off.  Iolana shot over and threw it into the fire as the creature fell clawing her leg.  It too, changed to a statue of dust and then melted away as the fire consumed the head.  She looked up at Tom.

             
“They must have expected us to be easy kills.  If they would have just rushed us as fast as they could have, we wouldn’t have been able to come away this clean.”

             
Tom looked at her leg as it bled.

             
“We need to dress this wound.”

             
Iolana pulled up her sock to cover the wound.

             
“No time now.  We have to get out of here.  In about ten minutes the whole pack will be coming.  We have to take the motor bike out of the trailer and leave as quickly as possible.”

             
Tom put out the fire as Iolana using her strength, lifted the two-wheeler out of the trailer and reloaded the weapons.  There was no time.  They had to close the trailer and leave everything else behind.  Tom started the car and rolled the windows in front down as Iolana got in on the passenger side with the pair of weapons and several extra projectiles.  The car then pulled out and traveled down the road that would take them out of the preserve.  Crosley would see the bike and know that they came under attack and he would drive out either with Chelsea on the seat behind him or overhead.  Tom heart was racing as he turned on the headlights and drove down the narrow tree lined road that would return them to the highway.

             
“I hope Crosley is alright.”

             
“Don’t worry Tom, your friend is one hell of a tracker.  He should be fine.”

             
“He must have found a whole pack of them.  I hope so.”

             
“Just keep your eyes on the road.”

             
As they sped down the road at speeds beyond the posted limit, Tom would lose a little control and occasionally a branch or two would brush the vehicle. 

             
             
             
Chapter 58 Making It Home

             
“Where’s the three fifty seven?”

             
“Under the seat in a case...”

             
Iolana reached under the seat and started to load it.”

             
“They had to be young ones.  They acted stupid back there.  One or both of them should have gotten to you!”

             
“What do you mean?”

             
“If one is born a werewolf they don’t change until sometime around puberty.  I think they were on maybe their first kill.  They had no plans to change us, they just wanted to kill us.  They actually could have run up together and jumped the campfire, instead, one stops and raises his hands and growls at you to see the fear in our faces.  That is something a young one would do.  And then when one of them had his arm blown off he stopped to pick it up.  He should have clawed us first and then went back to get his arm.  I’m sure they were just inexperienced.”

             
“Lucky for us if you are right...”

             
“Yeah, well if I am right, the others are still waiting for a special ‘kill’ howl.  If they don’t hear it soon they will go to find the pair that attacked us to see what went wrong.”

             
Tom looked over for a split second to see Iolana had loaded the pistol.

             
“That won’t kill them.”

             
“No but I’ll slow them down so we can get out of here… This is the only road out of here, you can bet they have it under surveillance all the time.  It’s only a matter of seconds until they attack again and this time it will be the older seasoned adults.”

             
As they turned the bend, a werewolf was standing in the road.  A second one not seen by them was up on a branch over the road.  Tom floored the car and it swerved and the werewolf jumped up and landed on the roof.  The second jumped down and landed on the trailer.  Iolana waited for a claw to come through the roof in an attempt to peel back a section of the only thing separating him for those in the vehicle.  Iolana figured it to be the right hand and fired three times to the right of the tear.  The werewolf fell off of the roof and slid down the trunk and kept hanging on.  The other jumped forward from the trailer on to the roof and again Iolana fired three times and the creature lost its footing and fell to the side of the road.  The first one that was down by the trailer hitch and dug his claws into the trunk to pull himself back up as Iolana hurried to reload the pistol.  The creature broke out the rear window trying to climb inside when Iolana unloaded the five rounds that she managed to put into the pistol’s circular chamber.  She fired and the creature was hit in the head and flew back out and against the trailer.  Iolana was reloading as the creature that had been temporarily injured lost its balance because of the swerving of the car and fell to the side of the road.

             
Tom turned another corner and a pair of ATVs was blocking the road.

             
“Hang on!”

             
Tom aimed the car for the middle and hit them still accelerating.  One of the ATVs exploded and the other was spun around several more times by the front of the rental trailer.  Tom kept going as fast as he could.  He had the car up on two wheels as he turned on the asphalt highway that led back to I-64.  The trailer stayed attached and he continued toward their destination.

***

             
Chelsea paused as now the campsite was just across the river with no fire lit.

             
“I can hear the sizzle of hot coals.  They must have put the fire out.”

             
Just then they heard a loud howl from the pack.

             
“Tom and Iolana must have left in a hurry.”

             
“Now what?”

             
“We stay right here for the moment.”

             
On the other side of the river, they could see several pairs of headlights pull up and go through the campsite.  A few shined lights to the other side of the river and Crosley and Chelsea ducked down out of sight.  There was much simultaneous talking as another werewolf arrived still pampering his earlier injuries.  He must have told the others of the pair in the car towing the trailer and they all began to leave.  One of the werewolves found the small motorcycle and in anger threw it down and jumped in the back of the six wheel truck.  Crosley had the key on a chain around his neck.  He looked over at Chelsea as the pack left in pursuit of Tom and Iolana.

             
“We will stay here for a while then cross over and see if that bike still works.”

             
“And if it doesn’t start?”

             
“You are going to have to fly back and warn the others.  They will follow Tom’s scent all the way back to the mansion.   I’ll come along just as soon as I can.”

             
“Tell them that it would my guess they would wait until the sun comes up to take you and Iolana out of the equation.  By now, they had to put two and two together.  First they pick up the scent of you and Iolana as vampires cruising the area and now they are attacked by someone who is smart enough to know how to kill them.  It would be my guess they are planning to go to war.  I wish I would have been smart enough to take a cell phone with me in a plastic bag or some type of water proof container.”

             
Crosley and Chelsea could hear other vehicles starting up at the pack’s campsite.  They were not trying to be quiet about it.  Chelsea could hear the dust fly as the others peeled out.   Crosley slowly crossed the cold running brook again.  Once on shore, Chelsea acted as his ears.  Crosley examined the bike and straightened out a part of the frame that was bent.  Chelsea came over and with her strength a slight twist, had it good enough to travel.  Chelsea reached in the bag on the bike.  Tom had been smart enough to leave a cell phone in it.  Chelsea made a quick call to the mansion and Carl answered.”

             
“This is Chelsea.  Plan for a war to start between now and sunrise!”

             
The group had made a plan for such a contingency but they never figured on more than one or two attackers.  She gave him an update on the numbers of werewolves and Carl was told to wake Margaret and Elizabeth and be ready.  Carl knew what had to be done.

             
Chelsea took out a forty-four magnum and hopped on the back watching the woods around them as Crosley kept trying over and over to start the bike.  It finally started with a ‘ring-a-ding’ sound and Crosley got on the trail that led out of the park.  Crosley made better time and speed on the trail banking the bike around the curves.  Chelsea hung on to him and the gun hoping they would clear the woods.  Crosley was waiting for one of the creatures to come out of the bush and grab the bike so he kept steering the bike from one side to the other.  They swerved around the ATVs and the one was still burning.  They made it to the main road and Crosley stood it up on the rear wheel and gave it all it had.  Somewhere in front of them Crosley knew there were several vehicles filled with the entire pack in pursuit of Tom and Iolana.

***

             
At the mansion Carl and the two women moved the pair of caskets into Chelsea’s bedroom.  Margaret had no idea what was going on and Carl and Elizabeth gave her a quick course of ‘Werewolf 101’.  Chelsea’s bedroom was picked because it had a gas fireplace and Carl fired it up as Elizabeth told her about the way to kill a type four werewolf.  There was only one door and barred windows in the bathroom and the bedroom.  If they came under attack, they would have to come in from one of those portals from the outside.  Carl then explained along with Elizabeth that Iolana and Chelsea were vampires but friendly and trying to help them stay alive.  She also explained what they believed happened the night Mr. Hart died.

             
They all then went down to the study to prepare it as well.  This was to be the place for their last stand if it came to that.  Carl could see that Margaret was terrified. He stopped his preparations and walked over to her.

             
“Here take the limo and leave.  Don’t come back here until after you can reach one us by phone.”

             
She took the keys and ran into the kitchen.  She grabbed her purse and checked to make sure the rear entrance to the building was double locked.  She stopped and asked Elizabeth if she wanted to go with her.

             
“My place is here with my brother and our friends.  I am a doctor and I might be needed here… Go now before they come.”

             
“Can’t you just call the police?”

             
Elizabeth smiled.

             
“And tell them what?  They can’t stop these creatures.  All they would land up doing is being killed by them.

             
Margaret cried and ran to the limo.  She got in started it and sped down the driveway.  She swerved the vehicle as a car past her going up to the main house.  She pulled out of the driveway and called Carl to let him know another vehicle was coming.  She couldn’t see how many were inside, but Carl would be ready for whoever was in that car.