Hair, Greg - Werewolf 03 (10 page)

Chapter 20: Requiem

“I got your note,” said Serinda. She waited for Nicholas to respond. “Well? What do you want?”

The wind picked up, blowing dark clouds across the firmament as the pair stood atop the far hill. Thunder rolled like a domino chain across the land, and lightning flashed in the distance.

“You know, I’ve had a lot of mediocre adversaries, even less good ones, and only a few greats. You, my dear, have turned into one of the latter. I have to give you credit for that. Every move I have made to ensure Jamie remains on a short leash, you have countered. You have wormed your way into Jamie, even having yourself chosen by him to become his successor. You continuously undermine me.

“At first, I was dismayed by your presence, then figured a way to capitalize on your ambition. You became quite useful. Your attendance here has allowed me to draw more vampires to my cause. But, the way that you have taken control of Jamie’s psyche has become increasingly difficult to ignore. Frankly, I’ve grown tired of it, and I don’t have time to deal with you while planning for Landon. And, I have to be honest; I don’t like being told what to do.”

A spattering of raindrops fell on the two on the hill.

“Frankly, I don’t care what you think. Is this why you wanted me to meet you up here, on the hill, in private?”

She suddenly realized what she had said, as a cold, hard, Scottish rain began falling from the gray sky.

“Fuck,” she said, turning to run.

Nicholas grabbed her long, dark hair, jerking her to the wet ground. His shoe weighed heavy on her chest, pushing her into the soil, keeping her bolted to the heather.

“Me? You’re going to dictate to me?” asked Nicholas. “You’re going to come in here and take what’s mine? Take my position, the powers I should gain. Jeopardizing what I’ve waited thousands of years to do. Who the hell do you think you are? Oh, that’s right, a queen. Well, I’ve got news for you, today; this kingdom will have one less royal pain the ass.”

Bones in her face shattered as Nicholas kicked her violently. Using his foot like a spatula, he flipped her over, face down. The storm came quick, now.

“Thinking you have the right tell me how to treat Tsukiko or any other woman. How to treat those who are beneath me, which is everyone. But you thought you could outsmart me, didn’t you? Thought you could beat me at my own game.” He bent down, smashing her face into the soil. “Who’s beneath who, now? Who’s losing the game, now? Bitch.”

Nicholas jumped high in the air, morphed, and came crashing down on Serinda’s back, her spine exploding into hundreds of tiny shards in her broken body. She screamed, only to find the worms in the earth react as the mud muffled her cries.

He stepped down, and flipped her back over, face up. Her body, now lacking any internal framing, contorted in multiple directions as she lay splayed across the earth.

“You won’t win,” she said, garbling through the mud in her mouth. “You’re going to lose. And I’m going to be laughing at you from the other side.”

Nicholas’ rage engulfed him further. The massive black werewolf, with his razor-sharp lower claws, stripped flesh away from Serinda’s body, down to her bones.

Threads of tan meat peeled off, and flew in multiple directions. Chips of bone immediately followed. Serinda, near the end, began to feel nothing, having passed the point of registering pain. She lay there helplessly, unable to fight back.

Nicholas transformed to his human self, standing naked before her, seeming to bask in his own glory.

She let out a small laugh.

“You may be laughing, fucking vampire,” he said, “but after everything you’ve done, you’ll be doing it from hell.”

She struggled a smile. “I’ll welcome you there when you arrive.”

Seconds later, the would-be vampire queen, Bianca’s sister, died.

Chapter 21: Requiem

“Where’s Jamie?” Nicholas asked, taking a seat at a table next to Tsukiko in the Great Hall of Kilchurn. The storm outside blasted the castle walls as the inside swelled to capacity with the new recruits.

“Out. Looking for Serinda.”

“Really?”

Nicholas suddenly felt a presence standing behind him. He turned to see the teenage werewolf recently blinded by Jamie. Another teen boy, giving off an electrical charge, stood with him, as an aide.

“Excuse me, sir,” said the boy. “Would you like something to eat?”

“No, I wouldn’t. So this is what they have you doing? Serving food to your Darwinian masters?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I guess you should have kept your mouth shut, huh?”

“He only asked a question,” said the blind boy’s aide. “He didn’t deserve to be blinded for it.”

“Well, Tsukiko, it seems we have another here who speaks before he thinks. Is that true, vampire?”

“No, sir,” said the aide. “I’m just saying that the punishment seems unfair. My name is—“

“I’m not interested in your name,” said Nicholas.

“That’s enough,” said Tsukiko. “You two can go back to the kitchen now.”

“No,” Nicholas said. “By all means stay. I’m intrigued by our sighted friend, here. Tell me, young vampire, are you the one that I’ve seen following Jamie around?”

“Yes, sir, but I just wanted to know if I should be here, following him, or if I made a mistake. I meant no harm. I really admire Jamie, someone who’s the same age as me being able to put all of this together. But, when he blinded someone for asking a question, I wasn’t sure anymore.”

“I am the one that put all this together, boy. And, I’ll see if I can arrange a special meeting with Jamie for you.”

“Anyway, getting back to Serinda,” said Tsukiko, “you don’t seem too concerned that she’s missing.”

“I’m not. Jamie will find her. And when he does…”

“When he does, what?”

“Actually, it looks like we’re about to find out.”

The doors of Kilchurn suddenly burst open, lightning, thunder, and crashing rain came pouring in. Jamie stood in the entrance, dark, his face unseen, but what he carried was obvious. In his arms, was Serinda’s body.

“Who did this?” Jamie screamed, almost growling.

The teen lumbered into the castle, the dead body draped over his arms like a black curtain.

“Who was it?” he growled, eyes blazing. “Which one of you?”

Nicholas got up from the table where he sat with Tsukiko, cautiously approaching Jamie.

“I don’t know who did this, but try to calm down.”

“Calm down?” Jamie screamed. “Look what they did to her. They ripped the flesh right off her. Crushed her insides. Then, they just left her in pouring rain. Someone’s gonna pay for this. She was my wife.”

“I know. I was there. At your wedding, I mean. Look, what we need to do first is bury her. We can’t leave her out in the open like this, no matter how upset you are.”

Jamie looked away from Nicholas, then slowly around the room, surveying all the faces. He finally turned back to his mentor, eyes still red.

“Fine. But, I know it was one of them. This happened after all these people showed up.”

“Okay. We’ll find the bastard,” said Nicholas. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you track them down. Now, let’s put her in the ground.”

Outside, in the driving rain, pummeled by big, cold drops of water, Nicholas and Jamie dug a deep grave on the surrounding hill where the edge of the forest lay.

“I’m going to find them,” Jamie said, digging, “and I’m going to kill them.”

“Oh, no doubt. No doubt. I’m sure the perpetrator is scared to death at this very moment. Afraid to get near you. Fearing you’ll pick up on something, a scent, maybe. Scared to death at how intelligent you are, and filled with paranoia that you will figure them out. What they don’t understand, however, is that fear is the strongest scent there is.”

Nicholas was a master at allowing people to know only what he wanted them to. He knew how to throw out comments, coded comments that contained valuable information, to which only he held the secret decoder ring.

They dug faster, the hole they had created already filling up with rainwater.

“You know,” Nicholas continued, “there is that one kid.”

“What kid?” Jamie asked, furiously shoveling mud from the pit, tossing to the side.

“You know. The one that’s about your age. The one that’s been following you around for the past day or two, since he got here. The one that seems to idolize you.”

“Him? You think it was him?”

“Why not? What do we do when we idolize someone? We want what they have. Eventually, if unstable enough, we want everything they have, and then, try to take it. I’ll bet he’s been coveting her ever since he got here.”

After digging for what seemed like forever, they slowly lowered Serinda broken body into the ground. Thick mud was tossed back where it came from, plopping and running over her like molasses.

“You want to say anything?” asked Nicholas, as they finished the job.

“Say? No. I only want to do.”

Jamie stormed off down the hill. Nicholas followed, calmly, taking in the beauty and rage of the Scottish storm. And the storm which he had now created.

By the time Nicholas got back inside Kilchurn, Jamie was already being held back, restrained and unable to get to the physical embodiment of the seed Nicholas had planted.

“Release me!” Jamie yelled. “And him.”

“Your majesty,” said the kid, “I don’t understand. I didn’t do anything.”

“Liar!”

“Sir, please. I don’t lie. I never touched her.”

Nicholas was right. The scent of fear was strong than any other. And he craved it. And on this night, he got plenty from the boy falsely accused.

“You lie! You’re jealous of me, and you killed her! Probably did it because she wouldn’t give in to you!”

“That’s my boy,” Nicholas whispered. “Come on. Come on.”

“As your king, I demand that you release both of us and let justice be served.”

“There it is,” the great werewolf whispered.

Those that held fast to both teens were still reluctant to let go.

“Unless there is one among you,” chimed Nicholas, “that would like to admit to the deed, and wishes to volunteer to take his place.”

Suddenly, each was released. Jamie quickly leaped to the boy, snatching him by the neck and dragging him outside.

“I can feel your charge,” Jamie said, both he and the boy being soaked in a matter of seconds. “I bet you didn’t like that a werewolf had married one of your kind. Did you? And you thought she would turn her back on her husband, her werewolf husband, leaving me for you. You miscalculated, and you killed her.”

“No, please, sir. It wasn’t me.” The boy vampire cried, very near wailing. “Please, God! Somebody help me!”

“No one’s going to help you. Not even God.”

“Please, my name’s—“

“I don’t want to know your name,” Jamie said, stopping and dropping the teen at the edge of Loch Awe.

The nameless kid’s eyes turned blue as he pushed himself up from the muddy ground, flying to his feet. Throwing a left and a right, he quickly flew back, into the lake, when Jamie landed a hard kick to the boy’s stomach. Jamie shifted.

The werewolf and vampire fought in knee deep water that soon turned red around them. The boy fought bravely, landing a hit here and there, but, ultimately, in vain.

Making it obvious that he was a young vampire, from the way he telegraphed his moves, the boy never stood a chance. The blond werewolf, trained by Nicholas, was too strong, too fact, and too cunning. He was smarter in a fight. Jamie dominated the battle.

Jamie, his thick yellow fur wet from rain and lake, grabbed a final right thrown from the kid, and twisted his arm, pulling it off. The vampire fell to his knees, screaming, much like the now-blind werewolf had.

The werewolf seemed to snicker behind his large fangs, laughing at the boy, the same age as his attacker, that he had moments earlier proclaimed as guilty.

“I am innocent,” pleaded the young vampire, on his knees and up to his chin in cold Loch Awe.

The werewolf paused, as if debating the boy’s innocence or guilt. Then, suddenly, swiped the vampire’s face with his powerful claw. The kid collapsed into the water. Jamie kicked the boy further out from the shore and watched him sink.

The young king changed to human, and waded out of the lake. The crowd that had gathered, parted as he passed. No one spoke. The storm above passed, and the rain stopped.

“Aren’t you going to make sure?” asked Nicholas.

“Of what?” responded the nude king.

“That he’s dead.”

“No. If he’s not, I’ll find out, and get to kill him a second time.”

The elder grabbed Jamie by the shoulder, halting the teen’s march to the castle.

“Now that all the undesirables have been weeded out, it’s time to make our stand against those coming to destroy us. Landon will be coming in a few days.”

“How do you know this?”

“Annelise will have made it to Italy by now. They will have seen the tape. They will begin their march to our gates within a day or so. I’ve been around long enough to know when the enemy comes. We have our army assembled, and even more is sure to come in the next few days. You are ready to meet your destiny. And I am ready to take you there.”

Nicholas released his hold, and the nude teen walked away, into Kilchurn Castle.

Chapter 22: Requiem

“What are you doing here?” asked LillyAnna.

“What do you mean?” Landon asked.

“I’ve been looking for you all morning. I wake up to have breakfast with my husband on our first morning, and you’re gone. So I waited for about an hour, thinking you were coming back soon, with food or something, and you didn’t show up. So where do I find you? In a bar.”

LillyAnna suddenly startled when an older man, sitting at the bar, yelled out, raising his hands in a touchdown kind of gesture, and spilling his beer in the process.

The man ran around the bar, patting patrons on the back, rambling in Italian, and nearly laying a kiss on LillyAnna.

“What the hell?” she said, pushing the guy away.

“Look on the television. He’s watching football, and his team apparently just scored.”

“They get football over here?”

“We call it soccer.”

“Yeah, anyway, why are you in a bar?”

“Okay. I understand you’re probably upset. But, as you can see, I’m not drinking.” Landon waved his hand over the empty, dry rocks glass that sat on the table before him. “And this isn’t just any bar, it’s where I met the guy that put me at the bottom of the canal.”

“You haven’t had a drop?”

“Nope.”

“Then why are you here, of all places?” She pulled a chair out and sat down. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s nothing particularly wrong, I guess. I’m just…here. I guess I’m testing myself, with this empty glass. A glass that could easily be filled in seconds. And, I’m thinking.” He looked down at the glass, his hand playing with it, oscillating it on its bottom, imagining an amber liquid inside.

“Thinking about what? Filling that glass?”

His eyes shot up at hers. Then he smiled, and looked back down.

“I am thinking about other things, too,” he said. “I still have my self-doubts. I wonder how this is all going to end. Who lives, who dies. Does anyone live? Do we all die? I don’t know. Can I stop Nicholas? How do I do it? Our forces aren’t big enough to take on—“

“Stop, please. You’re gonna give me a headache, and drive me to drink. Honey, we’ve been down this road before. We don’t know how we’re going to beat him, and we don’t know who’s going to make it through to the end, but we are going to keep moving forward to that moment, with faith.

“We’re going to face Nicholas and, I believe, we will prevail. How? I don’t know. But, I’m not so sure we have to know. Maybe we just need to be there, put ourselves there to stand against him, and God will take care of the rest.

“As far as our numbers, God will take care of that, too. We will go to Scotland with the force we’re supposed to have. Stop worrying about all that stuff, and have a little faith.

“When I first met you, you had so much faith in what you did, as a werewolf. That was one of the things that attracted me to you—your convictions. That doesn’t mean that agreed with you, but you were so confident about who and what you were. I wish you could get that back.”

They sat there, for a moment, in silence, when the older man burst up from his seat again, repeating his joyous dance around the bar, only this time, keeping his distance from LillyAnna.

“Yeah. Me, too,” said Landon, regaining his thoughts.

“Anything else?”

“Actually, Lilly, there’s a couple of things. First, aren’t you a little concerned about what I may become when all of this finally goes down? I mean, something’s gonna happen.”

“I’m definitely curious, I’ll say that. I think we’re all a little curious about it. That’s probably one of the things that concerns Nicholas the most. What’s the second thing?”

“I’m mortal, now. Do you not think about that?”

“Okay, look, I do pretty well with having faith regarding everything else, but when it comes to you being able to die, now, I don’t like to think about it.”

“Well, you need to think about—“

“I don’t need to do anything,” she said, jumping up from her chair, “least of all think about you dying. I just got married, last night, and you’re already talking about making me a widow. When you’re done feeling sorry for yourself—“

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Please, sit back down. I’ll change the subject.”

LillyAnna stood there, arms crossed, tapping her foot, and looking out the door.

“Please,” said Landon. “I won’t bring that up anymore.”

“Okay,” she said, sitting down again, slowly, as if she were still thinking about walking out the door. “I guess. I need to talk to you, too, about something. It’s on everyone’s mind.”

“You’ve certainly got my attention. What is it?”

“Actually, it’s good you brought all this up. All except that one thing. And it’s funny I found you here, with that empty glass—how are you doing? I mean, with the sobriety and all?”

“Fine,” he said, curtly. “Why?”

“Everyone’s just a little worried about all that weight on your shoulders. You’re not the only one that thinks about every issue you deal with. We all wonder what it’s like to be you, to carry all these burdens. In reality, no one can blame you for wanting to drink. But, still, you can’t. We’re just wondering how you’re doing. That’s all.”

“I won’t deny that I think about it. Sometimes, I want a drink so bad, I can actually taste it.”

“You crave it?”

“Sometimes.”

“What keeps you from having that drink, then?”

“Honestly, nothing. Nothing keeps me from drinking. Nothing that I can see, anyway. Maybe I’m just trying very hard. Maybe it’s you. Maybe I’ve just been lucky. I don’t know.”

“We just want to make sure that you know, that you remember, you’ve got a support system here.”

“I know. I’m aware. I’m taking it a day at a time. Sometimes, it’s moment to moment. Sometimes, life just sucks the life out of me. I’m doing the best I can.”

LillyAnna stretched out her hand across his as he massaged the rocks glass, his gaze lost in the finite emptiness of it and his thoughts.

“I know this is your burden to carry,” she said, “but we’re all here to walk beside you.”

The glass cracked under his tightening grip.

Suddenly, his heightened ears picked up the quick steps and heavy breathing of someone quickly approaching the bar from outside.

Landon turned his head to see a teenage girl bolt through the entrance and stop, looking around the bar. He started to get up and approach her, when she ran toward an older gentleman sitting on a barstool.

Landon listened as the girl raced and rambled in Italian, making no sense to him since he didn’t speak the language, and clearly not being understood by those who did speak it. The werewolf turned in his chair to see the old man and the bartender try to calm her down, seemingly attempting to get whatever message she was desperate to convey.

Finally, after taking a couple of breaths, the girl threw her hands on the man on Landon’s side of the bar, looked him in the eyes, and tried, sternly, again to get her words across.

“Does anyone here speak English?” LillyAnna asked, standing up and addressing the entire bar.

“I do,” said another Italian teen, a boy about the same age as the desperate girl.

“Get over here. What’s she saying?”

The boy listened carefully, saying nothing until the girl stopped talking, appearing to wait for a reaction from the older man.

“She says the girl is gone,” said the boy teen. “She, the babysitter, took a nap and when she awoke, the little girl, the man’s daughter, was gone.”

Landon jumped from his chair. The father of the missing staggered toward the door.

“Keep him here,” said Landon, facing the translator. “Ask her what the girl was wearing, what she looks like. I need to know her age, and the address from where she was taken. How long she’s thinks the girl’s been gone. That one, I want you to write down and give me a landmark it’s near. I don’t know Italian addresses well. Quickly.”

Landon grabbed the teen girl, jerking her to his table. As the boy asked his questions, the werewolf did something that would normally get him arrested—he traced his nose over body, smelling her, differentiating between the babysitter’s scent, and the child’s. She resisted, until LillyAnna stepped in to calm her.

“A pink shirt, white pants,” said the translator. “Shoulder length blonde hair, in a ponytail. About four feet tall. Age seven. She thinks it’s been about an hour, but she can’t be sure.” He handed Landon a slip of paper with the address. “And the landmark their house is near is Poveglia. It’s an island which is located—“

“I know where the island is,” Landon said.

Suddenly, the girl began rambling again.

“There’s one more thing,” said the translator. “When she took the girl for a walk earlier, she noticed that she kept seeing the same man in different places. He was thin, with dark hair. But, once they got home, she didn’t see him, anymore.”

Landon looked at LillyAnna.

“Who are you?” asked the teen boy.

“The guy that’s gonna get her back. I’ve got her scent, Lilly. Stay here, keep them here, and keep them calm. No police. In fact, don’t call anyone. I’ll be back, soon. With the girl.”

Landon dashed out the door, and into the morning light.