Bite Marks

by Resca Rojas

  Vanessa caressed his face. “Is that why you went to the Army, to numb the pain?”

  “That, and to get better so that I can hunt down and kill the son of a bitch who did it.”

  “They never caught him?” She was genuinely surprised.

  Should I tell her that we are hunting down a vampire? That Rayleigh is a Keeper of Order and how he has taught us everything that we know about the supernatural?

  When Klayton stayed quiet, she asked him, “You want to kill him? You really want that on your conscience?

  He looked at her beautiful brown eyes. “This man is not normal. He is pure evil. I was young but I remember that night vividly. They shot him so many times and he never went down. My brother and I have encountered others like him since then.” A part of him instantly regretted saying that last part.

  Vanessa remained quiet. She was waiting for him to explain better what he was talking about, so Klayton asked her, “Do you believe in the supernatural?” Without a second to spare, she said yes. “But I am not just talking about ghosts. I also mean vampires and werewolves.”

  “Yes, Klayton, I believe in that. You’re not the only one who has dealt with them.”

  His heart began to beat rapidly. Klayton wondered if she was a hunter like him and his family, or if she was a supernatural being and this had been a trap all along. “Are you a vampire?’

  Vanessa still had her hands on his chest and now her nails began to grow long, with the tip of her fingernails barely touching his skin. She scratched his chest softly, sending chills and raising his hair all over his body. “I’m a werewolf. A big, bad, wolf.” She teased him.

  But Klayton was not scared or worried that she was going to kill him. He was focused. He now had an opportunity. “Did you know who I was this whole time?” He needed to know if this was indeed a trap or not. He noticed that her nails shrunk back to normal. The beautiful woman grinned and then pressed her lips against his. They were sweet and tender. Vanessa then pulled back a little bit to whisper to him, “No. This was a happy coincidence.”

  “Turn me. Please.” This was it for him. This was how he could track down and kill the vampire. All he had to do was turn into a werewolf and then he was going to turn his brother into one also. Then, nothing would stop them, or so he thought.

  Vanessa moved and was now laying next to him, with her head lying on her right hand as she looked at him “Now, why would you want to turn into a werewolf?”

  “It’s the perfect weapon to have against a vampire. With my knowledge of hand to hand combat and shooting, I will be the ultimate hunter to track the vampire and then finally killing him.”

  “But, how do I know that this was not at all staged? For all I know, you seduced me and now you are probably ready to kill me.”

  Klayton did not expect her to think that he was using her. “No, you are a fine woman whom I could not stop lusting after. I would never kill you or seduce you like that. I don’t want to take advantage of you, I want your help.”

  Vanessa liked hearing this and she was now running her hands down his chest, past his waist line, and then grabbed his dick. “I’m not getting involved in your personal problems, but I will share with you my lycanthrope. That’s it.”

  “Okay. I will forever be in your debt.” He was smiling as his lips were pressed against hers, while she was stroking him.

  “I will teach you how to control it and all that I know.” This made him happy and he cupped her face with his hands and kept kissing her.

  “And you better be honest about that debt.” She told him. He stopped, and then pushed himself back to meet her gaze. “Five, ten, maybe a hundred years from now, I will come to you to collect a favor.”

  “You have my word.” He promised her.

  THREE YEARS LATER

  2

  In his werewolf form, Klayton was sitting on a tree branch, hiding in the shadows of the night as he surveyed the abandoned warehouse. He sniffed out seven people who were all waiting for a call from Dave, to confirm that he was paying the ransom money. But instead, Dave had hired Klayton to save his son Cole.

  He slowly inhaled the fresh air and relaxed as he focused his sense of hearing and smell to meditate on everything that was happening around him. To the best of his enhanced abilities, he figured that two were inside a room with Cole. Most likely their leader with someone else.

  Outside the room, he sensed two more. One of them had recently been on their period. A woman? Damn it.

  He had already picked up on the scent that two men had left behind as they patrolled around the building.

  The last person that was part of the group was a man on top of the roof, watching everything with his binoculars. He also had a sniper rifle that Klayton had seen earlier when he raised it up to analyzed that all its compartments were perfectly adjusted.

  Seven versus one. Not bad. But I can’t get cocky. Wait…one of them is getting closer to me. Did he see me? No. He is not directly walking towards me, but he is picking up his pace.

  The man stopped in front of a fence that was separating the warehouse from the forest. He was now facing the tree in which Klayton was on.

  He took out his walkie talkie that was clipped on his belt and said, “Guys, I can’t hold it anymore. Going to piss real quick. Over.”

  If anyone heard him, then they had decided to ignore him.

  He unzipped his zipper and began to urinate. He exhaled a deep sigh and closed his eyes as he stretched his head up.

  Klayton realized that at the angle that the man was, there was a possibility that he was going to spot him once he opened his eyes. Klayton could not move either because any movement that he would make was going to be heard by the man. No choice. He thought. I have to do it

  As the werewolf was about to jump, the man saw it. He did not know what it was, but it did not stop him from carefully zipping up his zipper and then reaching for his assault rifle that was on the floor. When the man aimed the barrel of the gun at the werewolf, it jumped off the branch and on to the man.

  The man screamed as he pulled the trigger but none of the bullets hit the monster. It landed on him and the mercenary landed on the floor. With it’s claws, the werewolf stabbed the man’s chest and like a hot knife slicing down on a piece of butter, the nails cut open his bulletproof vest and wounded him deeply.

  Klayton felt guilty. He did not enjoy killing anyone, but this man was willing to participate in a kidnapping, and even though it did not justify it, it did make him feel better about what he was doing.

  As the man screamed in terror and groaned in pain, the creature bit his throat and then yanked the flesh and blood from the dying man’s neck. It instantly silenced his screams as he gagged on his own blood.

  Klayton made a mental note of adding this man to the list of people that will justify his journey onto Hell after he dies.

  “Shots fired! Shots fired!” Klayton could hear the sniper yell out. Great. They’re on to me now. The werewolf looked up at the roof and sensed the man running to the edge of it. Hoping to blend with the dark, Klayton ran on all fours to another side of the building and began to climb up.

  Now that he was at the edge, the sniper looked down. He had spotted the man that Klayton had just killed. After a short gasp, he grabbed his walkie talkie, “Jayson is down! Where the hell is everyone?!”

  The sniper turned around and that was when he came face to face with the hairy creature. The appearance shocked him; It was a hairy beast standing on two legs in an upward position. As a werewolf, his skin was covered by black hair. His fingernails were thick and five inches long, and without having any control of it, Klayton would snarl while saliva would drip out of the corner of his mouth.

  The shooter reached for the handgun that was on his holster. Unlike any other man that Klayton had confronted in the past, this man was a quick drawer when he took out his gun, and while not giving the werewolf enough time to analyze what was happening, the man pulled the trigger and shot the wolf.
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  The bullet pierced Klayton’s shoulder and he whimpered in pain. Now filled with rage, he slapped the gunman away with his long and muscular arm, sending him flying a few feet, and when he landed, his head hit the concrete floor, giving him a concussion.

  Klayton transformed back into his human form. If it had not been for the lycanthropy that ran thru his blood veins, he would have been feeling cold with the wind hitting his naked flesh. He heard that the people inside, who were running to help the men that he had just killed.

  He quickly dragged the unconscious man to the edge of the roof and then threw him onto the top of the people that had just come out of the building.

  As the sudden impact distracted them, Klayton returned to his werewolf form and began to sprint on all four legs to the other side of the building.

  He had sensed the other guard patrolling on this side of the building on the ground, and thus, without a doubt, he jumped off the roof and landed on the man. He sliced his face with his claws and then bit off his neck. The dead man had his fingers on the trigger of his assault rifle that he was carrying, and the impact forced his fingers to pull the trigger and release bullets into the air. Backup was coming against Klayton.

  •••

  Felix, the leader, was still inside with the hostage. It was Vivian, Cyrus, and William who remained standing against Klayton, still unsure who or what it was that was causing all of these casualties.

  When they heard the gunshots coming from the other side of the building, they quickly ran towards the sounds, hoping that they could arrive in time to stop any more harm could fall on them.

  When they arrived, they stood a few feet before the werewolf who was on top of Mateo as he was biting his face off.

  “What the hell? Cyrus yelled out.

  “Shoot him. Now!” Vivian suggested as she quickly aimed her gun at the monster that had just killed her boyfriend.

  All the screams and gunshots were making Felix anxious. He reached for his walkie talkie and called his men. “Report! What the hell is going on? Did you guys take care of it?”

  Radio silence.

  God damn it. Felix checked that his Mossberg 590 tactical shotgun was full of ammo, removed the safety, and then went outside. The night was quiet. His heart began to beat rapidly as he saw that all his men were violently killed by someone or something. They were on the floor in front of his path. Last man standing. He was terrified. You’ve been thru worse. Come on! He told himself to stay focused. With all the courage that he could muster, he screamed, “Come out you son of a bitch! Where are you?!”

  “Here.” A voice said.

  Felix quickly turned around, and Klayton stabbed him with a knife. His face was emotionless. Klayton removed the knife and stabbed him once more. Then, he pulled it out and let Felix fall to his knees.

  “What-“ He gasped in pain as he began to bleed out. He placed his hand on the wound to try and stop as much blood as he could from dripping out and having it kill him. With heavy breaths, he tried to ask again, “What the hell are you?”

  Klayton was only wearing a pair of black pants that he had taken from one of the men that he had killed. The last thing that he wanted was to rescue somebody while he was naked.

  Klayton said nothing as he walked away towards the room where Cole was being held hostage. He opened the door and found the boy sitting down on a chair tied up and blindfolded.

  “Cole? Hey, I’m Klay. I’m a friend of your dad. You’re safe now.” He began to untie the ropes that were tightly wrapped around the boy’s body. “Listen, when we step outside of here, there will be dead people on the ground. They are the people that I had to kill in order for me to rescue you.”

  Cole said nothing. He just kept nervously nodding to everything that Klayton said. “I promise you that you are safe and that I am going to take you home, okay?’

  Cole smiled for the first time since he was kidnapped, as tears escaped his eyes and ran down his cheek. “Okay. Thank you.”

  “Come on. Your parents are waiting for you. Let’s go-,” He stopped. He could hear and sense the incoming cars that were approaching the factory. By the voices of the people that were talking to and from walkie-talkies, he realized that it was two police cruisers coming to get Cole. Something that he had not planned for.

  “Okay. Change of plans. Looks like the cops are coming to get you.”

  Cole was surprise at this statement from him “Cops? But I don’t hear or see anyone.

  Klayton did not have time to explain his powers to the kid. “I’m going to leave thru the back. You stay here and wait for them. If they ask don’t tell them anything about me. Can you do that? Because your dad hired me, and what we just did was illegal. If they find out about me, or your dad, he will be in trouble. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” He responded.

  Klayton smiled and then started to leave. The cops were getting closer. He jumped over a fence with ease and then ran to the forest and found his way back to his car.

  He had to be precautions. Time was everything and he had to leave as soon as possible before more police cruisers, paramedic, and crime scene investigators blocked off the roads. Once he heard the four police officers driving to the building, Klayton drove away.

  TWO HOURS LATER

  David was laying down on a pool chair, drinking a cup of whiskey, when Klayton startled him by walking in on him quietly. “There’s still police around your house, so I sneaked just in case.”

  “It’s fine. Just a long night.” He drank from his glass, “We came back two hours ago from the police station.”

  “I thought I said that cops were not going to be needed. Right?”

  “I’m sorry, Klayton. I really am. It was my wife. She was worried sick about our son and called them without consulting me first. I can’t really blame her. She did not know about you. The less people that know the better, right?”

  It may be an issue for Klayton later on in the future; a trail for supernatural huntsmen or other enemies that he had made could track him down if they were truly devoted after picking up on what had just happened.

  Klayton was in a train of thought, so David asked him, “What can I do so that you leave without resenting us?”

  The werewolf thought about it for a moment. One option that came up was that he could demand for a bigger payment and say that it was because of the new risks involved. But he shrugged it off and decided to just forgive and forget the parents who were just worried about their only son being taken away from them forever.

  “No. I’m sure that if my mother was in your wife’s situation, she would have done the same thing. Can’t blame her. I’m not upset, I promise. What matters is that Cole is safe.”

  David took a deep breath and sighed in relief. “When I asked the police what happened to the people that did this, they told me about the way that they found the bodies. A nightmare is how they described it.

  Klayton stayed quiet.

  “Thank you.” There was a small duffle bag next to his feet, and he picked it up. Then, in a polite manner, he tossed it to Klayton. “That’s the other half. Thank you for bringing my son home.

  3

  As Klayton entered his apartment room, his instincts told him that he was not alone. He turned on the light, and then saw his brother laying down on the couch. He gently tapped him on the shoulder. ”Wake up dude.”

  Dante woke up. “Sorry, man. Was taking a nap while waiting for you to come back.”

  Klayton walked to the kitchen, grabbed two beers, and then handed one to his brother. “Why are you here?”

  “I found another human trafficking site that belongs to Kayla. I watched it for three days to make sure that it was definitely our type of thing.”

  “Where is it?”

  “An abandoned apartment building, twenty five miles from here.”

  “How do you want to do this one?”

  “As stealthy as possible, and then eliminate them when we can’t hide anymore. We have to
be more careful.”

  “Yeah. I agree. Let’s do this right now.”

  •••

  Klayton was driving his black Hummer while Dante sat next to him on the passenger seat. They were now ten minutes away from the abandoned apartment complex.

  “Hey,” Klayton came to a realization, “If we are going to be taking down a vampire’s organization by destroying everything that they worked for, then she might send a group of her best vampires to come after us, right? Like, put a bounty on our heads. How are we going to handle that situation?”

  Dante was looking out the window, looking at his own reflection. “You’re right, we have been taking jobs here and there while also killing a few vamps along the way. We can’t be leaving a trail.”

  Klayton remembered about what had happened a few hours ago when David’s wife called the police. “We have to get others to join us. But not just werewolves.”

  “What else?” Dante turned his head to look at his brother even though Klayton was keeping an eye on the road. “Vampires, warlocks, huntsmen, you name it.”

  •••

  They arrived at the abandoned building. There was graffiti on the walls, and some of the windows were broken. It looked deserted. “Yeah, this is it. Kind of perfect for what they’re doing. I can already smell blood and cocaine.” Klayton said as he exited the car.

  Dante got out of the car and closed the door. “You can already-” Dante had began to asked but he stopped when the wind blew in front of his face and with it, the stench of blood went inside his nostrils. He quickly pinched his nose to prevent the smell from invading his nose anymore and then he groaned. “Dude. That’s disgusting.”