The terror from deep within the people of Medusa grew stronger with each gruesome fact that was whispered between them. Even if it were not true in reality, to most everyone in Medusa the Killer Wolf had returned. With this idea in everyone’s mind there came a new level of awareness that Rod Truex had never seen.
He moved swiftly and began to create a law enforced man-hunt, to take place under the next full moon. Simply setting up this task force of law men took a great deal of participation from not only his staff, but the mayor as well. Despite this being an official police action (Mayor Bobby Preston had to sign off on the entire act) he of course took very little time to agree to Rod’s requests. Bobby wanted the entire situation to go away just as much as anyone else.
John Austin had begun to badger Rod again he asked repeatedly for statements. John only wanted something juicy, or exquisitely disturbing to put in the paper. Rod believed that this was all a plot to make John look better after years of looking foolish for his Full Moon Murderer incident. Eventually Rod sent Deputy Dolgen to speak with John and told him absolutely nothing, other than what he already knew. John believed then that there was something they wanted to hide.
In the weeks to come Rod felt as if he were under a microscope. He had completely stopped eating his lunch at the Main Street Café. Instead he ate lunch with his mother, at her house. At times she wondered if there was a reason for his sudden lunch visits. She assumed more than anything that the murders had encouraged him to become a little closer with his family. Whatever his reason was, she did not question it, as long as he continued to do so.
Marcy had of course noticed his absence, she had hoped to hear from him, but knew he had bigger problems at the moment. She wondered if this would be a good time for her to end the silly affair. Perhaps if she could do it when Rod was out of reach, it might not be so painful. She thought about this a great deal, but every time she came to the conclusion, she simply could not do it. She hated herself for wanting this man so much, she hated herself for becoming attached. It was too much for her, she had to see him again, and she knew she would see him again.
Headline Gazette:
Return of the Killer Wolf?
Two unsolved murders within a period of two months. This reporter feels the need to stress that both murders occurred on a night when the moon was full. This is an obvious pattern, this killer is methodical and deranged. I for one see no end to the madness that has reemerged.
The first victim, a young girl, practically a child. The second a friend of the community.
Is this not proof enough?
I for one say that it most certainly is. I fear what might happen next and hope that we all can find a way to get through whatever situation is to come. I know that I am not alone when I say that I will be taking extra time each night to pray for ALL the people I love in my community.
It would have been very unwise to commit a serious crime in Medusa on the night of Saturday the sixteenth. Rod and all his men were on duty that night, he even deputized two other men (Mel Connolly and Steve Little) just to keep a look out. Rod took these actions to keep the towns people happy and make them feel safe. Plus if something really did happen he wanted all the man power he had on his side to stop the madness. Officer Blake Clancy was at the station manning the phones and radio; all four patrol cars were in use that night. Usually the city only used three, the fourth patrol car (a late 1998 Ford Taurus) was only there as a backup car, to be used when something happened to one of the other vehicles. Deputy Dolgen was in charge of keeping track of the activity on the east side of town. Officer Meadows, who strictly worked the graveyard shift, was told to patrol the west side of town. This left Officer Knox and Officer Chapman to keep an eye on the north and south sides of town. As for the two men that Rod deputized, Mel Connolly was strategically placed as a lookout, to watch over the main street area and anywhere else he could see from this view. Rod had been given permission from the mayor to deputize two men, but he wasn’t given permission to have one of them play lookout from atop Jarvis’ Barber Shop. Rod also did not ask for permission, he didn’t care if he had it or not. Plus it was nice that only he and Mel knew exactly where he would be. This way he felt it gave him the upper hand against the killer. Steve Little, on the other hand, was given a bottle of pepper spray and a nightstick, and a two way radio. Rod did not feel comfortable giving his newly deputized men firearms. He felt that they would be safe, and if anything happened, they could call out on their radio. Steve was told to simply walk all over, looking for strange behavior. This was probably the most dangerous job to have that night. Steve was still young, in college studying law enforcement, and almost ready to become a full-fledged police officer. Steve was needless to say honored that Rod would give him the chance to help out his hometown.
At just around eight o’clock while walking through the north-east section, Steve thought he heard a strange sound coming from somewhere from just outside of town. He couldn’t place what this sound was or where it came from exactly. It sounded like a moan or an angry cry, it might have possibly been from an animal. Steve didn’t know what to think of it, he stood completely still and listened for the sound again. Steve did not hear the sound again and continued on his foot patrol. Steve would not report back to Rod until one o’clock that night. By that time, Steve had long since forgotten about the sound he heard coming from outside of town.
Later, as the night grew longer, deputy Dolgen was abruptly startled from a catnap he hadn’t meant to take. Thomas wasn’t used to the night shift and was already feeling tired. He had just dosed off by mistake while sitting in his patrol car, when he heard a thunderous howl. It did not sound like a typical coyote howl, this was something different. It sounded low and terrifying and made the hair stand on the back of his neck. Coyotes were known to inhabit the area, and Thomas had heard them several times before. He decided to investigate the strange sound. He drove out and circled around the edge of town, a half of a mile out. He pulled out his spotlight and shined it out along the open fields and pastures. Thomas had no clue how close he was to discovering the truth, and he would never find out. After not seeing anything at all, and not hearing the sound again deputy Dolgen turned off his spotlight and put it away. He had no time to run around the country side spotlighting everything that moved. He was supposed to be in town, helping with the patrol.
-
The howling woke Freddy Alexander who had fallen asleep while writing an essay. Freddy sat straight up at his desk and stared out the window at the bright full moon. What kind of creature had made such a noise? He asked himself, although Freddy was afraid that he knew all too well what it was.
But what was it doing, and how close was it?
Freddy had heard about the Parker girl, he was certain that the thing, he and Tyler Zeal had seen two months ago was responsible.
Freddy got up and looked out the window. The radiant glow from the full moon provided enough light that Freddy could see his entire front yard. It was even bright enough that night he could see a little further down the long driveway that lead to his house. On most nights, you could hardly see anything past the front lawn.
Another long howl rose up and slowly fell back down upon the night sky. It was menacing and angry. Freddy trembled when he heard it and sensed something was coming over him. His head felt burning hot. He was sweating, despite the cold November temperatures. What is wrong with me?
Freddy was trembling, he was frightened not only for himself, but for everyone else in the area as well.
-
By four a.m. Rod had cut his investigation and his Officers back down to the usual two on duty, besides himself of course. As far as any of them could tell they had done all that they could that night. From their view, they had either stopped the Killer Wolf from attacking, or he never was going to attack in the first place. All that truly mattered was that no one got hurt and the threat might be nothing more than just a figment of everyone’s still shocked minds. Rod had alread
y decided that he would only have one of his night shift officers on duty. That night he would start a patrol at six o’clock himself. This way he would only need one of his officers in the afternoon. Hopefully this would provide his officers with a little bit of much needed sleep. In the morning and most of the day he would just have to have Deputy Dolgen on call. These strange hours might be rough on him and his men, but at least it assured the safety of the people of Medusa.
It would be nice if Marcy could find a way to sneak out of the house while he was working late. Rod thought, but he was certain there would be no chance of that happening. Her husband Matthew seemed like a jerk, but he also seemed to be a fairly smart guy. It probably wouldn’t take much to catch his attention. He and Marcy would just have to find another time to meet.
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”
― H.P. Lovecraft
PART TWO
Shotgun season on deer had opened on Friday, November Fifteenth. When Ryan Lovett climbed into his ten foot high deer stand at noon on Saturday, November Sixteenth, he was well within the state guidelines and regulations. But when he woke up at eleven o’clock to see the full moon making its presence known all around the area, he was not. According to Illinois regulations, after dusk no one is permitted to hunt and is expected to stop. Ryan knew this, and that is why he began to climb down to make his way back home. He would want to get home and get to bed soon, that is if he wanted to be out in the woods earlier the next day. Ryan had been hunting for almost twenty years and he never missed a day of shotgun season. Some men like fishing, some men like fast cars; Ryan liked to hunt for big deer.
He began his long trek through the open field between the timber and his truck. He didn’t really care much for the walking in the open chilly November air, but it was all worth it to him. He walked along whistling a tune, (it was either Bruce Springsteen or John Mellencamp, he wasn’t sure) with his shotgun slung comfortably on his back.
Ryan heard something coming from behind him, he quickly turned to see something in the distance moving around on all fours. He motioned for his shotgun, but stopped in curiosity. This thing moved in such a bizarre way, it was unlike anything Ryan had seen before. As it moved closer, it began to look like a wolf. It was not a typical wolf though; it was much bigger than any wolf Ryan had ever seen before.
Grab the shotgun! Something in the back of his mind repeatedly tried to tell him, but the message was lost as he watched the animal move slowly out of the woods.
Before Ryan knew it, the creature was no longer walking on four legs. It moved to a position bent low to the ground, moving forward on its two rear legs. It was breathing hard, with its mouth opened wide, revealing its jagged teeth. All of a sudden the beast started sprinting toward him, running on two legs. It took long quick strides and bobbed its hands at its side. Before it could get to him Ryan grabbed his shotgun. He had no time to fire a shot; instead he used the weapon as a shield. He and the menacing creature fell to the ground. Ryan held the butt of the gun in one hand, and the barrel in the other. The beast’s neck pressed against the shotgun as it desperately tried to get to Ryan. The weight and shear strength of the beast was far too much for Ryan, he could feel his arms giving way. The beast snapped its jaws in Ryan’s face as he continued to try and hold it back.
This thing was beyond Ryan’s comprehension; it was dark and covered in thick bushy fur. It appeared to be half wolf-half human. It grunted loudly and spat thick slobbering phlegm in his face.
He continued to struggle against it, but it fought him with great strength and unbelievable primal fury. By his own surprise, Ryan felt that he was starting to win the fight and was able to push back. It was as if the beast was losing strength, or had decided to give up. It pulled away slowly, but then came back down hard atop of him. Its huge jaws opened wide and locked back down sideways across his face. Ryan’s first instinct was to gag from its foul breath. That is until he felt its sharp teeth dig into his face. The beast reared back ripping the flesh away from his head. Ryan started to shriek a scream that only lasted a moment. The beast quickly stopped his cries with one quick swipe of its claws across his neck.
Once the beast knew that its prey was dead it grasped the body in its mouth and began running. It carried the body much of the same way a dog might carry its favorite chew toy. The beast escaped the open field and entered the woods again. It moved quickly through the darkness until it came to an old hollowed out tree lying on its side.
It dropped the body down on the cold leaf covered ground. Then with its amazing human-like paws it pushed and squeezed the remains into the hollow tree. When the head and limbs were properly stuffed the beast began to tear away at the flesh. It pulled the guts out of the body in thick steaming piles. In an insane frenzy the beast dug its snout into the bloody remains and began to feast. After satisfying its primal hunger it moved its face away from the body, lifted its head up toward the night sky, and let out a long loud howl that could be heard across the moonlit country side.
She pushed him on the bed with the greatest of ease. She unbuttoned his shirt, took it off and threw it behind her. Very quickly she took off his pants, and his boxers, and threw them on the floor as well. Watching her move around in the dark room in nothing more than her bra, and panties made him very excited. She retrieved something from a bag then placed it beside the bed. She grabbed him by the left arm and pushed it up. All of a sudden Rod heard a snapping sound, it was a very familiar noise. She was hand cuffing him to the bed. Once she was finished with one arm, she went to the next. After that she moved to his legs. He was becoming extremely excited now; he had fantasized about this moment forever. Unfortunately he also realized that this was a dream. As much as he had wanted this moment to be real, he knew it wasn’t. Most of his fantasies involved him being restrained, something he simply would never allow in reality. There was just too much trust involved with being restrained, and he did not trust many people. As much as he enjoyed sharing orgasms with Marcy he could not let her restrain him. What if she randomly had a change of attitude, and decided to take advantage of him. She could use this as a way of bribing him, or even hurting him.
He doubted that she would do such a thing to him, but there was always the slight chance that she might.
Marcy’s voluptuous body slowly moved in front of the bed. She crouched down and slowly made her way toward him. Then she slowly moved her hand up Rod’s leg, which shook him with excitement. She inched further up toward his groin as he smiled from ear to ear. Rod heard his cell phone ring, and he awoke.
-
Rod leaned over to his bedside dresser to see that it was a little after six thirty in the afternoon. He had been asleep a little more than seven hours. He grabbed his cell phone to see that the call was coming from the police station. He then had an intense feeling of déjà vu, it felt like the day when Gabrielle Parker’s body was found; only it wouldn’t be Clara on the phone at that time of day. That evening it would be Arnold manning the phones at the station.
“Rod here.” He answered.
“Yeah, I am afraid we might have a situation.” Arnold said with his usual southern draw.
Terrific, Rod thought to himself. Why in the world couldn’t I have been wrong? I seriously thought maybe, just maybe, nothing happened last night.
“Ryan Lovett’s wife, Julie called and said she hasn’t seen him since yesterday morning.”
“He went deer hunting right?” Rod asked as he stumbled out of bed and put on a new pair of pants.
“Yes, he did.”
“Okay, I know where he would have been hunting, I’ll be out there right away.”
“Alright, that sounds real good.” Arnold said in a most worried voice. Arnold and Ryan Lovett used to be the best of friends in high school. In recent years their friendship had grown a little weaker. The friendship went very much downhill when Arnold married his wife Ruth. It was not a secret;
that most people in town considered Ruth to be a bit of a bitch. She had a bad habit of always telling Arnold what to do. Ryan could not stand her, and at Arnold and Ruth’s wedding reception a very drunken Ryan let both of them know exactly how he felt.
However strained the friendship might have become over the years, Arnold and Ryan were still childhood friends, and would remain closely connected.
-
Rod drove as fast as he could to get to the Lovett’s property, just outside of town. When he got there he noticed Ryan’s pick-up truck and his wife’s red Chevrolet Blazer. Rod didn’t want to waste any time. Without another thought he got out of his truck and started toward the open field to get to the spot Ryan usually sat at during deer season.
“Rod!” Julie shouted.
“What is it?” Rod asked hoping that she wasn’t going to ask him a thousand questions. He knew she was worried about Ryan; he only thought that her going on and on at that moment would be unnecessary.
“Find Ryan okay…” She said and got back into her vehicle.
Through his thick warm gloves Rod zipped up his brown police jacket in an attempt to defeat the cold November wind. He retrieved a small flash light from his pocket, in most cases he would have been using his Mag-lite, but he forgot it in his truck and didn’t want to go all the way back to get it.
“Where the hell are you Ryan.” Rod asked himself as he shined the light into the darker areas of the field. He knew Ryan to be an experienced hunter, who knew his woods very well. It would have taken something awfully unusual to prevent him from returning.
“Tell me you have a girlfriend Ryan. Tell me you have a girlfriend, and you ran away with her.” Rod continued talking to himself. As bad as that might have been, it still would have meant that Ryan was alive and not a victim like the others.
The Chronicles of Beast and Man Page 7
