Reese had just made it inside the door to the security room when he heard the sounds of screaming, and it stopped him dead in his tracks. Fearing the worse and having a thousand things running around inside his mind all at once, he turned back to find out what happened, and left the room. He made it back the counter, ran up to Matt, and stopped right beside him at the side of the desk. What he saw stole his breaths away.
The freak was by the glass doors on his hands and knees. He was screaming. A sharp roar bellowed out between the screams. Pain was there, and the sounds of an animal were with it. He was now nude with the gown torn and scattered on the floor beside him. His skin turned black like charcoal. Black hair covered his entire body from head to toe. He could see his feet stretching out from the ankle and watched as it formed into what looked like paws. His whole body cracked and groaned, and the sounds of that breaking echoed around the room like thunder. His nose and lips protruded out into what looked like a snout and his ears pointed up and grew tall at the sides of his head. His back arched up, slithering under his blackening skin.
Seeing it all, he knew what was happening. The freak was changing. Knowing that, he’d seen enough and looked to Mattie standing on his right. “Lower the gate!” He groped to the left side of his belt to get the radio that he kept at his waist. He tried to unfasten it, but with his hands shaking as badly as they were, he couldn’t get it off his belt. It took a few seconds to do it. When he did, he hoped it wasn’t already too late.
Mattie stood frozen in place and couldn’t bring himself to move. He could barely get himself to breathe right. He felt terrified beyond his twenty-five years.
Reese brought the radio up and took a deep breath, before he began. “This is Reese, he’s changing! The fucker is changing!” he screamed. He had to fight the words to come out right. He only hoped they would answer him quickly. He knew that he wasn’t a match for the beast. If they didn’t get help to him fast, he knew he wouldn’t survive. He watched the freak becoming the wolf, and saw instantly that the emergency gate that he needed over the doors wasn’t coming down. Seeing that, he looked back to Mattie.
Mattie wasn’t moving. He didn’t even look like he was still breathing.
“I said close the fucking gate!” Reese screamed. He knew that he had to do it himself, so he pushed his way past Matt, and ran to the wall. He made it to the large red button next to the alarm panel, and hit it with one solid push of his right palm.
The emergency gate, which was designed in case someone was trying to get into the building, made a very distinctive sound as it came rolling out of the ceiling towards the floor just in front of the windows. It sounded like metal rubbing against metal. It creaked and groaned as it rattled the glass. Every window shook as it came down. The sound echoed and bounced off the walls of the glass with an eerie sense of calm.
The wolf turned its head towards the sound.
Reese watched the back of its head. He watched the gate slowly coming down. It had the time. It had the right to run. “Run you bastard.” He hoped that it would. He wasn’t armed. He wanted it to leave. He wanted it to try to get away. It always did before. It always wanted out. It tried to every time before when it had the chance. Why wouldn’t it stop now? “Run…Go…Run to freedom…Get away…Ruuuuunnnnn!”
The gate took several seconds to make its way to the floor.
The wolf just sat there and watched it with its head tilted towards its shoulders as it moved. It watched as it finished its journey and hit the floor with a gentle thud.
Watching it still there, not moving, Reese gasped. “Fuck me.” He realized that it didn’t even attempt to move to the door. He swallowed his heart as fear gripped his chest. He watched as its head turned its yellow eyes back and looked straight at him. It snarled as the sides of its snout curled up, showing him every tooth that it had. “No.” He said so softly that no one else heard him—not even him.
The wolf’s snarl curled its entire face into a hideous sight. He now looked fully formed. The change looked complete. Its bright yellow eyes glistened in the pure white light above it. It crouched towards the floor and steadied it legs beneath it. Its shoulder blades flared up over its back. It looked like a wolf in every detail, except it still had human looking hands. Its upper body also looked human, which over all, made it look—almost—haunting. It looked horrifying. It looked absolutely huge.
Seeing the crouch, Reese knew what was coming next. “NO!” he screamed.
It jumped fast.
It came at him even faster. It had so much speed that he didn’t have the time to react to it, and just as fast, it grabbed him by the shoulders, and with its jump, knocked him backwards to the floor with a bang.
Its weight pushed his chest down as his feet went up. Pain flailed through his arms as it erupted through his back. It pinned him down, and sunk its teeth into his flesh just below his chin. He could feel his own blood, spurting out from his throat as a shot of pain raked everywhere all at once. Blood ran down the front of his shirt and soaked his chest. He tried to scream, but couldn’t. He could only gurgle with the sounds. He tried to fight it, but he didn’t have the strength to give it. He tried to survive, but failed.
The wolf tore through his neck with pure instinct and tore away his throat almost severing his head. Every artery opened up as it kept its teeth into his neck and down into his spine. It held him until he stopped moving. It then released its bite when he did.
Mattie felt helpless as the thing rushed past him with a blur of movement that was so fast that he barely thought of anything, including breathing. The only thing that he felt was the splash of a warm liquid against the left side of his face. What he heard was nothing but a snarl, and heard what sounded like the tearing of cloth, with a slapping sound coming after that. A cracking sound followed it, sounding almost like someone had just snapped a rather large branch into two, right beside him. He couldn’t bring himself to look. He couldn’t bring himself to think. He couldn’t do anything, but to look straight ahead.
The wolf finished with the one that hurt it so many times before, lifted off him, and stood back up to its elongated and powerfully pawed feet. It moved over the body, stepped over it, and turned back to the counter.
Mattie saw it come from the corner of his eyes. He could hear what sounded like several nails tapping on the tiled floor besides him as it thudded and it moved. All he saw at first was its hairy body step directly in front of him and stop. He could hear it breathing. He heard its snarls. He then watched it bend down and look him directly in the eyes. All he could feel was its hot breath flashing his face. All he could do was start praying with a soft subtle voice. “Oh Mary, mother of God, halo be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be,” he couldn’t finish as he saw the teeth. He felt its hot breath against him grow hotter as a roar flushed over his eyes as its snout came closer to his chin. “Please?” he began to cry, feeling tears flowing down his cheeks. “Please, don’t kill me?” he whispered, as a clawed hand came up to the left side of his face. He could see long nails protruding from each human looking finger. The skin looked as black as night. “Please?” he heard himself plead. “Please?”
The wolf’s hand disappeared from his face, and he watched it move down the front of his shirt, down towards his belt and with disbelief, he watched the hand remove the keys that he had fastened on his side. With the keys in its claws, he watched as it moved back up his belly and move towards the card hanging from the left breast pocket of his shirt. It took the card with a simple pull. With all of this, he sighed.
A purring growl came from its mouth, causing him to look back to its face. Its yellow eyes sparkled in front of him, and seeing them, and he didn’t know why, but at that moment, he felt relieved. It didn’t seem like it was going to kill him. It almost seemed as if it was content to let him live.
Sure enough, it did turn and left him standing at the side of the counter.
He watched it move to the doorway to the stairs that went down into the
basement at the left wall.
He watched as the tall, heavy beast opened the door, and continued watching it as it disappeared with the door closing behind it.
Seeing that, and realizing that it was gone, he finally breathed. What the fuck did you get yourself into, Mattie? He cried as he looked back to the front gate.
Seeing it, amazed and feeling everything all at once, his bladder relaxed and he pissed his pants, right then, and there.
31
Richard Ross sat behind his desk, going through the paperwork that he wasn’t able to go through over the last few days and, quite frankly, didn’t feel like doing them after he lost his prize when it was killed last Friday morning. Now with James, he had to get back to work. He had to prepare for the change that he knew was about to come. He had to get ready for everything after that. Quite frankly, he couldn’t wait for any of it. He actually had the opportunity to watch it happen for the first time, and that made him feel excited beyond words. What was the human body going to look like the first time it changed? How much pain can it endure? It felt like all too much to take in at once. Knowing that, he was deep into reading one of the many reports, when he heard footsteps running towards him from outside his open office door. He didn’t want to, but he had to look up.
“Mister Ross?” a young man, Greg Hunter, came just inside the open door and stopped. He was all out of breath, and it forced him to have to go to his knees and grab them with the palm of each hand to help him breathe. “The new specimen—it’s—changing.” He stood back up right and placed his hands on his hips.
Ross couldn’t believe what he just heard. He knew that it wasn’t time yet, and it made him feel beyond shocked. It made him feel almost dumfounded beyond words even. “That’s impossible.” He stood up from his chair and placed both hands to the top of his desk, leaning forwards, towards the door. “We have two more nights before the full moon.” As far as what he knew about it, from Collins, a wolf doesn’t emerge until the first full moon after the first bite. So what he heard had to be wrong, it just had to be.
“It’s true. Reese just called it in over the radio.” Hunter caught his breaths.
“What is Reese doing with him?” Ross walked around the desk to the center of the room. If he and Gary were harassing his prize again, then there was going to be hell to pay. He had too much to lose for them to be playing that same old tired game all over again.
“The woman, Doctor Garland, was trying to take the freak. They almost made it out through the front lobby when they found them,” Hunter tried to explain. He didn’t know anything more than this, so he could only say what he heard.
Ross listened, trying to understand everything. He didn’t like any of it. How did Garland become involved in this? How did she know anything at all about what was going on? How did she know the guard? No one was supposed to know what they were doing. If Garland knew about it, then there was more going on than what he was aware of, and he didn’t like it. Not one damned bit! “Where are they now?”
“It’s still in the lobby.”
Ross nodded. He had to get to work. He had to stop it from getting away. “Get all of your teams ready.” He ran past Hunter and headed out through the doorway, strode down the hallway heading towards the stairs, and didn’t look back. He had to see it. He had to see him change. “I want everyone ready, and this time no one is to harm him, do you understand?” he called behind him as he ran.
Hunter ran with him. He nodded. He didn’t agree with the order, but he wasn’t the one that signed the checks was he. It wasn’t his show to complain.
They came to the stairs quickly and found that two others of his security team were already at the top of the stairs, waiting for him. They looked scared. It flared over their faces.
“No one is to harm him, do you all understand me?” Ross reached them and stopped.
Each one of them nodded. None of them wanted to go down the stairs first. None of them wanted to move. None of them wanted to die.
Ross took a deep breath. He went down the stairs cautiously. He went down first.
Anyone that had a weapon now had it out and in front of them as they moved down the stairs to the lobby.
Ross saw them and shook his head. “Put those damn things away.” He flared. He kept it to a whisper, but still stressed his voice. He didn’t want to scare the creature. He needed it, and wanted it to need him and it wouldn’t do that if they came at it armed. When are these idiots going to learn? I need him. I need him to come to me willingly.
They looked at each other and shook their heads. They didn’t have a choice, so slowly, they replaced their weapons back into their holsters, and each sighed a heavy breath after they complied with the order.
Ross was the first one down the stairs, and he was the first one to walk to the counter.
Gary was the first one they found.
He was lying on his back, and was slowly coming back to his senses when they reached him. At first, he didn’t even know where he was. “What happened?” His memory came back to him quickly as he moved. The pain in his right arm reminded him of everything. One of the guards went to him and bent down over him, and helped him to a sitting position.
Ross looked to him first, but it wasn’t what drew his attention the most. That fell to the gate that was down and covering the front doors. Seeing it, he knew that the creature must have gotten out just before it came down. The fact that Gary was still alive helped him with knowing that he was right. “Get your teams in their cars and begin,” he started, but Hunter cut him off.
“Mister Ross?” Hunter stood by the side of the stairs, just before the security’s control room door. His voice sounded sickened and his face looked pale. At the last step, just at the side of the stairs, someone wearing a deep blue uniform lied there motionless, and looked completely covered with blood and torn flesh. He looked mangled. He couldn’t even recognize who it was.
Ross turned towards the stairs and saw him. He gasped his breaths. “My God.” He could barely hear his own voice.
“Mister Ross?” The third guard, Jeff Aluria, went behind the counter, just near the hallway that went back towards the offices under the stairs. There he found Mattie, leaning up against the wall. Half of his face looked like it was covered with blood. The front of his shirt and pants looked completely soaked too. He looked like he was dead. His eyes were open and he was staring straight ahead at the wall opposite from him. He could tell, however, that he was still breathing.
Ross walked around the poor soul, dead on the floor, and made his way to the side of the stairs. Another one of his boys was there, sitting on the floor, and seeing him, he gasped. “Is he alive?” His voice still whispered. He knew that his specimen was dangerous, they all did, but never in a million years was he ready to see all of this. This wolf seemed different. It seemed obviously vicious. It would put up a fight; he could see that now.
Jeff nodded. “Yeah.” He stood up from kneeling in front of Mattie, and looked ahead of him to the floor leading to the door to the basement. There, he could see what looked like bloody paw prints heading to it, and seeing them; it caused an instant shudder to rake through his body and through mind. “Sir?” He pointed with a heavy arm towards the floor.
Ross followed the arm and saw the prints. He couldn’t believe what he saw. “Why didn’t he get out?” he heard himself ask. Collins had always tried to get away. This one didn’t do it and that was more than obvious, but why didn’t it try to run? Where did it go? Why didn’t it try to escape?
Gary stood to his feet. “He’s going after the woman.” He placed his left good hand to the top of the counter, and kept his right arm up against his chest. It helped with the pain, so he kept it there.
Ross turned towards him with a flash. “You mean Garland? Where did you put her?” He felt his face flushed over with anger. He couldn’t believe that he had to go through all of this all over again. Their brutality towards the creature made everything more difficult than it should h
ave been. If they would just listen to him and stop it, he knew that everything would move much more smoothly. If only they would listen. If only they would understand what he was trying to do with it.
Gary winced painfully. “I had her taken downstairs. I wanted to explain to her what she couldn’t talk about.” He grimaced from the pain in his arm. It now felt like it was starting to throb. It felt more than just broken, it felt shattered.
Ross burned totally from within. “This would have never happened if you weren’t so brutal with the last one.” He allowed his anger to flow. This wasn’t the time for such blame to be spoken, but he didn’t care anymore. It felt like it had to be said, so he said it.
Gary scoffed at the idea. “If you had killed the fucking thing when it came to you in the first place, we wouldn’t have had to do what we did.”
It was Ross’s turn to scoff. “It was your treatment of him that made him want to get away in the first place. You just couldn’t let him be. You just couldn’t let me work with him.”
“Mister Ross?” Hunter came around the side of the counter, passed Gary, and stepped between them. “We’re going to have to bring it down. It killed one person already. It might kill everyone here.”
Ross shook his head violently. “No. I want no harm to come to him. He is worth all of this.” His voice rose with every word. “I’m not going to let this little misunderstanding get in the way of everything that we’ve accomplished so far.”
“Misunderstanding?” Gary grimaced again, trying to hold his arm in place, and found that it was hard to do it. “We have to bring it down!”
Ross didn’t want to hear anything more. “The first one to harm him is going to find out how evil I can be.” He looked to the others that stood around him. “We’re going to capture him, but first, we have to corner him. If he’s down in the basement, than that means there are only two ways out of there. One way is here, the other is a stairwell at the other side of the building. You stay here.” He pointed to the younger officer, whom he couldn’t for the life of him remember his name, and then turned to Hunter. “Get several people over to the other shaft. We’re going to go down and corner him.” He nodded as he put his plan together. Everything made sense, and he only hoped it would work. His career passed before his eyes. He had to find it. He had to have it. He couldn’t think of anything else but that.
A Werewolf's Saga Books 1, 2, & 3 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets) Page 24
