The sun had finally risen over the frozen town of Wolf Creek and most of the snow from last night’s storm had already been cleared away from the streets. The shops were starting to open up and even a few joggers were seen out running in the streets. In fact, a pair of runners was almost hit as they were crossing Main Street, when three black sedans, with paper plates and tinted black windows, turned in front of them, directly in their path.
“Hey, watch it, fuck-stick!” one of the joggers yelled at the deeply
-tinted windows.
The dark sedans paused, then carried on, slowing down to a creeping pace, as they rolled through the snow-covered town.
In the leading vehicle, heading the hunt was Clyde Moore. Clyde was a short, stout man, in his late fifties. He was a Hunter and had been most of his life and the scars that he wore on his face proved that he’d encountered a Lycan once before. Not expecting to get much older, Clyde was counting on his sons to carry out his work after he died… that is, if he didn’t kill the aggravating brats first.
“You better not be wasting my time, woman!” Clyde barked.
“I’m not,” Brittney Jones whined. “I was just a kid then, but I saw what I saw!”
“We shall see,” Clyde snipped back, in his usual, gruff voice. “I haven’t been through here in decades. It looks a little different, but not by much.”
The three black sedans continued to cruise through the town, passing the sheriff’s station on its way, carrying a crew of Hunters, who were on a mission to remove all living dead things that might be residing in the town of Wolf Creek.
Sitting in the police station, JD was drinking his morning coffee and reading the paper; he’d been sober for thirteen years now, save for the occasional celebratory drink, here and there. Hearing engines passing by, JD gazed out his office window, spotting the three black sedans, not at all surprised at what he was witnessing. He couldn’t believe it’d taken them so long to finally arrive, as JD had been dreading this day for a very long time. He just shook his head, taking another sip of coffee, knowing that his day hasn’t even yet begun.
“I already don’t like the looks of this,” JD said out loud to himself. “I can already tell this Monday is going to suck.”
Just then, Sarah popped into the station, on time as usual. “Good morning, JD, want some more coffee? I’ll get it for you,” she pleasantly offered, as she pulled along her pet duck on a leash, while it sat inside of a roller skate. She lifted the bird out of the skate and stuck him in his usual spot, where he sat on the counter all day, expressionlessly watching everyone. “Sit, Ducky,” Sarah told her feathered companion.
JD just rolled his eyes, not amused at her idea of a good pet; to him, the duck always looked about as enthused as a limp penis.
“I’m good on the coffee, thanks,” JD said, shooting a dirty look over at the bird, that was now staring at him. “Hey, Sarah, there’s something I have to go check out. Have Nate call me, when he gets in, would ya? It’s probably nothing, but I have a feeling.”
“I will,” replied Sarah. “He’s running a few minutes late this morning. Anything else?”
“No, dear, just have him call me, please,” the sheriff repeated, as he put on his winter coat and black cowboy hat. Lastly, he strapped on his gun belt holding a set of twin 44 Magnums, before leaving the station.
It was cold outside, so JD zipped up his jacket to knock off the chill, as he headed for his Sheriff’s truck, checking the plow on the front before jumping in. With his half-wolf canine, Nanook, up front with him, JD backed out of his parking space and pointed his truck in the direction of the local motel, to see if the black sedans had stopped there.
Along with a few other businesses that had come to fill in a few holes in the town of Wolf Creek, the small motel was the newest addition after that night, thirteen years ago, when JD burned down Zeke’s cabin and Old Man Greiner’s place.
Sure enough, when JD drove past, all three empty, black sedans were parked in the motel lot. He pulled around the block and parked off to the side, where he was sure no one could see his truck and he got out, giving instructions to his sidekick before shutting the door.
JD could see his breath, when he spoke, “Nanook… stay put, boy. I’ll be right back.”
After making his way around the block, JD stepped through the front door, entering the motel lobby. Seeing no one behind the counter, he began ringing the small bell that was sitting next to a little sign that read, ‘ring for service.’
‘Ding!’ ‘Ding!’
‘Ding!’ ‘Ding!’ ‘Ding!’
After a few more rings, an older-looking man with gray hair appeared from the back room. “If you ring that again, I’m gonna snap your neck! Knock that shit off! Damn it, JD, you know I’m getting old!”
“What’s up, Hank, you cranky, old bastard?”
“Shut the hell up, JD… always a wiseass. What brings you to my motel? Your wife kicks your dumbass out again? What did you do now, eat someone’s cat?”
“No,” JD said, with half a laugh. “I’m interested in those three black sedans over there. They pulled in a while ago.”
“I was about to call you, but I didn’t think you’d be in yet. Quite an interesting group of fellies, actually. They appear to be on some sort of hunting trip,” the man behind the counter stated. “The only thing that came out of those cars, were cases of weapons and ammo. Hell, I doubt they’ll even use the showers, since they didn’t ask for extra towels… and they smelled like a rat’s ass.”
“What names are they registered under, can I see the book?”
“No problem,” Hank answered, unfolding a set of reading glasses. “Let’s see, here… two of the rooms are in Clyde Moore’s name and the other room belongs to the Andersons.”
“A hunting trip, huh? My ass. Those are Vampire Hunters. Do you see any deer racks on those cars? How many of ‘em were there?”
“That’s what the man said, anyway. There are six of ‘em,” he counted. “To be honest with you, they looked a lot more like mercenaries than Hunters, if you ask me. And, they did look tired, that’s for sure,” Hank recalled. “They’re probably sleeping one off, right about now… said they’d been driving for a while. I think they’re from Michigan, or somewhere from up north.”
After thanking him, JD moved for the door, when Hank stopped him. “Oh, I almost forgot… Brittney Jones is with them.”
JD stopped and thought back to thirteen years ago, when Brittney was a cheerleader. She’d called the station to warn them about what Donovan was doing to the football players and the other kids, after the game that dreadful night.
“I thought her family moved away?” JD asked. “Just a couple days after that night?”
“They did,” Hank confirmed. “I heard she got married and had a couple kids. She didn’t come in.”
“Is she being held against her will?”
“No,” Hank said, removing his glasses. “She’s left the room twice already to use the pay phone and get a soda. It seems she’s moving about freely. Did I tell you she’s looking pretty good?”
“Jesus, Hank, try to keep it in your pants, would ya?”
“Sorry, JD, it’s those little blue pills my wife has me taking. That yohimbe shit you guys like almost made my heart explode… I had a boner for twelve hours. I had to pack it with ice, just to get it under control. I could’ve pounded nails with it!”
“You idiot,” JD said, laughing, “that stuff isn’t for humans.”
“No shit! Now you tell me!”
After the two settled, JD got back to the subject at hand. “This makes no sense. These guys are borderline-psychos. I’ve had a runin with Clyde Moore before,” he said to Hank, stopping to think for a second. “Tell him, to come see me, when he comes out of his room. I’ll be waiting to hear from him at the station.”
“Sure, I’ll send him your way. He did look pretty rough and weathered, not sure when that’ll be,” Hank told him. “His voice was pretty damn ra
gged and he smelled like stale beer and cheap cigars.”
JD was about to push open the door, when Hank’s curiosity got the best of him. “Hey, JD, don’t tell me you’re the one that gave Clyde that scar on his face.”
Just grinning, JD didn’t answer the question, but instead asked, “Hey, by the way… is Brittney staying in one of the rooms with them?”
“No, she has her own room on the end. If you walk around the back of the motel, you can knock on her window without the others hearing.”
“Thanks, Hank, I’m going to try and head off any trouble that might be brewing.”
“Just be careful, Sheriff. It looks like they’re packing a serious amount of heat.”
“I will, Hank,” JD said on his way out. “We’ll be seein’ ya.”
As JD left the motel lobby, he zipped up his jacket, shutting out the cold, winter breeze. He made his way around to the back of the motel, until he reached the end of the building, rapping lightly on the window of the room that he believed to be Brittney’s.
She finally answered the knocks, slowly pulling back the drapes to see whom it was. Brittney had known JD since she was a kid and she smiled brightly, when she saw that it was he outside of her window.
JD put his finger to his lips and pointed towards the door. She nodded and he hurried around, quietly slipping in, after she opened up.
“Brittney, what the hell are you doing with these guys?” JD quietly asked, not wasting a moment’s time.
“Let me explain, JD,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to come, but they made me, after the murders started happening about a hundred miles away.”
“Things have actually been quiet for a long time, what made them come looking here? What does Wolf Creek have anything to do with this?”
“Two twelve-year-old boys were found, skinned alive,” Brittney answered. “And, an eighteen-year-old virgin was kidnapped, right out of her bedroom in the middle of the night. She’s still missing.”
Brittney went on to explain, that she’d been sitting at a bar discussing with some friends, about how the same thing happened in Wolf Creek many years back. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by a strange group of large men that seemed very interested in her story.
“What did you tell them?” JD asked her, afraid to hear the answer. “You know you’re supposed to keep your mouth shut once you leave this town. I told you that and I did you a favor,” he reminded her. “This is why most people just disappear, when they want to leave… just for this very reason.”
“All I told them was that the same type of murders happened in Wolf Creek a long time ago, but that you solved the case. Apparently, Clyde Moore knew who you were and he seemed anxious to talk to you. I figured he wasn’t a threat or any sort of match for you, or I would’ve found a way to warn you,” she said to him. “Seriously, he’s just an old man and his boys are dumber than a bag of hammers… hardly a match for the likes of you.”
“I ran into Clyde, many decades ago,” JD filled her in. “He’s a compassionless, ruthless killer. I wish you would’ve kept your damn mouth shut, Brittney, you knew the rules of Wolf Creek… especially once you moved away,” he said with disapproval. “We might have to rethink letting any more people move out. In fact, I’m going to bring that up at the next town council meeting.”
JD held his emotions back, as he spoke further, “I always feared this would happen. Actually, I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened sooner.”
“I’m sorry,” Brittney said, hoping that JD would forgive her. “I didn’t think anyone was listening. I guess I just had a few too many beers in me. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
“You just stay here for now and don’t leave the room. And, for Christ’s sakes, don’t invite any strangers in here,” he begged of her. “It’s probably not safe for you to be back in Wolf Creek. I’ll be back, when I get a hold of Nate.”
“I’ll stay here, JD. Got ya, loud and clear.”
“Either way, Brittney, it’s still nice to see you,” JD told her, as they embraced in a quick hug.
Brittney took a peek out the front window to see if the coast was clear and JD slipped out, quietly closing the door behind him. He jogged back to his truck and took off, heading back towards the station; he needed to make arrangements to speak with the new mayor of Wolf Creek, Mason Rockwell.
After Donovan had been killed, the Baron had sent Mason to take his place and JD and Mason have mixed together like oil and water, from day one. The Baron wasn’t happy, in the very least, with the news of Donovan’s true death, as Donovan had been his second-incommand for three thousand years. But, the Baron had understood that Donovan’s own Blood Law had been broken, so he decided to send another two-thousand-year-old Vampire from Alnwick Castle: the handsome and dashing, Mr. Rockwell.
JD’s shirt pocket suddenly rang and he quickly found out that it was Nate calling. After he flipped his phone open, “We have a very serious problem,” JD said. “Are you at the police station?”
“Just got in, what’s going on?”
“Wait where you are and I’ll explain when I get there.”
“I’ll be here,” Nate said back. “But, I won’t be awake, until my next cup of coffee.”
___________________________________________________
Chapter Twenty-
Eight
The overpowering smell of gunpowder and body odor was clinging to the air, inside of Clyde Moore’s motel room. Black cases, each weighing several hundred pounds, were laid out across the two queen-size beds and Clyde’s sons, Ross and David Moore, were busy removing the contents.
“Get those weapons cleaned and ready to go,” Clyde demanded. “Oil them up and make sure the slides are slick as spit… and don’t let me catch you lacking! Just clean ‘em… you don’t have to make love to ‘em!”
“Alright, already, we know the drill, pop,” said David, not looking up from what he was doing. “Just find us something to kill. I got an itchy trigger finger and an empty stomach. It’s growling like a grizzly bear!”
“Get the work done and then we’ll worry about feedin’ time,” Clyde snapped. “Now hush up and get your tail movin’!” “Dad’s so bossy,” Ross whispered to his brother, squinting his
eyes and glaring over at his father. “One of these days…” “Just do what he says, Ross! You ain’t gonna do nothin’, so shut
up!”
The Moore brothers were not very smart individuals, but both
were built like linebackers, the size of refrigerators. Ross and David
shared the same military-style buzz-cuts and more importantly, they also shared equal marksmanship skills. They did as they were told, stripping the weapons down and cleaning them and they were putting them all back together, in record time. These were no regular weapons that the Moores brothers were handling either. A few of these guns shot large-caliber wood-tipped bullets and the others were
loaded with silver-tipped hollow-points.
Ross picked up his Gatling gun and loaded the four-thousandround ammo belt, carefully alternating the wooden and silver bullets,
that were capable of cutting down any of nature’s more supernatural
mishaps. These weapons alone could cut down a small army of
Vampires or Werewolves, like a hot knife through butter. “Whatever you two morons do,” Clyde snipped, pointing to Ross’s
Gatling. “Don’t let that thing go off, or we’ll be the ones they put
away for life!”
“Yeah,” Ross said back, “I know… don’t blow a hole through the
motel wall like last time. But, that wasn’t my fault! It just slipped out
of my hands!”
“Dumbass!” David let him know.
“Shut up!” Ross shot back at his brother. “You’re the dumbass!” “Both of you imbeciles shut up! NOW!” Clyde hollered. “He started it,” Ross said, cowering away.
“I don’t give a shit who started it! Now, listen up!” the a
ging
hunter roared. “I’m going downtown to talk with JD, I’m sure by
now he knows we’re in town. I don’t want him thinking we’re here
for the Pack. You two idiots stay here and try not to do anything
stupid,” Clyde instructed them. “Do you think you can manage to do
that?”
Out in front of the police station, JD parked his Sheriff’s truck next to Nate’s Jeep and he ran up the steps with Nanook at his side.
Sarah greeted him at the door, “Nate’s in the back office waiting for you.”
“Thanks, Sarah. Hold all my calls, please, would ya?” JD requested. “Any messages?”
“Nope, just some asshole calling to see if we wanted to change our long distance services. I blew an air-horn into the phone,” she said with a smile. “They won’t be calling back any time soon.”
“Sarah.”
“What? I was in the middle of breakfast and he called twice.”
Bewildered by his secretary’s antics, JD moved on back to find Nate sitting in his office, kicking back in his chair.
“Hey, JD, what’s going on,” he asked, sitting up at JD’s desk. “You sounded a bit distressed. What is it?”
“They’ve arrived,” JD divulged. “We all knew, it would eventually happen.”
“What are you talking about?” Nate asked him, now standing up.
“A shit-storm just rolled into town… the Hunters.”
“Are you sure they’re Hunters?”
“Yes, I’m sure. It’s Clyde Moore and his boys, along with the Anderson family.”
“You have got to be shitting me. Both families of Hunters are here… at the same time?” Nate repeated, slightly panicked. “What in the hell are we going to? Are we going to have to kill them?”
“I don’t know what they want,” JD stated, “but, they’re over at Hank’s motel, as we speak… we should be ready for anything.”
Nate took his hat off and rubbed his forehead; he was beginning to sweat underneath his short, blonde hair. “Are we even equipped to handle both families of Hunters like this?”
“I’m sure we can handle anything,” JD confidently said. “And, I’m sure we’ll hear from Clyde, very soon. You know, it’s been thirty years, since the last time I saw him.”
The Lycan Chronicles Page 21
