by Warren Smith
“Here mom, now can you please tell me what the hell is going on? And why is everybody naked around here? Dudes walking around with their shit hanging out and everything....eeww! I feel sick just talking about it!” His face twisted up like he had just sucked on a lemon as he impatiently waited for his mother to wrap the towel around her.
“Ok I’m all wrapped up, you can turn around now!” Antoine turned around with a scowl on his face and as soon as he was about to blurt out a million and one questions, he was interrupted. Marty Heffner was tall, burly and had more hair on his body than anyone in attendance. He was also still naked. He was a rude and jealous man by nature and as soon as he saw Lisette talking to another man, he ran over and put his arms around her with an overexcited hug. Antoine was nearly knocked off of his feet but he managed to stay grounded and keep his cool for the moment. He was able to keep his cool right up until he noticed that Marty Heffner had an erection, and then he totally lost it. Antoine ran up on the burly man and pushed him with so much force that he stumbled backwards and fell on his ass.
Marty was back on his feet in the blink of an eye with glowing red eyes and a growl that usually meant that things were about to get ugly. Lisette started to jump in and break it up but she wanted to see how her son would handle himself. If things got ugly she would join in and help Antoine beat the shit out of the burly man.
“Keep your goddamn hands off of my mother! If I ever catch you near her again, it will not end well for you I promise!” A small crowd had formed around the two men and Marty’s pride wouldn’t let him get embarrassed by some snot nosed runt. He didn’t know that the boy was Lisette’s son, if he did he would have approached her with a little more manners. Even so, he couldn’t just let something like this slide, he decided to teach the kid a lesson. He wasn’t planning on hurting the kid, just was gonna rough him up a bit was all.
“Maybe you should learn how to respect your elder’s boy!” Marty let out a howl and took a step towards the boy, but the boy didn’t move. Instead the boy let out a howl of his own that made everyone flinch and his eyes turned to that creepy shade of gold. Marty had stopped dead in his tracks like someone was holding a gun on him. What the fuck! He said to himself as he watched the kid begin to sprout black hair all over his body. Everyone including Lisette had begun to back away when they noticed that Antoine was changing, but not into regular werewolf form. Everything about him was changing rapidly but he was still standing upright like a man. Before Marty Heffner could finish his change he was snatched up in the air and tossed several yards away. He hit a tree with a dull thump and before he could fall to the ground, the man wolf was already upon him and snarling in his face.
Marty had been hurt pretty badly and was already involuntarily changing back to his human form. He looked up in a daze just in time to see the biggest black claw that he had ever seen in his life. He knew that he was pretty much dead no matter what he did, so he relaxed and waited for his head to get knocked clean across the woods.
“Wait! Don’t do this Antoine, you’ve won. It’s over, there’s no need to kill him please!” Lisette Leblanc was just as scared as everybody else but she couldn’t just stand by and watch her son murder a member of her pack. The hideous snarling man wolf looked as if he didn’t know who the hell she was at first. It let out a thunderous growl and leapt through the air, landing directly in front of her with it’s teeth bared.
“It’s me, It’s mommy baby. Everything is ok now, nobody is going to try and harm you! Calm down and listen to my voice.” Lisette wasn’t sure but she thought that she saw just a hint of recognition in the beast’s eyes, she was right. It took a few seconds but eventually the beast in Antoine began to simmer down and the glow began to fade from his eyes. Everyone in the camp seemed to exhale deeply at the same time and as scared as they were, they knew that they had found a new pack leader, a 3-form super alpha.
Chapter 6
Antoine sat in front of the campfire alone and exhausted from the change. He had so many questions to ask his mother but right now he had to apologize to Marty for nearly killing him. Sure he wanted to give the guy a good beating for catching a boner in the middle of hugging his mother, but that was all. Everyone at the camp was staring at him like he was an alien but he didn’t give a damn. He stood up to go ahead and get his apology out of the way but he didn’t have to go far. His mother and Marty were already on their way towards him so he just stayed put while they approached.
“Can we talk for a minute? I think it’s time that I finished my story now if your up for listening to it.” Antoine nodded his head and gave his mother a tight hug that she took as his version of an apology. He didn’t have to tell her because she already knew what he meant. She always seemed to know what he meant when he was to ashamed of himself to say the words.
“Sure mom, but I need to talk to Marty first real quick if that’s ok? What I did should have never happened and I want to make it right before we start.” Lisette nodded her head, smiled and walked away. He took a deep breath and then turned and faced the man that he had nearly murdered a few hours ago. Just when Antoine was about to apologize, Marty cut him off.
“I know that you have a lot that you wanna say but just here me out first. First, I want you to know that what happened this morning was not your fault. I sort of instigated it because I thought that you were trying to hit on Lisette, I got jealous. Second, me and your mother are not a couple and we never were, I just really like her is all. You don’t even have to apologize to me because how could you have known that you were a 3-form? To be honest I thought that I was just going to kick your ass real quick and that was going to be the end of it. I guess the joke was on me. If your mother didn’t step in when she did I’d be missing a head right now!” He laughed nervously at his own statement and then cringed at the thought of it.
“Thanks for letting me off of the hook bro because I really don’t now what got into me. And what’s this 3-form thing that I keep hearing everyone call me? And how come everyone is avoiding me like I have the plague or something? They won’t even look me in the face!”
“It’s because your special Antoine. I mean we’re all special but your, special special if that makes any sense to you at all. Anyway, I think it’s better if your mother explains everything to you but afterwards if you want to talk just let me know, I’ll be here.”
“Thanks Marty and like I said, I’m really sorry about this morning man.” When Marty looked into Antoine’s face he could see that the boy was sincere. He knew that the change had gotten the best of him being that he was still learning to control it. Marty smiled.
“No worries like I said, It’s water under the bridge friend. Now let’s go hear this story before your mom kills the both of us!” The two shared a brief laugh together and all seemed well as they strode over to the camp fire. When they got there, Lisette had already assembled everybody and there was actually a few new faces present also. He sat down across from his mother to hear what she had to say. It was no doubt the biggest gathering that the pack had had since anyone could remember. Lisette started her story with Antoine’s introduction to the pack. She really didn’t have to because once word spread about what happened that morning, the word spread like wildfire about the 3-form at the campsite.
“For anyone that doesn’t know already, this is my son Antoine. I’m sure by now everyone has heard the stories so I’m just going to get right to it. There’s a whole lot to talk about and time is not on our side right now so pay attention. This young man that you’re all looking at might be the key to us becoming a real pack, a feared pack. No more running and hiding like we’ve had to do for so long now.” The pack seemed to be getting very interested in what Lisette had to say, she continued her story knowing that she had their complete attention.
“Now Antoine, I never finished telling you what happened after my first change and how my first experience lead to me coming to New York. Like I said before, when I changed and smashed through my bedroom w
indow I felt like a god. I never thought that anything could feel that damn good. Running wild without a care in the world in werewolf form is more addictive than any drug that I can think of. The same thing that happened to you happened to me, I woke up In a camp that was a lot like this, naked and everything. The first person that I saw when I opened my eyes was Gabriel Fouche. I was the happiest woman on earth at that moment but I was so confused. I didn’t know if I was going crazy or if I had just had one hell of a lucid dream. My memory was somewhat sketchy, It’s hard to remember anything after your first change because there’s so many things in play.” Antoine looked at his mother thoughtfully and she could tell that there was a question brewing in that inquisitive head of his, she was right.
“So you turned into a werewolf and everything but that doesn’t explain how you were changed. You never said anything about being bitten or anything, were you bitten?”
“No, I was never bitten but a man of Gabriel Fouche’s caliber doesn’t have to inflict a bite to turn someone, like you he was a 3-form super alpha. All of those beautiful days that we had spent in the forrest making love were not as genuine as I thought. 3-form alpha’s can turn someone just by having sex with them if it happens every day for about a week or so. I guess he loved me in his own way but he also had other hidden agendas. What I didn’t know was that Gabriel had his eyes on me long before we ever met. He knew what I could do and how powerful I had become as a Voodoo practitioner. Marie Laveau had taught me well and what better way to gain power then to get it from a young foolish woman who thinks she’s in love.” Lisette had become teary eyed as she thought about the first and only man that she had ever truly loved.
“Mom, you don’t have do this right now.” Antoine said. He could see what it was doing to her having to relive all of her painful memories. Lisette wiped her eyes and continued on.
“It’s okay I’m alright. I was turned at the end of one war and at the beginning of another. The first war was between Marie Laveau and Gabriel, although I didn’t know this at the time. Back then in New Orleans people were just getting snatched off of the street left and right. Most of them were never seen again and the one’s that were seen had been turned into werewolves by force. Gabriel gave them a simple choice, either die or join his pack. Many of Marie’s Voodoo practitioner’s were killed when they refused to join him and that’s when Marie decided enough was enough. She began to poison the lakes, streams and rivers that supported the rebel band of werewolves with a tincture that was harmless to humans but crippling to any lycanthrope. The poisonous tincture made it impossible for the werewolves to change into their animal form.” Antoine sat looking amazed, he looked like a kid listening to a good bedtime story.
“So what ever happened to Gabriel mom?” Lisette smiled, the firelight giving her a mischievious look.
“That’s when he found me. Months had passed and other wolf packs had begun to move in and pick Gabriel’s pack apart. The one’s who had survived either up and left to join other packs or they decided to test their luck out on their own. Gabriel was desperate and his crippling condition forced him out of the forest and into New Orleans. When he got there the people were angry and wanted revenge for the murder’s of their loved ones. He was always in fear for his life and was barely sleeping until finally he broke down and swallowed his pride. He went to Marie Laveau begging for her to remove his terrible affliction. She did, but not before making him leave a lock of his hair and sign an agreement that would forfeit his life if he ever brought harm to New Orleans again. It was soon after that, that our relationship had began.”
“So what was the second war mom? Because he got his ass kicked by Marie Laveau something awful in that first one!” Members of the pack had begun to laugh at Antoine’s joke but it was short lived when Lisette cut in and starting talking.
“Marie Laveau is a very powerful woman and you all would be smart to remember that! Like I was saying, the second war had started right after Gabriel’s affliction was removed, with his own father! The thing with 3-form alpha’s is that they are forever chasing power. All werewolves get stronger in time but three forms are the only lycanthrope I know of that can absorb the life force from whatever they kill. I was there with Gabriel when the war between he and his father started. We travelled from city to city and state to state building a new pack. I watched him as he murdered innocent men, women and children and absorbed them. At the time I was so blinded by my love for him that I sometimes joined in, but I never hurt any children, I couldn’t. We left a trail of dead body’s everywhere we went, a trail that Gabriel’s father followed religiously. Gabriel never really talked about his father and I only had the chance to see him once, hell I don’t even know his name. I’ve been around for over two hundred years and till this day I’ve never seen a lycanthrope that powerful! This is the part that you should pay close attention to Antoine, It concern’s you.
Chapter 7
Gabriel Fouche walked through the forrest enjoying the beautiful silence that came along with being feared. Certain animals could sense a threat from miles away and they had no doubt sensed him. He was over four hundred years old and had been left for dead more times than he could count or care to remember. He had accomplished a great deal in his many years of life but in his eyes he was still number two. His father was number one and he didn’t want to face him again anytime soon, he wasn’t ready. He hadn’t seen his father in quite some time now. Gabriel was almost killed during their last encounter when his father threw him off of a cliff and left him for dead. He should have died that cold and lonely night, but hate kept him alive. He lay broken on top of a huge slab of rock for hours on end as his body struggled to heal itself from it’s extensive injuries. He never quite understood his father until he himself went mad in his quest for power, murdering anything with a pulse.
Gabriel’s travels had taken him all over the world but it was in Chicago Illinois that he had met America’s first serial killer, the notorious H.H. Holmes. The year was 1889 and both men had their eyes on a small time criminal named Benjamin Pitezel. H.H. Holmes needed a stooge to carry out his upcoming murderous plans and Gabriel needed a beta for his new pack. As he walked down West 63rd Street towards the drugstore that Benjamin Pitezel worked at, he was approached by a man with a top hat and a bushy walrus mustache.
“Good evening sir, I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been walking past my establishment everyday for the last week or so. Is there any particular reason why you find my place of business so interesting?” Gabriel Fouche looked at the stern looking man with a stare that would have made most men look away, but not H.H. Holmes. He stood right in front of the blood thirsty predator and stared right back. Gabriel could smell fear from a mile away and was somewhat surprised when the man before him was actually angry, although it didn’t show on his face. He was only around 5’7 inches tall but he had an evil charisma about him that reminded Gabriel of a mean circus clown.
“I’m actually in town looking for work and a place to stay for a few months and was thinking about inquiring at your drugstore. I can pay for a week in advance.” Gabriel said looking down at the man. The small man with the top hat and walrus mustache grinned but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, he was already plotting on Gabriel. There was an awkward moment of silence at first but then suddenly the small man adjusted his top hat and genuinely smiled.
“Well friend, you’ve come to the right place! I’m actually in the middle of some construction at the moment and could definitely use some extra hands right now! Come on, let me show you around the place a little bit so you can see if it’s something that your interested in. If you are you can get started first thing in the morning, it’s too late to get started on anything now anyway. I’m H.H. Holmes by the way.” He stuck out a hand to shake and Gabriel accepted it with a false grin.
“Thank you Mr. Holmes, I’m Gabriel Fouche! I really appreciate you helping me out like this and I promise that you won’t be sorry.” No, but you will when yo
u wake up with all of your limbs missing! The small man thought as he made his way across the street hurriedly. Gabriel followed behind him and soon he was standing inside of the drugstore getting the grand tour. When the tour was finally over he got Gabriel set up in a small dank room that boasted one well slept in bed and no windows.
“It’s not much but it will get you through the night until we can find some better accommodations for you tomorrow. In the mean time I’ll bring you up something to eat and drink, I should have a few sandwiches leftover from earlier if that suits you?”
“Yes that’s fine with me, and once again, thank you.” Gabriel watched as the small man nodded and left to go fetch his dinner. If he had been an ordinary man this building that he occupied at the moment would have been his tomb. He could smell the stench of death wafting from the building miles away, that’s what had brought him there in the first place. He had only seen Benjamin Pitzel at first and had assumed that he was the owner of this wretched hell hole. But now that he had met Mr. Holmes he knew the truth, Pitzel was just his lackey.
Five or so minutes had passed when H.H. Holmes returned with a ham sandwich on rye and a glass of lemonade, both laced with cyanide poison. He smiled at Gabriel and sat his food on the bed next to him like a seasoned waiter.
“I made you a pretty big sandwich there so hopefully it fills you up. We open up at 8am so we’ll have breakfast at around 7. See you in the morning friend, I’m turning in for the night.” The small man turned and walked away before Gabriel could even answer which was rather rude he thought. Gabriel waited until he didn’t hear the little man’s footsteps anymore and then hid the sandwich under his bed and poured the lemonade between the gapped floor boards. Now all he had to do was wait on the little dead eyed man to return.
