The place was so lit up that every window was completely black and you couldn’t see even outside if you tried. There could be one staring right through the glass and we wouldn’t know.
“It was a mistake coming here,” I said under my breath.
Priscilla didn’t hear me clearly and said, “What?”
All I could think about was Grandma and how I wanted to get to her. If I was this scared, I could only imagine how she’d feel all alone in her house. What the hell was I thinking leaving her there?
“Everybody calm down,” Deputy Wilson announced, trying to draw the attention of those in attendance. “There’s obviously been a little scare, but everything’s all right. It was just a coyote. Nothing to panic about.”
Henry started scoping out the windows, undeniably through the coercion of Veronica and her friends. I wanted so badly to scream for him to get away from there, but I didn’t want to out myself as the crazy person when Deputy Wilson was trying so hard to calm them down. I couldn’t yell stay away from the werewolf. I watched, practically biting my nails down to nothing, knowing that every window he passed, there could be one of those things on the other side, waiting and sizing him up for dinner. I had to do something.
Finally I caved and yelled, “Henry, get away from there!”
He turned to face me and squinted his eyes in an attempt to find me in the sea of people. “What?”
“Get away from there!” I repeated.
Suddenly, the window behind him exploded into a thousand shards of glass, spraying the floor and people with the sharp fragments and cutting everyone in sight. This giant bear looking creature burst through the empty window frame and landed on all fours, glaring out through matted dark, long fur with piercing yellow eyes. A werewolf.
The entire place erupted into a panic as women were screaming and their dates were running around in circles. The werewolf leapt onto a pedestrian and began tearing him apart, taking him into his mouth, trapping him between his teeth and then flinging his body around like a rag doll.
More windows burst and two more werewolves made their entrance; a pitch black one, and then another that was a light shade of brown and much smaller. Poor Henry was caught in a sandwich between all these wolves and no one could help as they closed in on him from each side. Henry ran and tripped repeatedly—his out-of-shape mass unable to give him the proper speed he needed—until the blackest werewolf pounced on him and began tearing the flesh from his neck. It chomped and chomped until Henry’s head completely detached and hung from the wolf’s mouth by innards and bloody strings caught on its teeth. The werewolf tried to shake the head loose from its mouth, and, by accident, launched Henry’s decapitated skull right toward us and at the tip of Priscilla’s feet.
Priscilla screamed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I was in complete and utter shock. For a whole ten seconds, the world around me slowed down while my heart and breathing pattern went rapid. I finally understood what people meant when they said they had out of body experiences. I could see my surroundings, I could see the chaos of the werewolves breaking into every window and the people screaming and running, but it was like I wasn’t there. It was like it wasn’t real.
When Priscilla grabbed me by the shoulders screaming, I was yanked back into reality and the terror set in. “Oh, God, his head!” she shrieked.
Max grabbed a tablecloth from one of the tables and threw it down onto Henry’s severed head. I couldn’t see it, but knowing the lump beneath the wet cloth was a head made me want to pass out. And not just any head, but the head of someone I knew.
I heard guns going off like crazy, and there were cops opening fire while civilians were running around. I knew the werewolves were here, but there were so many people charging for the door that Priscilla, Max, and I were getting sandwiched in between bodies and were sort of drifting toward an exit like we were in a moving stream, not having to put in any effort. Unfortunately, the doorway wasn’t wide enough for the amount of people trying to get through that it was actually becoming impossible for anybody to squeeze out, and with the werewolves still inside with us, stuck was the last place I wanted to be.
In the distance, I could see Dana’s elderly bidder rowing in his wheelchair, its wheels spinning fast and him racing across the floor out of control as a werewolf chased after him. There were so many people here for the werewolves to kill that us being buried in the crowd let us go unseen for a moment.
All this horrible screaming occurred just a few feet from me, and I saw at the end of our line, Freddy was being dragged away by his leg, which was clasped inside the jaw of a massive werewolf. While I had come face to face with a werewolf before, I had never seen one under the bright fluorescent lights like the one, and the image was startling to say the least. Its black hair was ratty with flecks of brown sprinkled throughout the strands, its teeth were bone white and jagged, its claws too long for its paws, and its gaze absolutely sinister. I looked straight into its piercing blue eyes, and it was like staring right into the gates of hell. The slitted pupils stared right back at me, and with one gaze I felt like it was promising me agony and death.
An overwhelming fear and sense of dread came over me even seeing this thing, and I found myself backing into the bodies of the crowd I had safely hidden myself in, clawing my way to get to the door. Everyone else was going to have to deal with it.
The werewolf chomped down on Freddy’s leg as Tiffany extended her hand out to his, yelling for him to hold on and not let go. Freddy was screaming bloody murder, but his girlfriend wouldn’t leave him behind, even as this thing growled at her and ate her boyfriend’s calf like it were a dog treat.
Tiffany pulled hard and, eventually, Freddy flew and landed right on top of her. His face was white as a ghost and blood trailed from the creases of his lips. The werewolf had ripped his leg completely off and Freddy was now bleeding out heavily and very, very fast. As Freddy's body emptied buckets of blood onto her, Tiffany shrieked in terror. Her screams were cut off by the werewolf pouncing on top of her, tearing into her neck. She went limp immediately, but I could see she was still alive, but merely not fighting, like she had given up. Even if she were still screaming, I couldn't hear her over the sounds of the people around me.
Suddenly, a bullet nailed the werewolf in the shoulder and it stopped its attack on Tiffany, howled sharply and then promptly ran off at an incomprehensible speed, leaping out the window and disappearing into the night. It took me a minute before I realized it was Deputy Wilson who had fired the gun.
“Half the group, come with me!” he commanded, waving his hand to direct them to join his side.
The people at the end of the line quickly changed directions and followed Deputy Wilson, while the front half continued pouring out the main entrance. We had to crawl over the bodies of Freddy and Tiffany, and there was so much blood, I thought I was going to be sick. We ran as fast as we could behind the deputy and I quickly realized we were going for the back door through the kitchen, where Max and I had met this evening.
I heard a couple more screams and glanced back to see two guys from our group had been picked off and had been trampled on by one of the werewolves running by. I couldn’t believe this was happening, and it was only a matter of time before we became the unfortunate ones.
Priscilla watched the men being devoured and cried, “Jesus Christ!”
“This way!” Deputy Wilson shouted and then tore open the back door. Instantly, a werewolf poured through—one bigger and more ferocious looking than the others. It was such a narrow door frame that the werewolf came charging through and knocked down Deputy Wilson and pinned him to the ground. Deputy Wilson fired his gun off once, and while I couldn’t see past the dozens of people in front of me, I heard the animal shriek and whine. I knew it had been hit. Then I heard Deputy Wilson yell out in pain.
“No!” I screamed involuntarily. I wanted to fight through the crowd and get to him, but I was too far back and he had already been bitt
en. I knew I was too late. The gun went off again, but I couldn’t be sure if it hit the werewolf or not. Deputy Wilson was doing his best to struggle against the beast as it attacked him from above, snapping its teeth at his skin and growling like a panther, but it was just too strong and eventually, began tearing away at Deputy Wilson’s chest.
“Run!” he strained to yell.
The people in our group went right passed him and out the door, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go by him like he was nothing to me; like he was one of these other people I had no relationship with. I was never going to pretend Deputy Wilson and I were close friends, but he had saved my life, and now I was having to walk by and watch him lose his. I couldn’t do it.
It was like Max could read my mind because he grabbed hold of me by the hand and whisked Priscilla and me toward the door and passed this horrifically huge monster on top of the deputy. Once we had reached the exit, I turned back toward Deputy Wilson and saw his kind eyes peering beyond the mass of long black fur that blanketed him as he was pinned to the ground. This thing had him trapped, and there was no escaping. I saw his hand shakily reach out for the gun and pressed it to the side of the wolf’s head as it chewed on him.
When we made it out of the building, I heard one gunshot, and then silence. The werewolf was no longer. I took a step out onto the pavement of the parking lot and heard one more gunshot, and my blood went cold. That bullet wasn't for any werewolf. That was for himself.
Jason.
“Come on, come on, come on!” Max ordered as he pulled on my arm like I was made of nothing. I was getting pretty hysterical at that point and I didn’t even know what we were going to do next. I had parked in the front and we were now in the back parking lot, with God only knows what lurking around the corner. “We have to go!”
“Where are we going?” I couldn’t believe I had mustered up some words.
“My truck. It’s right here.”
“Thank fucking God!” Priscilla exclaimed.
“Help me!” a voice screamed. We turned and saw Veronica limping toward us from the side of the building like her leg was injured, crying and reaching her hand out as she dragged her body like it weighed a ton. Her chest had droplets of blood all over, and it was unclear if the blood belonged to her or someone else. “Please help me!”
Max’s truck wasn’t very big and could probably seat three adults, but there was no way I was going to deny someone who was begging for our help. “Come with us!” I said loudly and waved her over. I would have run to her to give her a hand so she could limp her way to the truck, but I didn’t want my feet to stop moving once. I was fully aware of the speed of those things and knew I’d never be able to gain enough momentum to outrun them all.
Then out of nowhere, the smaller, brown werewolf shot out from the sky like it bounced from a trampoline, and planted itself right on top of Veronica’s back, slamming her down into the pavement face first. It ripped into her back with its teeth and began devouring her as she wriggled around on the ground like a worm. There was nothing she could do. The werewolf was simply too big and too heavy and would keep her pinned there forever if it needed. She barely even screamed before she died.
Max immediately went running for his truck and pulled me by the hand the whole time. I didn’t even realize Priscilla had my other hand and we were running, linked like a train. Even as we got farther, I could still hear the animal snarling and snorting as it ate the last bits of Veronica. The smell of blood was everywhere. Priscilla’s grim, pale face showcased every emotion I was going through.
Max shoved the two of us into his truck and I somehow ended up in the middle. Priscilla sat in the passenger seat and immediately locked her door and rolled up the window as Max ran to the other side. “Come on!” we shouted to him at the same time. It was silly, but somehow, yelling at him made it feel like he was going faster. Thankfully, he got inside unscathed.
“What the fuck is going on?!” Priscilla screamed at the top of her lungs.
We heard a loud bang and felt the truck shift and become weighed down from the back. I looked over my shoulder, through the sliding window dividing us from the rear end of the truck, and practically lost my voice screaming from what I saw; this gnarling, thick-haired beast about the size of a zebra climbing up through the back. Its green eyes locked onto me and its mouth dropped open and hissed. I never thought I would be this close to one, and making out all the details of the crinkles in its long snout, the tangles in its thick hair, and the dripping slobber flowing from its fangs didn’t just cover me in goosebumps, but also made me feel like I was going to pass out. The only thing keeping me awake was the sound of Priscilla’s scream, which was somehow even more high-pitched than mine.
Max revved up the engine and tore out of our parking spot, ramming into another parked car which set off its alarm. Oh, God, it was so loud, it was only a matter of time before every werewolf in town was notified of our presence. I don’t think Max cared, though. That thing was enormous and could easily shatter the windows, so we needed to knock it off the truck and fast. Unfortunately, it clung on tight, only sliding here and there as the truck picked up speed.
“Max, do something!” Priscilla shouted as we sped out of the parking lot and headed down a dark, empty road.
There was another loud thud and when I turned back to see, the wolf was no longer in the bed of the truck. For a moment, I thought it had fallen off into the road, until the ceiling above us practically caved in from all this pressure. The leather pressed down and almost smacked me in the head. It had a pointed tip like a finger was coming down and pushing, and then, very slowly, the leather tore and a sharp, white claw made its way through.
“It’s on the roof!” I shrieked.
“Jesus Christ!” Priscilla exclaimed.
The werewolf swiped its claws at the roof viciously until it tore open and moonlight poured through. I was right underneath this thing. If it got through, or even managed to nick me with its claws, I was done for. There’s no way I could survive a wound that big. Running from one of these things was terrifying enough, but this moment was almost worse because I was completely helpless. I couldn’t move even if I tried. All I could do was duck and throw my hands above my head and hope every swipe somehow missed me.
“Hold on,” Max said as loud as he could, and with barely a second passing after his warning he jerked the steering wheel sharply to the right and then to the left, making a hard zigzag across the road. Priscilla’s face slammed right into the passenger seat window and I ended up rolling to the floor and beneath her feet with her kicking me in the head. The werewolf dragged across the roof, tearing new straight lines into the ceiling with its claws. When the werewolf didn’t budge, Max swayed the car back and forth once again, this time harder, and this time with results. The werewolf slid off the roof, and then clung to the side of the truck as it went down and bashed right into the passenger window with its face pressed to the glass. Its glowing eyes stared right into Priscilla’s and hissed. Priscilla freaked out and scooted across the seat toward Max, pushing into him and not relenting, like her body was telling her to get as far from the werewolf as she could, but it didn’t register that she had run out of space. Her body cramming into Max’s arm caused him to lose control of the wheel and we went flying across the road and almost into the ditch until Max regained control.
“Priscilla!” he yelled.
The werewolf pressed its wet snout against the glass and began gnawing with its teeth, attempting to tear a hole right through the center. I could hear all kinds of clanking and snapping like the glass was about to break any second.
“Max!” I called. Suddenly, the window cracked into several spiraling lines that spread throughout the whole frame. “Oh, God!”
Max slammed his foot down on the brakes and the car went from about eighty to zero in five seconds. Priscilla flew into the dashboard and I rolled beneath it. Thankfully, our werewolf friend detached itself from the side of our vehicle and was lun
ged several feet in front of the truck, rolling and rolling across the pavement until it fell into a little ball.
Priscilla sat upright in her seat and said, “What are you waiting for? Kill it!”
I couldn’t see a thing stuck under the dashboard, but as soon as I felt the truck pick up speed once more, I stayed put and hung on for dear life. We accelerated quickly and I slammed my eyes tight, not wanting to see what was about to happen and not wanting to feel it, either. It was so large, I was afraid running into it would topple the car.
And then, BAM. The impact was loud and thunderous, and no matter how much clinging I did to the interior of the truck, I was still jerked around viciously, to the point that I was pretty sure I messed up my neck. Little shards of glass covered the seats—pieces I presumed were from the windshield, and I could hear Priscilla yelling and yelling, “Did you get it? Did you get it?” I could feel us slowing down and immediately Priscilla said, “Don’t stop the car, you idiot!”
“Jesus Christ, we have to make sure everyone is alive,” he responded, practically scolding her. I knew he was referencing me, so I gingerly crawled out from under the dashboard and onto the passenger seat. All that ruckus had now put Priscilla in the middle. “Cora, you all right?” he asked.
“God, no,” I bluntly replied. “Where is it?”
Max checked his rear view mirror. “It’s not moving.” We were still going forward, but it was at a slow enough speed that the lump of werewolf was still visible behind us. I looked for myself and all I could really make out was bushy, long hair blowing in the wind and what looked like a deep red substance spreading out around it. I felt sick to my stomach, but relieved all the same. At least it wouldn’t be coming after us.
“What the fuck was that?!” Priscilla suddenly blurted out.
“I’d say we just ran into a werewolf,” Max casually informed her.
“A...? A werewolf? What?! No fucking way.”
Lunar Rampage (Lunar Rampage Series Book 1) Page 25
