Lunar Rampage (Lunar Rampage Series Book 1)

by Samantha Cross

  “You know what’s going to happen to her,” Max warned me and then gradually aimed his rifle right at Dana.

  Very apologetically I told her, “Sorry, Dana,” and then before Max could shoot her, I decked her right in the face. She dropped like a sack of potatoes and was out like a light. Max lowered his gun and proceeded to stare at me, completely floored over what I had done. I shook my stinging fist that felt like it was going to burn off and said, “You’re right, punching does hurt.”

  Max smirked and said, “Let’s get her in the truck. She doesn’t need to be lying in the road like this.”

  I took her by the legs and he took her hands and we slid her in the front seat of the truck and shut both doors. I had hoped she’d be out for a while and none of the other werewolves would smell her blood. It had to be safer than what she was already doing, which was aimlessly traveling down the road, weeping and waiting to get hit by a car.

  Deep down, I was hoping her incapacitated state would keep her from any sudden transformations.

  “We should have just killed her,” Max said.

  “Could you live with that?”

  “We may have to die with that.”

  “We can’t go around killing people.”

  “What about when she wakes up?”

  I was lost for words. What would happen when she woke up?

  “Great, and now we have no damn car. We’re going to have to run for my house.”

  “Your house is too far,” I told him. “If a werewolf doesn’t get us, exhaustion will.” I had driven down this road plenty of times, and it never seemed like a long distance between his place and Owen’s, but I was always in my safe Bug that made time fly by. On foot, it’d take way too long.

  “It’s not that far. Besides, what are we going to do, sit here and wait for Goldilocks to wake up? You saw the bite.”

  “I know, I know...” Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in my head. “Owen.”

  “Owen?”

  “His house is closer. We can go there and use one of his cars and then drive to your place. Owen and Molly weren’t at the hall when all this started, so they probably don’t even know what’s going on. They’re probably sitting pretty in their living room as we speak.”

  “Why weren’t they at the party?”

  “I don’t know. Does it matter? Come on, let’s go!”

  We had to run down the road in the direction that we came from and toward Owen’s house. It was eerie how quiet everything was. We were far enough from the party that we could no longer hear shouting or gunfire, and it made me feel extremely uneasy. Was everyone dead? And if they were, were the werewolves feeding on their bodies or had they grown tired and were venturing out, looking for more victims? Max and I were standing right out in the open for easy pickings. God knows, I had horrible luck on this road.

  We passed the very spot where I had my first attack and I looked up to the sky toward the bright, full moon that seemed to be constantly running with us, following us, taunting us. It was a bringer of all kinds of horrible things and I wanted it gone so badly. Never again would I look at a full moon the same way.

  Suddenly, we heard a loud cry and howl. Max and I froze in the street.

  “Where was that coming from?” I asked with a tremble.

  “I don’t know. It sounds like it’s all around us.”

  “What do we do?” I whispered. I barely even moved the muscles in my face, afraid any exaggerated facial movements would somehow draw unnecessary attention. It was silly, considering I did nothing to warrant my first attack.

  “We keep going,” Max told me and pushed his hand into my lower back for me to run. I didn’t know what Max was thinking, but this was probably the first time in his life that he ever wanted to go to Owen’s and see Molly’s and Owen’s smiling faces. I know I did. We had gotten lucky with finding a safe Grandma, and now I was hoping the same for Owen. I had been so worried about her that my brain didn’t allow me to properly fret over Owen as well.

  I could finally see Owen’s house in the distance with a car parked in the driveway, its trunk popped open like they were packing. Maybe they did know what was happening and decided to leave town.

  “Oh, thank God, they’re home!” I yelled to Max. I was fearful that they had gotten wind of everything and had bailed for the city. For their safety it made sense, but we needed a vehicle and they were our only hope.

  My calves were on fire and I was tripping in my heels, but Owen’s house was so close that I found myself actually throwing my hand out and overcoming the burn in my legs to get there.

  We made it to the driveway, and just as I was about to crack a smile, we heard another howl. Max dropped to the ground and yanked me down with him, pulling us both against the side of the vehicle, using it as a shield from whatever was around.

  “That sounded close,” he said.

  “Did you see it?”

  “No, but I didn’t want it to see us.”

  “Christ, we’re going to die, aren’t we?”

  “You heard that girl on the road—one of the cops killed these things. Deputy Wilson, too. And if we're to believe the one we ran over is dead, too, that means we have three less to deal with, and that they’re killable. No silver bullets required.”

  “What if their guns happened to be carrying silver bullets?”

  He went silent and stared at me like I was crazy. “You really think cops carry around silver bullets?”

  “Cops protecting a town from werewolves might.”

  “My point is these things aren’t indestructible. I can kill one if it finds us.”

  I nodded.

  “I’m gonna go around to the back of the vehicle and see if there’s anything,” he told me.

  “I’ll wait here.”

  He moved like some kind of super spy, creeping along with bent knees and his rifle placed up against his chest and between his legs. It was aimed right under his chin and I kept thinking how all it’d take was one mishap and his head would be blown off.

  I couldn’t see him anymore except for his legs underneath the car. Suddenly, he stretched them out straight like he was standing up, and very drearily he said, “Holy shit.”

  “What? What is it?”

  No answer.

  I rushed out from the side of the vehicle and found him at the back of the car staring into the open trunk. His face was grim and in shock, and I was afraid to look.

  There, sprawled out in the trunk was the bloodied, torn apart body of Molly.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  We were both lost for words. The concept of speaking at that moment didn’t even feel appropriate. I was stunned, repulsed, saddened, confused... you name an emotion and one of us was feeling it.

  Molly was destroyed by claw marks, bites and horrible gashes running all over her body. The dress she had so elegantly displayed earlier in the evening didn’t even look purple anymore, but like it had been put through a shredder and then dipped in red dye.

  You know how I kept thinking I was going to puke all the time? Well, this time I didn’t even have time to think about it. I unapologetically barfed all over the ground. I think I even hurled up a piece of cake from the party.

  “Molly...” Max said despondently, with his hands fastened on the rim of the trunk. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her, even with how gruesome the scene was. I knew they had been close at one time in their lives, but with all that had occurred between them, I never imagined he would look this distraught over it. He was absolutely shaken looking.

  “I’m so sorry...” I whispered. “I can’t believe...” I wasn’t even sure what I was trying to say. The girl he had once found a place for in his heart was dead, and practically mutilated at that.

  Clearly, a werewolf had gotten to her. Strange thing was, it didn’t look like it was trying to eat her. It merely attacked her and left. Was that the howl we heard? Was that who killed her? Had it just happened or had she been dead for a while?

  My stomach went i
nto knots again when I suddenly remembered Owen. Where was he? Was he safe? Was he alive? Did he know what happened to his sister? Oh, man... this was horrible. Molly had met her end in such a savage, horrible fashion, just as his parents had. His parents were gone and now, so was Molly, leaving Owen all alone.

  My eyes misted over with tears and this time I was sick with sadness.

  “How am I going to tell Owen?” I cried.

  “If he’s even...”

  “Don’t say it,” I replied quickly. I didn’t want to think it. Until I saw a body, I was going to continue to think Owen was safe and sound. It was probably the one hope I had left in me that stopped my legs from buckling and making me drop on the ground in hysterics.

  Max looked like he was going over something in his mind, like he realized the situation was off, and then in a low voice he said, “How did she end up in the trunk?” He asked the question, but the suspicious way he spoke made it sound more like a statement. Like he knew her being in the trunk was wrong and he wanted me to hear it. With the shock of finding her here, it hadn’t even dawned on me. Why would someone put her here?

  A bloodcurdling scream came roaring out from inside the house so loud that even Max jumped. It wasn’t a werewolf, it was human. A man, to be exact. It screamed again, this time tinier and more familiar.

  “Owen,” I trembled. “He’s inside! It’s killing him!”

  I wasn’t even thinking straight. I went jetting off right for the front door, ready to kick it down. That is, until I noticed the glass screen door was stuck open, and there was giant hole in the center of the wooden outside door, like something had busted right through. The wood was jagged and sharp and whatever it was that came through here had left balls of fur and hair all over. It was a safe bet what did this.

  Seeing that killed my adrenaline and I was now afraid to step through. I had to wonder, if this werewolf broke through the door, which way did he do it? Did he break out or in?

  It wasn’t safe to speak, so I had to trust that Max and I were on the same page, and we stepped through the hole in the door almost in unison. Once we were inside, we realized the entire house was engulfed in darkness. There wasn’t a single light turned on. Everything had that blue glow to it from the full moon outside. It was almost like the power wasn’t even on and had been completely switched off. But there was no way I was going to risk flipping a light switch and becoming werewolf bait just so I could see better.

  Max and I moved together, treading lightly, but making our way through the house. The entire floor was wood, so every step we made created a click and creak and then we’d stop and hold our breath.

  Finally, I heard a noise. It was too muffled and indistinct, but it sounded like a person and it was coming from the other room. Max and I ventured into the dining room area and saw that the table had been completely flipped upside down. The chairs were broken into several pieces, and the windows shattered, with shards of glass scattered all over the floor. Something terrible had happened here, and I was afraid to let my thoughts linger.

  Then I heard a whimper. It was coming from the darkest corner in the dining room, and my eyes were still adjusting to the black, dense air that it took me a moment before I realized someone was standing there. I almost did a cartwheel when I realized it was Owen.

  “Owen, thank God. You nearly gave us a heart attack. Where have you been?” I waited for him to answer, but all I got was the sound of sniffling, and the tap, tap, tap of something hitting the floor. As though a liquid was dripping. “Owen?” I called out once more. He had to have heard me, but through the shadows, I couldn’t tell if he was even seeing me.

  Yes, something was wrong.

  Like a zombie, cradling his one arm, he stepped into the moonlight that poured through the window, finally giving me my first look at him. It took my breath away. His face was covered in sweat and tears, and his eyes looked lost and distant like he was on the brink of an emotional breakdown. He must have known about Molly. He must have known. But the closer he got to me, the more I began to suspect that wasn’t the only problem. He seemed hurt, and weirder yet, he didn’t appear to be wearing any clothes. At all.

  “Owen, what’s going on?” I asked cautiously. Something was definitely off.

  Through tears he responded, “You need to leave.”

  “What happened?” I looked to his shoulder where a very apparent bullet wound lay. “Oh, my God, you’ve been shot!” It was dark with thick blood, and although the gunshot wound was a bit gruesome looking, the rest of his body looked to be in prime condition.

  I wanted to help him and took a step forward, but Owen ripped his body away and practically roared. “Stay away from me!” Max must have been spooked because he put his arm out in front of me like a shield. At first, I thought it was unnecessary, but the longer I stared at Owen, who wept and panted, the more uncomfortable I became. He didn’t seem like himself. There was something primal and dangerous, and all I could wonder was why he was standing in the dark, nude, with a bullet lodged in his shoulder.

  “Owen, tell me what’s going on,” I said calmly.

  “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he cried. “Any of it. I thought I had it under control, but she wasn’t supposed to be there. She followed me home. She knew better. She knew to leave me in the basement.” He kept rambling and sobbing and it was hard to make out anything he said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Molly!” he exclaimed. “I promised her that what happened to our parents would never happen to her! That I could control it if I was tied up.” He began sobbing harder, and at this point, I was officially freaked out. “Those monsters did this to me... but I’m not like them. They can’t change the way I can. We’re not the same, I swear to God.”

  Oh, my God...

  “We need to get out of here,” Max said to me so very quietly.

  “I can’t bring myself to burn her body,” Owen continued. “She was all I had.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Was this really happening? No, no, no, no. Not Owen. Not Owen. “Owen, we’ll get you some help.”

  “There is no help for this!” he screamed. “Don’t you understand? One bite! One bite was all it took to make me this way! I killed my family! I lose all control when I turn. I’ve tried to stop hurting people. I locked myself up, chained myself up, did all that I could. It’s this primal rage inside of me that won’t let me stay down. Like that night with you, Cora. I swear... I swear I did all I could to slow myself down so I wouldn’t hurt you.”

  “Oh, Jesus…” I trembled. That night in the street... the night that brought me such indescribable terror. My whole body began to shake when I remembered the horrible fear I felt as I ran for my life toward Max’s house. Even then, I knew the animal didn’t look normal. Almost familiar. I swallowed deeply as my throat dried up in shock. It was Owen.

  “I didn’t want to tell you about it,” I began, my voice cracking. “I wanted to protect you from what I knew, but you... you...”

  “So many people are dead... because they’ve been disturbed. Because they’re angry. They just wanted to be left alone.”

  “They?” My voice broke, but I needed to know.

  “The wolves. The ones that turned me.” He looked to the window illuminated by the light of the moon. “Their home was being destroyed every day. They didn’t want this to happen, but they had to protect what was theirs.”

  “You—you talk to them?” I stammered. I wanted to sound calm, but I was terrified.

  “They’re all I hear.”

  A tiny gasp erupted from my throat like a burp. “Tell me what to do.”

  “This shouldn’t be happening,” he said as he clutched at his hair like he was ready to break out of his skin. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone. God, I can’t live with myself.”

  “It’s going to be all right, Owen, I promise.”

  In a burst, Owen suddenly dropped to his knees and began screaming the most horrifying yelp. “It’s happ
ening again,” he growled, and then flung his body down until he was on all fours. I was paralyzed with fear and shock as I watched his arms bend like a contortionist, snapping and cracking as he screamed in pure agony. I wanted to help him, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t believe it, but Owen was turning into one of those beasts right before my eyes. I had been through this before, but this was a completely different ordeal. This was my friend. I felt sympathy for Scott, but I was feeling agony for Owen.

  Max’s hand was suddenly on my wrist and when I turned to him, he yelled, “We need to get out of here! Now!”

  Owen’s blue eyes peered out through patches of black fur that was overtaking his face. “Please... don’t let me do this...” he begged, and then flailed onto his back as the bones in his body broke and shifted.

  I felt like my feet were in quicksand. I couldn’t believe after all the horror movie characters I laughed at that I was, in fact, doing the one thing I had criticized them for; not running. Thank God, Max was there to yank my arm and drag me out of the room. By the time my feet finally got moving, reality kicked me hard in the ass and I suddenly felt like screaming my head off. My friend was turning into a monster and he was probably going to kill me.

  We leapt through the broken front door and Max shut the screen door that was attached to it. It was a weak divide between us and the house, but one that would have to suffice. I was halfway down the porch steps when I noticed Max wasn’t following me, but remaining by the door and loading up his rifle.

  “What are you doing?”

  “The truck is totaled, we’ll never find shelter in time,” he explained.

  Instantly, I knew what he planned and profusely shook my head. “No. You are not killing Owen!”