by Justin Sloan
She swallowed her food. “Why? Why would you want to help me?”
Danny cocked his head and stared at her, then nodded as if telling himself it was okay. “There are others like you… like us.”
She stared back, unsure how to interpret what he was saying.
“Come on.” He stood and moved for the door. She didn’t follow. “You prefer to be alone? The streets?”
She glanced at the food.
“Right.” He turned to the waiter. “Waiter, doggy bag.”
She was hesitant to let him take the food, but in the end she followed Danny and the prospect of more food and clean clothes. Most of all she wanted to know what he had meant when he said, “Like us.”
They left the city behind and walked along a tree lined path, the branches above blocking out the drops of rain. Neither said a word, the only noise aside from the pitter-patter of the rain was the sloshing of the Danny’s shoes in the mud. They passed a bend in the path and Danny paused, motioning to a rickety house in the distance.
“That’s it,” he said.”
She followed with trepidation. With each step she told herself to turn and run, but her curiosity was too strong. When he opened the door, she followed him in.
The inside of the house appeared just as feeble as the outside. Rain dripped through cracks in the wood. She could almost hear the critters scrambling below the floor boards. She looked at him with doubt, but he smiled and stepped aside for her to go first. Skeleton walls of planks made up this unfinished three story building. She assessed the narrow stairs that circled up in the middle of it all, wondering if they wouldn’t topple over under her weight. It didn’t feel right, she couldn’t be trusted around others. With all the excitement to eat, she had forgotten this simple fact.
“You don’t want me here,” she said. “I’m... dangerous.”
Danny smiled. “We all are.”
She looked at him, quizzically.
“In this house, you don’t have to be different,” he said.
Several children and teens appeared throughout the building, their eyes seeming to glow yellow in the dark. It wasn’t right, she didn’t belong. She turned to run but a figure appeared before her in the doorway – the man from earlier, the one with the scars across his face.
Danny nodded. “Aldrick.”
Aldrick looked down at her for a moment. He knelt, his eyes soft. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“What?” Katherine said, her voice catching. “How…?”
“The beast within killed your family, because you couldn’t control it.” He reached out and took her by the shoulders. “Yet.”
Katherine shrugged him off and took a step back. “Get out of my way.”
“So you can do it again?”
She paused, unsure. “I have no one left to hurt.”
“No one? Can you take that chance?”
Her eyes met his.
Danny stepped up beside her. “You aren’t alone, not anymore.”
What could she think of this house of strangers, people who understood an evil part of her that she didn’t even understand herself, that she didn’t want to understand. She ducked past the man named Aldrick and took off in a sprint.
The rain had picked up, stinging her face as she ran all-out across the grass, through the muddy path, and into town. Finally, as the rain died, she found herself at a park with lush trees and beautiful daisies. She kept moving at first, but stopped when she saw a young girl throwing a Frisbee with her dog. The small girl ran to her mother and they hugged, a hug Katherine knew she would never experience again. The dog spotted her and wagged its tail.
“Stay away from me,” Katherine said softly. She turned to continue on, her destination unknown.
Evening came and she found herself walking past a row of restaurants. One with glass windows from floor to ceiling pulled her attention and she paused, hand on her rumbling stomach. She stared at a plate of what appeared to be fried eggplant. She lingered, not noticing the patrons’ uncomfortable looks coming her way, until a very flamboyant waiter came out and shooed her off.
Nowhere to go, she wandered until the city river flowed before her. She found a spot on a steel bridge and lowered herself to sit and peer into the deep green waters below. Having gone from the death of her parents to being homeless, and now this odd group of people in a battered house, she didn’t know what to think. Why couldn’t she just have a normal thirteen year old life? She leaned over and peered into the water, then leaned in just a bit more. Something below caught her eye and she leaned to see it, something glinting, something that didn’t belong. Her balance was off and the bridge below her shifted and she felt herself falling. A hand grabbed her coat and pulled her back.
From where she lay on the ground she looked up to see Aldrick’s scarred face.
“You can throw your life away....” he kneeled down beside her, like before. “But what a waste.”
She turned her gaze to the sky. “I wanna be with them.”
“Your parents? Sure, you could die now, guilt-ridden over their death. Or you can come with me... prevent so many more.”
She stared into his eyes.
“You have the chance to save lives, to bring good into the world. Using the same powers you hate at this moment. I can teach you.” He stood and reached out his hand.
“You swear?” she said and he nodded. She stood and stared at his hand. He nodded and retracted his hand before starting to walk. After a moment, she followed.
That night Katherine climbed the stairs, a candle in her hand. Other children occupied a room here and there, reading by candlelight. She stopped at the door-less room where Aldrick stood. He gestured and she entered. She placed the candle on a table beside a thick leather book.
Aldrick noticed her eyeing the book and nodded. “Within are the answers.”
Her stomach grumbled.
Aldrick reached out and messed her hair, and she let him. “Okay, study after eating.”
After what seemed the best meal she had eaten in weeks—stewed carrots and onions with potatoes, a side of eggs, at her request, and a ripe tomato—she found herself being escorted into the basement with the other kids. Small windows lined the top of the south wall, revealing the night sky. Torch light darted across the room, flickering on the walls and on the seated children. Young Katherine found a spot among them, in dry, new clothes. Aldrick entered then, smiling, and began to pace before them.
“I want you to welcome the newest member of our family,” he said and everyone nodded her way with solemn eyes. Aldrick pointed to the smallest boy, who must have been no more than ten. The boy jumped to his feet, back straight and chest pushed out.
“The sinners of the world shall fall before the light of the moon,” the small boy said.
“Good, now….” Aldrick turned to point at one of the older girls.
She too jumped up straight. “To atone for our evils, we must remove all sinners from the world.”
Aldrick turned to Katherine and smiled. “This is our calling, you see?”
She nodded, in spite of her confusion.
Aldrick spun around and pointed to Danny. On the back of Aldrick’s neck Katherine took note of a circle branded into his skin.
Danny jumped up. “We show no mercy to those that oppose the light of the moon.” The same marking was on his neck.
Aldrick turned to Katherine and the torchlight seemed to dance in his eyes. “We are the Hounds of God, His creatures sent to destroy the evil that plagues the earth. What you thought a curse, God has delivered unto the world as a blessing.”
Over the next week Katherine was surrounded by this talk. She trained with the other kids. There were the nights by the bed with her face buried in books, the orange glow of the candlelight pushing the shadows aside, teasing them almost as the light flickered, the wax overtaking the wick. There were days climbing the planks of the house like a jungle gym, hiding in shadows, moving in silence. But for what? She didn’t know, bu
t she didn’t care because it made her forget her past. There was the training, the punching, dodging, kicking…. And Danny, his arm around her while they laughed. She found herself wondering if this was what it would have been like to have a brother. She would have liked that.
After a week or so of it, she stood tall with the other children in the basement as Aldrick drew a chalk circle, a star in the middle. Katherine stared forward, her eyes fierce, her lip quivering with excitement to say the words she had been so scared of those first nights. He turned to the children with a nod of respect. In response they sounded out as one, “We are the guiding light, we shall open the eyes of the world and illuminate the path. The path toward righteousness.”
The next night Danny and Katherine circled each other in the tall grass under a half-moon, Aldrick observing every movement. Danny came at her with a push kick but she dodged, smiling. She was getting the hang of this.
Aldrick shook his head. “When you transform, the beast will take over. You must harness it, learn to control your inner flow.”
Her smile faded and she turned to him, ready to ask what he meant. Her mouth was slightly open when Danny’s fist took her in the chest. It wasn’t hard, but she was knocked back. She jumped up, ready for another attack, determined to not let it happen again. Seeing the glimmer in his eye, the cocky tilt of his head, she moved for the offense – a series of rapid punches and kicks. Like always, Danny was too quick.
Aldrick slammed his hand against the nearby wall. “Your parents died to teach you a lesson, now make them proud!”
She grunted and took another shot from Danny, her smile gone. She screamed and attacked back, coming strong. For the first time she connected, her leg on his, then a two handed strike to his gut. With a yelp Danny fell to the ground. She stood above him with yellow glowing eyes, fangs, and claws. Danny and Aldrick shared a look of shock.
“And if I don’t want this?” Katherine screamed, staring through her claws at Aldrick.
He stepped forward, eyes dark and very serious. “After what you did to your family, you still think you have that choice?”
She lowered her hands as they returned to normal. Her head sunk. This was her family now, the only one she knew. Somehow it settled in at that moment.
For the next few days she was like a new girl, dedicated and ready for whatever Aldrick had to offer. When he told her to swing from the rafters, or to climb from the second floor to the roof using her claws, she did it. During the day her eyes were so close to her book she could smell the dusty scent of each page. When it came time to practice fighting with Danny, she was so focused that Aldrick soon began to watch in silence.
This was where she belonged.
On one particularly rainy night, Katherine sat up with a start.
She strained her ears, sure she had heard something. Lightning flashed outside. The sound came again, closer—a man’s screams.
She jumped out of bed and ran to the door of her room where she could see the entryway and the front door as it burst open. A man stumbled in and fell to the ground, his shirtless body trembling. Katherine gasped and the man looked up, holding her gaze with a mixed look of terror and confusion. Aldrick followed through the front door, stooping to lift the man by his hair and drag him toward the basement stairs. Danny and the older girl followed. Aldrick stopped when his eyes caught Katherine.
His free hand rose to point at her. “Get back in your room!”
She turned into her room and lowered herself into a huddled ball, wondering what the look in the man’s eyes had meant, and what Aldrick would do with him. The others had been leaving the house at night, looking worn down when they returned, a hollowness in their expressions. What had they been up to? Hunting people like this man?
She tried to go to sleep, but it was no good. Soon the shadows in the ceiling began to take on shapes, one a great wolf. She startled when the wolf moved, then noticed the door was open and Danny stood there, his eyes on the floor.
She threw her feet to the floor and sat up. “Is he… an evil man?”
“So he says.” Danny nodded slowly. “You know, I did it too… my parents. After that, it was either end it all, or this.”
“I’m scared.”
Danny reached for her, a comforting look in his eyes. But the look vanished with the BANG of a gunshot.
“This isn’t part of it,” Danny said, turning from the room with a look of terror.
Katherine sprang out of bed to follow him, heart thumping as she caught site of orange and yellow light flickering.
They darted out of the room and into what had quickly become pure chaos—flames were licking the walls, shapes of people running for safety, and someone shouting as another gunshot sounded.
The heat of flames threatened to push her back, and she spun to see a shadow dart across. She spun to see what was happening, and a moment later Aldrick was inches from her face, eyes wild and full of terror and fury.
“Get back in your rooms!” he shouted, and then disappeared back down the stairs to the basement as another gunshot sounded, closer this time.
A second figure appeared, a man in a tattered suit, and he followed Aldrick.
“We have to get the others!” Danny darted for the next room over and ushered the younger boy, Babur, to follow him. “It’s not safe here!”
“Get them outside,” Katherine yelled, eyes darting back to the basement stairs. Aldrick could take care of himself, couldn’t he?
She followed Babur to the front door as Danny gathered the rest, but a crash brought a piece of burning wood down in front of them. The place was catching, fast.
More screams from below, followed by another gunshot.
“Get out,” Katherine commanded Babur and the others, then turned and ran for the basement stairs. She couldn’t just leave Aldrick there by himself.
“What’re you doing?” Danny called from the doorway where he’d pursued her.
She began her transformation—yellow eyes, sharp claws. “Someone's gotta do something.”
Leaping down the stairs three at a time and, she hit the bottom and found the newcomer and Aldrick circling each other.
“You’re done here!” the stranger said. It was the same man they’d dragged in earlier! Had it been some sort of trap?
Aldrick replied with a growl and charged. The stranger lifted his pistol and fired, causing Aldrick to leap out of the way. Only then did Katherine notice the third man, chained in the corner, blood dripping from a bite on his arms and another on his legs.
“Katherine, get out of here!” Aldrick said.
BAM! Another shot, and Aldrick barely escaped, leaping for him so that the two slammed against the far wall and then fell to the ground, grappling. The stranger got the upper hand, pistol to Aldrick’s temple.
“You've become a monster,” the stranger said.
Katherine felt her sharp teeth digging into her lips, and stepped forward for the attack.
“Uh-uh,” the stranger said. “Stay right there.” He glanced over, did a double-take, and stared. “That’s not possible without the full moon.”
Aldrick struggled, but not too much with that pistol at his head. “She’s special. And she's going to tear your heart out.”
“I don’t see that happening,” Hunter said, pressing the pistol hard into Aldrick’s temple.
“Do it, coward!” Aldrick shouted.
Katherine held herself in place, ready to pounce, but worried if she’d make it before the man could pull the trigger. She could tell he was about to shoot, but something was holding him back. His conflicted eyes turned to Katherine, pleading.
“He’s evil,” he said. “Don’t you see what he’s done to this poor man?” He looked to the man in chains. “Another of his so called 'sinners,' here for justice.”
Katherine hesitated, unsure what to think of this. She’d always been unsure about Aldrick and his dogma.
“You see it, don’t you?” the stranger asked. “Another murderer's ment
al accounting, that’s all it is.”
“You know nothing of the man I've become,” Aldrick said with a growl, then threw the stranger up with a thrust of his hips and then spun on him in an explosion of rage.
As the two attacked with kicks and punches, interrupted by the occasional shot, Katherine dodged, trying to stay out of the danger, and found herself next to the chained man.
“Help me,” he groaned, but the chains were tight and she saw no way of breaking him free.
She was torn between trying to help him and defending Aldrick, but the fire had started moving down here now too. The ceiling started to collapse around them, and flames roared above.
As the ceiling began to fall around them, she realized it was hopeless. Aldrick and the stranger disappeared into the flames, and then the wall the man was chained to burst into flames, and she knew it was hopeless. If she didn’t escape now, she too would be consumed by the flames.
At the base of the stairs she paused to look for any sign of Aldrick. One last shot from the gun sounded, and then the fire took over as the rest of the roof collapsed in on the room. She dove out of the way and threw herself up the stairs. Smoke filled her nostrils as she searched for the door.
The flames and darkness were disorienting at first, but she had other senses—hearing, the shifting of air on her skin… and then her ears perked at the shouting of her name.
“Kat!” Danny said, his voice close now. Flames seemed to give way to the dark form that was him as he pushed his way in to find her.
Together, arms wrapped around each other, they escaped as a burst of flames took the rest of the house.
Gregor ran up to them, pulling them to the safety of the tree line. He glared before turning back to the house with fists clenched and shock in his eyes.
“Where’s Aldrick?” Gregor demanded. “Where is he?!”
“Gone,” Katherine said. “All three of them… gone.”
Gasps from the others reminded her they were there, standing in the darkness of the trees. A red glow from the nearby fire danced across their somber faces, and a distant siren sounded.
“You saw it?” Danny asked.
She nodded.
