Wolf House (Potter's Story) (3 page)

“Some of us Lycanthrope are good at fooling humans too,” Harker beamed. “Why, only one of my species has recently been promoted into the House of Lords.”

“Okay, so we’re not the only ones who have managed to live undercover amongst the humans in the police force,” Murphy said. “But we have done this for a reason.”

“And what might that be?” Harker asked.

“To hunt down and kill child-murdering scum like you,” I told him.

“Apart from him,” he said, glancing down at the dead body, “I haven’t murdered for years. None of my pack has. We have been trying to live in the sleepy town of Little Hope in peace, hoping that if we do, the curse that was placed upon us centuries ago will finally be lifted. We policed this town for many years and there has been peace here until…”

“Until what?” Murphy asked, his silver eyebrows making a V-shape in the centre of his brow.

“Until the children started going missing,” the pretty police officer said as she stepped forward.

“Constable Madison,” Harker cut in, “Please be quiet. I am quite able to explain the situation here. Thank you.”

I looked over at her, and she seemed to blush again, walking backwards into the shadows by the foot of the stairs. This was the second time I’d seen her blush and the rose-coloured tint only highlighted the prettiness of her face. But it didn’t matter how attractive she was, Constable Madison was a Lycanthrope and I knew what hid beneath that pretty face. Hadn’t Murphy told me once that female Lycanthrope had hairy tongues? Despite her obvious attractiveness, I had no intention of ever finding out.

“As I have already said,” Harker continued, “my pack has lived amongst the humans peacefully for many years in Little Hope, until recently, when a number of the town’s children have gone missing. As part of the police force for this town, we have investigated these disappearances, but to our horror, we discovered the bodies of these children hidden in an empty house in the remotest part of town. The injuries are such that it became obvious to all that these children have been slaughtered by some wild animal. It hasn’t taken long for rumours of werewolves to spread amongst the townsfolk. At the moment they are just rumours, but it won’t be long before those rumours start to take hold and the official police and authorities start to investigate deeper into these killings. The site where the bodies have been found has already been named the ‘Wolf House’ amongst the residents of Little Hope.”

“So why get us involved?” Murphy asked.

“Because you are hunters – that’s what you do,” Harker said, and now his smile had gone, replaced by a grim look of despair. “I need you to track this rogue Lycanthrope and kill it before its crimes bring attention to my clan, or worse, reveal our true identities.”

“And remind me again why we should help you?” Murphy said. “After all, aren’t you trying to frame us for murder?”

“Find this werewolf for me and I will clear this murder away. It will be like it never happened,” Harker said.

“And if we refuse?” Murphy asked.

“Then it will be you who is blamed, not only for this murder but the others too,” Harker warned him.

“No one will believe that,” Luke said. “Apart from your pathetic attempt to frame us for the murder of this poor man, you have no evidence against us for the deaths of the children.”

“When the official police realise that you are not human, but Vampyrus, a freak breed of vampire bat which have wings, claws, and fangs, they’ll believe that you killed those children,” Harker smiled again. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t pin every unsolved murder that has occurred over the past fifty years on you.”

“And how are they ever gonna know that we are Vampyrus?” I said. “It’s not as if we don’t look human. We don’t go around brandishing our fangs and flapping our wings for the fun of it.”

“They will know when they carryout x-rays on good Sergeant Murphy here,” Harker beamed. “They’ll take one look at those x-rays and see that his bone structure is nothing like that of a human being.”

“Now why would they want to x-ray me?” Murphy growled at him.

“So they can find the bullet,” he said, snatching a gun from his waistband and shooting Murphy with it.

5

The pop of the gun firing in the underpass was deafening and I couldn’t help but flinch backwards. The smell of gunpowder was overwhelming. Everything seemed to happen at once. Murphy spun around on the spot as if doing some weird Michael Jackson move and Luke shot forward in a spray of shadows, catching the Sarge in his arms before he hit the floor.

Blood pumped from Murphy’s right thigh and he covered it with his hand. His already-pale skin seemed lighter, if that were even possible, and beads of sweat covered his brow.

“What the fuck have you done?” I barked at Harker.

“Back off, Potter,” Harker snapped, pointing the gun at my head, “or I’ll be decorating the walls of this underpass in a delicate shade of gray matter!”

Despite his warning, I made towards him. Harker shook his head slowly from side to side, holding the gun steady and said, “Get back in your pram, Potter. I mean what I say,” as if to prove it, he fired another shot. I felt the bullet whiz past my right cheek and explode into the wall behind me.

“You won’t have that gun forever, Harker,” I warned him, “and the moment you drop your guard, I’ll drop you.”

“If you think your threats intimidate me, Potter, you must think I was born yesterday.” Harker smiled.

“It’s a shame you weren’t, as we could have started your personality from scratch!” I spat. Then looking back over my shoulder, I could see Luke had rested Murphy on the floor.

“You won’t get away with this,” Luke said, glaring up at Harker.

“I already have,” Harker beamed, and I so much wanted to rip that smug look from his face.

“If you think this is going to persuade us to help you catch your rogue Lycanthrope, Harker, then you’re crazier than I thought,” Murphy groaned as he applied pressure to the wound with his hands. I could see streams of black blood seeping through his fingers.

Shaking his head, Harker stared down at Murphy and said, “You’re not going in search of this wolf, you’re just insurance.”

“Against what?” Murphy breathed as he gritted his teeth in pain.

“Potter retuning with the body of the wolf that’s been killing all the children of Little Hope,” he said.

“You must be smacked up to your tits on drugs if you think I’m going to help you,” I barked. “I’d rather stick pins in my eyes.”

“Maybe another bullet may make you reconsider,” Harker said, waving the gun before Murphy. “Let me see, where should I put the next one?”

I looked down at Murphy and his blue jeans now looked black from the blood that continued to flow from the gunshot wound. His face glistened with sweat and he shivered in shock. Drake and Madison stood just behind him, their eyes fixed on mine. In the flicker of the light from above, their eyes appeared to change colour, blue, green, yellow.

Turning, I looked at Harker and said, “This had better be good.”

Knowing that he now had my full attention, Harker lowered his gun. He didn’t put it away altogether, but kept it pressed against his thigh. “You will go to the Wolf House with Madison and Drake,” he started.

“Why them?” I cut in.

“To make sure that once you are there, you don’t leave. But I also need to know that you’ve caught this werewolf,” he said.

“What are you trying to say, that you think I’m dumb enough to dress up the first person I come across in a fur coat and try and pass them off as a freaking werewolf?” I snapped. “Give me some credit. Unlike you three jokers, I think I can catch myself a Lycanthrope.”

“And your arrogance will be your downfall,” Harker said. “Don’t underestimate this wolf. We’ve tried to catch him for months but he has eluded us – kept one step ahead. This wolf is no fool.”

“So what you’re trying to tell me is that this crazed, homicidal child killer –
this piece of filth
– is mentally superior to you?” I asked with a wry smile. “He inherited the one and only Lycanthrope brain cell then?”

“Continue with your infantile remarks, if that’s what pleases you, Potter,” Harker said. “But you have three nights and three nights only to catch this ‘piece of filth’
as you so eloquently described him.”

“Three nights,” I scoffed. “Three hours should be enough!”

“Potter!” Murphy grimaced in pain. “Listen to him – he wouldn’t have stooped to this if he wasn’t desperate. Desperate men are dangerous! Desperate Lycanthrope are deadlier.”

“What wise words your sergeant has for you, Potter,” Harker said with that stupid grin of his. “You should listen to him. I’m not playing games.”

Knowing in my heart that he wasn’t, I said, “Why only three nights?”

“Unlike other Lycanthrope, this wolf is in some way affected by the moon,” he said.

“I thought all werewolves were controlled by the moon and had to dodge silver bullets,” I sneered.

“You’ve been reading too many fairy tales,” Harker sneered back. “However, this werewolf does seem to be affected by the cycle of the moon. The moon is full tonight and will be for the next three nights. This werewolf always kills on a full moon, so we suspect that tonight he will take another child to the Wolf House.”

“I don’t wish to point out the obvious, but why haven’t you just staked out this Wolf House yourselves?” I asked.

“Don’t you think that’s the first thing we did?” Harker grumbled. “I’ve had my best two officers, Drake and Madison, camped out at that house for weeks and still this wolf eludes us.”

Looking over at Madison and Drake, I said, “Perhaps your officers aren’t all they are cracked up to be?” I noticed Drake shift uncomfortably on the spot and Madison just fixed me with her yellow stare. I hated to admit this to myself, after all she was a Lycanthrope and was involved in this plot to shoot Murphy, but she was
real
cute. As if being able to see into my mind with that stare of hers, she suddenly smiled at me, and I looked away.

“So what happens if I don’t return in three nights with this child-killing Lycanthrope?” I asked Harker as I lit a cigarette.

“Murphy bleeds to death, and you and Luke are arrested for the murder of this poor man,” he said matter-of-factly as he glanced once more at the corpse. “And once you are in official police custody, it won’t take them long to figure out what you truly are.”

“What if you’ve got me all wrong?” I asked him, blowing smoke in his face. “What if I couldn’t give a crap about the old man with the gunshot wound or Brad Pitt over there? Let’s say as soon as I get away from here, I tear Madison and Drake’s throats out and leave them swinging from the nearest tree by their entrails?”

Within an instance, Harker raised the gun and pointed it at Murphy. Just as quick, I leapt across the underpass and stood in front of my friends.

Laughing aloud, Harker lowered the gun and said, “You’ll come back with this rogue Lycanthrope – I bet Murphy’s life on it!”

Knowing that I was beaten – we all were – I looked down at Murphy who lay propped in Luke’s arms. “I’ll see you in three nights, if not before,” I said to them.

“Potter, remember what I told you,” Murphy gasped as he gripped his leg. “No heroics, keep your temper, and catch that son-of-a-bitch.”

“We’re counting on you,” Luke said.

I looked at the both of them and realised the responsibility that had been placed upon me, to save my friends and stop the slaughter of any more children. Was I ready for this? I had to be.

“However touching I find your goodbyes,” Harker cut in, “you don’t have much time. The clock is ticking, so to speak. I have evidence to gather at this crime scene – the evidence that you’ve left behind, that is, and whatever I don’t have, I will manufacture. You have a Lycanthrope to catch, Potter.” Then wagging his finger in my face like a pendulum, he smiled and said, “Tick-tock! Tick-tock!”

6

I helped Luke carry Murphy to one of the marked police vehicles parked outside Little Hope railway station. Even though the night was cold and crisp, Murphy felt hot and clammy in my arms. He winced and cried out as we hoisted him onto the back seat of the car. Luke climbed into the front with Harker.

Leaning into the back, I gently squeezed Murphy’s shoulder and said, “I’ll come back for you, Sarge.”

“I know you will, Potter,” he whispered with his eyes closed. “I know you can do this.”

His obvious trust in me made me feel kinda strange. I couldn’t ever recall anyone really trusting me before. My own father wouldn’t have trusted me to look after the family pet let alone with his life. I wasn’t sure how Murphy’s faith in me truly made me feel. If I were to be totally honest, it rattled me a little. It rattled me because I didn’t want to let him down; what he thinks is important to me. I didn’t usually give a shit what people thought of me, but Murphy was different. I did care when it came to him. I knew that I had to prove myself – not just to Murphy, but to my friend Luke too. If I could do this – if I could catch this Lycanthrope and save Murphy – then I would be their equal. I didn’t want to be the new boy on the team anymore.

“You take it easy,” I told Murphy. Then closing the door I whispered, “I won’t let you down.”

I watched as the car pulled away from the front of the station, leaving me alone with constables Drake and Madison. They were staring at me with their brilliant yellow eyes and I barked, “What are you freaking looking at?” Then I was gone, striding away across the car park to the unmarked cruiser.