Animal Behavior and Other Tales of Lycanthropy (22 page)

Michelle and Lisa were bound and gagged by the fireplace. The men appeared to be waiting for something, their guns at the ready.

Must be waiting for Frankie and Moe. Thank you, God. Now if only I could get in there without Michelle and Lisa seeing me like this. Guess it’s unavoidable, but I need to at least draw those two away from them.

The beast leaped through the kitchen window, tackling the lone goon standing beside it and immediately tore the flesh from his bones. Blood splashed on every wall; tendons and muscle clung to the beast’s claws. The man screamed, then fell silent.

“What the hell?” asked one of the other two men as Jesse came into the room. The man opened fire, the other joining his side. The bullets pierced Jesse’s hide and hurt only for a second, and then the bullets were pushed out as the wounds healed.

The men trembled. “It can’t be. It just can’t.”

“We’ve got to get out of here.”

“What about the money?”

“Screw the money!”

In a single leap the beast knocked both retreating men to the ground. One of the men was directly under him and the other just ahead of him. Jesse heard his wife and daughter’s muffled screams of terror. His heart broke. He wanted to tell them it was all right, to hold and coddle them, but first he needed to eliminate the threat.

He bit into the back of the neck of the man underneath him. The head separated from the body and toppled over. A rush of blood painted the floor, then the flow tapered off to a slow trickle. He feared this vision would haunt his daughter for the rest of her life, but knew because of it, she would live a fulfilled one.

“Get away!” The last thug thrashed his legs at the beast, kicking it repeatedly in the head, only infuriating it further.

As another blow attempted to connect, Jesse clamped his massive jaw on to the man’s calf. The man screamed and fired a shot point blank, right between the beast’s eyes. Jesse yipped as the force of the bullet sent his head backward.

Freed, the man staggered out of the living room and into the hallway toward the front door. The beast growled as it got to all fours. It charged, leapt on to the right wall of the hallway, then leapt to the ceiling, bounced off and landed on the man.

The man squealed as he was tackled to the floor. The beast plunged its paw into his back, grabbed his spinal cord and yanked. Tendons and nerves popped as they snapped. Discs separated under the pressure and the spinal cord was tossed aside as the man’s last breath exited his body.

Sighs and whimpers from the other room caught the beast’s attention and it turned back down the hallway, still hungry for the kill. Something shifted inside and Jesse wasn’t sure if he remained in control.

No. You mustn’t. Not my Wife. Not my daughter.

The beast continued its approach.

They’re your family too now.

Michelle scooted her body in front of Lisa’s. Jesse’s heart ached. He didn’t understand why the beast was disobeying him.

Stop, damn you!

Michelle trembled as she pushed against her daughter. The beast sniffed the air around them and reached out its clawed hand.

I’m sorry. I tried. I love you both.

The bindings around Michelle’s wrist fell to the floor with the flick of a finger.

Thank you.

She quickly pulled the gag out of her mouth, turned around and went to work on Lisa’s bindings. “Run!”

The beast’s head swiveled as the little girl ran passed him.

“Leave her alone!”

The beast lay at her feet, whimpering.

“Honey, wait.” She looked upon the creature, confusion written on her face.

Jesse felt the beast’s rage subside and the transformation reversed. The brown, wiry hair covering his body fell away, exposing his naked flesh. His canine teeth returned to normal. The claws retreated into his flesh and his fingers shortened.

“Jesse?” Michelle said.

“Yeah,” he said softly.

“I don’t understand. What happened to you? You’re a . . . a . . .”

“I can’t explain it and we don’t have much time.”

“Daddy!” Lisa ran to him and he scooped her into his arms.

“I’ll get you some clothes,” Michelle said.

“What’s wrong?” he asked Lisa as she started to sob.

“You lied, Daddy. You said there were no such things as monsters.”

He released his hold and looked into her blue eyes. “I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” she said, wiping a tear away. “The monster saved us from the bad men.”

“Yes, he did.”

“Where did he go?”

“He’s gone for now. Go check on your mother for me.”

“Okay.”

As she bolted away, Jesse went outside, not caring if a neighbor saw him in the buff. He knew someone had to have alerted the authorities to the gunshots and he needed to move quickly.

He scanned the yard.
Doesn’t look like they dug up the money yet. Good!
He kicked over the birdbath and tore into the soft earth. As Michelle came outside with a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, he uncovered the duffle bag and pulled it free.

“What is that?” she asked.

“I want you to take this and you and Lisa go visit your mother.”

“What did you do?”

“There’s no time to explain. The cops are—”

“What did you do?” she asked again, shoving her palms into his chest and almost knocking him over.

I really screwed up
, he thought. He felt ashamed. The tears in her eyes caused him heartache. “I only wanted what was best for us.”

Michelle shook her head as if knowing what he’d done. “No.”

“Take this. There’s almost a half a million in here.”

The tears came on stronger. “No.”

“Go to your mother’s. I’ll be there after I clear this whole mess. I promise.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed . . . or worse. What if you don’t come back to me, or you don’t come back as you, but that—”

“Don’t worry. I don’t fully understand what’s happened to me, but I know it had no desire to hurt you or Lisa. It’s still me. I swear. Now go, before the cops come and ask questions you don’t have the answers for.”

“Promise you’ll find us.”

“I promise. I love you guys too much.”

She kissed him, long and passionate. Though he wanted nothing more than to stay and kiss her longer, he pushed her away.

“When will you be back?”

“I don’t know. A few days tops.”

“I’ll see you then.” She stole another kiss, then left him to fetch Lisa and be on her way.

He got dressed in time to wave them off. He could see Lisa’s teary eyes as she and Michelle pulled down the driveway and he knew she didn’t understand what was happening, but he also knew she was young and once he saw to it they were protected, she’d forget all about this night. Several of his neighbors were outside on their porches trying to get a glimpse of what was going on. He ignored them as he walked down the street.

I’ve got to get to Jake’s. There might still be time.

Jake was forced to move back in with his parents after losing his job and they lived a half a mile away from them. As he approached their house he caught the faint scent of cigar smoke, the same cigar he smelled when he was locked in the trunk.

Can’t be the same goon. He’s dead. Bianchi must have shared his cigars with his whole crew. That’s the only explanation, but either way, it means I’m too late.

With caution he approached the front door and tried to open it.

Locked. I’ll go around.

When he reached the back patio, he noticed the door was ajar. He tilted his head and leaned closer to hear movement within, but there was none. He sniffed the air and the scent of blood filled his nostrils.

Looks as though they’ve already come and gone.

He pushed the door aside as he entered. Nothing was out of the ordinary in the living room so he moved forward through the house, the scent of blood growing stronger. He followed it to the upstairs bedroom where Jake’s parents were bound and gagged at the foot of their bed in a puddle of blood, their throats slashed.

I’m too late
. “I’m sorry,” he said, hoping somewhere, somehow, they could hear him.

Off in the distance Jesse caught the sound of a siren. Fearing they were coming here, he leapt out the window. He landed safely on his feet, broken glass scattering around him.

“Freeze!”

There’s no time for this
. He rushed the uniformed cop. He managed to fire off a shot, but Jesse twirled his body and maintained his momentum. The bullet grazed his left shoulder and only burned for a second before his superior healing went to work. He rammed the man with the right side of his body. The cop went down and Jesse continued to run.

“You can’t run forever. Victor Bianchi will find you,” the cop shouted after him.

Jesse stopped. The sirens were getting closer. “You work for Bianchi?”

The man nodded.

Jesse approached the man and helped him to his feet. “You can take me to him?”

“Yes, but we need to go now.”

He’s not supposed to be on the scene. That’s why he didn’t use his siren. He’s only working for Bianchi right now. Better be careful.
“Let’s go.”

“My car’s parked on Mailer.”

Good. We can get out of here undetected
. “What are we waiting for?”

Jesse walked side-by-side with the crooked cop, his eyes never leaving the pistol trained on him, though he knew by now ordinary bullets were a minor annoyance at best.

Victor Bianchi won’t know what hit him
, he thought with a smile.

He climbed into the backseat of the patrol car and kept quiet. He wanted the man to believe he was in control and not the other way around. This was his chance to meet Victor face-to-face and put an end to the mob so he and his family could live in peace.

The officer called Victor and set up a delivery location. He explained how he singlehandedly captured Jesse, and all he could do was smile at the over exaggeration.

Someone’s trying to get a bonus
.

Within fifteen minutes they were at the building where Jesse’s life had begun to spiral out of control. The cop ushered him inside the bank and there was Victor Bianchi sitting in the center of the lobby surrounded by his goons, the smug look on the crime boss’s face stirring the beast within. Jesse felt it scratching under his skin, begging for release.

“Seems I’ve underestimated you,” Bianchi said. “You’ve proven very resourceful.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have fired me.”

“I have no control over who comes and goes here. I pay people to handle that part of the business for a reason. You’re friends are dead and the money they took from me is back in the vault where it belongs. Now . . . where’s the rest of my money?”

“It’s safe.”

Victor nodded to the cop and the man pointed his gun down and fired. The bullet went straight through Jesse’s right knee. Hot, searing pain shot through him as his leg buckled, but he remained on his feet.

“Where’s Frankie and Moe? What did you do to them?”

“I’ll show you.” Jesse released himself to the wolf.

Victor and his men watched wide-eyed as man transformed into beast. The cop beside Jesse took a step backward as he aimed his gun at the beast’s head. Victor stood and his men circled around him.

With the transformation complete, the beast stretched out its arms and roared. The crooked cop bolted for the door and Jesse let him go for he would soon be unemployed anyway. Besides, killing a cop, crooked or not, would rain down a new kind of terror onto his family.

“Kill it!” Victor ordered and his men opened fire.

The beast leaped into the air and into the center of the circle the men were forming around their boss. Victor ducked. The beast pulled back its clawed hand and spun. Several heads fell to the floor, followed by the decapitated bodies. The men who survived the attack dropped their weapons and ran for the door.

Victor tried to run as well, but he was grabbed from behind and lifted off his feet. “Please . . . no. I’ll give you anything. Anything!”

The beast brought him face-to-face and growled.

“You think this’ll be over when you kill me? Well, you’re wrong. Another will rise to take my place and he’ll want the money you stole. You’ll never be safe unless you join me.” With a cheap grin, he added “I could use someone like you.”

He’s right. We’ll constantly be looking over our shoulder. On the run. What kind of life is that? My girls deserve better. Besides, it’s not like I couldn’t use the money, and it would give me the chance to see the extent of Victor’s reach. Wipe out the threat completely.

Gently, Victor was put down. “You’ve made the right decision. Consider the money you stole from me a down payment.”

The transformation reversed.

“This is the beginning of a beautiful partnership,” Victor said with a twisted smile.

Keith Gouveia
lives in Florida with his wife, Lisa. He is a mechanical engineer by trade and writes fiction in his spare time. Several of his short stories will be coming out in various anthologies in 2010, but if you need something to hold you over until then, he recommends
Death Puppet: Revolt of the Dead
and
The Black Cat and the Ghoul
also from Coscom Entertainment, or trying his fantasy novel,
The Goblin Princess
, published by Lachesis Publishing, and the anthology,
Bits of the Dead
, which he edited and was
published by Coscom Entertainment.

You can keep up to date with all of Keith’s projects at
www.keithgouveia.com