Authors: John James Gregory
“But I am safe for the next twenty odd nights right?”
“Yes I believe so.”
“Doctor please tell no one my name or location… at least not yet.”
“I will not use any names until we are sure you are infected. I’ll shoot you an email in the morning.”
“Is there any way that I will know for sure?”
“Well from what I remember, the cut will itch until morning and then stop. No matter how deep the cut is it will be gone by sunrise. There will not be any marks left in the area. There is one other thing.”
“What is that?”
“Keep this in mind, certain changes occur instantly. As for example, if you were to go to a zoo tomorrow, every member of the animal kingdom you came near would try to attack you except one. Those animal specimens would be members of the family of animals we call wolves. There is one other thing… “
“And that is?”
“If somehow you came up next to a member of the family of creatures we call bats, they will attack you even if such an attack would cause their death.”
“Why bats?”
“If you get on the Internet tonight look up bats and vampires and then search for information regarding an ancient war between vampires and werewolves. You will understand the rage bats will have for you.”
“You’re telling me vampires are real too?”
“After the experiences in just my lifetime, I believe in them as well, along with a few other creatures our scientists and society would consider myths. If you are infected I will do everything I can to help you find a cure. I will call you tomorrow. Rest tonight. It might be the last real good sleep you will have for some time. Keep checking for my email. Goodnight Mr. Hart.”
“Good night Doctor and thanks.”
Tom stayed up and read everything he could on the Great War that took place in Europe around 1200 A.D. He wondered if this legend or myth could have really happened and from the story learned that the two groups did at that time, lock in a struggle to wipe each other out. Several articles said the war ended in a truce and other articles said it still continued to this very day. Tom was regretting staying up to read the vast amount of material on the Internet and finally rolled over and went to sleep. He did tell himself that he would go to a zoo the next day just to test what the senior Doctor Bill Deckard the veterinarian had told him.
***
The following morning Elizabeth was studying the three preliminary autopsies and smiled at her brother as he joined her in the kitchen.
“How’s the arm?”
Tom had forgotten all about it.
“Good.”
“After breakfast I’ll change your gauze and we’ll take a look at it.”
Tom was hungry but he had a craving for meat and ate only bacon and sausage. He actually thought all that he had consumed was too over cooked. After breakfast, his sister removed the bandages and both were shocked that the cut was gone without any scar. Tom looked at his sister.
“It’s just like Doctor Deckard told me… If I was infected it would be completely gone.”
“What? You talked to him more about his werewolf studies… I am telling you brother they don’t exist and the reason the cut is gone is because I had it disinfected and cleaned.”
“Then why isn’t there some evidence of the wound?”
“I don’t know… maybe it was only a scratch or maybe….”
“Or maybe Doctor Deckard is right.”
“I’m sure he is wrong.”
“Okay then let’s find out today, right now.”
“And how do you propose we prove you are a werewolf?”
“Go with me to the zoo. There is one way to know for sure”
“What?”
“Go with me to a zoo now. If Deckard is wrong I will know and if Deckard is right, I know I will definitely need your help.”
“I was planning to check in at the office and then go to the funeral home….”
“Do this for me please sis.”
Elizabeth could see the deep concern in the eyes of her brother.
“I’ll get my coat and you are going to explain to me on the way, what werewolves have to do with any kind of test at a zoo.”
“I will sis. I will.”
Carl was driving the limousine while Elizabeth and Tom sat in the back. Elizabeth was on her laptop and Tom kept studying a map. She closed the window between the back seat and the driver and looked at her brother.
“What are you looking at?”
“Oh this… it is a layout of the zoo.”
“And just how do you propose we do this test of yours?”
“Simple. Carl will pull up to the south entrance and drop you off. You are going to the ‘cat house’. There you will find a bench and have a seat. I’ll call you and explain the next step in my plan.”
Elizabeth looked at the layout of the zoo.
“It would be quicker if you dropped me off at the north gate.”
“No dear sister. The direction of the wind is out of the west and I want to enter the zoo through an entrance that is downwind from the animals on exhibit.”
Carl pulled up to the entrance and Elizabeth began to exit the vehicle. She leaned back in.
“Oh, you have an email from Doctor Deckard senior.”
“Hey sis, I just want you to know how much I appreciate you doing this for me.”
Elizabeth smiled.
“I would do anything to get you beyond this obsession… I love you and I am sure this test will prove that you have nothing to worry about. I’ll call you just as soon as find a nice quiet place to sit.”
She shut the door and went to the gate to pay her admission as Carl parked as close as he could in order to return with Tom in a few minutes. Meanwhile, Tom logged into his email and read the short message from Deckard and wrote down a note. His sister knew he had an email because Tom’s phone beeped an ‘email arrival’ tone while he was studying his zoo literature.
***
Doctor Elizabeth Hart casually strolled into the park and found it to be quiet and peaceful. The number of visitors this time in the morning on a weekday was light. She stopped by a pen area to observe and appreciate the beauty of several zebras and answered an incoming call on her cell phone. It was her number one assistant at the coroner’s office, Doctor Edward Hunsinger. He gave her a quick message indicating that her father’s body could be released and sent to the funeral home on Sunday and ready for presentation to family, co-workers and friends by Monday. The beauty of the park she was in had momentarily halted the flow of grief she and her brother still carried over the loss of their father. She thanked Ed and at the completion of the call, she examined her surroundings and continued into the building referred to as the ‘cat’ house. She proceeded down the center walkway between the cages. Only a few people were there admiring the large cats. Most of the cats were lying down and only a few were pacing. She found a bench in front of the panther exhibit and sat down. She dialed her brother’s cell phone.
“Okay I am sitting here watching the panthers. There are tigers on the other side of me.”
“Are they peaceful?”
“Yes.”
“I am on my way.”
“Just what should happen that will prove to you once and for all that you are not cursed?”
“Nothing actually, if all is okay, I should take up a seat next to you and if everything stays as it is at your location now, then I can hug my sister and we can go home. See you in a minute.”
Elizabeth viewed some of the animals in the enclosures that line both sides of the exhibition hall and after a few minutes looked at her watch. She was already planning the rest of her day after what she expected to be a quick cure of her brother’s paranoia. This was a side of her brother’s personality she had never been exposed to. In the past it was always her coming to him and not the other way around. She felt that humoring her brother was the least she could do after all the times Tom had gone out of his way to address her problems in the past. She kept trying to fit any other possible scenario that could attempt to explain all the circumstances involving the deaths at the mansion.
The hardest part of creating a story line for all the evidence she had been exposed to be that her father shot both barrels of his gun and actually missed whatever he was aiming at and blew the head of the groundskeeper. She knew her father had won many awards for marksmanship going all the way back to his service days. In the service career, he was a sniper. Her father knew the art of patience under pressure and how to remain calm in order to squeeze off a round at a target. She could not swallow her father firing and missing anything. Given her father’s expertise, she believed he would rather be killed than miss what he was aiming at. As she sat there watching the panthers in front of her, she could hear the trumpeting of elephants outside. She thought nothing about it at the time.. She looked over and saw her brother standing looking at her between the outside set of doors and the doors to the hall. She smiled and waved him in.
The second her brother stepped through the doors, every cat in the hall was up on their feet growling and in some cases, actually charging and clawing at the cage walls protecting the visitors from the deadly creatures. She couldn’t believe the reaction of the animals that just minutes earlier were at rest. They were trying to break out and attack! As she spun around all the animals were looking right at her brother. Tom came over to her with a concerned look and grabbed her arm.
“See… We got to get out of here!”
“I don’t understand what did you do to anger all of them?”
“It’s not me, it is the werewolf in me they all want to kill. Come on let’s get out of here!”
The second the pair were between the two sets of doors, the cats all started to quiet down but their eyes could be felt on the back of their heads.
“Wait a minute, this could have been a coincidence. Maybe something else spooked them! I can’t believe that all that was because of you!”
“Didn’t you hear the reactions of the animals outside? Every exhibit I passed brought out rage.”
“Now what?”
“Now we run.”
“To where?”
“Over to the wolf enclosure… I would follow that with a visit to where ever they display bats, but I would think by then someone would be asking us to leave. The wolves are the only other test we are going to make.”
“What are they going to do if Deckard is right?”
“You’ll see.”
The pair raced past several displays and at every one, the scene would turn ugly with growls, roars and attacks on their enclosures. They finally made it between the inner and outer doors of the hall displaying wolves and other members of that portion of the animal kingdom. All the animals in that hall began to react violently. There were many other patrons there and all became afraid of the violent reactions of the animals and many headed for the exits. The only animals not to follow the others were the four wolves on display in front of Tom and his sister. Both species in front of them sat and just looked at Tom and his sister. People all around them were leaving the exhibit and two of the park’s personnel came in at the other end to see what was causing all the commotion. Tom looked at his sister.