Bark (The Werewolf Journal's Book 1) (13 page)

CHAPTER 47

“I’m telling you; put me back in the cell!” Arnie screamed at the officer.

“Not until we get you cleaned up.  Can’t have you walking around all bloody,” the officer said, cuffing Arnie’s wrist and using the extra end of the cuff to attach to his own.

“Should have thought about that when you booked me,” Arnie told the black overweight officer.  “Please, you got to!”  Arnie begged as his body was filled with the same unimaginable heat that always came with the change.

“Are you okay?” the officer asked as Arnie’s bones began to creak and pop.

“No!”  Arnie’s voice began to change.  “It’s too late!”

The officer screamed in horror, calling for assistance as he looked on with disbelieving eyes.  Several officers rushed to open the cell to the hallway as Arnie’s face began to stretch and pull.  Arnie pulled at the officer’s arm that restrained his and pulled it out of the socket and away from the body.  Blood began to spurt.  The officer screamed in agony as the wolf, now completely changed, beat the officer with his own arm till there was no life left in him.

Prisoners screamed in terror, screaming for help.  The beast then jumped through the ceiling of the roof, disappearing from the prisoners’ sight.  The beast picked off each prisoner one by one, crashing through the ceiling into each of the cells as the rest of the prisoners watched in horror.

Three of the officers reached for their guns as the beast stood before them in the hallway. Each officer emptied his gun, but the beast kept coming.  The wounds the bullets made on the creature’s body automatically healed.  The beast flung its body at the officers, killing one of the officers instantly as it tore at the younger-looking officer’s jugular.  Then it slammed another into the bars of the cell, causing the officer’s eyes to pop out of their sockets.  The wolf grabbed another officer, an older man, grabbing each end of the helpless officer’s body.  The officer screamed in horror as the beast pulled his body in opposite directions, ripping him apart like paper.  Sounds of guns filled the air, and screams of utter terror echoed through the precinct until the gunshots stopped, and an awful howling filled the air.

Inspector Rodriguez pulled up to the front of the precinct as paramedics rushed into the building.

“What the hell is going on, Tanson?” Rodriguez asked a husky-looking officer.

“They’re dead, sir.  Everyone inside is dead,” the officer replied.

“What about the prisoners we were holding to transfer?”

“They’re all dead,” Tanson replied, shaking his head.

TV reporters swarmed around Rodriguez, asking him thousands of questions not even he knew the answers to.  He shoved the reporters aside as he made his way toward the building.  Rodriguez reached for his gun and fired it in the air.

“Now all of you get the hell out of here ‘til we can figure out what’s going on!  You can put me shooting my gun on tape if you want, but if you do you better, damn, we’ll have some answers for the families of all the people that are lying dead in there,” Rodriguez said, not wanting to believe what had happened. 

Rodriguez walked into the precinct, covering his mouth with a handkerchief, looking on in disbelief as papers lay scattered on the floor.  Blood smudged against the walls and desks of the precinct.  Bodies of people he had come to know over the years lay dead throughout the precinct.  Rodriguez made the sign of the cross, refusing to look anymore, stepping back out of the building, grimly making his way back to his car.

CHAPTER 48

“So tell me about her brother, Izik,” Jay told Sarah.

“There’s not much to tell,” Sarah said, drying her eyes as the two walked around the cabin.  “She never talked much about him.  It seemed to bother her every time she mentioned him.  She looked like she loved him, but I never thought to ask about him being the way she reacted every time she brought him up.  Just what do you expect to get out of this guy?”

“I don’t know some clue on what Elena wanted to tell Arnie.  I was just hoping that maybe she might have mentioned something to her brother,” Jay answered.

“What could she have known?  The last I spoke to her she told me to stay away from him that Arnie was dangerous.”

“I guess I was just hoping that when she read his hand that maybe she saw something,” Jay replied.  “I doubt she saw anything else but what Arnie had become.”

“She only wanted to speak to him so she could kill him,” Sarah said with a tear.  “She told me if I didn’t let her that everyone that he loved would die, including me.”

“You’re not going to die ’cause I won’t let you,” Jay told her.  “Arnie asked me to take you out of here.  He never got a chance to tell you, but he wanted you to be safe.  Maybe we should leave like he wants us to,” Jay said, looking at Sarah.

“We can’t leave.  He needs us.  He’s all alone,” Sara replied, shaking her head.

“I know, Sarah, but he’s changed.  I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself.  I’ve looked into his eyes, he’s changing.  I don’t want to leave him here, but if

I stay, I’ll have to kill him,” Jay said regretfully.

“You can’t kill him.  There has to be another way.”

“You don’t understand, Sarah.  I made a promise to him that if things got bad, I would do it.  I know you don’t want to hear this, but with every new moon, the more he changes.  You’re pregnant, Sarah, and you’re carrying his child.  You have to think of the baby now.  You can’t risk losing it because that baby might be the last good thing left from him,” Jay said, looking away from Sarah.

“I’ll do it only because Arnie asked you to, and as much as my feelings are telling me to stay, I know you’re right,” Sarah said, running her hand against Jay’s cheek.

She could tell that he was in pain because she knew how much Jay cared for Arnie, and it made her care for Jay even more.

“You know what’s happening and you still try to help.  Why Jay?” Sarah asked.

“You know why, Sarah,” Jay answered.

“You love him, don’t you?” Sarah asked.

“He’s my best friend.  My only friend left.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Sarah asked.

“Well, it’s not the same,” Jay said with a smile.

“Why?  ’Cause I’m a girl?” Sarah said, rolling her eyes.

“No, I’ve known him longer, told him things that I could have never trusted anyone with.” Jay sat at the steps of the cabin.

“You can trust me.” Sarah gave Jay a hug.

“I haven’t been exactly honest with Arnie.  I ran into another one like him.  I don’t think it’s the same one that made him, but I killed it.  If I had told him that, he would have had me get it over with,” Jay told Sarah with regret.

“There’s nothing wrong with that.  You did it to protect him,” Sarah replied. “Thank you, Jay.”  Sarah gave Jay a kiss on the cheek.

Jay smiled back, and as he did, a huge howl filled the air. “Oh fuck!” Jay said, reaching for his gun, looking in every direction.

Suddenly, without warning, pearly white teeth crunched on Sarah’s skull, tossing her aside as if she was a piece of trash.  The beast then swung its huge claws at Jay, barely missing him.  Jay aimed his gun at the beast and pulled the trigger, hitting the beast once in the leg.  The creature ran off as Jay ran over to Sarah.  Sarah spit out blood as Jay held her in his arms.

“No, you can’t die,” Jay said, starting to cry.

“It’s okay, Jay,” Sarah said, trying to speak.

“Just hold on,” Jay begged, holding her tight as he rocked her back and forth.

“Tell Arnie that I’m sorry for not being able to be with him.  Let him know how much I love him.  And promise that you won’t tell him about the baby,” Sarah begged, gasping for breath.

“I promise, Sarah,” Jay said, holding her tight as she faded away into eternal sleep.  Just as Jay was setting Sarah down, his head was filled with pain as an unknown object hit him from behind.  Everything started to blur.  Jay tried to reach for his gun but couldn’t fight himself to stay awake.  He passed out, and the last thing he saw before blacking out was the beast’s teeth stained with Sarah’s blood.

CHAPTER 49

Jay’s eyes opened as he looked around an unfamiliar room.  He noticed that he had been tied to a chair.  He struggled to move, but to no avail.

“Well, well, well,” a voice said from behind.

“It’s you.  You’re the other wolf?” Jay asked with surprise as Izik stepped in front of him.

“I’ve been watching you… and all your meddling.  I must say, I’m impressed.  You even got a gun with silver bullets,” Izik said, pointing the gun at Jay.  Izik placed the gun on a table at the corner of the room with a laugh.  “I hate to discourage you, but there’s no truth in it,” Izik said, slapping Jay.

“Good try, but I know you’re lying,” Jay said, spitting blood out of his mouth at Izik’s feet.

“So what did you expect to do once you found me?” Izik asked.

“I was thinking of killing you, actually,” Jay replied.

“What about your friend?  Were you going to kill him too?” Izik asked.

“I won’t have to, once you’re dead,” Jay said angrily.

Izik began to laugh, slapping Jay again.  “You think if you kill me, your friend will be cured?  You fool boy, that part of the story is only fiction.  There is no cure.  If there was, I would have found it years ago.  But I must say, after all these years, I much rather not be cured.  This life is far more exhilarating.”

“Why did you let Arnie go that night?  Why not just kill him?” Jay asked.

“I really don’t know what reason; my better half does.  What it does, I just embrace it.”

“So Elena knew what you had done?”

“At first she had her suspicions; that is, until she read your friend’s palm.”

“If she knew, why didn’t she kill you herself?” Jay asked.

“I wasn’t always like this.  I once was like your friend, Arnie.  I refused to accept what I had become.  I struggled to fight from becoming what I became, but I couldn’t fight it.  In the end the beast won; in the end, I became the beast.  I like to think that there’s a beast inside us all,” Izik said with a smile.  “Elena, my dear sweet sister, was scared.  And bless her soul, she loved me,” Izik said, unbuttoning his shirt.

“Hurry up and get it over with,” Jay said, trying to break loose from his restraints.

“I’m not going to kill you.  I’m going to make you like me.  You wanted to hunt me, so now you will become like me,” Izik said as his voice began to change.

“I thought you couldn’t control what you did when you were the wolf?” Jay asked.

“Only in the daytime I can,” Izik said as his bones began to stretch.

Jay immediately pushed himself to the floor with the bottom of his boots, which had been tightly taped.  The chair immediately broke, hitting the floor.  Jay tore away at the gray tape that had been tied to him, reaching for the leg of the broken chair.

Izik began to change, screaming in pain as Jay stabbed Izik in the eye with the leg of the chair.  Jay crashed through the window of Izik’s barn.  Glass pierced his flesh.  As he struggled to get up, he could hear the wolf growling viciously inside the house.

The wolf crashed through the wall of the cabin as Jay struggled to get to his truck.  Jay quickly opened the door, and just as he was getting in, the beast slammed into the door of his truck, instantly slamming it shut.  Jay immediately started his truck, which had the keys still in the ignition, a habit he had become accustomed to ever since he found out about Arnie.

The beast clung to the door as Jay put the truck in gear, pressing the gas pedal, sending the truck and the clinging wolf toward the cabin.  Jay quickly put on his seat belt and crashed the truck through the wall of the cabin.  The wolf flew off, slamming through the windows of the inside of the house.

Jay stumbled out of the truck, looking around desperately for his gun.  His eyes scanned the room for the table that Izik had put it on, but the table had been destroyed by the crash.  Jay finally spotted the gun as it lay right before the wolf, which was lying unconscious.  Jay slowly crept over to where the wolf lay, reaching for the gun.  He paused momentarily, looking at the beast, and then grabbed the gun.  The wolf came to, swinging its monstrous claws at Jay, barely missing his chest.  Jay rolled away, shooting the beast in the stomach.  The wolf flung himself toward Jay.  He shot at the beast’s chest, moving out of the way as the creature’s body slammed against the hood of Jay’s truck.  Gas leaked from his truck.  Jay looked at the wounded beast and aimed his gun at the creature’s head.  He fired the gun which sent the creature’s brains splattering against the hood of his truck.

Jay wiped his prints off the gun.  He found Sarah’s body in the cellar and dragged her body up to the room where he had crashed through and placed the gun he had shot, in her hand.  He then pushed his truck out of the cabin.  Jay went over to Sarah’s car and drove it out to the other side of the cabin.  He then pressed on the gas, sending it toward the wall of the cabin, jumping out of the car as it crashed through the side of the cabin until it stopped just outside, where he had originally crashed.  Jay limped off to his truck.  He then turned the keys to the ignition, breathing a sigh of relief that it started.

“Goodbye, Sarah,” Jay said driving off.

Inspector Rodriguez ran the smashed silver bullet that had been pulled from Izik Zavier’s body through his fingers.  Silver bullets, howling monsters, what’s next, he thought as he went over the pictures of the officers and prisoners that had been slaughtered at the precinct.  How the hell did he escape?  Rodriguez slammed his fist in anger.  This kid is smart, and there is more to him than meets the eye.  He destroyed the video that could have captured how he escaped.  Twelve officers are dead.  The ones that survived never saw anything.  What if this kid is telling the truth and there’s something really wrong with him?  Rodriguez lit his cigarette.  Things like that just don’t happen.  This kid has trained some animal to do his killing and make it look like it’s some mythical monster.  It’s the only sane explanation.

CHAPTER 50

Arnie’s Journal  December 1, 1993

As much as I wish Arnie could have finished this, I doubt he ever will.  I found this journal underneath his mattress at his house.  I was hoping to find him but I still haven’t been able to.  It’s been eight months since Sarah died and eight months since Arnie disappeared.  There are still murders occurring almost every full moon, and the werewolf that cursed Arnie is dead.  I killed him.  Arnie’s face is all over the news; how the hell he can get around without being seen is beyond me.

Inspector Rodriguez still comes around; he thinks I know where Arnie is.  Kids at school look at me weird like I’m some sort of freak just because I am Arnie’s best friend.  A lot of people died in that library.  There are some that said they saw everything, but nobody believes them.  How could they, I mean, a werewolf?  My dad wants to move out of this town and get away from everything.  He thinks it’s best for me.  I do know that I need to find Arnie.  I need to help him.  He can’t help what he’s become.  I wonder if he knows about Sarah.  I never got a chance to tell him.  He must know that she died; it was all over the papers.

I keep getting visits from Inspector Rodriguez. Keeps asking me if I’ve seen Arnie.  Even if I did know where he is, I wouldn’t tell him.  I cleaned off the gun I used to kill Elena’s brother and put it in her hand so it looked like she was trying to defend herself.  So far I haven’t been questioned in that murder.  Thankfully, because how would I explain myself. I’d be in jail right now.  I can’t believe Sarah did what she did to protect Arnie.  Funny what love can make you do.  I’ll never understand it though; no matter how much I love someone I don’t think I could ever be driven to do what she did.

God knows what it must have been like knowing what Arnie was and then knowing she was caring his child.  Maybe it was for the best.  For all I know the baby could have been affected by the curse.  A curse that has no cure.  No cure.  What if the baby was infected?  Only silver could kill it.

I doubt it’s possible, but I never would have believed what happened during the eclipse.  It wouldn’t hurt to check.  There’s only one way to find out.  I hope I’m wrong.