Bark (The Werewolf Journal's Book 1) (7 page)

“When I hit you last night, I think I pierced your skin because you were bleeding quite a bit.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” Arnie answered putting on his pants. 

“Just as I thought.”

“Just as you thought, what?”

“That I’m right about you,” Jay said as he got into his truck.  “One more thing, Arnie, before you get in this truck, promise me you will wait to see this tape I got before you start throwing punches at me over last night.”

“I promise,” he replied as an uneasy feeling began to set in, for somewhere deep inside, Arnie knew Jay was telling the truth.

CHAPTER 17

The blood red moon peered down on Arnie’s body as the sound of creaks and cracks began to fill the air and his body started to horridly change.  His nails tore through his fingertips like huge butcher knives, and his teeth grew sharp as razors.  Streams of black hair filled his body.  Arnie’s face stretched as tears of blood slid down his cheek.  The last sign of who he used to be was finally gone.  All that was left was a howling, bloodthirsty beast flinging his claws at the camera.  The video finally stopped.  Arnie sat on Jay’s couch motionless, not knowing what to say.

“I killed him. Danny’s dead because of me,” Arnie said in disbelief.

“Don’t say that, Arnie.  Whatever that thing is, Arnie, it’s not you,” Jay said, comforting him.

“But it is, Jay,” Arnie replied, trying to fight his tears.  “A wolf attacked me that night, Jay.  I tried to lie to myself and say it was a bear, but I knew.  How can this be real?” Arnie wondered aloud.

“I don’t know, Arnie, but it is.”

“Jay, I want you to kill me,” Arnie told Jay as he fumbled with his fingers.

“I can’t, Arnie.”

“Then I’ll do it myself.”

“Listen to yourself, so quick to give up.  I’ve done some reading, Arnie.  If the Werewolf legend is true, then we just have to find the one that did this to you,” Jay explained.

“That’s easier said than done, Jay.  How do you suppose we find this person?”

“I don’t know, but we got to try.”

“In the mean time, I just go on killing people,” Arnie replied with a frustrated sigh. 

“No, I’ll just take you to the same place I took you last night.  And besides there’s only one full moon every month, in some cases two.  If the legend’s true, then we just have to worry about those particular nights.”

“What if it’s not true? What if the legend’s bullshit and I end up killing somebody?”

“Then I will kill you myself,” Jay told Arnie sternly.  “That is, only if I were left with no other choice.”

“Why are you helping me, Jay?  How can you after knowing what you know?”

“You’re my friend, and even if I’m scared shitless, it doesn’t change that.  We’ll get through this no matter what happens,” Jay told Arnie as he gripped his friend’s shoulder tightly to assure him, but Jay knew nothing would settle his friend’s feelings, nothing except to wake up.

CHAPTER 18

I came to you as an angel and left as a beast.

– JB

Jay wrapped the chains around Arnie’s wrist and popped each of the locks he had set at each end of Arnie’s body into place.  “All right, Jay, you can leave,” Arnie said urgently as Jay opened the tailgate to his truck and sat down.  “What are you doing?”

“Tonight is not a full moon.  I don’t think you’re going to change,” Jay said.

“And if I do change?”

“That is why I have a full tank of gas, a damn good battery, and the truck is running.  So if you wig out in any way, I’m out of here,” Jay said, turning on his old beat-up boom box he had kept in the back of his truck.  Mick Jagger’s voice echoed through the meadow with the words “please allow me to introduce myself” sounding as the song symphony for the devil played.

“Good song,” Arnie said, sitting against the tree.

“I know; I thought you might like it,” Jay replied with a smirk.  So how are things with you and Sarah?” Jay asked trying to make conversation.

“Not like I would want them to be.  I don’t want her to get hurt.  It seems like everything close to me always turns to shit.”

“She does love you, though.  I can see it.”

“I know, but right now I just can’t have her around.”

“I understand,” Jay said, cracking open a beer and grabbing a second one from his ice chest, throwing it at Arnie.

“Thanks,” Arnie said, catching it.  “That is one for the books.  A drunk Werewolf.”

“Yeah, it would be,” Jay said, also laughing.  “You never did get around to telling me about Elena.”

“There is nothing really to tell.  She wanted to tell me something.  I don’t know what, but before she could, somebody killed her.  I don’t sleep much anymore.  It’s hard to, Jay.  I keep seeing Elena lying there, dead, or see myself turning into that beast.  She read my hand once.   She saw something that day but never told me. She acted like she’d seen a ghost.  The day she was killed, I think she was going to tell me what she saw.”

Why kill
her
though?  Jay wondered.  “What purpose would it serve?” Jay asked Arnie.

“I don’t know, but she knew something.  I just wish I knew what,” Arnie replied.

“Well, the moon’s up and shinning and has been for the last hour and no wolf.  I think it’s safe to say that at least that part of the legend is true,” Jay said with relief.  “Just to be safe, let’s stay the night and drink up the rest of this beer,” Jay told Arnie, throwing him another can.

“It’s better safe than sorry,” Arnie replied, looking up at the stars.

“You miss Danny, don’t you?” Arnie asked as his friend looked at him sadly.

“Yeah, almost every day,” Jay replied.

“I miss him too,” Arnie replied, trying to fight the tears he had inside.

“It’s not your fault.  You can’t help what’s happened.  None of us can,” Jay said, sipping his beer.

“You remember that time we all went to the beach together?” Arnie asked.

“How could I forget?  I had the worst sunburn of my life that summer.” Jay smiled.

I kissed Sarah for the first time, Arnie thought, picturing Sarah’s face in his head.

“I also remember Danny borrowed his dad’s boat and forgot to put the plug in it.  He almost sank it.  He must have thanked us a thousand times that day for helping him drain the boat and get it out of the water,” Jay said, laughing.

“It’s weird that all four of us have no brothers and sisters.  That day I felt like we were all family.  I felt a part of something for the first time in my life,” Arnie said, fumbling with his hands.

“I felt it too, Arnie.”

“That was a good summer.  I wonder if I’ll ever have a good one like that again,” Arnie said, smashing his beer can with his hands.

“You will, Arnie.  I promise,” Jay said, leaning back against the window of his

truck.

CHAPTER 19

Arnie’s Journal   March 10, 1993

It’s been two weeks since I last turned.  Been looking through the papers… so many murders.  There’s been eight… all random.  All have the signs that it’s the one that gave me this curse, but where to look?  From what I can tell, it never attacks the same place twice.  Had a visit from Inspector Dickhead again.  It’s obvious he thinks I’m the one doing the killing.  For the past ones at least I can say it is no fault of mine.  Maybe I should tell this inspector guy what’s going on.  Show him the tape and maybe he would believe me.  Maybe he could help.  Maybe I’m just dreaming.  If I told him he’d have me thrown in a nuthouse and pin every murder on me. 

Been doing a lot of research on werewolves.  I never knew there were so many books on them.  It’s funny how many people in the old days tried to become one.  Who on earth would want a curse like this besides a psycho?  As for the one that made me this way we don’t know where to start.  It’s not like I can go looking for him during the full moon.  Jay said he wants to start looking but I think it’s too dangerous.  He got himself a gun and a whole bunch of silver bullets.  I don’t know how he got them and I wonder what the person that got them for him thought when he asked for them.  I mean silver bullets.  I guess if you know the right people you can get anything.  Jay was always good at getting things he wasn’t supposed to.  I guess for once it’s come in handy.  I got to admit I don’t know if I would do the same for him.  I think maybe I’d be scared of him if he was the one going through all this.

It all seems so unreal.  It feels like a dream.  I keep telling myself this can’t be happening, but it is.  I keep having these dreams.  I see myself eating people in them.  I feel free and most of all, I like what I’ve become in the dreams.  I’m scared of what I’ll become when the moon is full.  I have this knot in my stomach that I can’t get rid of.  I can’t think straight.  Every time I close my eyes, I see that awful beast that did this to me.  I’m haunted by Danny’s death.  He was so young… had his whole life in front of him and just like that, he’s gone.  I keep thinking that he’s going to walk back into my house and slap me in the head like he used to as he cracks one of his stupid jokes.  It’s funny when you’re young you think you can do anything.  You think you’re going to live forever, but then reality of life sets in.  The reality that we are all going to die one day.  The reality that we’re not going to stay young forever.  I don’t want to die, but I can see it coming.  I’m afraid.  I’m afraid of not existing and afraid of never seeing the people I love again.  Most of all I’m afraid of forgetting who I am.  I wish I had listened to Sarah.  I should have taken the long way home.  One little shortcut changed my life forever.  Even if I do somehow, someway make it out of this.  I’ll never be the same and neither will Jay.  Our eyes have been opened to the horrors of the world.  We’ve gone to a place that no person should ever go and that place is hell.  Now that we’ve seen hell, I wonder if we’ll ever get to see heaven.

CHAPTER 20

Jay’s truck lights shone against the trees of the woods as he switched them off.  He stepped out of the truck, reaching for his gun.  He turned on his flashlight, making his way through the wooded area.  Just what the hell was Arnie thinking, walking through these woods at night?  He thought, shining his light through the trees.

Arnie kept telling him not to come here, but they needed to do something.  If they were

ever going to find this other wolf, they were going to have to start taking chances.

Jay couldn’t help but tell himself that maybe Arnie was right.  That maybe he shouldn’t have come.  The woods were creepy as shit, and knowing what he knew made it even worse.  He pointed his gun clumsily with every noise he heard through the woods.  He searched for two hours until finally, when he was about to turn around and go back to his truck, he heard a woman screaming, followed by a horrid howl.

“Holy shit!” Jay whispered to himself as he could hear the creature heading toward him.  He looked around, but he couldn’t tell which direction it was coming from.  Jay quickly climbed a nearby tree, scaling it as high as he could.  He looked down, readying his gun as the beast walked into the opening of the woods, carrying a petite-looking female on its back.

The
(adjective??)
beast then threw the girl’s body against the ground, scanning the woods with its eyes.  Jay looked on in disbelief as the beast devoured the meat off the girl’s dead carcass.  It all seemed so surreal being so close to the beast.  He covered his mouth in disgust, pointing his gun.  Just when he was ready to pull the trigger, a flock of birds flew through the trees, causing him to fire his gun before he wanted to.  The bullet barely missed the wolf, causing the wolf to disappear into the trees. 

Jay turned his flashlight on, searching through the branches, but he couldn’t find any trace of the wolf.  He could feel his body tense up with fear as his body tightened around the branches of the tree.  Maybe I scared it, he thought, and just as he did, a warm drop of saliva hit him in the forehead.  Jay looked up as the beast clung on to the branches on top of him, growling loudly. 

Jay jumped out of the tree, never once thinking about climbing down as the beast jumped after him.  He fired his gun, shooting the top of the beast’s ear off.  He could hear the creature behind him breathing heavily as he ran through the woods until he reached the end of the forest.  Jay found himself falling off the ravine of the forest, his body plummeting down to the river below.  His body slammed against the water, stinging his back.  His knees scrapped against the edges of the rocks at the bottom of the river.  Jay struggled to stay afloat while letting the river take him.  He knew the river ran directly under one of the main roads of the town.  If he could get to that road, he might have a chance.  He could hear the beast howling in anger as he made his way down the river.  Once Jay reached the main road, he swam toward the bank.  He crawled up the hill until he finally reached the road.  He could feel his lungs struggling for air but kept going, knowing that if he stopped he’d surely die.  Jay’s heart sank as he could see the beast waiting for him on the other side of the road.  He reached for his gun as the beast ran across the road charging toward him.  Jay pulled the trigger, aiming his gun at the wolf.  That’s when a yellow Ford car sped past him, and the bullet shot through the fender of the car, causing the car to collide against the body of the wolf, running the beast completely over.

“What the hell’s going on out here?” a bald man said, walking out of his car, confused and frightened.

“Look, Mister, get in your car!” Jay yelled urgently.

“What the hell kind of prank are you kids trying to play out here?” the man asked.

“Mister, we need to get in your car and get the hell out of here!” Jay screamed, trying to get the man back in his car.

“I can’t just leave him like this,” the man said, walking toward the beast.

“It’s not human!” Jay yelled angrily.  “I know it’s hard to see out here, but believe me and get in your car!” Jay repeated.

“Look, son, I need to go over there and check this out, so you either help me or just stand there and act stupid,” the man replied.

“Have it your way, mister!” Jay said, running toward the man’s car.

The man walked over to where the beast lay.  The dark road made it hard for him to see.  He could make out the outline of the figure, which looked very much human, but when the man knelt beside the beast, he found out that the young boy that had been screaming hysterically was very much telling him the truth.  The beast ripped a hole in the man’s stomach, grabbing his intestines and tossing the man off the road.

Jay pointed his gun at the beast as he got in the man’s car and pulled the trigger, but all he heard was a click.  I’ve run out of bullets, he thought, looking in the chamber as he could see that it had been opened.  He must have accidentally opened the chamber when he was trying to hold on to the gun in the river, losing all his ammo. 

Thankfully for Jay, the man had left his car running.  He pressed the brakes and gas, revving the engine.  He then released the brakes, sending the car racing toward the charging beast.  Jay slammed the car against the body of the beast, directing the car off the road toward the water below.  Jay jumped out of the vehicle as the beast plummeted with the car toward the rocky river.

A ball of fire filled the sky as Jay limped off, knowing he had to get to his truck before the authorities or the beast found him.  He knew there would be no explaining anything to the cops because, who would believe his story?  And if he didn’t get to his truck before the wolf came, then he’d surely die for he was out of silver bullets.

CHAPTER 21

“I seriously have to get a new job,” Detective Rodriguez said as lights of the patrol car flashed against his face.  “What the fuck is going on in this town?”

“You got me, sir,” Talley replied.

“Alright, what do we have?”

“James Madison, forty-six, father of two,” Talley replied.

“Jesus, has his wife been notified?” Rodriguez questioned as Talley pulled the sheet off Madison’s body.  “What happened to him?”

“Someone or something ripped his intestines right out of his stomach.”

“Holy mother!” Rodriguez said, lighting a cigar.

“That’s not all.  We found bullet shells on the side of the road,” Talley said, covering Madison’s body back.  “As for his car, whoever did it drove it off the road.”

“We’re gonna be up all night typing this up.  Pick up some coffee and meet me back at the precinct,” Rodriguez said shaking his head.

“Will do, sir,” Talley said, shutting the doors to the ambulance.

Jay sat in his truck outside his house, trying to calm himself.  He was wet, bleeding, and tired.  All he wanted to do was take a bath and go to sleep, he thought as he shut off the engine.

He almost died tonight.  Maybe he should just forget about this and stop looking.  Maybe Arnie was right; maybe he should kill him.  Despite what that would accomplish, there would still be a howling mad wolf running around.  Killing Arnie wouldn’t change things.  The two dead people he saw kept popping up in his head; no matter how hard he tried to erase their faces, they were there.  He should have forced that man to get in the car.  He had his gun.  He could have got him in the car, but he didn’t.  He had never felt so scared in his life.  Seeing something as terrifying as that creature that chased him through the woods like a hunted animal is far from easy to handle.  Jay didn’t want to turn around and look to the side because he was scared that if he did, the beast would be there waiting to kill him.  He could only imagine what Arnie was going through.  What it must be like knowing he keeps inside the very thing he fears.  Knowing that every full moon his nightmare becomes reality.  The fear of killing someone you love and not being able to do anything about it.  No, he would keep on looking and keep on trying because Arnie was dealing with far worse than he was; and he wasn’t going to let down the only person, who, besides Danny, had been like a brother to him.  He wasn’t going to give up, no matter how afraid he was.  If anything, he’d see this through for Danny.  He’d find the one responsible for this terrible dream and kill them and hopefully save Arnie from this curse.  A curse that would hopefully die with the one that did this to Arnie.

Jay took a deep breath and stepped out of the truck.  He started toward his front door and stopped.  It was almost as if he could feel something was watching him.  Jay forced himself to turn around and look.  When he did, he breathed a sigh of relief as the street was completely empty.  He looked in the sky and smiled as he could see the sun beginning to rise.  For the first time in his life he welcomed the sun and thanked God that he got through the night.  He was never high on religion and really didn’t go to church much, but he had seen enough tonight to maybe consider to start going.  Almost dying can do that to a person, he thought as he finally walked into his house.