Beneath a Winter Moon (29 page)

She began whispering, “No, no, no, no,” softly under her breath. “No, no, no, no.”

The thing roared and Jenny’s entire body
spasmed
, completely locked with fear. The sleeping bag began to shake as she twisted uncontrollably inside with the spasms. “No, no, no, no.” Her voice was louder now, and the creature roared again, causing her body to lurch in fear once more. “Okay, okay, okay,” she whispered, so softly that only she would have been able to discern the words. “Okay, okay, okay.”

She heard the thing’s footfalls again, its claws clattering on the stone floor with each step. It was leaving, she understood. It had not wanted her, after all. Jenny managed a modicum of control as she convinced herself that she must see the monster. It was leaving…and she had to know. No, she
must
know what it was. She gently turned her head toward the entrance and eased the padded corner of the bag away from one eye. She held her breath again. The thing had Daniel in its massive arms, almost just as she had imagined, and it held its jaws around Daniel’s throat. A horrible crunching and sucking sound came from the creature as it crossed the final few feet toward the entrance. She saw something on one of its massive legs…something that should not be on an animal. In her state of mind, it was difficult for her to find the word for what she saw, so she tucked the thought away for some other time. The creature walked through the opening, stooping wildly as it exited with Daniel’s body still in its arms. She still heard the grinding and sucking as the monster fed. A thick trail of blood lay behind the creature as it walked out into the snow. Jenny pulled the sleeping bag over her face once more, and curled herself into a ball. “Okay, okay, okay.” she whispered. “Okay.”

The werewolf savored the soft flesh of the human with an unimaginable ecstasy. He had finally reached his lair…
his
place…and now he felt joy. His lack of human intelligence did not keep him from comprehending that this was the most satisfying experience he had ever known. He would have given everything to have this human, indeed, he had been so fiercely drawn that he had willingly sacrificed all caution in ignoring the human’s companions, even though they had seen him. He desired this one man in such a way that there was nothing else and now that he was devouring the prey, his senses fired in electrical satisfaction.

This cavern…his lair, was the closest thing to a home that the werewolf had. He very often brought his victims here, slowly devouring them until his hunger was satiated. No other animal dare come near, as his scent was so potent around the cavern that even if a creature were starving, even dying, it would stay clear.

Confident that he had drained the body of most of its blood, the werewolf changed his focus from the torn, chewed throat down to the chest. He dug the claws of both hands down into the human’s chest, breaking through the breastplate, and with a vicious ripping motion, he tore open the rib cage, exposing the heart. Saliva and blood dripped from his jaws as he stared into the chest cavity. He hesitated, then reared his head back and let loose a howl of ecstasy. He could wait no longer and so he slammed his jaws over the heart, ripping it free with one quick jolt. He brought his hands up to his jaws to help hold the heart in his jaws as he chewed, the pleasure so overpowering that he dropped to his knees. He gulped down huge chunks of the eviscerated heart, stopping only after he had devoured every soft piece of its flesh.

Aside from
demonic, monstrous, hellish
, the world might call Jeremiah’s double life mystical, magical, or simply unexplainable…but it was indeed the mystical side that had taken over both the man and the beast, leading them to Daniel…though neither would understand the reasons. Nevertheless, the lust was now satiated, and in its wake lay an exhaustion of pleasure, a creature drained of energy who longed for sleep. The werewolf had always hated sleep and was puzzled as he now welcomed the feeling as it drifted over him. He felt his energy leave him, replaced by a pulsating sense of pleasure throughout his monstrous body. Slowly, he collapsed down beside the twisted and torn corpse…until his head rested on a soft, untouched human shoulder. The werewolf closed his eyes, and for the first time in his long existence, he welcomed the coming darkness, unable to do anything more than sleep.

Thomas was dreaming. He was in
Panama
, floating in
Fort
Sherman
’s bay at the
Jungle
Operations
Training
Center
. He was on his back, drifting in the warm water as the sun slowly sank into the ocean. He was warm and comfortable.
But, how could Jack be here
? The Husky dog paddled along side him, licking at his face. He laughed and pushed the dog away, but Jack came back and licked him again. He laughed once more and tried to pry the snout away from his face.

“Okay, boy…that’s enough,” Thomas laughed. He opened his eyes and the bay suddenly disappeared into the black of night. He was cold…no…he was freezing. He forced his eyes all the way open to see Jack’s form through the darkness. The dog was whining and pawing at Thomas, who lay in snow on his back. He thought for a moment…just a fleeting moment at how beautiful the night was. There must have been a million stars out tonight, the storm now just a memory. Then everything came flooding back and he turned over to push himself up. There was a horrible pain in his neck and shoulders, but he thought that he was okay. He felt warm blood trickle from his neck and then turn cold against the skin.

“Where…where it is?” He mumbled as he staggered to his feet. “Where is my
rifle?”He
looked around to see if the creature was in sight. It wasn’t, but that was little consolation. The animal was obviously gone now, but could come back at any moment. He had to find the rifle.

“Wait…wait, wait,” he said to no one as he shook his head. “Delmar…where is…
DELMAR
,” he shouted the name. “
Delmar
!” He shouted again, realizing that he might as well be calling the animal as well. It didn’t matter. The thing knew where they were. Hell, it could have killed him
and still could
. But, it had left him alive.

He heard a groan somewhere close in the darkness to his left and realized that Jack was already there, licking at Delmar’s face and yelping. Occasionally shuffling toward Thomas and then jumping back to stand by Delmar.

“Good boy,” Thomas said as he staggered to his friend.

“What hit me?” Delmar asked as he tried to sit up. “What the hell happened?”

“You okay? Are you hurt? We have to check on the others.”

“
Ohhhhh
,” Delmar groaned as he rolled over onto his stomach. “I think I might have a cracked rib and my head is pounding. Shit, it
bit
me.”

“Let me see,” Thomas said, though he was unsure where his flashlight was and he could see little in the darkness.

“He bit my shoulder. Was it a bear, after all?”

“Show me,” Thomas insisted, as he leaned over his friend. He saw the wound, a dozen large punctures on the front and back of Delmar’s left shoulder. There were bloodstains, but the blood was coagulated, the punctures sealed

“Ah Shit, don’t touch it, Hero!” Delmar exclaimed.

“Do you have your rifle?” Thomas asked.

“What?” he reached around him in the snow. “No. Yours?”

“Not yet,” Thomas said. He saw the entrance to the cavern and marveled. They were at least twenty feet away from the soft glow coming from the cavern’s entrance. The thing had thrown them that far. “We’ve got to check on the others.”

“Holy shit,” Delmar said as he looked down at his
Indiglo
watch. “We must have been out for an hour. It’s a wonder we aren’t dead from hypothermia.”

“Get up. Let’s get inside.”

Delmar struggled to his feet. “Definitely a cracked rib.” He said as he held his right arm tight against his side and walked beside Thomas. Thomas scanned the area as they walked and thought it a miracle from heaven when he saw the glint of his rifle. He ran to it and hurriedly inspected it as he quickened his pace to the cavern.

“The door is open,” he yelled to Delmar as he ran far to the front of his big friend. With each hurried step, his heart quickened by a dozen beats.
Daniel and Jenny!

Thomas stopped, frozen in his tracks five feet from the mouth of the cavern. There was blood…
so much blood
in the snow. He checked the rifle once more and held up an open hand to Delmar, and then clinched a fist. Delmar did not know what else to do, so he followed his friend’s silent order and took a knee behind the tree where he had stood guard earlier. He waited.

Thomas approached the entrance slowly, the rifle at his shoulder. He stooped low enough to step through…and his worst nightmare was confirmed. Daniel and Jenny were gone. There was a trail of blood from the sleeping bags to the entrance…and they were just gone. It had taken them.

“Oh God,” Thomas said, lowering the rifle.

Jenny’s sleeping bag suddenly moved. Thomas Slammed the rifle to his shoulder again.

“Jenny?” He called.

“Okay,” The reply was weak. “Okay.”

“Jesus, Jenny,” Thomas said, running to her. “Are you hurt?” He tried to pull back the sleeping bag to get a look at her, but she held it tight and he could not pull it away. “Are you hurt, Jen?”

“Okay,” she replied once more, then again, “okay.”

“Where is Daniel?” He shouted and then forced himself to calm down. He changed the words. “Was he alive when it took him? Did you see it? Was Daniel still alive?”

“Okay, okay, okay,” she murmured in odd tones from under the sleeping bag. “Okay.”

“Shit,” Thomas muttered, knowing that she must be in shock. By now, Delmar was at the entrance, staring down at the massive trail of blood. Jack stood beside the big man, sniffing at the blood and whining.

Thomas kneeled down next Jenny’s covered form. She was shaking. He turned and saw Delmar.

“It
has Daniel
. Jenny is in shock.”

“Okay, OKAY!” Jenny screamed at hearing her name again. “OKAY!” She screamed.

“Jesus,” Delmar muttered. As Thomas tried to hold his own emotions in check. They had lost companions before…it had happened more than once in combat. But that was long ago, and this was
not
combat. And Daniel was gone.

“OKAY!” Jenny screamed again.

Thomas gave up trying to pull the bag away from Jenny. He turned and sat cross-legged and staring into what few embers remained in the hearth. He rested an arm on the sleeping bag, hoping to comfort the shaking form inside it. Jenny screamed again, “NO!” A few seconds passed and she began alternating between ‘no’ and ‘okay,’ repeating them over and over in varying tones that made no sense. She held herself inside the sleeping bag so tightly that even Delmar gave up trying to free her for fear of hurting her or making things worse.

Thomas began to grieve, his body wracked with sobs. The last time he had lost a friend in combat, he put his feelings away until the mission was over. It was what men did in the military. If a soldier was good at his job, he separated the traumatic events as if they were pieces of a larger puzzle and kept on moving until the mission was complete. Only then was there time for the real grief. Thomas wanted things to be that way now…but the sadness overcame him.

Daniel had been a close friend for as far back as Thomas cared to remember…and now he was gone, taken by some demonic monster from a Saturday night horror movie. “We don’t even know his family,” Thomas said aloud as Delmar sat with the rifle aimed at the cavern entrance. “We never met his family. How can we explain this?”