Biting Cold

                                               Biting Cold

By

Rhys Causon

 

  The moon looked down into the forest like an inquisitive neighbour. Its light bounced back off the snow covered ground and branches bringing some much needed comfort to the hunter laying on the frozen ground as he aimed his rifle at the unsuspecting stag across the river. He tried to remain comfortable as a blanket began to form on his back as the snow began to fall again as a cold wind kissed his glowing nose and cheeks.

  Through the infrared scope he watched as the caribou moved carefully through the bushes, its antler just showing above the tops of the shrubbery, roughly one hundred feet away. All he had to do was wait for it to reveal itself and it would be his in seconds.

  “Come on,” he whispered to himself, “get out from behind there.”

  The stag approached the edges of the bush it was behind and began to emerge from its cover. The hunter finally saw how skinny this creature was, it was practically skin and bone. Clearly he was not the only one going hungry right now.

  Looking at the creature for a few seconds was enough to get a decent look at it and the hunter felt sorry for what he could see. It was big, very big for a caribou. No surprise it’s a bit skinny, it must have a hard time finding itself enough food at the best of times. It even seemed to have lost weight from its face as the snow dusted hair seemed to barely cling to the skull underneath. Not only was the animal skinnier than it should be at this time of year, it looked extremely sickly.  Most of its fur must have been coming off in clumps and bare skin was showing on its legs and rear end, making it look real mangy.

  “Won’t be much of a meal out of this deer. But meat is meat and there is always a way to use what was left of the fur if nothing else,” The hunter thought to himself as he followed the animal in his sight.

  With a disappointed sigh he readied his shot, steadied his breath and planted his elbows in preparation of his guns kickback. His finger delicately gripped the trigger.

  As ready as the hunter was it was such a shame that this was the moment the wind decided to change direction and spoil the whole thing. Out of the corner of his eye the hunter noticed a few tuffs of longer grass that were sticking through the snow begin to bend towards the river in the breeze.

  “Shit,” he muttered in annoyance as well as through gritted teeth.

  He looked down the scope again, expecting to see the creature turning tail and moving deeper into the trees. However he was surprised to see the stag was now looking in his direction. It smelt the air quizzically and focused its attention in the hunter’s direction.

  “What are you doing? Why aren’t you running?” The hunter thought out loud with a tone of confusion in his voice. He continued to look down the scope as the creature stepped into the freezing water and as he looked at the animals face a strange feeling of deep dread began to fall over him. He felt his gut tell him to just pack up quickly and get out of this situation.

  All the time the stag was pushing through the freezing water as if it was just walking down a game trail as if the freezing temperature didn’t affect it at all.

  It was time to give up and head home for the night. The hunter moved shifted onto his knees in order to pack his gun away.

  He slung it over his back and looked back to the water one last time just as the sickly caribou stepped onto the bank nearest to him, pausing to smell the air before continuing forward.

  The hunter quickly turned to start travelling back to his car as quickly as he could, while also staying as aware to his surroundings as possible.

  The snow may have made it harder to hear the environment around him and the clouds dancing in front of the moon made visibility poor. Even so, the hunter was very aware of the movement not too far behind him. He tried to pick up his pace but the snow was getting thicker, making it harder to move effectively. Now he could only shuffle through the deeper parts while the crunching noise behind him continued. 

  “Bloody snow,” he grumbled to himself as he felt his energy begin to drain.

  “Bloody snow…” An icy voice echoed his sentence from behind him.

  The hunter froze and quickly turned to look over his shoulder. In the shadows of the trees a hunched figure stood looking at him. The hunter looked in horror as the stag emerged from the shadows.

  “Bloody snow…” the harsh voice cut through the air again.

  The hunter wasn’t going to ask questions anymore, he knew whatever this creature was he had to get away from it. He immediately began to run and could just barely see where his car was parked. The moon was bouncing off its windows, almost encouraging him to run faster as he was almost safe.

  As he was pushing through the snow he reached into his pocket and tried to grab his keys, if only to give himself more of a chance of getting out of this situation.

  He could hear the voice getting closer, repeating the phrase, “bloody snow” over and over again as if that was the only thing it could say. The more it was repeated the more it seemed to have a grim prophetic feeling to it that the hunter did not like.

  The hunter found his keys in his pocket; having slowed down to actually grab them he pressed his key fob to unlock the car. The indicators light cut through the night, signifying his hope of escape was unlocked. Now he just needed to get there.

  “Bloody snow…”

  The freezing voice came from right behind him.

  The hunter had no time to react before he felt his body get knocked to the floor. Something slashed through his coat, slicing all the way down his back.

  “AAAHHHH!” The pain shot through his body.

  His own scream was shouted back at him and he felt a set of claws stab into his shoulders.

  As a set of jaws gripped the back of his neck the last thing he saw was the blood he coughed up onto the white ground.

  “Bloody snow…” he wheezed as the world went black.

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  “What did any of that have to do with your incident, Mick?” One of the suits in front of me asked with an annoyed tone.

  “If you let me carry on uninterrupted, you’d find out Agent…”

  “Stoker.” He said bluntly, tapping his name badge.

  “Ah yes. That was it.”

  “If you’re wasting our time, we can just put you away and leave you there. One of the key roles of the Assess, Secure and Protect Squad.” Agent Stoker spat the words across the table. I leaned forward gently and whispered, “That would make you the A.S.P.S… The Asps,” I tapped on the table, “This little task force you’ve got going on here. It’s named after a type of snake. Can you see why I don’t really trust you just yet?” A little growl had entered my voice as I felt the anger start to build in me.

  Calm down… its ok… nothing to get angry about.

  “Well Mister Irwin, since we don’t want to keep you any longer than necessary, please continue,” the much calmer voice of Agent Shelley urged me to carry on with my story.

  “Certainly Agent Shelley,” I leaned on the table and took a long, calming breath before continuing.

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  I had been walking through the forest for days so when I stumbled across a diner I couldn’t help but think, “Finally, some civilisation!”

  Now don’t get me wrong; I’m as partial to the Canadian woods as much as the next drifter but sometimes you just need a decent cup of coffee. And even though I’ve made coffee with acorns before it’s a bit tough to find them in early December… unless you’re a squirrel looking for his secret stash.

  So I hoped this place sold a decent cup of coffee.

  “Oh come on Mick, lower your expectations on that one. Just hope the coffee machine is working.”

  So I entered the diner; a little bell rang above the door and immediately noticed eyes turning towards me. Good thing I’m used to people looking at me strangely. It’s been a while since I’ve been around people. So long that even I don’t know what I look like right now. The only thing I know for certain is that my clothes must be at least two or three sizes too big for me right now. There wasn’t a lot of food out in the woods right now.

  “Morning…” I said gruffly before clearing my throat and trying to ignore all the ‘you don’t belong here, stranger’ looks. I moved past a few tables, stepped towards the till and ordered a simple large black coffee.

  “Ok then, that’ll be $2.10 sir.”

  When the hell did coffee get this expensive?

  I handed the cash over after sorting though the handful of change I had before taking a seat by a window… if only to try and see what my reflection looks like. I made it look like I was looking out the window and yeah; I could certainly see why I got some funny looks when I walked in.

  Looking back at me was a dirty looking middle-aged man with much older eyes, a long, black, scraggly beard and messy hair coming out from under the beaten up wooly hat that I picked up off the road a few months ago. My hand looked incredibly dirty poking out from the fingerless gloves I had on and my jagged fingernails looked disgusting.

  Honestly everything I was wearing I’d picked up along the way. That included the scratchy blood red jumper, the scruffy boots that were close to giving up entirely and the pants being held up by a belt of rope. I really don’t want to question why the pants ended up in the middle of the road but I can’t say I was complaining when I found them. Everything except my military jacket and dog tags in the breast pocket as I’ve had those two things for decades now and I intend to have them until the day I die.

  I was staring at my reflection for about three minutes before I noticed I had a leaf sticking out of my beard. How long has that been there? And why haven’t I felt that rustling in there? I’d bathed in the river earlier that day.

  I picked it out of my beard hoping no one noticed but I’m sure someone must have.

  I sat there, taking the time to relax for as long as I could but once the coffee got cold I lost my excuse to stay there. I drained the cup, picked up my stray leaf and tossed both in the bin on the way out waving a small thank you to the staff behind the counter on the way out and walked further into town.

 

  The town seemed to be one of those real small towns where everyone knows each other. Cemented further by even more of those ‘who the hell are you?’ looks I got from near enough everyone.

  I’m used to walking into towns and feeling like people were judging me but the atmosphere in this place seems darker than some places I’ve been… and when you’ve seen some of the shit I’ve seen, you know what a dark atmosphere feels like.

  This was clarified by the headline on the front page of the newspapers outside the convenience store.

 

Another Body Found On Forest Edge

 

  No wonder every pair of eyes were focused on me. I must have looked extremely suspicious right now.

  But even so, I just carried on walking down the street though it wasn’t long before I could hear two sets of footsteps coming from behind me, seemingly trying to catch up with me. I clearly heard them talking to each other, discussing about what to do if I make a run for it. I really didn’t need to run from them, whoever they are; I could easily hold my own against them… providing I didn’t go full Wolf on them.

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  “I’m sorry, ‘go full wolf’? What does that mean?” Agent Shelley looked up from the notes she was taking. “So that mean you’re a…”

  “Oh sorry, I haven’t mentioned have I?” I cut her off, “ Well I’ve only hinted at it so far but I should let you know now, I’m a werewolf. I got bitten in Poland during World War Two.”

  “World War 2?” Stoker looked at me curiously. “You’ve been an active lycanthrope for almost eighty years?”

  “Yeah. Is that unusual?”

  “Very… usually we catch them after going feral. Though in your eyes those are probably just puppies when it comes down to it now.”

  “Well I can’t blame the little girl who bit me. I’d lash out if I’d been treated the way she was.” The two agents looked a bit shocked but understood what I meant. “Like I said, I’ve seen some dark stuff.”

Stoker scribbled something down in his notes. “I will have to inform Agent Talbot to add you to the Shape Shifter Index after this.”

  “That’s fine. I suspected I wasn’t the first Wolf you lot had run into but it seems I’m the first one who walked in voluntarily. Not that I had much choice when you found me. But back to the reason I’m here.”

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  I turned on my heels and was met by two police officers, a young black woman and a man, roughly mid forties, who appeared to have some Native Canadian blood in him.

  “Can I help you with something officers?” I asked as I looked from one officer to the other.

  The young lady introduced herself, “Sorry for bothering you sir, I’m Officer Harper and this is my partner, Officer Miting,” She gestured towards the broadly built man next to her, “We were just going around town asking a few questions about where people were over the last few days.”

  “I’ll answer as best as I can, though I will admit now don’t know the area very well, just got into town a few hours ago.” I answered truthfully, even though that made them incredibly suspicious right away.

  “Ok then sir, can we get a name first please?” Officer Harper took a little notebook and pen out of her pocket ready to take her notes. I looked at Officer Miting out the corner of my eye as I answered.

  “Mick Irwin.”

  “How long have you been in town Mister Irwin?” Officer Harper asked.

  “Like I just said, only a few hours, the people who work at the diner on the edge of town can tell you I was there this morning… going by the looks I was getting, I doubt they’ll have forgotten me already.”

  “Have you been near the parking lot near the west side of town that leads to the forest?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Unless I got turned around in the forest and lost all sense of direction. Sorry I can’t be more specific.”

  Officer Miting made a little sound that seemed to imply ‘I don’t believe you’ but I chose not to acknowledge the reaction.

  “Would be willing to come with us to see if you recognise the place?” Officer Harper asked gently. Took me by surprise to be honest.

  “Sure, anything I can do to help.” At this point I gave Officer Miting a cheeky smile and held my hands out, “If it makes you feel better Officer Miting, you can even put me in cuffs.”

 

  As I was so willing to help they didn’t put me in cuffs but I still got to ride in the back of the car. That was fine by me; it took the weight of my feet for about forty minutes. The trip passed quickly and we were soon at the parking lot and my god! The smell of blood in the air hit me like a freight train as I opened the door.

  HUNT!

  I gripped the door as I fought the Wolf inside me who attempted to jump into the drivers seat just then.

  No… not here… not now.

  I shook my head quickly to push the Wolf’s bloodlust back and took control again. Should have expected that to happen… must have been more relaxed in the car than I thought I was.

  “You ok there, Mister Irwin?” Officer Miting’s hoarse voice cut through the blinding white gleam of the snow.

  “Yeah I’m good, just slipped on an icy patch,” I quickly lied. I’m used to coming up with lies quickly but I know that was not one of my best.

  “Well watch your step. Anything looking familiar?” Officer Harper said as she closed the door.

  I looked around, scanning every detail I could make out; I even took a big sniff in as well, trying to ignore the bloody smell in the air, “Sorry officers, I’ve never been here before.” But now was interested to find out what happened. “Can I ask what state the body was in?”

  “There has been but you understand that we cannot give out the information we have right now, right?” Harper squinted at me.

  “I’m aware of that Officer Harper but I told you I’m willing to do anything to help. Even if that means just crossing off the possibility of an animal attack.”

  “I’m sorry Mister Irwin but we cannot have a civilian we don’t know help us in our investigation,” Officer Harper responded.

  “That’s understandable. Makes perfect sense,” I nodded slightly in agreement.

  “Im sorry Mister Irwin. Would you like a lift back into town?” Harper seemed genuinely apologetic as she asked her question.

  “Oh no, its fine, I don’t mind getting back on my own.”

 

  After saying thank you they both got into the car and set off back towards town. When the car was out of sight, curiosity got the better of me.

  I followed the smell of blood as I walked into the trees and even without the crime scene tape I could tell I had found the right spot.

  The smell of blood in the air was almost overpowering. The Wolf stayed in the animalistic section of my brain. The part where your fight or flight instinct lives. But only just. I was leaning against the nearest tree for a while.

  “You’ve got to stay inside right now ok?” I said to myself.

  Blood in the air. Hunger growing.

  “I know we’re hungry but I can’t just let you out in the middle of the day.”

  Tonight?

  “Maybe… if I know it’s safe.”

  A small growl was the only response I got to that so I managed to compose myself. I lifted the police tape and slid down the small slope following the aroma of blood to where it was strongest. I wasn’t surprised to see the blood itself but I was certainly taken back by how disturbing the sight was.

 

  Going by the blood spray that had frozen into the snow I guessed the victim had been ripped apart. So it this was an animal attack my first suspect would be a wolf pack because of how messy it can be when they tear flesh from their prey. Trust me I would know.

  I looked around the area for any clear footprints or any other indication of what species could have done this but after a few minutes of searching, the only kind of prints I could find in the snow, that weren’t human, were a bizarre set of stubby prints that looked to me like if a deer’s hoof had fused together, so that instead of having two bracket like prints you had one oddly rectangular pad.

  From what I could see the closest thing it resembled was a bears print… yet there were no claws or toes. Just this weird, stubby pad print. Almost like a human footprint, like they were standing on tiptoes… just missing the toes.

  What I did next, I didn’t want to do because of how much blood is around but I needed a hint of what was here. The evidence I’d found was too confusing. I inhale deeply through my nose and am immediately hit with the overwhelming smell of decay and strangely… a hint of caribou.

  But I could feel the Wolf wanting to push me out of control for a third time that day so had to pull back on his leash again.

  He did not going to like that.

 

  At this point I decided that trying to follow the decaying smell was the best option. It was just weird enough to stand out way too much to be nothing. At least that was what my gut was telling me.

  Luckily as I followed the deathly stench the bloodlust died down though now I realised how hungry I actually was. It’d been a couple of days since I had eaten last and needed to get something decent in the next few days. Especially since I was planning on wolfing out later, if it was safe.

  As I followed the trail of… whatever this thing was I could feel the wind pick up. The temperature dropped and flurries of snow began to fall. I knew the sun would be setting soon. I needed to start thinking of abandoning this hunt and looking for a place stow my stuff before letting the wolf out. I didn’t want to ruin the few clothes I actually have.

 

  Luckily after a few minutes of trudging through the deepening snow, I stumbled across an old hunter’s cabin. Either the smell was leading me to this place intentionally or I had stumbled across something terrible that the forest has decided should stay hidden.

  Cautiously, I moved up to the door and pressed my ear to it, hoping to hear some sort of movement that indicated life. But no… I heard nothing inside so pushed the door open and almost immediately wished I hadn’t.

  Scattered on the floor were shattered and broken bones of all sizes. All of them had been picked clean of all flesh and muscle. Coagulated blood was everywhere. Splattered all over the floor, sprayed up the walls. Some of it had even gotten on to the ceiling. Arterial spray I’m guessing.

  I closed the door and gently moved around the room, trying to take in as much information that I could. I’ve already said the bones were different sizes so I have the horrible feeling that this might have been a parent and child. Further cemented by the grizzly discovery of a small human skull with some of the incisor teeth missing.

  “Sorry kid. Hopefully it was quick.” I looked at the little skull lying on the ground, tears forming in my eyes then searched around the room for any possible clues about what did this.

  Along the spine of the larger body was covered in strange indents and chips out of the bone. These scratches seemed to have been made by only one creature… or at least one species. I just can’t work out what sort of creature would be able to pick a corpse this clean.

  On closer inspection of the injuries I saw there were large scratches on the spine and back of the rib cage, that resembled injuries a large knife dragged over bone would leave, so my guess is this is a predator that took this person out. But unless this guy got into a serious accident while filming an X-Men movie I can’t think of any Canadian predator that could do that.

 

  I quietly crept around the rest of the cabin, just in case someone was alive but hiding. Unfortunately the only other thing I could find was dead as well. Yet the strange thing about this was, it only had one bite taken out of it.

  What I’d found was a thin mongrel of a dog with its throat torn out. Now that is weird. What would choose to eat the people but not the dog? Meat is meat and a predator at this time of year wouldn’t turn up its nose at this.

  I continued investigating around for anything that could help me try and find a suspect in these attacks and found a few book about the predators found around the area. One of them had the most boring name I could have imagined for a book like this… ‘The Flora and Fauna of Canada: A Field Guide and Study’ by someone called Eric Andrews. Going by the “Other works by this author” list, the guy has a whole bibliography filled with books like this… he must be incredibly boring to be around.

  But still it’s the only bit of research material I have so I have to deal with it and even though the sun was now beginning to set I could easily read the words in the book.

 

  None of the predators I found in the book had a footprint like the strange one I found at the scene of the attack. The wolverine prints were the closest in appearance but they were way too small… and had toes. Besides if a wolverine had been the one to eat these people they would have had to have been dead for a long time, they maybe tough little bastards but even they know to leave humans alone.

  I was starting to believe that it was something supernatural that attacked these people and the victim that was found. I’m living proof that humans may think they know everything about the creatures of the world yet do not. There’s always something hiding in the shadows… and now its time to go find it.

 

  I decided it was probably best to enable a half transformation before I left, as that would help me if I got in any sort of trouble.

  “You can take control if you need to but I need to be in front, ok?”

  You said I could run…

  “I said if it was safe. Do you think knowing three humans have been killed and eaten makes this place safe?”

  We strong and fast though…

  “Yes and if we need to fight you can take over, ok?”

  Fine…

  With that sorted out, I took my jacket, jumper and boots off; everything else was baggy enough to survive a half transformation. I’ve just got to hope the Wolf sticks to our deal now.

  I hung the jacket and jumper up then placed the boots below its hook then I went outside and focused carefully on controlling the transformation.

  The cold night air filled my lungs.

  My body tightens as the muscles and bones shift in size and shape.

  Pain sears through every nerve.

  My knees buckle as I fight the animal for control in this half crazed state of being.

  I need to be in control.

  I clench my teeth and feel them sharpen and lengthen. Blood fills my mouth as they tear against my lips and cheek.

  The Wolf was fighting back.

  I breath deeply again and try to push the animal side down.

  The inner turmoil subsides.

  The dark world appears to brighten even though the sun has now set.

  Control. I was in control.

  Good. Let’s hold onto that.

 

  I opened my eyes and took in the surrounding forest. The night seems much brighter now thanks to my wolf eyesight and I’m thankful for it.

  I listened carefully to the sounds of the night, owls calling, something small scampering through the snow and then cutting through the still of the night… a terrified scream of pain. A human scream of pain.

  I took off in the direction that shout came from, leaping over a fallen tree, splashing through a small stream ignoring the cold shock to my feet. Ignore everything and focus on the where the sound came from.

  Another scream cried out. This one carried on for a long time and indicated to the predator in me that whatever was crying out was severally hurt.

  High chance I wasn’t going to make it before the victim died.

  And it was going to be hard to ignore all the fresh blood… but I was going to have to somehow.

 

  As I got closer to the screaming I felt my predatory instincts kicked in and I found myself creeping through the bushes and undergrowth and shifting my direction to make sure I was upwind of whatever I was approaching. I peered through a gap in the leaves and saw a large shape hunched over the flailing, screaming victim.

  The smell of blood was like a stab of temptation with every breath. The Wolf’s hunger caused me to react uncontrollably.

  Leaping through the bush I was using for cover I distracted the creature, which took off running into the woods. I could feel the two sides of me fighting over wanting to follow the creature and finish off the victim.

  It was almost like I was looking through a window as I felt my body slowly move towards the bloodstained victim as they attempted to crawl away, leaving a crimson red trail on the white ground.

  No this is wrong!

  But we’re so hungry…

  We need to stop that thing!

  How can we stop it without…

 

  Getting hit hard from behind interrupted the battle for control, knocking me to the snow-covered floor.

  Both sides of me acted as one in that moment as I attempted to push my self back up onto my feet but felt something strong press against my back and I ended up flat on the ground again, my face half buried in the snow.

  I grunted in frustration as I kicked blindly at the thing attacking me.

  “Get off of me,” I growled as my foot connected with the body of my attacker, adrenaline coursing through every nerve to power up my kick as much as possible. I struggled yet still managed to somehow spin onto my back while the hands continued to try and pin me down.

  Blood dripped into my eyes, almost blinding me but I was still able to make out a huge black shadow leaning over me, with something protruding from out of the head of the shadow. A husk off a voice trailed out of the darkness of this thing.

  “Get… off of me…”

  This thing could talk?!

  I swiped a fist at what I assumed was the creature’s face but it felt like I was punching bone… with no flesh covering its face at all.

  Have to admit, that was surprising and in my shocked state my arm froze after it hit the side of this creature and this thing took its opportunity to attack back.

  Teeth sunk deeply into my bicep and I cried out in pain. I tore my arm away and felt a large chunk of muscle rip off my arm. Blood oozed from the wound. It pooled in the snow near my neck and shoulder.
  The fight or flight instincts were starting to kick in. I needed to get the hell of this situation. It was bigger than I thought it was going to be.

  The Wolf took over. It shoved my legs into the chest of this thing and pushed it backwards as hard as I could. It lost its balance and fell to the ground.

  As I scrambled to get up to retreat, I heard the shadowy figure gagging on the floor. My head tilted as I looked at the convulsing creature as it vomited the chunk of my bicep into the snow.

  It shot a look at me then jolted passed me towards the victim that had passed out at some point. It grabbed the body and dragged it into the darkness of the forest.

 

  I needed to form a plan.

  I had to work out what that thing was.

  But first… I needed to heal. So for that I need to eat in order to fuel the healing process. And I need it now. Luckily I know a place I can get something.

 

  I hobbled back to the cabin, wincing from the pain with every step and slowly transforming back to my human form. Guess I was lucky the attack happened relatively close to the cabin but when you can barely walk a few hundred feet feels like several marathons at once.

  The cabin came out of the darkness and I pushed the door open as quickly as I could, practically falling into the cabin in the process. Looking around the floor I spotted carcass of this deceased families dog. I clawed my way across the floor until I could reach the body, gripped it around its leg and pulled it towards me.

  Not the meal I wanted but definitely the one I need right now.

  “Sorry buddy, it’s nothing personal,” I whispered through the pain.

  I sunk my teeth into the flesh of the dog and felt the wolf’s hunger take over my body. Within thirty minutes I had stripped the body of any hair, flesh and other soft parts I could eat. I leaned against the wall and focused on fueling the healing on my arm. I clenched my jaw and groaned in pain as muscle regrew and stitched itself together.

  As I didn’t have much energy to spare this took a bit longer than I’d have hoped. Thankfully this gave me more than enough time to think through what had happened.

  “It gagged when it tried to eat my flesh yet has clearly eaten human flesh before. It probably is right now going by the state of that victim.” I was thinking out loud trying to make sense of the situation. “Does being a werewolf make that much of a difference?”

  Maybe…  

  “Some help you are right now,” I breathed out.

  I picked myself up off the floor and went back to the books I found earlier in the day. Keeping my weight off my healing leg I ran my eyes over the titles.

  The Flora and Fauna of Canada: A Field Guide and Study. No… that was a useful as tits on a fish

  The Travellers Guide to Ontario… No.

  Dances with Wolves… I do feel like the universe is laughs at me sometimes.

  Several children’s books.

  And one last title that caught my eye, Fact or Fiction: A Collection of Cryptozoological Case Files.

  “Well… I’m not supposed to exist so lets see if there’s anything else that has hidden from the world.”

 

  The night passed by as I scanned the pages for something… anything… useful.

  Some of these were easy to cross off. It wasn’t a vampire, they only drain their victim they don’t eat the meat and us werewolves are a lot messier killers, plus I would have been able to smell it from miles away.

  I flicked through focusing more on the pictures at this point, just trying to see something that looked vaguely like what jumped me and that way of doing it is what found two possible results.

  The first option was the Leshy. A creature said to be a protector of the forests. If it were one of them, it would make sense that it could be attacking people to protect its home. Except they are mostly “found” in Slavic territories and their folklore so that makes them a far less likely suspect now.

  But the next one was more promising. The second option was a horrifying visualisation of starvation and desperation to survive. I was looking at the entry for something called a Wendigo.

 

A malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being that is strongly associated with winter, the north, coldness, famine and starvation. Any human can become a Wendigo if they are hungry enough to feed on another humans flesh to survive the harshness of winter. Yet from then on the being can only eat human flesh but can never satiate themselves with anything else.

 

  I think I found the serial killer the police were looking for and one of the supernatural’s most disturbing species I know of.

  I stared at the entry for a while. As I attempted I hold off sleep I rested my head on my hand and wondered how the hell I can take this thing down.

  Go for the throat. The wolf growled hungrily in my head.

  “Treat it like prey? Might have to be the option we go with,” I replied to the thought out loud. “Going to need a lot of energy tomorrow night then.”

  Hunt tomorrow? Feed tomorrow?

  “It might have to be whatever we can find. It might not be just meat. You’re going to have to deal with it.”

  A short growl of irritation was the only answer I got in response.

  As long as I don’t run into the Wendigo during the day I should be ok. Thankfully I knew its scent now so if the stench of death became too strong I would have to get ready to defend myself.

  But that was a problem for tomorrow night; during the day I needed to eat a lot. Thank God I don’t care what people think of me because it was not going to be pleasant.

  But at that point, I needed sleep.

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  “I could bore you with the details of digging through bins looking for enough food to fuel the transformation for the night but I’m sure we would all love to get on with our day so would you mind if I skipped the dumpster diving?” I asked after taking a slip of water from the small plastic cup I’d been given during this insanely long meeting.

  “Sure, just skip to the more important details,” Agent Stoker said as he rubbed his eyes.

  “Anything that makes this go quicker,” Agent Shelley whispered to herself as she flexed her fingers, probably to stop them stiffening up. She has been typing a lot!

  “Gladly…” I emptied the small cup and carried on.

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  So after searching all day for any edible I felt like I had enough energy to fuel my transformation that night.

  As the sun dipped lower in the sky I began the routine for whenever I know I’m going to have to fully change voluntarily.

  It was nice to have a place to stow my clothes for once instead of hoping no one found my clothes while I was running. I had made my way back to the cabin and had just hung my jacket and jumper up on a hook, my boots placed gently below them and threw the rest of my clothes on the chair next to where I read about the prey I needed to focus on tonight.

  I walked outside and the cold breeze hit my naked body. Lets be glad there’s no one around to see this.

  “Ok…” I breathed slowly, “Whenever you’re ready.”

  Hunt for the Beast?

  “Yes. Hunt for the Beast. If you take over, go for the kill. It needs to be taken down.”

 

  A growl of excitement sounded in the back of my mind and the wolf began it walking through my nerves to take control. 

  Pain spread over down from the base of my skull.

  My muscles tightened and burned once again as bones shifted, changed and grew.

  I pushed passed the stage I stopped at before and felt my nose and mouth push forward into a long muzzle.

  The agonised groans becoming more animalistic as I changed.

  My teeth grew and sharpened. The bones in my hand broke, stretched and snapped into new positions as they shifted into half human, half-wolf hands. Fingernails became claws, growing into deadly weapons very quickly.

  My ears became more pointed and pushed out from my hair.

  Course, thick, black hair forced out of pores, forming a shaggy coat over my body.

  I stood for as long as I could but finally dropped to my knees.

  My feet had lengthened as my ankles shifted with my growing feet until I had the same bone structure as a canine’s leg.

  All I could do was try not to scream too much.

  I failed to do so and a long, drawn out howl of pain carried through the forest.

 

  The pain slowly stopped and I was ready. The Wolf and I were in perfect sync. I smelt the air. Death was on the wind and all I had to do was follow it to find my prey.

  I lowered onto all fours and moved as swiftly through the forest as possible.

  Decay was thickening on the air. It was getting closer. I needed to get ready for a fight that I had to win.

  This thing had to die.

 

  A scream cut through the night. Another voice just on the edge of my hearing called for someone in a horrified and pained tone.

  Someone’s hurt… that way.

  My arms and legs pumped as I pushed through the trees, finding blood splatter and other evidence of a struggle on the way to the almost continuous screams.

  The screams grew louder and the smell of fresh blood became almost overpowering as I leapt into a clearing.

  I quickly checked my surroundings, using all of my senses to pinpoint the newest Wendigo victims. Two native people, I guessed mainly due to the furs they were wearing. I also guessed that they had been out hunting before becoming the prey for something else.

  One of the two men was unconscious already, while the other one was limping heavily as they tried to pull their companion through the snow. He looked over his shoulder and screamed in pure terror.

  Easy prey…

  Not what we’re here for.

  Both weak though… end their suffering…

  No!

  As I was battling for control the hunter who was standing took the bow he had around his body, quickly notched an arrow then drew it back, releasing an arrow at me. It just managed to graze my shoulder. Which caused the Wolf to kick me out the drivers seat.

  I ran at the man, now fuelled by both the bloodlust that had been building and anger.

  The last thing that hunter saw were the gleaming, yellow eyes peering down at him before I got knocked aside by something huge.

 

  I landed about fifteen feet away and realised I was back in control. I hurried to my feet, ready to lunge at my attacker.

  I knew just what it was and this was the first time I got a decent look at the Wendigo.

  It was huge. Standing upright it was about the size of two people if one was standing on the others shoulders. Its body was horribly emaciated and so badly frostbitten, I couldn’t even tell what gender this thing had once been.

  From its boney head, something like a deer more than a human, sprouted two huge antlers, curving towards the front with sharp prongs ready to be used as a weapon if needed.

  The Wendigo gave out a blood-curdling scream to the heavens before it lowered onto all fours and started to run straight at me.

  I mirrored it and howled to the moon overhead before readying myself for the impact, which hit me square in the chest. The smell of Death greeted me just as hard as the bone and antlers did.

  I gripped the antlers, planted my feet firmly into the floor and attempted to twist the creature just enough for it to lose its balance.

  And somehow I managed it.

  The Wendigo hit the snow with a soft thud and that’s when I saw more details about the creature. The deer skull face and some of its hide was frozen to the things head and back, acting as a helmet for the almost human face beneath. I say almost human because it, like the rest of the body was covered in frostbite and the thing had clearly attempted to stave off its hunger by feeding on bits of itself. There was no nose, sunken red eyes and it was screaming up at me.

  Around its mouth were signs of teeth marks where lips and pieces of cheek should be, leaving its jagged almost shark like teeth exposed to the elements and a terrifying grin plastered onto it all the time.

  The shock of this sight was enough to distract me long enough for the Wendigo to kick up at me, striking my shoulder with a toeless stump of a foot and knocking me off it. My guess was it either ate its own toes or lost them to frostbite.

  I landed face first in the snow and felt claw like fingers dig into my back.

  Growling in pain I spun around and swiped across its ribs and clawed downwards to try and split it open.

  A bite on the upper arm was the next attack I had to deal with after that and this things teeth could get deep.

  As streams of blood flowed down my arm I realised I was seriously outmatched here I needed to let my instincts take over.

  The Wolf pushed forward and gripped the neck of the cannibalistic creature, my claws cutting at its neck. Black blood covered my hand and dripped onto my arm before the creature tore itself away from my grip, though my claws managed to leave deep tracks in its neck causing blood to gush from its neck. Yet that didn’t seem to affect it in any way.

  The main problem in this fight was the fact that this thing was almost twice the size of me, so it had every advantage it could get because of that. It had a wider reach for attacking me. I could see more weak points. It was certainly faster. That was the main problem to solve.

  I shook the snow off me as I stood up, feeling my muscles ache but dug deep to get the energy I needed before running at the Wendigo again.

  I lunged into the Wendigo's chest, knocked it down and fought with it on the ground kicking snow up all around us. Somehow ended up facing its legs.

  For one amazing second the Wolf and I had the exact same thought.

  Bite!

  Grabbing its leg I dug my teeth into the ankle. The Wendigo struggled and screamed that’s same blood-curdling scream as I started to bite down hard. The sound of bone breaking pushed me to bite even harder until finally…

  Snap!

  It wasn’t just the bone that was breaking; the entire stumpy foot fell off.

  That gave the Wendigo an opportunity to get away from me. It kicked me with its other foot and shot up onto its hands and foot. Its head lowered as if it bowing. Maybe it was attempting to tell me it wasn’t going to fight anymore? Maybe it was readying for another attack.

  It began to turn away from me and that’s when I realised. It was getting ready to flee.

  Which I wouldn’t let it do.

 

  I dashed towards it, jumped on its back and forced it to the ground, pushing all my weight down onto its writhing body.

  Though the Wendigo fought back this was much easier to gain control of this time. I bit through the caribou skin that covered the creature’s neck and spat clumps of frost encrusted hair up onto the snow while I pinned the thrashing Wendigo down.

  I pushed the things body into the ground as hard as I could, digging my claws into its shoulders then I did what any good predator knows to do.

  I went for the neck.

  My teeth punctured the skin and tore through the spinal cord of the creature, which fell limp under me, no longer able to fight back.

  I could take all the time in the world now. But the wolf’s fury and bloodlust was pushing me back again and this time I let him do what needed to be done.

  The spinal column was crushed. Nerves were severed and the skin was torn. And after a few final crushes of bone the head of my savaged victim dropped into the snow.

 

  I looked over to where the two men should have been. The one able to stand when I last saw them was still holding his bow but was standing in a state of shock or terror.

  I could only imagine how that must have looked from his perspective and what he must be feeling as a pair of yellow eyes looking at him through the darkness in the clearing.

  I managed to take control before the Wolf charged headlong at the “weak humans” so I ran back into the forest from where I came from originally and got back to the cabin.

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  “I tend to black out as I revert back to my human state because I am so worn out by then so the next thing I remember was the sunlight coming through the door and waking me up,” I lean on the table and look at the agents sitting across from me. “When you broke the door in shouting for me to ‘Stay where you are!’”

  “Yes you can stop there, we know the story from there.” Agent Stoker yawned slightly.

  “Be thankful I was so tired from doing your job… otherwise it would have gone very differently.”

  “Yes, we can certainly understand that now.” Agent Shelley closed her laptop carefully then looked at me. “But there is one thing I need to ask… why did you chose to take out the Wendigo? What did you have to gain?” She looked over her glasses and waited for me to respond.

  “Honestly?” I thought for a second.

  It hurt us…

  “It picked the wrong fight. I would have let it keep on killing if it hadn’t tried to eat me. You hurt me… you’re picking a battle with two minds. And both of them decided that cannibalistic bastard needed to die.” I said calmly yet bluntly. Hopefully this made it obvious to both Agents that I was not a person to make an enemy of. “One of the reasons I came here willingly was so you didn’t piss off the Wolf.”

  “Right…” Agent Stoker’s voice cracked a little, with the slightest hint of fear in his tone. “Well we’d like to personally than you for taking care of that Wendigo problem, even though we were observing it and planning an attack,” he cleared his throat slightly, “Should you want it there is a reward you can collect on your way out.”

  Agent Shelley clicked off the device recording the interview. “And considering the situation you’ve explained, we’d also like to give you the opportunity to join a new team we are putting together. A team you would fit right in with. A team of like minded individuals in the world of the paranormal.”

  I have to admit my interest was piqued but that’s just because it sounds like I wouldn’t be wandering all the time anymore. My silence spoke for me and Shelley continued, “The Paranormal Protection Enforcement, or P.P.E, protecting you, the general public, from all sorts of seen and unseen threats.”

  “You could be quite a powerhouse on the team I must say,” Agent Stoker genuinely sounded like he was encouraging me to join. “You’d have a place to stay and easy access to any food you’d want to fuel your transformations when they are needed.”

  “Can I ask who else would be on the team?” I rested my head against my hand as I listened.

  “We already have a Demonologist/Folklorist, Arthax Jenkins, who came with a Lizardfolk individual who helped save his life in Africa and a lovely couple of ladies who have quite the reputation as ‘Monster Hunters,’ Clara and Emily Morrigan. I think they’re just incredibly luck to be honest.” Stoker explained as if selling a pitch to a movie studio.

  “You might have heard of the Morrigan’s before? They were the couple who accidentally proved the existence of the Yeti in Tibet.” Agent Shelley chipped in.

  I hadn’t heard of them until now but I’ve heard stories of the Yeti since Eric Shipton found supposed evidence of them all the way back in 1951… The world was a lot more inquisitive back then.

  “Any other questions?” Agent Shelley raised an eyebrow

  I wanted to ask, “Do all you agents have Gothic/Horror styles surnames? Or is that just some sort of undercover thing?” but instead I simply asked, “Can you let me think about it for a minute?”

  “Of course,” Agent Shelley said, “Take all the time you need.”

 

  What do you think?

  Easy food. No more wasted energy.

  By the sound of it.

  Will have a den?

  Seems that way.

  Will people be safe from me?

  I reckon, we’ll be dealing with people who know the risks now.

  More time to run as wolf?

  Depends on the occasion going by what he’s implying.

  Then that’s what I want.

 

  I looked at both Agents and grinned, “Where do I sign?”