Wolf Bane: Chapter 1

 

Wolf Bane

 

 

            I breathe heavily and shiver in the cold air watching my breath slip away in little wisps of steam. I can hear him walking through the grass and shrubs looking for me sniffing me out with those keen wolf senses of his. Hiding behind this tree is doing me no good I have to do something or else he’ll find me. How did I get into this mess? Why do things like this always happen to me? The series of events leading to this point suddenly rush through my mind and it begins to lead to a startling conclusion.

            All this started with the murder of my sister Mari only seventeen. It happened just a little over four months ago she was found nearly ripped apart and mauled horribly by some kind of animal. The funeral was tragic. That day it was raining, quite cliché in my mind, everyone in our family arrived and even Mari’s boyfriend attended, but the lowlife didn’t even stay long enough to watch her casket be lowered into the ground. It was torture; my father hadn’t been the same since. I’ve noticed he disappears once every two weeks I suspected cause he couldn’t mourn in front of me, too much pride. But since the murder a string of murders had plagued our town identical to that of Mari’s. All of the victims were teenaged females, which of course had me a bit worried since I just turned fifteen. My father felt extra pressure upon him since he is the lead detective of the town and he felt he must solve this for the sake of Mari.

            The main suspect you ask? We call him Bane, a werewolf. He’s been living in the woods behind our sleepy town since it was established. No one knows where he came from or how he became the wolf we know today. All we know is that he’s the only one capable of inflicting that kind of damage to a person and therefore the main suspect of Mari’s and the other victim’s murders. Though this may sound strange but I didn’t believe it was him only because we have no known history in our town records of him being aggressive to any of the town’s people. He was always elusive much like a wolf should be some even thought that he didn’t exist at all that he is only a myth to scare children because he is so rarely seen. Father rejected my theory he told me that there couldn’t be any other explanation, but he raised me to well. He may be a detective but I was daughter and I knew his methods and the ins and outs of his profession. He’s never one to stick with one conclusion he always kept at least two alternatives to his cases “Things aren’t always as they may seem, Jean.” He used to tell me, but with this case he seemed dead set on the idea that the murderer was Bane and I just had to disagree with him.

            The second murder occurred two weeks after Mari’s funeral. I remember specifically that Father was acting erratic that night paranoid would be a more accurate term. He was pacing back and forth in his den muttering to him self while shaky hands lifted a cigarette to his lips continuously. I walked in through the door quietly.

            “Father, Are you alright?” I asked gently.

            “I’m fine, leave me alone.” He dismissed me sharply. I watched him for a moment and noticed he was leaning on his right leg heavily.

            “Can I get you anything?” I said to some what reassure him.

            “I’m fine! Get out now!” He said whirling around to scream at me. At that moment I saw that he was bleeding from his left side. It looked like a bear or some kind of large animal had left four-inch deep claw marks in his flesh.

            “Daddy! What happened!?” I exclaimed with immense fright in my voice.

            “GET OUT!!” He shouted and pushed me out of the doorway and slammed it behind me. The next morning I snuck into his den while he was asleep in his room. I reviewed crime scene photos and the crime summary. The summary wasn’t written by my father personally it wasn’t his handwriting. Some one else reported the scene and I noticed a sentence was scratched out. I figured the writer had made a mistake. Though the photos I found a bit strange they were all consistent with an animal attack but by the size of the bite marks and claw marks it was as if a dog or a small wolf had done it. Bane’s size is at least the size of two men his claws are four inches long along with his teeth they would leave deeper wounds than that. Come to think of it the claw marks on my father’s side would have been a perfect match for an attack from Bane. Had my father encountered him that night? Another thing that caught my eye was that a few of the photos were missing. They were all numbered and approximately three of them had either been taken out of the stack or misplaced. Which was unlikely that my father would lose something as important as evidence. Things seemed sketchy at this point but for the most part I trusted my father with his investigations.

            The next few murders Father had been his calm self but upon looking through the evidence again I found the same results: The crossed out sentence and the few missing photos. I knew now that all that was specifically intentional and obviously had to be kept a secret. So I made a decision to find out where those missing photos were.

            Like clock work my father left after two weeks had passed in that month. I unlocked the den door with a key that my father never knew I had. I rummaged through his desk drawers, in his wastebasket, looked under his rugs, I even looked behind his pictures he hangs on the wall and I found nothing. I was just about to give up as I leaned on the edge of his desk and stared at one of his wall pictures. Staring a bit harder I noticed a corner of that picture had been a bit dog-eared.

            “Things aren’t always as they may seem…” I mumbled to myself while I walked towards the picture and peeled back the corner. Out fell the twelve missing photos. Flipping through them I couldn’t figure out what was so secretive that he had to hide them so. They all looked the same as the others. There was something in these pictures that had to be different, something! But before I could further inspect the images my father walked through the door. Quickly I placed the photo’s back and straightened up his den to its former glory and rushed to exit the room as quickly as I possibly could. Ah but luck wasn’t on my side that night. As I hurried out of the room I swung wide the door and there in front of me was my father standing with the look of conviction in his brown eyes.

            “What are you doing in here? I secured the door before I left.” My mouth went dry and I bit down on the side of my tongue searching, searching for an explanation. With a nervous chuckle and one solid motion to move passed him out from the doorway an explanation came to mind, granted not a great one but one that would get me out of trouble.

            “Surely not, Father. When I went to collect loose dishes the door pushed open easily. Perhaps you didn’t shut the door all the way hmm?” I gave him a small apologetic smile and made my way down the hall to my room. I felt him staring after me after I left knowing full out that I had lied.

            Life was quiet for a while and when I thought everything was beginning to go back to normal, Louie my sister’s boyfriend approached me one morning before school started.

            “Jean, I need to talk to you.” Louie seemed to be in an urgent mood it almost seemed like he was scared of something, but I truly could care less of what he had to say.

            “Well I have no respect for you. You didn’t have the decency to pay your respects to my sister at her funeral and you so casually stroll up to me and ask to talk. No, Louie it doesn’t work that way. So therefore I’m never going to talk to you again.” I attempted to walk away but he grabbed me by the arm.

            “But, Jean it’s important…it’s-it’s about your sister’s murder.” A light sparked in my mind. How could he possibly know something about her death that I didn’t? I thought for a moment and my feelings about this subject conflicted with the feelings of him leaving her funeral but it would’ve been in my best interest to agree to talk with him.

            “Fine, meet me at serenity pond tonight at eight. We’ll talk then but don’t assume that I feel differently about you.” I jerked my arm away from his grip and walked away to my class as I heard the bell ring in the background. That night my father left again and that would have been the perfect chance for me to look over those photos again but due to my appointment with Louie it would have to wait.

            I paced back in forth in the foggy cold as frogs hopping in and out of the calm water disturbed the silence of the pond. Suddenly Louie came rushing upon me in a cold sweat and looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

            “Jean he’s coming for me,” He said out of breath, “He’s going to kill me! He knows what I did.” I couldn’t get him to calm down and stop searching all around him.

            “Louie what are you talking about? Who’s going to kill you?”

            “Bane! He knows…he knows what I did now he’s going to punish me for it.” Louie made no sense. Bane had never killed a male before or for that matter, to my knowledge, he had never killed a person.

            “Louie, tell me about my sister what do you know?” I tried to get him to collect himself but it seemed impossible. After a moment he caught his breath and stopped trying to look through the fog.

            “Jean…That night when Mari was killed. I-I…raped her.” I suddenly stepped back away from him and I felt a rush of immense fear run through me. “You must understand I wasn’t trying to hurt her…but she was struggling with me and then your father found us...” I felt sick to my stomach I wanted kill him. I wanted to rip him apart just as all those victims had been. I wanted him to be left beyond recognition only identified by dental records. I wanted him to feel the same pain I felt when my sister was taken from me. I wanted my sweet revenge.

            My eyes shifted from his slightly as they caught sight of the silhouette that would bring justice to me. Bane’s massive body emerged from the fog at a full gallop towards Louie. His sleek black fur was condensed with droplets of water and his claws pounded heavily against the stony sidewalk. His toned muscles worked intricately under his skin while his lips curled back bearing blood stained teeth with dripping saliva. His icy blue eyes were fixed specifically on Louie.

            “ I hope you burn in hell for what you did!” I yell out at him as tears slowly stream out of my eyes.

“ But, Jean you have to understand that I didn’t- “ Louie had heard Bane’s approach to late. He had pounced on him and his giant jaws clamped down on Louie’s head and brought him down swiftly. They rolled into the pond and violent splashing, screams, snarling, and growling was all I heard. And after a moment in the foggy mist I saw Bane rise slowly from the waters as the sliver moonlight reveled red tinted water, which reflected off of his jet-black fur giving Bane a demon quality. He pointed his nose to the moon and let out a deep mournful howl almost as if he was paying his last respects to Louie.

Bane slowly lowered his head and turned to look in my direction. His blue eyes reflected back an eerie green glow as he stepped out of the water and shook his gigantic body free of moisture. He only seemed to stare at me and I realized that fear was encompassing me. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to let Louie die he could’ve protected me. His eyes didn’t seem to express aggression he just took another look in my way and snorted and began on his way. Why would he just kill Louie and not me? Did he know something that I didn’t about Mari’s murder and how could he? He was just an animal. I know now that he’s more than just any animal he was a man once he can still rationalize or at least over these many years he’s been able to control himself.

Suddenly, a shot in the dark and a loud yelp echoed through my ears. My father had shot Bane in the shoulder. A weird place to shoot for my father, he’s usually a perfect shot. My father ran up to me with his shotgun loaded and ready. A look of confusion crossed through Bane’s eyes as I saw him look back and forth form Louie’s body to my father and finally with a frustrated snarl I saw Bane scramble off back in to the woods.

“Jean, go home and wait for me. Do not follow me do you understand?” Father said firmly. And for the first time I actually listened to him I went home as my father hunted down Bane. I took the liberty of trying to review the photos again and this time with a bit more inspection I found why they were hidden. The cause of death had in fact been a gunshot wound or a stab wound. The murderer had used the mauling as a cover up this whole time. Bane was being framed but why? I go through the summaries and they confirm my suspicions about the stabbings and gunshots wounds. The scratched out sentences told of the weapon wounds but why had they been crossed out why wouldn’t my father want the station to know about this crucial evidence?

My father was up to something and I had to find out what it was. Without hesitation I hurried out into the woods behind our town to find my father, perhaps not the smartest move I’ve ever done but I did it nonetheless. I wandered for about half and hour before I caught on to a blood trail possibly Bane’s.  As I followed the trail of blood the noise of what sounded like a dogfight raged loudly up ahead of me. I came upon a bush and using it to my advantage I ducked down behind it and peered over the top of the plush shrub and there for my eyes to behold was the answer to a crucial question.

I saw a kennel of starved dogs fighting over the body of the newest victim. They were ripping her to shreds trying to get as much “food” as they could. Know wonder the bodies look so mauled the dogs had been starved to near death when the bodies were thrown in with them for them to feed on. It was completely horrific and I could hardly bare to watch but when I saw Bane rush from the depths of the forest and ram himself in to the chain kennel I realized that he was trying to protect these victims. The cage broke open and out rushed the raving dogs all attacking Bane at once. Bane took them on ripping them in half, tearing their bodies to shreds, and leaving nothing left to know what had previously been these splatters of blood across the forest floor. Sustaining some injuries Bane limped over to the body on sniffed and nudged the poor victim as if trying to wake her up. He sat and hung his head over the body mourning for her when I ever so slightly shifted my footing and snapped a twig. His head lifted quickly and his ears pointed straight up. I clasped my hands over my mouth and scrambled away as fast as I could behind a tree. And now I find myself in the present with Bane lurking just yards behind me I realize that he won’t attack me but if I smell like the one who is hunting him down than I’ll surely die. I was in my father’s den just hours before I found Bane and I reek of cigarette smoke and his cologne. The walls of the den basically drip with the smell since my father spends so much time in there.

My heart races and my body shakes violently with fright as I hear him just around the other side of the tree sniffing and trudging through the bushes. I can almost feel his warm blood soaked breath as his head nearly rounds the side of the tree that I am currently occupying. Then the gunshot of liberation frees me of this terrible fright when my father’s shotgun once again hits Bane in the shoulder. He lets out a fierce yelp and gallops away into a thicket heading towards an abandoned barn.

“You’ve found another victim have you, Bane? You’re really starting to get on my last nerve wolf.” My father runs passed my location and I keep out of sight and watch him chase after the innocent suspect. I have to tell Father that Bane isn’t the murderer. I follow my father sure to stay hidden at the same time. I see him run in to the barn after Bane and hear a violent struggle between the wolf and the detective. After a few moments I hear a gunshot and all is quiet.

“No…he killed him. Bane isn’t the murder…he isn’t!” I run as fast as my teenaged legs can take me. I rush in through the barn doors and a shot rings out again…but this time I am the recipient. I stumble backwards against the barn walls and slide down with a massive shotgun wound to my stomach. The pain is unimaginable I can taste the salty flavor of blood in my mouth. As my father walks over to me with his gun resting on his shoulder I see Bane on the ground with a wound to his back…no not enough to kill him but enough to put him out of commission for the moment. He makes attempts at getting up but fails over and over again.

I finally realize how all of this fits together. How could I be so blind? The hidden photos, the scratched out sentences, the absence of my father twice a month on the full moon and new moon nonetheless to make it seem more as if a werewolf were the culprit, the caged dogs it all fits now. My father is the murderer. But there are still questions to be answered.

“Things aren’t always as they may seem right father?” I say nearly breathless.

“Exactly Jean. I’ve taught you well perhaps too well. Why couldn’t you have just kept your prying nose out of this?” He says and kneels own to my level.

“These murders were pinned on an innocent bystander…” I cough convulsively unable to finish my sentence.

“Innocent!? You called that sin against God an innocent? Look at him Jean he’s a monster and he had to be dealt with.”

“Is that the only reason why you killed all those girls?” I reply with resent in my voice.

“Not just those girls, Jean but Mari as well.”

“B-but I thought... Louie…” My breath is stolen away from me, as it gets increasingly harder to breathe and to think.

“No, no Louie didn’t kill her. I walked in on them and Louie told me it wasn’t as it seemed. And oh so sweet little Mari told me he was trying to rape her. The lies people come up with to justify their actions. I killed Mari in a blind rage people are disgusting creatures Jean! So if I wipe out the youth than there will be no more adults now would there? I decided to wipe out all females since they are the ones who give birth to disgusting people. There will be no more people to tarnish this Earth.

I sent Louie away after soaking him in my cologne to confuse Bane that he was me. And it worked wonders now little Louie has no head on his shoulders.” My father let out a deranged laugh as he walks over to Bane and kicks him continuously and I hear him whimper in pain. “Using Bane to cover up the murders was easy. All I had to do was round up a few starving dogs and let them loose on the already dead bodies. Bane wasn’t going to make it easy though he constantly killed my captured dogs and tried to kill me, but he was very unsuccessful as you can tell. I had to keep him alive so I could have someone to blame. And I’ll keep him alive for as long as I continue to cleanse this world of people. He will be hunted to the very ends of the Earth for the things that I’ve done for he is a disgusting creature as well. You see Jean when you spend your life studying serial killers you think like them and slowly you become them. And now daughter of mine it’s your turn to be removed for the cleansing of the Earth.” Tears roll out of my eyes and I know now that it’s not supposed to work this way the hero is supposed to win the future is supposed to be bright and full of hope and not full of blood, death, and betrayal. My father raises his handgun this time and aims straight for my heart and with Bane unable to move I only hear his lonesome howl ushering me into the afterlife. And then there is a shot. I’m sorry Mari…I tried.

 *Well there you go I hope you all liked it. Like I said it wasn't the best I've ever done but I think it works. Tell me what you guys think of it.