Ten Silver Bullets

by Adam Millard

  Frank and Simon got up, said their goodbyes, and left.

  I glanced over at Angela, she had a smug smile plastered on her face as she watched me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Oh, nothing,” she said, grinning. “Either he really likes you, which wouldn’t surprise me, or he’s using you as a pawn to piss off Isis. I haven’t decided yet, but I’m thinking it might be a bit of both.”

  I blushed and looked down again, thinking I should probably leave. I started to rise, but as I did so I saw Isis stalk over to Kirk.

  “I would like to talk to you, brother,” she snapped.

  “What about?” he asked, turning to face her.

  She crossed her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. “You know what about.”

  He smiled sadistically and nodded. “I’ll be right back.” He walked over to me and looked down into my eyes, smiling gently. “Natalie, I would like to talk to you before you leave, so please wait.”

  They turned and walked out of the room together, and I watched Isis’ platinum blonde hair swing back and forth as she stalked out with sharp, jerky movements.

  Angela laughed. “I know he’s succeeded at making her mad – this is fun to watch. There hasn’t been this much excitement since Kirk had to fight for leadership.”

  I shrugged and stood. I wandered around the room with nervous tension, thinking. . . How am I going to turn him down without offending him? If I did say yes, how was I going to live here with Isis? I didn’t know what to do; he’d put me in a difficult position.

  Kirk came back a short while later. His face was flushed, but I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or another emotion.

  Angela winked at me and grinned. “I think I’ll take off as well. I have a couple things to do before tonight.”

  “Bye,” I said softly and looked out the window.

  “You know where we’re meeting?” Kirk asked her.

  “Yes,” she said. “Bye for now.”

  The door thudded shut behind her, causing me to jump and turn. Kirk was standing in the middle of the room with his arms behind his back, watching me.

  “Have you considered my offer?”

  I nodded and tucked my long black hair behind my ear. “Yes, and I still don’t know what to say.”

  “Is it Isis? Is that why this is a hard decision for you?” he asked, slowly walking toward me. “Or is it me you don’t think you could live with?”

  I laughed nervously. “I guess I just don’t understand why you offered in the first place.”

  He paused and nodded. “I can see that. You’re young and you haven’t been a werewolf long. . . I would like you to come here for security and training. I want you comfortable with fighting before we have to deal with another pack trying to move in on our territory.”

  “Another pack?” I asked with a gasp.

  “Yes,” Kirk said, coming to stand in front of me. “Another pack. I have to defend our territory and I can’t do it all on my own – everyone has to be able to fight. I can’t have the worry of all of you on my mind when I’m fighting myself.”

  I nodded and shuffled my feet. “I suppose I should learn how to defend myself. But couldn’t I come here in the evenings or something? Do I have to live here?”

  He laughed. “You make living here sound like torture. Would it really be so bad?”

  “No,” I whispered. “I suppose not.”

  He walked across the room and sat in an overstuffed chair.

  “Look,” he said. “I know that you and Isis don’t get along. She has made her objections clear and I’ll deal with her. It’s your best interest I’m thinking about. In that tiny apartment, with humans so close by, how many nights do you think it will take before you’re discovered? Think of that before you say no.”

  I turned back to the window and crossed my arms, gripping my shoulders with my hands. Closing my eyes, I let my head fall forward, hiding my face behind my hair as is cascaded forward. I stood that way for awhile, just thinking about what he’d said.

  Kirk was right. I risked discovery staying where I was. Apparently, I also needed to learn to defend myself. I could no longer be selfish and had to think about what was best for the pack. With a heavy sigh I admitted to myself that he was right.

  “All right,” I said, lifting my head and brushing my hair back. “I’ll move here. But what should I do about my job? It’ll be a long drive everyday.”

  “Quit.”

  I turned and looked at him. He was gazing at me intensely. I tried to read his expression, but couldn’t.

  “Quit?” I asked.

  “Yes, quit,” he said, standing. “You won’t need a job after you move here. I’m not charging you rent and it’s not like we have to buy groceries.”

  I laughed. “No. No groceries.”

  “So it’s settled?” he asked. “You’re going to come live here?”

  I nodded and bit my bottom lip. “Yes.”

  “Great,” he said and clapped his hands once. “I’ll have a room prepared for you, and I’ll send someone to help you move tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  He grinned and nodded. “You better go home and start packing.”

  “I guess so,” I said as I walked to the door.

  “See you tonight,” Kirk said as I opened the door.

  “Tonight,” I said as I left.

  *

  I was busy packing for the rest of the afternoon. I didn’t have much. I’d just moved here after all, and the apartment had come furnished, so I didn’t have to worry about anything big.

  As the daylight waned, I got ready to leave. We were meeting in the same forest we’d been in last night, but I didn’t know what we would be hunting tonight – human or animal.

  When I arrived, I was informed that Simon had found the trail of some deer, and that we would be hunting them. We preferred human – for some reason they were much more satisfying than any other living beast – but with modern society and the rate at which people were reported missing, it was risky to eat them too often.

  It was fun romping through the woods with the wind blowing through my fur, seeing the others around me; I felt like I was part of a family.

  It didn’t take us long to find and kill the deer. The herd had been small; two does and three of their little ones.

  We’d just separated out our portions when I heard Kirk growl deep in his throat. I looked up at him and followed his line of vision. That’s when I heard it. Something was slinking through the woods beyond the break of trees. I sniffed the air and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

  There was a werewolf out there – an unfamiliar. The words Kirk had spoken this afternoon chased themselves through my head. Fighting. Defending our territory. In a way I was excited, in another way I was scared; I’d never had to fight before. Would I be able to hold my own if I had to do so now? I wondered.

  Kirk took a couple of steps forward and growled louder, followed it with a menacing snarl; Isis joined him, doing the same.

  I glanced at the rest to see how they were reacting. Simon was laying with his venison angled between his front paws. Frank was standing, focused on the leaders. Angela lay calmly chewing on a leg bone, watching as if she was amused with the whole thing. All of their ears were up and they were alert. I did as they did and kept my peace and watched, but was ready to spring into action if need be.

  As we watched, a nose peeked out from the shadows, followed by a gray head with reflective yellow eyes. The werewolf sniffed before extending its long pink tongue to test the air.

  Kirk took a couple more steps forward, crouching lower on his frown paws with a barking snarl.

  The newcomer licked his nose and slid back into the forest.

  Isis and Kirk stopped snarling, but they stayed alert and watched for a few minutes until they were sure the stranger was gone.

  I glanced back at the pack. They were all eating aga
in, so I did the same; it wasn’t long before Kirk and Isis ate too.

  After the normal yips goodnight we went our separate ways. I turned to go back the way we’d came, when Kirk barked. I glanced over my shoulder and he tossed his head in a come with us gesture. It hadn’t occurred to me that I should go with them, but it made sense – I would be doing so all the time once I was moved in.

  I followed them back to their house. I didn’t know the way and would have gotten lost on my own; it helped that Isis was so bright, with her white fur, because at times Kirk’s reddish coat blended in with the blurred landscape as we ran.

  For the first couple of nights after I moved in I spared with Kirk. After he thought my skill had increased I spared with Isis. She didn’t hold back as much and I often had scratches and bruises when we were done. I knew that in a real fight it would have been much worse, so I didn’t complain.

  Isis and I stayed clear of each other during the day. Usually I was so exhausted from hunting and learning to defend myself that I slept most of the time.

  Life went on like this for a month. Then my new skills were put to the test.

  We were hunting, deer again, close to the same area we’d seen the stray werewolf. We saw him again, and this time he wasn’t alone.

  We’d just slaughtered a huge buck and three little does when Kirk spotted them. This time the entire pack was standing at attention and snarling. I did the same.

  It wasn’t long before five werewolves came out of the forest all around us.

  Kirk and Isis barked a vicious warning, making it clear that if they didn’t back off we would attack.

  When they kept advancing, snarling and growling back, Kirk stood on his back legs, standing his full height, and roared before charging the head male of the opposing pack.

  Isis spun to her left and swiped her claws a the head of another attacking male.

  We all followed suit.

  I leapt over a small female that charged at me. Spinning swiftly, I bit her rear, right flank, sinking my teeth in until I tasted blood.

  She yipped in pain and howled in frustration.

  I released her and circled around her slowly. I knew with the injury she couldn’t maneuver well or jump.

  I charge her side, knocking her to the ground.

  She managed to swipe my chest with her claws as she fell – the pain only angered me.

  Pinning her to the ground, I clawed at her face until she lifted her chin. Once I had the opening I was looking for I lunged forward and ripped at her jugular. Blood spurted all over and around us as I tore her neck to shreds.

  When she went limp, I glanced around to see if the others needed help. Angela and Frank were having trouble with a big male, so I went to assist.

  The three of us circled him, growling, slowly moving in closer.

  He leapt forward and tried to claw Frank.

  Angela and I pounced, and latched onto his sides.

  He reared back roaring in pain.

  We bit down on the tendons in his shoulders, tearing them from his body; his front legs went limp and he fell face down on the ground.

  Frank gripped the fallen werewolf’s head between his massive paws, twisting and pulling violently until he ripped it off. Holding it over his head, he let out a roar of victory.

  He dropped the head and we turned back to the battle. Simon was just finishing off another small female and Isis and Kirk were fighting the lead male together.

  I winced when I saw blood fly through the air as Kirk got slashed across the chest.

  Isis jumped at the attacker, seizing his arm in her teeth and shaking violently.

  Hurriedly we surrounded the only remaining wolf of the rival pack, and with all of us working together, we soon brought him down.

  It quickly became obvious that Kirk was serious hurt, and it took all of us to get him back to the house. For the last mile we had to take turns dragging his unconscious body.

  We licked his wounds clean and pressed bandages to the gash on his chest to try and staunch the flow of blood, before we tended to ourselves. We lay around him, cleaning our wounds and looking at the sky whining. This was one night we all wanted to come to an end. The need to be in human form was great, because only then could we help Kirk.

  Dawn came just in time.

  Ignoring our nakedness, we moved Kirk to his bed and started tending to his wounds.

  Isis stitched up the laceration while the rest of us bandaged bites and cuts on his arms and legs.

  One by one we left to get dressed, relieving someone else to let them go when we came back. By the time we were all clothed Kirk was taken care of. The five of us just stood and looked down at him. He was almost as white as the sheets he was laying on.

  *

  For over thirty-six hours he was unconscious. When he woke I was with him. Laying on the bed beside him, trying to stay awake.

  I hopped up and rushed to the door to holler for Isis.

  She came running.

  I let them have a moment alone while I phoned the rest of the pack to let them know he was awake, and most of them said they would be right over.

  When I got back to Kirk’s room, Isis was helping him get a drink of water.

  I stood in the doorway and watched.

  As everyone arrived I snuck off to get a little bit of sleep. Hunting at night and then staying awake most of the day to watch over Kirk had worn me out.

  *

  In a less than a week Kirk was up and almost back to his normal self. The lesser injuries had healed, but his chest was taking some time. He didn’t hunt with us for an additional week; it wasn’t the same without him and there was always something missing in his demeanor when he ate what we brought back for him. His attitude almost seemed to says that he didn’t take any pleasure ingesting something that he hadn’t taken a part in slaying.

  When he was finally back with us, and we were tearing through the woods after what would be that nights meal, something occurred to me.

  It wasn’t just the force we created when we hunted and fought together, but also the caring for and protecting of each other that created the strength of a pack. Something that I was now a part of.

  YOU SAY CURSE, I SAY TOMATO

  By Suzanne Robb

  Night One –

  Rich Myers made his way through the park grumbling the entire time. He poked a bubble gum wrapper with his stupid metal stick, with the stupid metal point, and jabbed it into his stupid bag. Community service at its best, he thought sarcastically.

  His feet ached, and as he wiped a trail of sweat from the back of his neck he realized the sky had darkened considerably. With a slight tilt of his head he took in the sunset and watched the moon rise. He smiled, it was full tonight.

  With a quick glance around the area he realized he was alone and took a break on a nearby bench. Why in the world did the powers that be think it was a good idea to give someone charged with assault a weapon, or at least what he felt was one even if it was meant to pick up trash for those too lazy to put it in a can, and then have them hang out in a park populated with people was beyond him.

  Rich closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the breeze and celebrate the end of another day, only eighty-three left to go. The sound of pounding footsteps accompanied with the agonized moan of someone in pain caused him to bolt upright.

  In front of him a man sped by, shedding clothes as he went. With a giant leap the nearly naked man cleared a bunch of hydrangea bushes and landed with a muffled thud.

  Rich stood as he spoke, “Hey, buddy, you okay in there?”

  A growl his only response. Fine, be that way, jerk. He shook his head and turned to walk back to the work truck when something grabbed him from behind. Claws tore into his shoulder and as he screamed sharp teeth sank into his leg.

  Rich flipped over and grabbed his stupid stick, now most favorite possession, and jabbed it into the face of the beast attacking him. A howl of rage was rel
eased and as it wrestled with the pole sticking out of its nasal cavity. Rich scrambled away as fast as he could.

  The pain in his leg intense, and several times he felt as if he was close to passing out. Within a few moments the truck was in sight and he called out. Several of his co-workers, or whatever you call criminals you do good works with, came to his aid.

  “What the hell happened to you?” Mike Jones asked.

  Rich felt himself being lifted into a standing position, but kept stealing glances behind them. He felt something watching them.

  “This thing attacked me, no idea what. It was huge though, size of a bear.”

  Mike shook his head, “There aren’t any bears here; I don’t even think we have raccoons. And by the way, you’re going to be docked for the replacement pole.”

  Rich garnered the energy to glare at his supervisor, and then promptly passed out.

  *

  Morning Day Two –

  “This guy looks like he went through the ringer. What did they say happened?” Detective Rex Carlton asked his partner.

  “Not sure, some sort of animal attack. The chief wants us to check it out because of the similarities of the wound tracts found on the body we pulled out of the lake last month, and the one we found in the woods two months before that,” Detective Rita Majors said.

  Rex stared down at the still body in the bed in front of him. A bandage ran along the left side of his face, and he was propped up on his side. The doctor informed them the animal had taken a hefty chunk out of the man’s backside.

  “Hey, wake up.” Rita nudged the bed with her foot causing it to jostle.

  *

  Rich stared at the blob in front of him. Even with half his face covered he could tell from the bad cut of the suit and the bored stance, he was in the presence of the police.