Beneath a Winter Moon

by Shawson M Hebert

  Strangely, a few days later the knife, which the young man had stolen (claiming it was not with the body when it was delivered), turned up missing from his small apartment. Someone had broken in and taken the knife, leaving everything else intact. An eerie message had been carved into the plaster walls near the door. “Beware the Moon.”

  Thomas slipped the knife into his pocket and smiled. Delmar merely watched as Thomas vaulted across the room to the gun cabinet. For a moment, Delmar thought that his friend was going to shoot the man. Thomas told Jenny that everything was okay, then slowly walked back to the table. Alastair and Delmar both stared. He set the small, black box onto the table and reached for the duct tape once more. Alastair protested, cursing him, but Thomas slammed the tape home.

  “You know, I think it’s time to free ourselves of this burden,” Thomas said, looking into Alastair’s eyes. The man cocked his head sideways at the comment. Thomas nodded. “It will be dark in a half hour, which is when Alastair here says that the thing…will come to the cabin.” He paused, looking over to Delmar. “I don’t want Alastair interfering when that happens.” He opened the small box of tranquilizers. “He says these won’t work on the…monster, but he said nothing about how they would work on…him.”

  Alastair tried to speak through the tape, shaking his head furiously.

  “Are you sure, Thom…”

  “I’m doing it,” Thomas said.

  Delmar nodded and grasped Alastair’s hands, stretching them out over the table. Thomas tapped the tranquilizer dart hard onto the table so that it would begin to release its payload. He jammed it into Alastair’s arm. The Scot tried to cry out, but at the moment the wail escaped his mouth, his head fell limply to the table with a soft thud.

  Delmar stared. Thomas leaned close to Alastair’s face. “He’s breathing just fine,” he said.

  “Pity,” Delmar replied.

  “Better remove the tape, though, and we need to get him on his side, in case he vomits,” Thomas said. Delmar stepped around to help Thomas just as he removed the tape from Alastair’s face. Alastair’s head fell back and he began snoring loudly. Together, Delmar and Thomas half dragged, half carried Alastair to his bedroom. They lowered him to his bed and Thomas carefully checked the zip ties.

  Delmar chuckled as they looked down at the sleeping form. “And you thought there was something wrong with me? I haven’t seen you that worked up in a very long time.”

  “Well,” Thomas replied. “It’s like you said earlier. The man has something to do with the deaths of our friends…and I wasn’t prepared to cut him any more slack.” He paused and poked Delmar in the arm. “I did warn him, you know. I told him to behave and not to do anything that would scare Jenny. That was the second time he ignored me.”

  They left him locked in the bedroom. Thomas showed Delmar the strange documents and photos, and explained everything that he could, reciting everything that Alastair had said. Back in the living room, the two friends went about loading all of the weapons inside the gun rack.

  Delmar loaded two of Alastair’s rifles and propped one by the door and one by the kitchen window. He saw Jenny watching him. “Jenny, you use these if you need to.”

  Jenny sat on the couch, having just finished looking through the personal papers and pictures that Thomas had brought out. She didn’t reply to Delmar’s suggestion, and instead said, “If I did not know it was impossible, I’d swear that the man in these WWII photos, and the photos from after the war…were all of Alastair.”

  Thomas set the 10-gauge down and nodded. “Those are my sentiments exactly.”

  Delmar shrugged. “I’m not sure that I care. Once we are out of here, we are going to make sure that Steven’s remains are recovered and that Daniel’s body is found. Nothing about that bastard in there…” he motioned to the bedroom. “…is worth worrying about. He will get what’s coming to him. You can count on it.”

  “I hope so,” she replied. “To everything you just said.”

  Delmar took a long look at her. She looked tired and frazzled, but she was being strong right now and that is exactly how they all needed to be.

  “It’s dark out there,” Thomas said.

  “So, are we thinking the beastie will come up and knock on the door?” Delmar asked.

  Thomas didn’t laugh. “I don’t know…maybe. Or maybe it just comes close and somehow lets Alastair know it’s out there.”

  “It probably howls,” Delmar said.

  Thomas shuddered. “I swear that the devil himself couldn’t make a more freaky sound.”

  Delmar nodded. He was sitting on a bench at the kitchen table, rifle in hand, staring toward the door. “We need to dim these lanterns.”

  Thomas, already up and near two of them, put them out. One remained lit, over the couch near Jenny. She shook her head when he went to snuff it out. Thomas didn’t comment, he just left it alone. He called out to Jack and the Husky immediately jumped down from the couch where he had been sitting with Jenny, and came over to him. “Stay here with me, boy. Sit.” Jack nuzzled Thomas’s knee as he sat down next to the bench.

  “Down,” Thomas said, gently. “Don’t be mad at me for hooking you to the door, earlier.”

  Jack made a wooing noise as if to protest, but then lay down at Thomas’s feet.

  “Good boy. That’s my boy.”

  Delmar was vigilant about watching through the windows…but the two dimly lit lanterns, one in the hall and one above Jenny, made good night vision difficult.

  “I hope it doesn’t show…much as I would enjoy killing the bastard,” Thomas said. “The damned thing scares the hell out of me.”

  Delmar didn’t reply. He had walked to the door, where he stood staring through the small porthole.

  Thomas thought that he heard something. Jack suddenly sat up and growled, staring…but in the wrong direction, toward the hallway.

  “What was…” Delmar began.

  A wail from the bedroom cut him off. “Is that bastard up to something?” he asked.

  “No doubt,” Thomas said. “But I don’t like the sound of it.”

  Jack growled again, this time trying to take a step toward the hallway. Thomas stopped him and grabbed his leash and attached the D-ring to his belt. “Stay with me, boy.”

  There was a scuffling sound from the room….then a scratching sound followed by thumps, as if Alastair might have fallen to the floor.

  Delmar thought the same thing. “Yep. He is trying to break loose. Probably on the floor by now, trying to untie himself,” he said.

  Then the short wail came again, followed by a loud grunt.

  Jenny stood up, her face full of fear and anticipation.

  When the growl came from the room, they all knew that there was nothing human about it. Delmar looked at Thomas; the look on his face was a question. Thomas didn’t like what he saw in the big man’s own expression. It was something seldom seen by anyone. Thomas tried not to let his own fear show as he took a step toward the hallway. He had the 10-gauge in his hands. Jack growled and followed,

  “You sure there wasn’t a trapdoor or something in there?” Delmar asked, his voice a harsh whisper. “Maybe a way for him to let his monster pet inside?”

  Thomas shook his head, “I don’t believe it…but I will check it out. You stay ready.” He took another step toward the bedroom. Jack followed, still tethered to Thomas’s belt.

  “I am going to open the door…so be ready, Delmar.”

  Delmar nodded and positioned himself a few feet in front of the cabin door, facing the hallway with a clear view of the bedroom door. Jenny stood motionless; the look on her face was that of pure terror. She had seen the beast before…

  Jack growled. It was a different sound…like the dog was unsure of his own intentions toward whatever was making the noise inside the bedroom. He was posturing as if ready to fight, his tail was tightly curled, ears erect and turned forward, fur standing straight up along the ridge of his back…Thomas had seen the look befo
re, when Jack played with other dogs, but never when he was upset.

  “Easy, boy. Easy.” Thomas whispered. They were just outside the bedroom door, now.

  A strange popping sound came from within the bedroom, along with more thuds. A sound not unlike the tearing of cardboard followed the popping noises, followed by a loud grunt. Thomas resisted the urge to call out to Alastair. What if the thing were really in there after all? It seemed impossible…there simply were no more entries into the cabin…but what if?

  Thomas decided to open the door and use the element of surprise while he had it. He nodded to Delmar, who stood ready, then reached out to grasp the doorknob. He never had a chance to open the door, however, as it suddenly splintered and broke free from its hinges, crashing into him with incredible force. At that very moment a tremendous roar shook the cabin. Thomas was slammed to the ground and the door, completely off its hinges, landed on top of him, smashing painfully into the left side of his body. Jack had leapt aside and was now caught opposite the door as it lay across the leash, pinning it to the floor. The door lay halfway across Thomas’s body, and because much of the leash was pinned, Jack was unable to get to Thomas or to get away.

  The creature came through the door, putting all its weight on the door as it did so, and Thomas, who was pinned underneath, took the full force of the creature’s bulk as the breath was squeezed from his lungs. The creature roared again as it stepped off the door, turning to face Delmar.

  Thomas was reeling in pain and shock, and trying to catch his breath…but then held his breath involuntarily as he got a good look at the beast towering above him. There was no doubt, as to what this thing was. Werewolves were creatures of impossibility, of course—and yet one was there—standing over him, roaring at Delmar, its huge jaws extended with lips curled in a snarl to reveal large, razor-sharp canines. Jesus, God, Thomas thought, he realized the implications. This thing was real. The animal was Alastair. The beast was Alastair. The creature wore the torn remnants of his clothing, some pieces falling off as its muscles flexed and twisted as it moved.

  Jack lay in a submissive stance, his whole body low to the ground as he whimpered softly. It was staring at Delmar. The werewolf paid no attention to Thomas or the dog, but focused on Delmar, who stood frozen in place, rifle at his hip…but he was not firing. Mere seconds had gone by, and to Thomas it seemed to all be happening in slow motion, feeling more like minutes. The beast didn’t attack the big man, and Thomas screamed for his friend to fire the rifle.

  Delmar looked as if he were in a trance as the werewolf fixed his stare on the tall, still man. Delmar’s eyes did not blink, his mouth did not move, and the expression on his face was not one of horror, but was one of puzzlement. Thomas thought of a private, standing at attention in formation, being quizzed by his platoon sergeant as he fought to find an answer. Delmar’s face bore the same struggling expression.

  Jenny was screaming and probably had been the whole time, but Thomas had only now begun to lose his tunnel vision and open his sense up to everything around him. The creature was still so close to him that he could have reached out his right arm and grabbed the thing by one of its massive calves. The werewolf’s legs and feet were grotesque. The knees appeared to work in the reverse, bending in the opposite fashion of a human, and the feet…now a cross between wolf and humanoid, were huge and misshapen.

  Thomas believed they were all dead. He was pinned uselessly under the door while Delmar simply stood staring at the werewolf, his rifle at his side but not firing a single round. The beast merely had to decide whom to murder first. Why isn’t he shooting? Why isn’t the creature attacking? Something had to give…and just as Thomas prepared himself for the consequences of shouting at Delmar, for him to shoot the beast, gunshots rang out from a different direction.

  Jenny had stopped screaming…Thomas hadn’t noticed until the shots rang out…one….two…three and on until Thomas heard nothing but empty clicks. Black blood sprayed from the creature’s chest and from its right thigh. The third bullet slammed into the wall very near Thomas’s pinned left foot. Jenny had fired…her first shots had been perfect, but the last two had dropped low. Delmar still stared blankly, doing nothing as Jenny cursed loudly. Thomas knew she was working with her rifle’s breach, trying to either clear a jam or load another round. He could not see her as she was around the corner, in the living room, and a part of him did not want to see her, as the werewolf turned and moved toward her.

  For that is what it was, Thomas accepted…and it was moving for Jenny. The beast did not leap or run toward her…but rather it stalked slowly, one massive, grotesque hand pawing at the wound in its chest, the other held high and poised to strike. Thomas flailed with his free hand, trying to get to the D-ring on his belt so that he could free himself….and Jack. Thomas’s hand found the metal clasp and he quickly snapped it open, releasing it from his belt as he shoved the door aside. The werewolf still ignored him…and suddenly every fiber of Thomas’s being shouted for him to run—to use this opportunity to escape from the nightmarish beast that stood before him. Instead, he gathered himself and shouted at the beast. He cursed it, screamed at it, and dared it. Still it ignored him…and was so close to Jenny. Jenny shouted a slew of curses and it occurred to Thomas that she seemed like a completely different person, neither the one he knew from before, nor the timid, wounded woman she had become after Steven’s death. She threw the rifle at the werewolf—but the beast slapped the weapon in midair and it thudded harmlessly into the opposite wall. She had backed herself into a corner and the beast was now on her. The werewolf grabbed her and pulled Jenny’s face to his and she went limp in the creature’s arms. That angered the werewolf, that he would not feel her fear as he clamped his massive black jaws around her neck. With one twisting, sickening crunch, the beast decapitated her. Delmar looked at Thomas, then at the werewolf, who was now clamping down on Jenny’s neck, chewing and making grotesque slurping and sucking sounds as it feasted on the warm blood and tissue.

  Adrenaline flooded into Thomas as the fear left him, replaced by sheer hatred. “Come on you bastard!” He turned and leapt for the double-barreled rifle. It lay behind Jack, in the corner of the hallway. He jumped back over the door the moment the weapon was in his hands, and leaned against the wall where it met the living room. Delmar had lowered his rifle completely and now stared at the floor, apparently unable to do anything more. Thomas yelled at Delmar to do something...and then he pulled the trigger as the werewolf dropped Jenny’s lifeless body and came for him.

  The stock hammered into Thomas’s shoulder with such a force that he fell backward, hitting the hallway wall behind him. He hadn’t prepared himself for the strength of the recoil from the 10-guage, which, unlike that of the rifles Thomas was used to, was the equivalent of firing a small cannon. The deafening blast from the old rifle seemed to wake Delmar from his stupor, but he still did not raise his rifle.

  Thomas felt a twinge of optimism…he had hit the monster. The werewolf had been blown back by the force and twisted to lay with his head almost inside the fireplace. Thomas could see black liquid all around the werewolf, on the floor, the walls…but the 10-gauge was useless unless he could dig two more shells from his cargo pocket. He opened the breach and bent the double-barrels downward. The two spent shells clattered to the floor. Thomas groaned and raised himself to his knees to reach for the shells….and then lost all hope as the werewolf roared and began to stand. How the hell could it survive that? But the beast was indeed recovering, slowly rising to its feet. There would be no time to reload. The pistol! Thomas dropped the 10-gauge and pulled the pistol from its holster and used both hands to fire all six rounds from the hip, his left hand cocking the hammer back after each pull of the trigger, just as he’d seen in so many westerns when he was a kid. He saw the beast stagger and knew he had hit him. “Give me your rifle,” Thomas shouted at Delmar, dropping the pistol. Delmar nodded and tossed the rifle. Thomas caught it in one hand, but before he could bring the r
ifle up to fire, the werewolf leapt, but was off-target, landing to the right of Thomas.

  The wounded beast swung a powerful, clawed hand but Thomas had instinctively begun to throw himself to the right. He landed sideways on top of the crumpled door, almost hitting Jack who had backed into the far corner of the hallway. Thomas brought the rifle up and cursed the werewolf, pulling the trigger again and again until all five shells were spent. The werewolf howled in pain and stopped, then turned toward Delmar, as if it would attack. Delmar unsheathed his K-bar and held it up, for the first time appearing ready to fight the creature, but the wounded werewolf merely stared at him. After a long moment, it leapt again, this time crashing through the door of the cabin as if it were made of paper….and was gone.

  Delmar ran to Thomas’s side and helped him up.

  “Jenny,” Thomas shouted. “Delmar…Jenny.”

  Delmar lowered his head.

  It was then that Thomas saw that the hallway was on fire. A lantern had come off the wall inside the bedroom and now both the bedroom wall and part of the hallway were in flames. Delmar shouted curses, and Thomas had to resist the urge to grab his friend and shake him…to curse him and demand he explain what the hell had happened to him and why he didn’t help.

  For Delmar, it was as if he had awoke from sleep. He tried to ask Thomas questions and tried to apologize, trying his best to explain. Thomas waived him off, though, and went to Jack, speaking softly to him and sliding his leash from under the remnants of the door. “We’ve got to go, boy. It’s all right. We’ve got to get away from this fire.” He clipped the D-ring back to his belt and picked up the 10-gauge.

  “We’ve got to put out this fire,” Delmar said.