Wolf Killer (The Hammer Commission)

by John Van Stry

  Craig walked up to the door, stopping a moment; he schooled his features, putting a pleased expression on his face. He didn't care much for Ursula; at times he actually detested her. But she was a necessary evil, and for now, he still needed her.

  Smiling he pressed the doorbell and waited.

  An attractive older woman opened the door, she was almost forty, and had obviously been quite the beauty in her youth, externally at least. Inside was undoubtedly a different matter.

  "Craig! What a pleasure to see you again," Ursula said.

  "You know I have a hard time staying away, I enjoy your company so much," Craig said, with a smile.

  "Oh, do come in, please," she told him stepping back from the door. Craig smiled and stepped inside, giving her a hug and a kiss.

  "How are those two new girls working out? Susan and Kerry?"

  "Oh, well, they have worked out quite well," Craig said, putting an arm around her and closing the door.

  "I'm afraid I'm going to need them to drop out of school however. They just have too much work to do for me."

  "Already?" Ursula said, a slightly predatory smile forming on her lips. "And the both of them? Really, Craig, you must learn to take better care of your toys."

  Craig growled low in his throat and pulled her tightly against him, she gasped slightly in pain, but he could smell her growing excitement.

  "Be careful, Ursula, or you may just share their fate yourself," he warned.

  "But then who would get you your pretty little toys?" She gasped, pressing her hands against him. "Tell me, tell me how they died," she said looking into his eyes.

  Craig smiled down at her, a smile full off cruelty, hate, and lust. Ursula's need to see younger women punished for the slow and ongoing loss of her own beauty was a powerful drive, one that had drawn him to her like a moth to a flame. He always told her how the girls had died, though his descriptions were at times embellished by his own fantasies rather than what he actually observed.

  After all, as much as he enjoyed it, he didn't always have the time to watch the life go out of his victim's eyes.

  "Come, let us go to your room, and I will tell you in great detail," he said with a smile. Talking about death and torture affected him as well as it did her.

  "Of course, did you bring me any trophies?" She asked looking at him rather hopefully.

  "Only one," He sighed. "The other was too well burned and I didn't want that stinking up the car."

  "Burned?"

  "I burned her alive, in a great big fire," he told her.

  "Oh! Tell me that one first!"

  "Of course, I would be more than happy to...."

  "You know, I'm going to make one of my special movies tonight," Craig said to Ursula as she curled up against him. The sun was setting, and as always, Ursula had been thrilled by the stories of the two young co-ed's demise.

  He felt her hands grab him tightly around the sides and he looked down at her to see her staring up at him with blatant lust.

  "Can I watch?" She asked rather breathlessly.

  Craig smiled slowly, "Of course you can watch. I'll even let you help," he pulled her up and using a little of his glamour gave her a passionate kiss. "I thought you might appreciate it, seeing as all of the extra work you'll have to do for those other two."

  "Which one is it?" she asked eyes wide with excitement.

  "Aurora, that little hottie from New Orleans you got me a few months ago."

  "Ahh! Oh yes, oh yesssss...." Ursula shivered against him and he wondered if she'd just had an orgasm while thinking about it. That was one of the things that impressed him so about her; she got off on the pain and torture of others even more than he did. He would honestly miss her when her time finally came.

  "Well, why don't we get cleaned up and head over to my shop? I'd like to get started early, she's a tough one, my little Aurora, and I'm sure it will take many hours before she gives us her all," Craig smirked and ruffled her hair.

  "And I can help? Honestly?" Ursula said sitting up and almost bouncing on the bed with a hopeful smile on her face.

  "I'll even let you do the finish," Craig promised. "Would you like that?"

  Ursula leaned forward and kissed him with more passion than he had ever seen from her before.

  "I'd love it," She said rather breathlessly.

  Craig had all of the girls, except Aurora, lined up in their outfits, which were really nothing more than leather straps and buckles. He had them all barefoot, because he didn't want to hear any footsteps as they moved around, filming everything, with the five video cameras that he was using tonight.

  Aurora was shackled naked to a big metal 'X', a heavy plastic drop cloth was spread around it. The girls all looked scared, they knew something different was going to happen tonight. Aurora looked downright terrified. Craig was enjoying that quite a bit, when he edited this all together, he would be sure to capture her terror at the beginning of the film.

  "Dianne, set your camera to focus on Aurora's face, don't leave it, ever, or else," He said growling out the last.

  "Yes, Master!" Dianne whimpered in reply.

  Ursula came in then, she was wearing a special outfit that Craig had made some time ago, like the other girls, it hid little of her sex or her breasts, being a series of straps and buckles, making her look every inch the dominatrix. The boots with the three-inch spike heels, the flogger hanging from her side, and the silver spikes all over it, really enhanced the effect. She was wearing a small mask that covered the upper half of her face, to try and hide her identity, but which left her lower face totally exposed so that you could still see her expressions rather easily on camera.

  Craig smiled, Ursula really looked good in it, the hours she spent taking care of her body showed, she was toned and fit, and didn't have a single sag, wrinkle, or stretch mark. Being human of course, the silver studs didn't bother her, but she'd burn any of the girls should she grab them or hug them, and they knew it, so they were all rather wary of her.

  She was pushing a cart, one that had a variety of instruments laid out on it, like a doctor's trolley in an operating room. There were knives big and small, pliers, pinchers, scissors of several different types, awls, needles, sharp pointed rods, and even a couple of hammers. And the best thing was, they were all made of silver. None of Aurora's werewolf healing abilities would help her tonight, none of them at all.

  "Hello, Aurora. Remember me?" Ursula said and gave the bound girl a strong hug, kissing her deeply and causing her to whimper as a dozen silver studs ground into her body, burning her.

  "Let's get started now, shall we?" Ursula said in a husky voice and picked up the first instrument on her cart.

  It was late, very late; it had taken hours to sate Ursula's lusts. Craig was rather impressed; she'd kept Aurora alive and screaming in agony for hours. Even when she'd lost her voice, Ursula had still been able to provoke rather loud wails of pain and other whimpers from the girl.

  Of course the others had also whimpered rather loudly, more than once, as Ursula slowly and methodically tortured Aurora, not leaving a single inch of her body untouched. When she finally stuck her hand inside the girl's chest and squeezed her heart, stopping it, they had all started to cry, their soft sobbing making a rather nice addition to the sound track Craig felt.

  He sent the girls down to their room after that to clean up, and then he and Ursula had engaged in some rather gratifying sex.

  "That was impressive, I must say," Craig said looking down at Ursula, she was covered in blood, most of it dry or sticky now, but then again, so was he. "You really are amazing."

  Ursula blushed, "Thank you," she hugged him, "and thank you for letting me do this. I hope we can do it again some day."

  "There are plenty of fish in the sea," Craig laughed, "So, I'm sure we will."

  "Can I get a copy of the video?"

  "Oh, of course. But for now, I think we should go shower off all of this blood and gore of Aurora's. I suspect I'll be up until su
nrise cleaning up this mess."

  "I'd help," Ursula sighed, "but I have to be at work tomorrow. I need to get those files processed first thing in the morning."

  Craig nodded and got off of Ursula and stood up, offering her a hand. He looked at the eyeless corpse and smiled, Ursula had taken Aurora's eyes for a trophy before the girl had died. Aurora had such pretty eyes after all.

  8: Marlington

  Mark was sitting around a large table in one of the local restaurants, eating breakfast with his wife and the rest of the team. Steve had asked for a table in the back, away from everyone else, and slipped the greeter a twenty. Mark had to appreciate Steve's idea; shifters had better hearing than normal humans after all.

  "So, learn anything interesting at dinner with the Sheriff last night?" Michael asked them as they sat down, Steve and Mary looked curious as well.

  "Two things, both of which are important," Mark said watching the greeter walk away and waiting until she was out of earshot.

  "First is that, yes, the victim was a wolf lycan, a turned one, not a natural. No one around here knows who she was, and there hasn't been a turned wolf around here in decades."

  "And the second?"

  "Second is that the cabin was on cursed ground, and it's a taboo for any of the local lycans to go up there. So either our killer isn't from around here, or they're something other than a lycan."

  "What makes you think that they're not a human?" Steve asked.

  "Only a lycan or another monster could overpower a lycan, even if she was only a turned. Plus," Mark stopped as the waitress came over.

  "Coffee?" She asked looking around at everyone.

  Mark noticed she picked out all of the guns on the FBI agents immediately, even though they were concealed. She started when she looked at him, so he winked at her. She was a wolf lycan; Bill had told him last night that one of the larger wolf clans lived around here, so he wasn't all that surprised.

  "Yes, please," everyone said and smiled at her.

  "You know," Mark said watching her walk away, "you should probably wear your FBI windbreakers and leave the suit jackets back at the hotel."

  "She made us, didn't she?" Steve laughed.

  "Short hair cuts, dark suits, and you're all packing. Yeah, she made you," Helena smiled.

  "She could tell we're armed?" Mary said surprised.

  "This is a hunting town, lots of people here go armed," Steve said nodding, "I wouldn't be surprised if she calls the sheriff to check up on us while she's getting the coffee."

  "So, you were saying?" Steve prompted me.

  "Somebody had to turn her."

  "Could be whoever killed her hates who turned her, or that she was turned. Crime of passion," Mary said.

  "If that were the case, I'd expect the one who turned her to appeal to the local communities for help," Mark pointed out.

  "Maybe they don't want to get in trouble for turning someone?" Michael replied, then held up his hand as the waitress came back and filled up their coffee cups, then took their orders.

  "So, what's our next step?" Michael asked Steve after the waitress had left.

  "I was thinking of examining the crime scene ourselves," Steven said and looked over at Mark, "Agree?"

  Mark nodded.

  "So, Helena," Mary asked, "Did the sheriff's wife know your parents?"

  Helena smiled and nodded, "Yes actually, they went to school together. She's a few years younger than my folks were, but it was a pretty small town. We're thinking of driving out that way tomorrow, so I can pay a visit to some of my kin."

  "Ever met them before?"

  Helena shook her head, "Unlike my Mark here, I don't travel much."

  "Mark, you should be ashamed, not taking your wife on vacations!" Mary teased.

  "Come out and see our place someday, and you'll see why we don't feel the need to go away," Helena smiled.

  "Must be nice," Michael said.

  Mark and Helena both nodded, "It is."

  They made some more small talk while waiting for the food to arrival, mostly going over the details of the case that were in the file, though there were some comments on the town and the surrounding area. Mark learned that Steve had apparently been out here a few times before, mainly to go camping or hiking.

  When they went out to the SUV after finishing breakfast, Steve looked at Mark as Helena got into the vehicle.

  "We're going to a crime scene, Mark. We can't be taking your wife with us everywhere."

  "She's got a better nose than I do," Mark said and smiled.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "You'll see."

  "Woods is going to be pissed when he hears we dragged your wife to a crime scene."

  Mark shrugged, "That's my problem. Now, let's go."

  The drive up to the cabin took almost an hour, mainly because there wasn't a direct route, and once they got off the main road, it was slow going up the dirt roads to where the cabin was.

  "Would have been faster to run here," Helena grumbled.

  "I don't know, ten miles through the woods is a long way to go," Steve said looking around as they pulled into the clearing where the cabin was. There was an old model ford bronco already there, and a man in a black shirt and jeans walking around the property.

  "Who's that?" Michael asked pulling up next to the bronco.

  "Local priest," Mark said, "Sorry, I forgot to mention it. I asked him to come up here and bless everything."

  "What for?" Steve asked turning to look at him.

  "Because it's my job," Mark said. "Remember when I told you this place is taboo?"

  "Yeah, so?"

  "It's cursed. Locals never thought to have it blessed. So I called Father Braener up last night and asked him to take care of it."

  "You should have asked me first, Mark," Steve said.

  Mark shook his head, "No, I'm sorry if you feel that I stepped on your authority, but blessing something that's cursed always comes first. But you're right that I should have told you about it, I'm just not used to working with others. So, again, sorry I didn't tell you."

  "Any other surprises?" Steven grumbled.

  "Oh, one or two," Mark chuckled. "Now, let's go see what the good Father has to tell us."

  They all got out of the SUV and walked over to the priest who was obviously now waiting for them.

  "Father, Mark Levin," Mark said walking up and shaking hands, "This is Agent Hughes, Agent Swain, my partner Agent Sikes, all of the FBI, and my wife, Helena."

  "Ah, Mark. Yes, never expected to see one of you commission types here in my diocese, but I'm glad all the same. You were right about this place."

  "How bad is it?"

  "Well, I am going to call my bishop and have him send out a few more priests to help do a proper blessing, but whatever happened here, it was a very long time ago, so it is not as bad as it could be. But still, better to be safe than to be sorry, better to be sure to keep anyone else from coming here and stirring up that best forgotten."

  "That bad?" Steve asked.

  Father Braener nodded, "The evil that was done here was great, even if it was done over a hundred years ago."

  "Would that be a reason for someone to come here, if they wanted to do something evil as well?"

  Father Braener pondered that a moment. "It could be. Certain rituals and summonings are easier on ground that is already profane."

  Steve nodded, "Thank you, Father."

  Father Braener turned back to Mark, "I'm done here for now. I'll be back each morning to bless it again, until the bishop sends out a team."

  Mark nodded and shook hands with him, "Thanks, Father. See you on Sunday I hope."

  Father Braener smiled and nodded to everyone and then got into his old bronco and drove off.

  "Okay, well we might as well..." Steve started and then looked over at Helena who had already kicked her shoes off and pulled off her top.

  "What are you doing?" Steve asked then turned to Mark as Helena wiggled out of h
er shorts.

  "You wanted to see a lycan shift," Mark nodded at Helena, and as her shorts hit the ground she suddenly flowed down towards the ground as well, in a blur, and there was now a cougar standing there.

  "She's a..." Mary started.

  Helena chirped and padded off into the woods as Mark laughed.

  "She's my wife; do you think I'd be married to a human? Really now, it's been staring you in the face since yesterday!" Mark shook his head smiling, "She runs around half naked, even though it's cold outside. She isn't impressed or fazed by anything you say or do. She's my age and had a bunch of kids, but doesn't look it."

  "Damn, I feel like an idiot," Michael said shaking his head.

  "Yeah, me too," Mary agreed.

  "So, that's why you wanted her along, to teach us another lesson." Steve said, looking at him.

  "Partially. Also because she told me she wanted to come. I don't argue with my women."

  "Wow, a man who doesn't argue with his wife? That's a first!" Mary laughed.

  "Well, let's go look at the crime scene," Steve said and motioned towards the remains of the cabin.

  Mark nodded and walked over to the pile of burnt wood and rubble. There were a few signs posted around it, labeling it a crime scene and giving the usual police warnings, but that was about it.

  He walked up the stones that had been mortared together to form the two steps up to what appeared to have been the cabin's front door. Stepping over the ruins of the front door, he noticed that the floor was stone, or rather rocks that had also been mortared together to form a very smooth surface.

  "Wow, that floor is amazing," Michael mumbled.

  "Magic," Mark said looking around the rest of the ruins. There was a stone chimney and a fireplace, but most everything else was burned pieces of wood, mostly just charcoal. He could pick out the remains of some furniture, a table, some chairs, a couple of chests and a set of drawers. The spot where the body had been was obvious from the chalk outline on the floor and the rubble that had been shifted away from that spot.

  Mark stopped and looked at that for a few minutes, then squatted down and looked closer at the floor, turning to look at either of the walls then back at the floor.