Evan Chapes had died badly, but Lassiter stood over him and laughed. He had only just begun the killing.
The four handlers avoided looking at him and were already finished unloading the wolf’s cage. Without a word, they collected Evan’s spooked horse and tied it to the reigns of another, climbed back into the wagons and rolled out, leaving behind the blond man with blood covering his hands and face and the wolf.
William and Sara could hear the fight outside and didn’t need to be told how it had ended.
It was after the wagons had started rolling before Sara spoke again.
“Lassiter is the man that caught me and brought me here. He’s like the others that you killed.”
William tried to be gentle with his next question, knowing as he spoke that there was no real way to do that. “Why did he bring you here?”
Her eyes tightened, and her whisper was shaky, but she told him.
“I don’t know.”
She paused, conflicted, and then trembled as if she wrestled with something inside of herself. Then she went still and spent a long moment in silence. Finally, she spoke.
“It was late when it came into our home. It just tore through the door and was on my mother before any of us even knew what was happening. She screamed, but only for a little. It went after my sister next, tearing her apart her in its claws and the blood was everywhere…my father had his gun out then and shot it. He kept shooting, but it wouldn’t stop. It tore her to pieces and then attacked father, and did the same thing to him. I don’t know how long it actually lasted, but it seemed so fast. When my father’s body slid out of its claws it turned to me and I swear on my life that it smiled. It lifted its claws over its mouth and let my father’s blood drip into its mouth. It kept staring at me…”
She stopped, mouth half open and eyes distant. William’s heart broke for her, and he reached toward her. “You don’t have to say any more.”
Her eyes turned to find his and she whispered slowly. “When it finished, it got up and walked out. It never came for me. As soon as I could move, I went to hide, and waited till daylight for someone to come, but nobody did. I waited even when it got dark again and I must have fallen asleep when I heard a man call out for the “little girl”. It was him, and he looked all around the house, smiling at what he had done. Then he grabbed me, put me on his horse, and brought me to this cage.”
William wanted to do something, anything to comfort her, but in the end, there was really nothing anyone could say to that.
The wagon rolled on into the afternoon and evening was coming when the wagons finally stopped. Voices spoke, but were muffled until the canvas slid off of their cage and cool evening air blew across them. The sun was almost down. William looked to see the house that was the outpost, a simple four-wall made of wood old enough to have silvered, with heavy clay chinking between the planks. A barn sat behind it a ways. One of the men had lit a lamp inside the house and smoke began to drift up from the chimney. It looked like they were the only travelers here tonight.
The handlers were moving wagons into the barn, all covered by canvas sheets, just like their own. Growls came from under the canvases and William counted that they must have had seven or eight more wolves locked up in them. He pulled his attention back to their predicament and asked Sara something else.
“Do you know which one of them left me my gun?”
“Yes, It was Evan. He even made it a point to make sure that it was your gun with one of your bullets.
“Good. Toss the end of your blanket over here.”
She did, and he placed the pistol on it.
“I have a feeling they’re going to take me out of here. When that happens, you’ll be able to hold them off as long as you have the gun, alright?”
Her eyes were wide now, “But what about you? What will you do?”
“If I’m right about what’s going to happen, a gun with one bullet isn’t going to do me any good. But it’ll help you. Those men know they can’t kill you, and they won’t touch you if they know that one of them has to die first to do it.”
“I don’t want to take it.”
“Just keep it, alright? I know a bit more about these things than you do, and you have to trust me. There’s a reason they’re keeping you, and I don’t know what it is but it ain’t just for what they’ve been doing. You’re valuable to somebody, and I figure…”
One of the handlers exited the house and began to walk toward their cage. He brought another bottle of water and handed it through the bars to Sara before he looked at William.
“Time for you to get some air.”
Hesketh nodded, “I figured as much. Seemed like that Lassiter fella was bit out of sorts over me.”
The handler snorted as he unlocked the door to the cage and tossed William the key to the manacle.
“You can do the honors, then step on out slowly. Your apt to be a bit stiff.”
The man was right. It was all William could do to slide toward the cage door, turn onto his belly and slide his legs out. He stayed like that for a moment, propped up against the side of the wagon, rubbing his wrist to get the blood flowing back into his hand.
The handler waited for a few minutes before he spoke. “Now, you’ve got a choice of which direction to run in. A smart man would might head in the opposite direction than we came in by,” he pointed down a trail. “But I will tell you that a couple of men have been trailing us since you were brought in. That might mean something to you, and it might not. But, the boys and I like to lay the occasional wager, and we all figured that telling you about that would make things more interesting for everybody, so there you go.”
William looked at the man as he spoke, and saw no reason to think that he was lying. The handler finished up.
“The last thing I’m gonna say is that it’s a bad idea for anyone to get Lassiter all riled up like that and I hope you’ve thought about the terms you want to go out on.” He nodded and spit in the dirt. “Time’s up. Get on out of here before I have to put a bullet in you to make you move.”
William stood and tested his legs. They held.
The man turned to Sara, “II’ll be back with your supper as soon as it’s ready. Then, if you’re cold, you can come inside for awhile and stay with us where it’s warm.” He gave a knowing chuckle.
Hesketh didn’t look at Sara then, and he didn’t say a word. He just turned and started walking. He walked toward Lassiter.
Ropes of saliva drooled out of the growling wolf’s jaws as Lassiter stood outside of the cage. He always liked to spend time with the animal he was going to sacrifice and in this case, the wolf was magnificent. It was a huge male, almost as large as he was, with a beautiful, classic, coat. It would make an exceptional beast.
He built no fire, nor did he eat or drink. As the sun went down and darkness slowly crept over him, he welcomed it. He waited on for true dark, well after the stars would be out, before he opened his mind and felt the first whisper of the presence. The presence wanted blood.
He smiled in the dark, and thought; yes, I have blood for you. Blood to make the change, and more blood after. Enough to fill you…
The presence in his mind grew stronger, writhing, filling him slowly with its bloodlust and need. He let it in, feeding it thoughts of fear and pain like kindling, pleased as the tiny flame slowly grew into a blaze. Lassiter drew his knife, ignoring the pain from the bullet wound in his arm, and sliced across it, fresh blood welling up from the cut.
Blood for you, as much as you wish…
The presence built into a keening desire inside of him, and when it was enough, he slipped the bolt to the cage, and slipped inside to kill the wolf.
Hesketh didn’t walk quickly. There was starlight enough to see the road by, but he took his time watching and listening. Even still, he never even knew Fong was behind him until the barrel of a gun touched lightly behind William’s ear.
“Well, that’s about as fine of a welcome as I’d expect from you. I should
have left your ass in that railroad prison, you ungrateful…”
The gun lowered and Fong chuckled. J.W. stepped out from behind the brush he had been using as cover.
“It is you! Took you long enough. We we’re close to giving up on you. Figured maybe you liked your new friends more than you did us. Of course, when we saw them drop off that cage this afternoon, we decided to give you one more chance.”
William couldn’t help but smile. His scalp burned as he did, but he didn’t care. They all chuckled, but then J.W. got down to business.
“The cage is a couple of miles back down the road. We rode around him this afternoon and picked a fine spot to set up the trap. We’re ready. Are you okay to ride?”
William grunted, “Well I sure as hell have done all the walking I care to do for a while. Bring the horse.”
They got William into the saddle, though it took Fong’s help to do it, and they rode for the killing ground.
Hesketh filled them in on everything that had happened, describing Evan, Sara, Lassiter and The Black Horse Trading Company wagon train in careful detail.
J.W. just shook his head. “It figures that those bastards are mixed up in this. It’s about as bad as news can get.” He turned to Hesketh. “What do you want to do about it?”
Hesketh considered the question for a long moment before answering, “Let’s kill the sonofabitch that’s coming after us. We’ll deal with the rest in the morning.”
The handler came back for Sara about an hour later, the smell of whiskey arriving just before his toothy grin.
“Well, the bad news is that I already ate your supper. Sorry about that.” The grin widened. “But, the good news is that boys are really looking forward to seeing you.” There was mirth in his voice as he began to unlock the door to the cage. “Now, put your little knife away. We don’t want any trouble like last time.”
The door swung open and hung there for just a second before the sound of a gun being cocked filled the night air. His shock was genuine.
“Well I’ll be damned…”
Sara’s voice trembled, but still held an edge of anger, “I’ll stay out here tonight, by myself, or I’ll shoot the first man that tries to touch me.”
The handler laughed. “That crazy son-of-a-bitch gave you his gun, huh? Well, don’t that just beat all.” He staggered a little as he pushed the cage door closed. “The boys’ll be disappointed, but I reckon not so much that they want to die over it.” He laughed again. “You have a nice night, little lady.”
Lassiter lay beside the dead wolf’s body. He had dragged it out of the cage, onto the ground outside, and covered himself in its blood, smearing a good amount of his own blood around its eyes and into its mouth. He had cut its heart out, and drank the blood from that as it the steam from it rose to drift in the cool night air. The presence inside of him reveled in the blood, fairly thrumming in anticipation of more.
Now it would begin. The change took time, or else the pain would be too intense to stay conscious through, and if he lost consciousness, he would lose himself to the beast he was to become. But as long as he maintained control, he would be in full command of all of its strength and all of its power.
The first searing pain opened up where his skin met the wolf’s body, and the change began in excruciating heat.
The fire burned bright, flames leaping into the sky. They had no intention of hiding themselves, but instead had built it to be a beacon.
Hesketh stood back, letting the warmth comfort him, but his thoughts went to the small girl who had no comfort. He prayed that the gun would save her tonight, and that he could do more tomorrow. His blood rose in anger as he thought of her, and he welcomed the rage.
Fong had spent hours constructing the explosive traps that they hoped would bring down the beast. They had learned a long time ago that the beasts were far to fast to bother shooting at, and that brute force alone gave them the best chance of killing them quickly. A quick kill was the only way that the hunter was going to live, because if the beast got to you, there was nothing else you could do.
The three men sat high on the rocks, giving it time. When Hesketh judged it to be around midnight, he nodded to the Chinaman, and Fong slipped off to his spot where he could trigger some of the big traps.
J.W. stayed high, on lookout. William stayed close to the fire, wishing his injuries had left him a little more able. He had just given in to his thoughts again when the first trap exploded.
The beast moved like liquid night, fast and powerful, and Lassiter was filled with glittering hate topped with the heady froth of bloodlust as he sped toward the fire. He had left instructions for the men to release Hesketh, and he knew that Hesketh would choose to fight instead of fleeing. Now the man had lit up the western sky with the glow of a blaze that could be seen for miles.
It was an invitation and a challenge and it was why the Black Horse Trading Company wanted Hesketh alive. They knew that men who had violence in the hearts made the best beasts, and Hesketh was filled with enough violence to make them salivate.
Lassiter had spent too much time at the top of the food chain to let another like him live to challenge him. Hesketh had to die tonight.
The beast was close now, wood smoke filling its nose as well as the scents of the men waiting for it. Hesketh’s scent wafted over it, and the need to tear into the man’s throat propelled the creature even faster.
It ran as silently as it did quickly, so the twang of the snapped wire might as well have been as loud as a shotgun blast. But even as the beast realized that something was wrong, fire, rock and metal exploded across its right flank, and blew it off of its feet.
Fong yelled out, already running toward the trap that had exploded. They only had seconds now, to lay enough punishment on the beast to bring it down. He skidded to a halt as smoke was drifted across the scene, and saw the beast rising. Fong lit the hand sized bomb he had made and let fly, taking cover behind the rocks. The pop was small compared to the larger explosion, but the four pointed crow’s-foot metal barbs would be more painful. He had dusted them in lye so that when they stuck into flesh, they would burn…
The creature screamed in agony, the metal shrapnel hitting its flesh like massive stinging insects, and then setting its skin to burn like acid. It twisted as it struggled to tear the devilish barbs out of its own flesh, completely distracted from its previous pursuit.
J.W. lay down on his belly, sighting the powerful long rifle onto the writhing creature. He squeezed the trigger, and the recoil form the gun rocked his shoulder back. The round took the creature in the hip, spinning in around so that it sprawled into the dirt, and then was up again just as quickly.
J.W. chambered another round. Only a direct shot to the brain would bring the creature down, so he would just keep delivering the heavy rounds until he hit it.
He squeezed the trigger, and the beast spun again.
Hesketh was in no condition to fight. They had all three agreed on that, and his left hand was injured too badly to do the sniping, so he was basically left to the high ground with his pistol and the job of hoping that the other two men would succeed quickly.
Fong was letting lose with his grenades, which were causing the beast no end of pain, and J.W. was hitting it wherever he could as it thrashed around. All in all, it was a good trap, and going well, until one of J.W.’s rounds ricocheted off of rock, sending fragments of lead and stone flying, and Fong went down.
Hesketh gave a sharp intake of breath, and forgot everything else as he rushed down to the Chinaman.
The beast tore the last metal prongs out of its belly, and waited. The man who had been throwing the bombs had stopped for some reason, giving the creature a chance to escape from the killing ground it had been trapped in.
Still wracked in pain, Lassiter ignored it. At dawn, he would change back and be whole again, the wolf being the one to suffer the damage.
Hesketh’s scent came to it again, and it re-focused on its purpose, turning to int
ercept the man coming toward it. Saliva hung out of its slavering jaws in thin ropes of anticipation. It was so close now…
The crack of the rifle caught it off guard, the damage from the explosion and the bombs hindering its senses. The bullet passed cleanly through the thin flesh of its ear, and the beast turned to the man holding the rifle only yards away.
J.W. blanched as he realized that the shot had gone high, and the creature turned toward him. He dropped the rifle and drew his pistol, but the beast was too close and too fast, and it was on him before the gun’s barrel cleared its holster.
Hesketh heard J.W. scream, and knew that it was not in fear, but in gut-wrenching pain. He moved as quickly as his legs could carry him, but made it to his friend too late.
The beast had a hand inside of J.W.’s chest and jerked his heart out just as Hesketh came into view. J.W.’s body shuddered and went limp under the creature as the clawed hand brought the heart over its mouth and squeezed. The dribble of blood captivated the beast and Hesketh, both, until it stopped. The beast carelessly dropped the heart, and they locked eyes.
Pain and bloodlust filled the eyes of the monster, and the fires of rage filled Hesketh’s. The creature dropped into a crouch, blood pouring from the tiny wounds and large gashes that covered it, and the damn thing smiled at him.
Hesketh smiled back, raising one of Fong’s bombs with the fuse lit. Then he tossed it.
The bomb exploded, sending shrapnel into the creature, and a few pieces into Hesketh’s own back as he dove to take cover. Hesketh’s screams were echoed by the beast’s, as the fire worked into both of their veins. He knew not to roll over, or else the barbs would just be driven deeper into him, so Hesketh fought the pain to push up on to his hands and knees. He looked up to find the beast staring down at him.
Firelight danced over the scene as the beast hauled the man off of his feet, and held him before it. It was a moment of indulgence on Lassiter’s part, and it gave Hesketh enough time to jam the barrel of a pistol underneath the creature’s chin and pull the trigger.
Both Barrels of Monster Hunter Legends (Legends of the Monster Hunter Book 1) Page 13