Dark Light Book Two

by Rob Shepherd

  Her misery temporarily forgotten, Daisy steps over to the couch. Reaching out her hand she gently brushes aside the dark lanky hair so that she may see the child’s face.

  The face she uncovers is her own; ashen and thin with lines of tears, the chalky residue trailing down the gaunt face and disappearing into the folds of dark hair.

  Daisy falls to the filthy carpet with a whimper, shaking with fear, crying outright. She closes her eyes tightly, willing it all to be just a nightmare.

  “Daisy! Come on Daisy!” She hears Sue calling her and lifts her head. Sue is there, shining with health in her Sunday best, reaching out a hand to help her up.

  “Sue, what’s happening?”

  “It’s okay, baby sister, Mom and Dad are waiting for us on the other side” Sue whispers.

  She takes Daisy by the hand, leading her into the gentle ray of moonlight that is cutting across the cold harsh darkness. The girls continue to hold hands as they walk into the light. They leave behind the two emaciated children, lying prone on the couch. The children they once were.

  A Full Wolf Moon – Retribution

  By L.D. Ricard

  Jonas tossed in his sleep, his nightmare causing him to sweat and twist up his sheets. The dreams came in a series of flashbacks. The battle, the blood and the smell of blood, a scream stuck in his throat as he sat straight up in bed. Well, he thought, no more sleep tonight. He went to the living room and stared out the picture window at the rising dawn. His thoughts went to his lost pack members; the sassy and stubborn Margo, Allen the clown and Paulie, sweet, sweet Paulie. He thought he had left her in safe hands. Instead he had signed her death sentence. He sent a prayer of apology to Michael, the first to fall. Michael had been his right hand man and had been the closest thing he ever had as a brother. He jumped when he felt a hand on his back, “The nightmare again?” asked soft spoken Mona. “Yes. I can’t get the images out of my head. I don’t think I ever will.” Tears filled his eyes. “Jonas, none of what happened was your fault. Let me ask you, if you had know what was up there in Ontario would you have taken us there?” Jonas looked horrified at the thought. “No Mona, you know I wouldn’t. It’s just…” Mona cut him off. “Then stop blaming yourself! We’ve taken precautions this time if Steven…” This time he cut her off. “First off we have to stop thinking of him as Steven. That’s not who or what he is anymore. We can hope we have enough protection. The others will be returning to the compound soon. Winter is just around the corner and you know snow can come at any time, I want everyone prepared.” Mona looked thoughtful. “Are you sure that Steve…the Wiliko will come to Montana? I mean we’re a long way from Ontario and it’s been quiet all summer.” “It had all of the rest of last winter to make its way here before it went into hibernation for the summer. We don’t know how close it got before then. You know it can only hunt in the winter. It needs the snow for cover. Add to that we also have to keep in mind its part werewolf as well. Who knows what it’s capable of?” Mona stared out the window at the beautiful colors of the fall leaves. Jonas had an acre cleared all the way around the main house so they could see what was coming. In a way she missed that deep in the woods feeling that was missing now.

  They heard the front door slam. They smiled at each other. The first of the pack to return for the winter, Mona wondered how many would return this year. The pack had been almost cut in half by the first Wiliko and Steven had finished the job with Paulie How were they to know at the time that a severe bite from the Wiliko would turn Steven into one. They defeated the first, but Steven had gotten away. “Hey, anyone home?” Tanners voiced sounded from the hallway. “I’m home and brought company.” Jonas and Mona glanced at each other and hurried to see what he meant. They entered the hall to see Tanner standing there with his arm around a beautiful green-eyed brunette. She was almost as tall as Tanner and Jonas, making Mona appear even more like a pixie. Tanner was grinning from ear to ear. “This is Sam, Samantha, my wife. Sam, meet Jonas and Mona. Jonas is our pack leader.” Mona stepped forward first, holding out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you and welcome to our pack.” “Yes Sam, nice to meet you. I’m sure you’ll fit right in.” Sam shook hands with them both, but didn’t think Jonas was very sincere with greeting. She started feeling a little uncomfortable. “Mona, why don’t you take Sam up to Tanners quarters and help her get settled in. I need to have a word with Tanner.” “Come on Sam. I’m sure you’ll find your room perfect.” Mona led her up the stairs; Sam looked back at Tanner for some support. He just smiled at her. Men. They could be so dense at times.

  Jonas waited until they were out of earshot then turned on Tanner. “Have you lost your fucking mind? You know what we could be up against and you bring a newbie here? Your wife to boot! I need your head in the game, not worrying about her.” Jonas looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel in his neck his face was so red. “Jonas calm down. I know what I’m doing. And Sam isn’t a newbie. She turned about three years ago on her own and survived. I literally ran into her in Central Park one night when I was out running.” Jonas was somewhat stunned by this. Most that turned on their own went mad not understanding what was happening to them or were never right again in their minds again. He shook his head. “Are you sure she’s alright?” Tanner just smiled. “Jonas, she’s as sane as you and Mona. She’s wonderful. Sam’s been on her own trying to figure out what to do with herself. I’ve spent the entire summer working with her. She knows what’s going on here and wants to help. Now that she feels she can belong, she’s not walking away. She even has a black belt, that, hell who knows, it might come in handy. Jonas gave him a good-hearted slap on the back. “Well I guess an apology and congratulations are in order. We’ll make her feel welcome. Let’s go get her and Mona and have a toast.” Jonas just hoped like hell she really did know what was coming.

  As the day wore on six more pack members arrived. Dinner that night was festive with plenty of congratulations and wine going around. Little did the group know that it would be a while before it would happen again? At around midnight Mona knocked on Jonas’s bedroom door. He woke up groggy from the wine and told her to come in. “Jonas it’s snowing, I mean really coming down hard.” That brought him wide awake and he jumped up from the bed. Looking out the window he could see she was right. Big fluffy flakes were coming down so hard you couldn’t see the barn that served as a garage. He rubbed his eyes. “Shit this wasn’t forecasted. I mean I know its late October and we should have had some snow by now, but if this keeps up we’re liable to be snowed in for a while. We need more than ten of us if that thing comes.” “Jonas calm down. It’s not like you to come unglued like this. We’ll see what the morning brings.” “You’re right, sorry. I was right in the middle of that damn nightmare when you woke me. I’m a little tense right now and worried about Sam.” “She’ll be fine. I had a chance to talk to her while you were cursing Tanner for bringing her here. She’s tough. She’s an orphan. She grew up in a series of homes. She told me she always felt different, so the change didn’t really scare her. She did admit it was a relief to find out she wasn’t the only one out there.” “Well Tanner is over the moon with her. Go back to sleep we’ll go over everything in the morning.” Mona nodded and left him alone. Jonas hadn’t had the heart to tell her that under the right weather conditions the Wiliko could create its own storm.

  It was a somber group at the table the next morning. One look out the window told Jonas the reason…the snow was still coming down. “Cheer up guys. This doesn’t mean a thing. It’s just a freak storm.” Jonas hoped he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt. Sam looked around. “Jonas, sir” He smiled at her. “Just Jonas, Sam. We’re not formal around here.” “OK. Well since I’m the newest here and didn’t go through what you all did last winter up in Ontario last winter, Tanner and I did some heavy research on your…um…creature.” Brandon always the smart-ass snickered. “Well we got sent back here, so why don’t you enlighten us.” Jonas glared at him. “That attitude is why you
got sent back, so sit back and shut up. What they found out could save all our lives. Out of the ten of us here only three were there at the end.” Brandon threw Sam a dirty look. “Look I don’t want any problems with anyone. Jonas probably told you most of what we found anyway.” Sam suddenly looked shy as Jonas spoke up. “No Sam we disbanded right after…well right after Steven was changed. So go ahead.” “OK. As you may know it generally is a solitary creature. Being half ‘Were’ we don’t know if that will change or will it pack up? I mean what if it recruits others? Will they be Werewolf, Wiliko, or both? All it takes is one good bite from either.” This gave the group pause for thought. This was not something anyone had thought of. Holly the youngest suddenly looked scared. “Jonas, you said it’s hard to see. We’re looking for one …creature. Now we may have to worry about more than one?” The whole group was very tense. “Calm down guys. Sam’s just giving us a ‘what if’ scenario. Yes you do have to both smell it, and believe me there’s no other stench in the world, or catch it in your perpetual vision. Sam, go on.” Jonas gave her an encouraging smile. Sam blushed, but Tanner took her hand and nodded his encouragement. “Well the other thing we found out is that it can cause storms. I’m not saying that’s what this is, but we need to be extremely careful until the others arrive. If the others arrive.”

  The silence around the table was unreal as everyone took in what she had said. Then everyone started talking at once. Jonas had to quiet them down. “Enough!” Total silence. “Look Sam’s made some really good points. We’ve taken a lot of precautions out there. We have mirrors stationed all around. Thermal imaging cameras up and infer-red. As long as we stay in groups, we should be alright.” As the pack argued and decided what to do they had no idea they were being watched.

  Up on a hill overlooking the compound was what was left of Steven. Part of his mind didn’t want to hate them, but a stronger part had taken over. All he knew is they had to die. Every last one of them. He had bitten four others on his way to the compound. They were bloodthirsty and wanted a kill. He had to wait until enough snow had fallen for them to make their move. The sad thing was to him they had no names, no nothing. Just a blood thirst that they had used since the snow started. He still felt some human part to him. He was confused. He hadn’t killed a human since Paulie. Why he bit these four was beyond his point of reason. Maybe the pack instinct was taking over. He just didn’t know. A part of him wanted to go home and the other wanted to charge in and destroy everyone. He looked down at himself. His fit bouncer’s body that he had been so proud of was wasted away to bone. His own mother wouldn’t recognize him. The human part of him looked at the six foot tall mirrors strategically place around the main compound and made him sneer. As if they would work at spotting any of them. He looked at the four who were with him. Only two could be called somewhat human. They were in as bad of shape as he was. The other two remained in wolf form. They looked like an ad for a SPCA commercial for starving animals. He was the only one who could shift. That little place in his brain that was still working couldn’t wrap around the why of it. He somehow knew that someone down there would soon mess up and he could begin his revenge for them allowing this to happen to him.

  Back at the compound Jonas was giving out orders. “We stay in groups at all times. We should be safe in here, but we really don’t know the extent of…we’ve got to stop thinking of him as Steven, our friend. He’s not anymore. For the lack of anything better just refer to him as the creature.” He glanced around and saw that this was making some uncomfortable. “Look, I know it’s hard to think this way, but you didn’t see what he did to Paulie. So we’ll work it this way; Me, Mona, Tanner, Sam because she’s new and Holly because she’s the youngest. Chuck you’re in charge of Brandon, Thomas, Jerry and Leslie.” Brandon wasn’t happy about this. “Why is Chuck in charge? I think we should vote.” Jonas gave him a look that could have melted stone. “I’m the leader and Chuck is more level headed. He’s also my new second in command.” Chuck looked shocked by this. “Me? I figured Mona…” Jonas held up his hand. “Mona doesn’t want it. We discussed it this summer. Now Chuck, take your group downstairs to the archery range for practice. We know the only way to kill it is fire and I want all of you to be sharp and on target every time.” Mona was the only one who caught the knowing glance that passed between Sam and Tanner. She decided to let it go for now.

  The storm raged for two days and finally stopped. They were indeed isolated from the outside world. Jonas knew everyone was getting cabin fever, but wouldn’t let them go outside just yet. They would have to stick with the gym. He knew though once the full moon came up he’d have his hands full. He and Mona were the only ones that knew that something had been tripping the inferred zones. Not the cameras, just the motion sensors. Maybe if they had told what happened next could have been prevented.

  Brandon and Jerry were in the weight room. Both were going stir crazy. They hadn’t had a run in a while and it was getting to them. The full moon was getting closer and it was becoming harder to ignore the tingling they felt to just go! Brandon suddenly set his weights down. “I’m going out for a quick run. I can’t take this anymore.” Jerry looked worried. “Jonas will have your head if you do that. Be serious Bro.” “Screw Jonas. There’s nothing out there. I’m going to do two quick laps around the barn and back. He’ll never even know.” With that he went to the door, turned and ran into the night.

  Jerry ran to Jonas’s office and threw open the door. “Brandon went out for a quick run. I couldn’t stop him.” “Where the hell is Chuck? I knew that little hot head was going to be trouble.” Jonas was furious. “I don’t know where Chuck is, maybe working with Leslie with her archery. We told him we would be in the weight room. He didn’t expect Brandon to do this. Don’t blame him. Blame me, if you must blame someone. I could have tried harder to stop him.” Jerry looked ready to cry. Mona walked over and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t blame yourself. Brandon. What’s done is done. Let’s see if we can find him on one of the cameras.” Jonas was already at the monitors. “There’s the little shit. He’s doing laps around the barn.” Mona and Jerry bent over to watch. “Well we’ll see if the mirror idea works there are four positioned around it.”

  Brandon was making his second lap when he was grabbed by the throat. He fought to get away. All he could think was Jonas laid there was no stench to this thing. It turned him to face what had a hold of him and was slowly choking the life out of him. Spots swam in front of his eyes as darkness threatened to take hold. When he saw what Steven had become he wished for death and Steven gave his wish by ripping his throat out with his teeth. Just before he gave into the void he felt another rip open his stomach. Then felt nothing. Steven looked into the camera and gave a bloody grin, then turned into the wolf and carried Brandon away. Mona had her face pressed to Jonas chest and Jerry bolted for the bathroom, barely making it in time. Mona couldn’t hold back a sob. “Jonas ran his hand down her hair to comfort her as much as him self. Jerry came back into the room still looking green. “We’re supposed to fight that thing? We didn’t even see it until it grabbed him and where did the wolf come from?” Jonas dragged his hand down his face. “I guess Sam’s theory is panning out. Only we don’t know how many are out there. Call for a meeting. We may have to act sooner than later. We can’t spend the winter trapped in here and if he really can control the weather he could wait us out. Our food won’t last the whole winter.”

  Jonas and Mona walked into a very quiet room. Chuck looked as though he’d been crying. “My God Jonas I’m so sorry. I should have kept a closer eye on him. I knew he was getting restless, but I thought he’d maintain until the moon.” “It’s not anyone’s fault Chuck. Brandon always did dance to his own rules. Now he’s paid the price for his rashness. Sam, you were right. That thing has at least one other with him. No telling for sure how many more.” Jonas was weary and for the first time wished he could pass the reins over to someone else. “Jonas, Sam’s pregnant, can’t you ta
lk some sense into her. She still wants to join the fight and she won’t listen to me.” Tanner looked terrified. Before Jonas could say a word Sam rounded on Tanner. “Don’t you start that macho bullshit with me mister, we’re in this together. This baby is as much a part of this pack as you are and I’m fighting. Besides, I have the secret weapon.” She looked very smug. “Secret weapon?” Jonas and Mona asked in unison. Tanner rolled his eyes. He knew this would out rank any protest he might have. “Yeah. Miss fancy pants here brought along a flame thrower and she knows how to use it.” Jonas was glad he was sitting down as the others started asking questions all at once. He couldn’t quite hide his smirk. He waited until everyone started to quiet down before asking his own questions. Sam was staying mum on the whole thing. “OK I’m afraid to ask, but how did you get your hands on a flame thrower?” Jonas couldn’t wait to hear the answer.

  Sam showed him a megawatt smile. “I’m from New York. There’s not much you can’t buy if you know the right people. I was on my own when I turned, so I hid in some pretty seedy places. Once I met Tanner, we were both running in wolf form in Central Park, I knew peace at last. When he told me about what you…we were up against I decided we might need some kind of back up for whatever you had planned.” Jonas slowly nodded. “Makes sense, but it still doesn’t answer my question. How did you convince someone to give or sell you a flamethrower? They’re not exactly legal.” Tanner took over. “We broke one of the pack rules. Sam knew a guy who sold weapons of any kind for the right price. We went to his warehouse one night when we knew he’d be alone. Who’s going to say no to her when she has a two hundred pound wolf as back up? We got the thing and headed straight here. New York isn’t exactly safe for us right now. We may have to stay here for a while until the heat dies down. This guy is out for blood…ours. We paid him, just not what he usually gets. Sam looked at her feet. “And we turned him in to the police. He was selling to teenagers. So we’re not too popular right now.” Jonas and Mona burst out laughing. “You two, I knew you were up to something. I saw the look you gave each other when you first got here. I know we shouldn’t laugh after what happened to Brandon, but it does lighten the mood.” Mona walked over and kissed Sam’s cheek.