by Peter Spokes
Great; probably a squirrel, I thought. Do they have squirrels in Romania? Are they nocturnal? And do wolves chase them? I thought.
But as I got closer I realised that the wolf was growling at something on the other side of the tree and hidden from our view.
Despite the charged moment, I regarded the wolf closely.
I was certain it was the same Alpha wolf we had seen the day before. Despite its little less than average size, there was confidence in its upright posture, stiff-legged gait and its tail was raised. Also, I noticed its ears were up and forward indicating dominance. It was clearly putting out a threatening message.
But to what?
Once again, I heard a wheezing as if from a damaged set of bellows – as I watched the wolf move forward.
Then I gasped as something that looked like a thin black limb shot out impossibly fast. It terminated in long claws and would have ripped across the wolf’s throat if the latter had not been so unbelievably agile.
Wolves had fast reactions, but this one was almost too quick for the eye to follow.
If the hidden creature was as tall as indicated by the angle of the wolf’s head, then the creature was over eight feet tall – which would certainly be a problem for the wolf as the creature’s throat would be out of reach of its jaws.
I looked down at the baseball bat in my hand.
What the hell was I thinking?
But just then, the wolf turned, saw us and… headed straight at us.
I backed slowly – even Ryker paused.
Then we bolted.
But the wolf advanced surprisingly fast – it passed Ryker, and headed towards me.
At the last moment, I dove to the side and the wolf sped past.
Unfortunately, I lost the lantern and all went dark. The moon provided some light but the detail of the forest was lost to us.
Lying in the mud I twisted my head around to see the wolf’s impression disappearing into the gloom.
Ryker helped me up and we stood for a moment looking at the dark trail where the wolf had disappeared.
But then we heard hissing behind us.
We turned but without the lantern I could only see vague moving shadows. I stared as I watched something very tall and thin slowly move into the meagre moonlight.
Then two large red eyes stared unblinking at us, which lowered suddenly to a couple of feet from the ground.
It had dropped forward on to all fours.
Ryker and I turned and with more than a little haste – and panic – followed the path the wolf had taken – the path to the cabin.
As we ran I was certain that we were being followed – or perhaps more accurately – pursued. There were the sounds of foot falls getting closer and the wheezing was becoming louder…
It took far longer than I would have believed possible before we finally reached the cabin and we ran through the open door.
Ryker was about to slam the door shut when he looked over to my right. I was distracted – resting my hands on my knees and trying to slow my breathing. But I looked up and over into the pale eyes of the wolf.
Its legs were braced wide, head low and a soft but unmistakable guttural growling echoed from its throat. Its lips were pulled back revealing sharp – and very large – teeth.
I stared at Ryker who stared back. Unsure what to do I stood unmoving while tightening my grip on the baseball bat still in my grasp wondering why I had picked it up.
But the wolf’s focus was on neither me nor Ryker.
The wolf stared with clearly blind but deadly eyes on the open door. It continued to growl deep in its throat.
“Close the door!” I shouted to Ryker.
“But… there’s a wolf – not a large one – but one nevertheless, and it’s in here with us…” he replied.
“Close the goddamn door now!” I shouted louder and moving quickly, threw the door shut and shot the bolt just as something heavy slammed against it.
I jumped back.
Whatever it was threw itself at the door several times until I noticed the fixing hinges on the door begin to shake loose. The heavy scratching and wheezing continued while the wolf continued its growling.
It must have been several minutes before all finally fell silent.
I stood taking in deep breaths from the exertion and looked over at the wolf.
It must have sensed that the danger was over, for it leapt up onto my bed and after pawing my sheets, settled itself on my blanket.
We stared at one another for several moments before I looked over at Ryker. He shrugged his shoulders and returned to his sentinel stance staring out of the window and into the darkness.
I was so tired and so, giving the wolf an unhappy stare, I spread a blanket on the floor and lay down on it.
Scene 9: Cosy Sleep
Despite the night’s activity, I slept remarkably well and woke to a feeling of what I can only describe as a general ‘cosiness’ though perhaps sweating a little.
As I lay on my back I opened my eyes wondering if summer had come early.
Turning my head, I felt my heart skip a beat. The wolf had clearly decided my bed wasn’t good enough and was currently resting its head on my shoulder. I’m reluctant to use the word ‘snuggled’ but my right side was extremely warm.
Just a small reminder in case it might be considered necessary; this was not a cuddly puppy or a loveable and still lamented girl like my Lucia – no; this was a thing with large teeth and larger claws – I knew of the latter in particular as they were across my chest and as to the former… well… it had its jaws apart – and was snoring.
I had certainly never been this ‘intimate’ with Lucia.
I moved my eyes around the cabin – I dared not move anything else.
Ryker was not to be seen but then he was always the early riser.
“Ryker!” I whispered loudly recognising the contradiction.
“Ryker!” I repeated a little louder.
The wolf stopped snoring, opened its eyes and raised its head yawning.
For a less than normal sized wolf, its teeth were extraordinarily large.
It stared at me, blinking.
Very slowly and still under its gaze, I extricated myself while the wolf sat up on its haunches and licked its maw.
The door opened and Ryker appeared closing the door behind him.
“Sleep well?” he asked.
“I guess so, all things considered,” I answered. “Why?”
“Well, though I thought there was the possibility that we might be eaten in the night, that wolf has been snuggling up to you most of that time. I think you’ve found a friend.”
Just then the wolf loped to the door, scratched at it and looked at me.
“Pretty domesticated, don’t you think?” Ryker said.
I simply nodded as I rose and opened the door.
The wolf left and in a moment, had disappeared into the woods.
Ryker walked out of the door. “You need to see this,” he said turning.
I followed him back along the trail that we had been so keen to leave several hours ago until we reached the cemetery. In the garish light of day, it certainly looked a whole lot less forbidding than it did earlier.
We passed the tree that had hidden the wheezing creature from us only to see a grave smashed and open.
Looking closer I saw the same gashes and lacerations that I had seen with Marius; bones were strewn across several yards.
We were so preoccupied that we didn’t notice Lucia standing behind us.
“Vampir…” she said her eyes blazing.
We looked at her.
“We call it a Ghoul,” I said.
“You know this creature?”
“Only in horror books.” I would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it w
ith my own eyes.
Ryker and I turned to return to the hut. “Be careful,” I said to Lucia. “There is a wolf out here – it’s not big but its teeth are!” I said.
Lucia smiled at me before turning and walking away – presumably to the mănăstirea.
What a delicate young thing, I thought.
Chapter 4: The Cabin
Scene 1: Michael
There was a knock at the cabin door.
Ryker and I looked at each other.
I opened the door and my smile faded as instead of Lucia, it was Michael.
“Hello… Michael,” I said staring aghast at the image at the door. “What’s happened to you?”
He looked even more gaunt than when I had last seen him. His eyes appeared sunken and bloodshot while his cheekbones seemed to be almost protruding through the thin skin of his face.
“Times have been better to me,” he said simply, a smile on his thin lips.
It did not look nice.
“I need to come in,” he said, a haunted look in his red eyes.
“You look terrible!” I said worried and looking over at the equally concerned face of Ryker.
Michael shook his head and smiled again; his teeth appeared yellow and his face was like dried parchment.
“It’s just that I haven’t… eaten… for a while… I’m so hungry… I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologise… it’s really not a problem,” I said shaking my head. “We’ve some fresh chicken here; you okay to eat on the bone?”
He stared at me and his eyes suddenly appeared to darken. “I prefer my meat on the bone,” he said, “but that is a problem…”
I waited.
Michael appeared to be breathing with some difficulty: maybe he had been running.
I really wasn’t sure what to say but was devastated to see my friend this way.
“What happened, Michael?” I asked.
He paused for a while before with obvious sadness he spoke.
“It was about eighteen months – or so – ago that I and several other like-minded individuals were exploring the lower forested hills about fifty miles south of here. While crossing a river, we lost our provisions. At first, we thought it okay – after all, there were animals around us, but the winter is harsh for all creatures and food was far scarcer than we thought.”
I listened wondering where he was going with this.
“Well… we walked and walked so hungry until one by one death began to take us down.
And with food in such short supply… well, by the time I reached Lepșa… I was alone. When your stomach is aching, you will eat… whatever is to hand.”
“What are you saying…?” I said worried.
“Do not judge me,” Michael continued, “you do not understand hunger… real hunger where your stomach begins to eat you from the inside.
I found Lepșa but then… normal food was causing me to vomit…”
I studied Michael as he spoke. Even in the last few minutes, he appeared to be changing. Rather than thinning blonde locks, I saw wispy patches of hair clinging to his otherwise balding and blackening scalp. The flesh of his face and arms appeared thinner which was giving him an even more skeletal look.
I looked down in disbelief at his hand which was lengthening and stretching to a clawed aspect.
But also, he appeared to be elongating and despite my own six-two frame, I was now looking up to him.
“So, what is the problem you mentioned?” I asked a little rhetorically.
“… The problem is that my meat needs to be… freshly dead… and human… I’m so very sorry … but it’s the way of the world that the strongest survives by taking down the weaker…”
I now understood his apology when he first entered the cabin.
He lowered his now bald and blackened head and drew his long nails slowly across the tabletop making deep and narrow furrows.
I recognised the marks as those Marius and I had seen on the bones in the graveyard.
Michael looked up and his eyes were no longer human. Large red discs blinked and now shone out from a gaunt skull and down from the dark vaulted ceiling.
He opened his mouth revealing long teeth – far too many for his jaws.
It was at that point that there came a knock at the door and the three of us looked around and I heard a hiss from Michael’s blackened lips as he looked to the door.
Just then Ryker used the distraction to launch himself at Michael.
Scene 2: Hunger
“No, Ryker!” I shouted but it was too late. I watched him charge into Michael thrusting his shoulder into the creature’s gut while his arms encircled the creature forcing it backward with his momentum and crashing into the door.
I stood amazed as I watched Ryker raise his fist and swing it several times into Michael’s face.
The beast’s head snapped back again and again before the ghoul swung its claws against Ryker’s side sending him across the cabin where he lay still. I saw the side of his shirt becoming red – much too quickly.
“No…!” I shouted.
I heard a soft voice and looked over to see the diminutive frame of Lucia in the broken doorway. Her head turned slowly to the ghoul.
“Run, Lucia!” I shouted.
But rather than turning and running, she stepped over the remnants of the door and entered the cabin.
She raised her head and looked up blindly at the beast as her head moved slightly from side to side.
“I knew I could smell vampir!” she hissed. She bared her own strong white teeth.
The ghoul opened its mouth wide and hissed.
Despite its demonic stare and its height being almost twice that of Lucia’s, it took a step back.
“It was you!” the ghoul hissed.
Then – distracted by a sudden sharp pain in my side – I looked up in horror to see Lucia leap at Michael.
The creature caught her side and threw her across the cabin close to where the bloody body of Ryker lay.
Suddenly, there was a howl and I watched Dănuț appear from the broken doorway and run at the beast.
He must have been just out of sight beside the cabin’s entrance, I thought.
For a large man, Dănuț moved extremely fast. He closed in on the creature and somehow managed to get behind it and began twisting its right arm behind its back.
The beast thrashed and twisted trying to break free of Dănuț’s hold and reach him with the claws of his other hand.
Then there was a sound like a gunshot as, with a roar, Dănuț pulled away from the beast – its blackened arm still in his grip.
The ghoul raised its head and screamed before lunging at Dănuț.
Dănuț stepped back still holding the arm when he lost his footing on the broken debris and went down.
The ghoul was on him in moments and I watched impotently as it swept the claws of its left arm across Dănuț’s throat several times.
The beast got to its clawed feet and raised its head hissing triumphantly. Its head was now inches from the ceiling.
It turned and took an excited step towards the stirring form of Lucia, but stopped as, armed with a baseball bat, I saw Ryker – no… it wasn’t Ryker… it was me, and I stood in its way. I shook my head trying to clear the confusion.
I held the bat in my right hand – the left one pushing against the increasing pain in my side.
The ghoul smiled at me before looking at the black ruin of his shoulder. He moved his head down and started to chew on the loose flesh around the shoulder socket.
His teeth now bloody, he faced me again; his dry voice grated like a wind blowing through a catacomb.
“You are stronger than I would have thought, Freeman, but you are still deranged to think you can beat me…” it hissed; “I’m too strong… and don’t
feel pain…” it said. “That is one of the benefits I have found to eating dead human flesh; besides, you are superficial and shallow. You have never believed in anything away from the norm – cosy and safe in your rational world.”
“You may be surprised…” I said, “I’m starting to believe all sorts of crazy things…”
The ghoul’s large red orbs stayed on me – unblinking.
“You always were deranged,” it hissed. “No small wonder you were sent to a madhouse! Maybe you got shell shock from your SAS time.”
I looked up at him with surprise. I was never in the SAS – but Ryker was… but how could Michael confuse us? He didn’t even know Ryker…
He could see my discomfort and his bloody-toothed maw opened more so.
“You don’t remember, do you?” he hissed. “Your brain’s mashed up, Freeman – as I’m certain to see shortly when I eat it. You are a fool and a simpleton. I am hunger; it never leaves me. It cannot be sated. I NEED TO EAT!”
It pointed a long claw to Lucia; “I invited you here to kill the vârcolac that’s been disturbing my midnight feasting. You cannot understand how its interference has affected my routine.”
It stared at me with its blood-red orbs. “You were supposed to kill it, you cretin!”
I did not understand what he was saying but a sudden wave of pain in my side eclipsed all else. I stared at my left hand – bloody from my side – in disbelief and in my weakness, the bat fell from my fingers.
The ghoul grinned as I began to double up in pain and I bent forward – hugging my side.
The ghoul advanced.
It was as I was fighting a strong wave of nausea that I heard a low guttural growl behind me, but as I began to turn – still bent over – I was thrown to the floor as something heavy leapt onto my back and launched itself up into the air.
I watched in seeming slow motion as the wolf’s head moved sideways and its jaws sought and found the beast’s throat – its momentum sending them both backwards against the wall and down on to the floor.
The wolf was on top of the ghoul; its jaws locked onto the ghoul’s throat and despite the ghoul’s thrashings, refused to give up its bloody grip. I watched the ghoul’s left arm lacerating the back of the wolf.