Wolf's Tale (Necon Modern Horror Book 25)

by Dan Foley

  Wolf was dismayed when they went inside. Charlotte was incensed. This was her home, her personal space and La Pierre had violated it. “Bitch,” she swore as she stood in the middle of the room. After all they had been through, it was the first time Wolf had heard her swear. Fortunately for him, he knew better than to try to console her right now. Instead, he said, “Let’s see what else she did.”

  “Where’s Little Wolf?” Charlotte demanded when she noticed the little guy was gone.

  “I think I hear him in the kitchen. Let’s go see.” They found him surrounded by a litter of broken glass. He was holding one piece and licking blood off it. When the piece was clean, he looked for another one.

  “I don’t think I can stay here tonight,” Charlotte said after they had toured the rest of the house.

  “No problem, we can go to my grandmere’s. Grab what you need and we’ll go over there.”

  15 – Moving In

  Grandmere was sleeping when Wolf and Charlotte arrived at her cabin. After ten minutes of knocking, and then pounding on the door, Wolf gave up. “That woman sleeps like the dead. I’m going to try something else.”

  “What else is there short of breaking a window?”

  “Watch,” Wolf told her and went back to the truck. A few seconds later the stillness was broken by the blaring of the pickup’s horn. Wolf kept it going until Grandmere finally opened the door. When she did, she looked like she was still asleep. “What you doing that for. Why didn’t you just knock?”

  “We ...” Charlotte started, and then gave up and went inside. Wolf joined her a minute later.

  “I’ll make coffee. You tell her what happened,” Charlotte told Wolf.

  “No, I make da coffee in my house. You two sit down.”

  The moon was out and the bayou was beautiful, but Charlotte needed the comfort and safety of the indoors so she took a seat on the couch. Little Wolf climbed onto her shoulder, while Wolf slid in next to her. They waited in silence as the sounds and aroma of brewing coffee filled the room.

  When the coffee was done, Grandmere came into the room with two cups. She handed one to Charlotte and the other to Wolf. Charlotte’s had cream in it, Wolf’s was black. Then she sat opposite them in the easy chair. “Now, tell me what happened.”

  Charlotte started to speak and then realized Grandmere hadn’t poured a cup for herself. “Aren’t you having any? We can wait if you want to brew some chicory.”

  “Not this late. I get da reflux bad if I do. Then I never get back to sleep. You two just go ahead.”

  After taking a sip and managing not to grimace, Charlotte told her what had happened.

  “So, you think you hit that familiar?”

  “I’m sure I did. Little Wolf tasted its blood.”

  Grandmere nodded to the familiar. “That right?”

  The familiar grinned and chittered at her.

  “And you tasted La Pierre’s blood, too”

  Again, the familiar grinned and chittered at her.

  “You know that means he can find either of them anywhere now if you ask him, right?”

  Wolf nodded and Charlotte stroked the creature.

  “Well, then, she keep for a while. Now we best get some sleep. I’ll see you two in da mornin’.” Grandmere left them sitting in the living room. Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief when she was gone.

  “What,” Wolf asked.

  “This,” she answered, holding up her coffee cup. “I was afraid I was actually going to have to drink it. I don’t think I would have slept for days.”

  “It’s a good thing you didn’t say anything, because she must really like you. I never would have thought she’d let a woman spend the night here with me.”

  “Speaking of that, where are we going to sleep?”

  “You can have my bed, I’ll take the couch.”

  “We can’t sleep together?”

  “Not unless you want to spoon all night. It’s a single bed.”

  “I can live with that. Can you?”

  “Well, we can try.”

  Once in the bedroom, even Charlotte seemed to have her doubts about sharing the single bed until Wolf started laughing. “What’s so funny?”

  “I was just thinking — compared to my rack on the Hancock, this thing is huge. Of course we can both fit.”

  “You sure?”

  “Sure I’m sure,” he answered as he stripped down to his skivvies and got into the bed.

  “You’re wearing those to bed? Since when?”

  “Since my Grandmere is in the next room. She likes to come walking in unannounced.”

  “Oh,” Charlotte answered, looking a bit perplexed. Then she stripped down to panties and the T-shirt she had been wearing all day. When she joined Wolf in the bed, it was a tight fit. His back was pressed up against the wall and her knees were right at the edge, but they made it. Little Wolf claimed what little room was left at their feet.

  Renee La Pierre felt the pain of her familiar. There were several shotgun pellets lodged in its body. Every drop of blood the familiar lost drained some of the power from Renee. If the familiar died, she would be in no shape to take on Lobo. She would have to run from him like Ellen had run from her.

  She did what she could for the creature but it wasn’t much. She couldn’t attempt to remove the pellets in case she did more damage than good. Worse, she couldn’t afford to pour any more of her power into her. If she did die, La Pierre would lose that power too. All Renee could do was bandage the familiar’s wounds to try to stop the bleeding.

  “Damn, you Lobo! I should have gotten rid of you when you first came back.” Hindsight was nice, but it wasn’t going to help her now.

  La Pierre hovered over her familiar through the night. Each time it seemed the creature was failing she willed more of her power into it. By morning, the familiar was over the crisis, but it was weak. There was no way it could help her in the coming battle with Lobo. She made the decision to run and regroup until they both regained their strength.

  With the first light of dawn, La Pierre swaddled her familiar in a soft terrycloth, placed her on the front seat of the Cadillac and fled north with her check book and all the cash she had stashed in the house. The cash alone was enough to keep her for months if need be. She sped by Grandmere’s cabin while Wolf, Charlotte, and Little Wolf were still sleeping and Grandmere was on the porch drinking coffee.

  16 – Running

  Grandmere didn’t come into the room until eight o’clock; hours after the sun had risen. “You two gonna get up and deal with that old witch, or you gonna sleep all day?”

  “I told you,” Wolf whispered into Charlotte’s ear once Grandmere was gone.

  “I’m so stiff I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get up,” Charlotte told him.

  “You? You’ve been sleeping on my arm all night. I’m never going to be able to move it again.”

  “Oh,” Charlotte complained when she finally got up and stretched. “I need coffee.” Then she realized what she had just said and shook her head. “I really do need coffee, even if it is Grandmere’s,” she told Wolf as she slipped on her pants. “Get up and get dressed. I’ll be on the porch with Grandmere.”

  When Wolf joined them, Grandmere tossed a condescending look at him. “You goin’ to have to settle for eggs ‘n grits for breakfast, ‘cause I still don’t have no fresh catfish.”

  “I’ve been a little busy,” Wolf told her in his own defense, even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good.

  Charlotte just shook her head and tried to hide a smile. “Eggs and grits will be fine, and maybe some toast.”

  “Fine,” Grandmere answered, “But I still wish I had some of that catfish someone promised me. I do love it for breakfast.”

  Wolf gave a Charlotte a “what can I do” look when Grandmere left the porch. She was back a minute later with a basket of warm cornbread muffins. “You start on these while I get da rest.”

&nbs
p; “So, what you goin’ to do about that witch?” Grandmere asked as soon as she was back.

  Wolf put down his fork and stared down at his hands. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, you got to do somethin’. You an’ Charlotte never goin’ to be safe as long as that woman around.”

  “I know that. But how do I get rid of her short of killing her? I’m not a killer.”

  “Let him deal with her,” Grandmere told him, referring to Little Wolf.

  “That would be just like me killing her,” Wolf protested.

  “Yes,” Charlotte agreed, “But maybe it’s what she deserves.”

  “That may be true, but I’m still not sure I can do it.”

  “I think you goin’ to have to. That the only way you ever goin’ to stop her. And you better get to it now if her familiar be hurt like you think it is.”

  “I guess,” Wolf answered, but Charlotte could hear the resignation in his voice.

  Little Wolf, who had been listening to the entire conversation growled and stood at the door to the living room. It was obvious he didn’t share the same concerns as his master.

  “All right,” Wolf finally told the familiar, “let’s go find La Pierre.”

  Once they were outside, Charlotte insisted on trading the pickup for the Torino. “If we’re going to be driving to Lavern, I don’t want to have to do it in this. La Pierre’s already seen it, so it doesn’t matter what we’re driving.”

  “Good idea,” Wolf agreed, knowing the Torino had another advantage going for it — La Pierre’s Caddie wouldn’t have a chance of outrunning it.

  Unlike the day before, the doors to Buster’s garage were open when they arrived. Buster came out when he heard the pickup pull in, only to hustle back inside when he saw who it was. Wolf ignored him and just drove around back for the Torino. Buster was still inside and the doors were closed when they drove back out.

  Wolf gunned the Torino’s motor and the rear tires spit gravel and oyster shells at the garage as he pulled out of the lot heading south toward Lavern. “Okay witch, ready or not, here we come” he said, and laid another strip of rubber on the road.

  They hadn’t driven a mile when Little Wolf scrambled into the back seat where he stared out the rear window and started growling and pacing back and forth. “What’s wrong with him?” Charlotte asked as the familiar grew more agitated the further south they drove. Finally, he was so frantic Wolf had to stop. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked.

  “What if we’re going the wrong way? What if La Pierre’s not in Lavern? What if she’s back in Bayou La Pointe?”

  “Shit! That’s it! Christ, what if she’s after Grandmere? We have to go back!”

  Wolf damn near went off the road and into a ditch as he rushed to turn the Torino around. Charlotte held onto the armrest and snapped at him. “Calm down! You’re not going to do anyone any good if you run us off the road.”

  Wolf glared at her, but didn’t answer. He knew she was right, but he was terrified of what La Pierre might do to Grandmere if he wasn’t there to protect her.

  They hadn’t been gone more than ten minutes when Wolf skidded to a stop in front of the cabin. He was out of the car and running to the door seconds after the Torino came to a stop. Grandmere looked up at him in surprise when he ripped the door open and ran into the cabin. “What you doin’ back here? I thought you was goin’ after Renee La Pierre.”

  “We are,” Charlotte said, “but Little Wolf said we went the wrong way. She’s not in Lavern, we have to go north. She might even be here in Bayou La Pointe.”

  “Well, she ain’t here, so you best get back to lookin’ for her.”

  “But, what about you? I don’t want to leave you here alone.”

  “I be fine. She can’t get back here without Little Wolf knowin’ it. Now get.”

  Wolf was torn between going and staying until Charlotte yanked his arm. “Grandmere’s right. Let’s go find that bitch.”

  Little Wolf was sitting on the dash board bouncing up and down and growling when they got back to the car. “Okay, buddy, were going,” Wolf told him as he started the motor.

  “Maybe she’s at the house. Let’s try there,” Charlotte told him as he put the car in gear.

  “Right,” Wolf agreed.

  Little Wolf hissed and started to bounce up and down again when Wolf slowed to turn onto their street. “I guess not. Keep going,” Charlotte said. When Wolf did, the familiar settled back down on the dashboard.

  “Where do you think she’s going?” Charlotte wondered.

  “I have no idea, but where ever it is, we’ll find her.”

  They followed Little Wolf’s chittering and bouncing all the way to New Orleans.

  “Why would she come here? Mose is here,” Wolf asked.

  “Maybe that’s why she’s here. Maybe she went to see him.”

  “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”

  La Pierre was in New Orleans, but not in the Quarter. She owned a house in the Garden District that had belonged to her third husband. She hadn’t been there since he had been buried here in his family’s crypt in Lafayette Cemetery Number 1. The house was her bolt hole, a safety net she had never planned to use, but here she was.

  As she drove through the District she saw several ghosts. Many of them stood outside the gates to the cemetery. She wasn’t surprised to see her husband among them. All of them stared back at her with fear or hunger in their eyes. All except for her husband, his gaze was filled with hate.

  “Look at them my pet. They don’t know that they will be our salvation. I’ll go hunting soon. I’ll suck their power from them, and when I’m strong enough, I’ll feed it to you. Then we’ll go back for Lobo and his woman.”

  The familiar chittered in agreement, but it was a pitiful, barely audible sound.

  When she arrived at the house, La Pierre was annoyed to find a car parked directly in front when there were several open spaces both in front and behind it. It was one more irritation she didn’t need.

  Idiot, she thought as she cradled the familiar in her arms and made her way to the front door. She was about to unlock it when it suddenly opened to reveal a large black woman.

  “Whatever you’re selling, we don’t want any,” the woman said, looking at the bundle in La Pierre’s arms.

  “Who the hell are you?” La Pierre demanded.

  “I’m the housekeeper. Who are you?”

  “I’m the owner.”

  The woman was quick to recover and stepped back to allow Renee to enter, “Ms. La Pierre, I’m so sorry. I had no idea it was you.”

  La Pierre was about to berate the woman, then thought, well, why should she? We’ve never met, and she could be of use.

  “That’s all right, you couldn’t have had any idea it was me. I’ll be staying for a while. I have no idea how long. My pet is ill, so I may need some help. Would you be available to do some shopping for me today? I’m sure there’s not a thing to eat in the house.”

  “No ma-am, there isn’t, but I’d be happy to go to the store for you. What do you need?”

  “Just some milk, eggs, cold cuts and bread today. Oh, and mustard. If I give you some money could you do that now? I haven’t eaten yet today.”

  “Yes ma-am, I can do that, just let me get my purse and keys.”

  La Pierre dug a twenty dollar bill out of her purse and handed it to the woman when she came back. “Will this be enough?”

  The woman took the bill and nodded. “It should be, and if it isn’t you can pay me the difference when I get back.”

  “Fine,” La Pierre agreed and stepped aside to allow the woman to leave. When she was gone, she carefully made a nest out of the towel she had wrapped her familiar in and placed it on the couch in the living room. “You rest there my pet, I’m going to get our things from the car.”

  Once she had retrieved the few things she had brought with her in from the car, La Pierre
made a tour of the house to see what might be there that she could use. There wasn’t much, but she was pleased to find a box of herbal tea in the kitchen. It must be the housekeeper’s. I’m sure she won’t mind if I have some.

  When the tea was done she took a cup and the pot into the front room and sat with her familiar. “After that woman comes back I’ll have something to eat, and then I’ll go hunting. We’ll be back to our old selves soon my pet.”

  Mose was waiting for them with coffee when they arrived at his home. It never failed to unnerve Charlotte that he always seemed to know when they arrived in the Quarter. She thought of asking him how he did it, but then realized it must have something to do with his familiar and their blood.

  “You done with that witch yet?” Mose asked after they were all sitting at the wrought iron table in the courtyard.

  Charlotte was sure he already knew the answer, but she told him anyway. “No, that’s why we’re here. Melvin wounded her familiar last night. When we went looking for her this morning, Little Wolf led us to New Orleans.”

  “That right?” Mose asked. “Then why you here? You should go after her while her familiar still hurt. You give her too much time and they both get their strength back. Better to face them when they weak.”

  This time it was Wolf that spoke up. “Is there any way to stop her short of killing her?”

  Mose looked at him and shook his head. “You already know da answer to that. There only room for one of you round here. You can run away, or you can deal with her. Question is, are you ready to be da wolf you say you are?”

  Charlotte and Mose both sat silent waiting for his answer. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” Then he took Charlotte’s hand. “I’m not willing to run, are you?”

  “No, I’m not. Let’s go find that bitch.”

  “You coming?” Wolf asked Mose when he stood up to leave.

  “No, this your battle. Yours and his,” Mose told him, nodding at Little Wolf.

  “And mine,” Charlotte told him, standing up to join Wolf.