The thing stepped forward again, lowering its head until they were almost at the same height. Mark’s eyes looked at the same spot where he’d seen the wounds vanish. There wasn’t even a serious scar left to show that he’d almost killed the thing.
“Landers did the maiming, you son of a bitch. But you killed my baby girl.”
The werewolf hit him hard with a closed fist and Mark heard something inside of his chest break under the impact. After that he felt nothing at all.
Roland Weilland looked down at the unconscious wreck of a man and stared. The pain from his wounds was little more than a memory now, and he lifted his head to the sky and called out to his brethren. His voice clear and pure, echoed off the trees and hills and carried longer than most would have thought possible.
He looked at the still breathing man on the ground and shook his head. He knew this was the part where it would get tricky. Now it would not be his decision alone, but John’s as well.
The snow fell heavier now than it had before, and Roland sat, saving body heat while he waited.
Eventually they came to him. The rest of his pack moved with the sort of grace that all of their kind had, and all of them carried their burdens.
Two dead police officers — both of whom Roland knew, and a faceless woman were included in the bodies brought along. John came forward carrying Cullie Lander’s skinned body and wearing the flesh he’d peeled away as if it were a cloak.
All three of the men they’d hunted were still alive, though none of them would be for much longer and the odds were good that if they’d been conscious they would have been begging for death’s release.
“It is the time of judgment. What say you about the offenders?” His voice was calm and solemn.
John would decide their fates as his wife was the one they had killed.
John called to hear how each had fought and listened to the stories told.
He listened well, and as the storm raged around them he thought over the options and made his decisions.
The diner had attracted a new crowd of customers and Scott watched them all as they came past, wondering if any of them might be shape changers, or how they would react if their entire world were thrown into chaos.
“If I don’t get to see Allison soon, I swear I’ll go crazy.”
Eric simply nodded, his back ramrod straight and his eyebrows drawn together. Scott remembered the same expression from when his friend was still in high school, but that was before he’d gone into the military and become a walking brick wall. Of all the people he kept in touch with from back then, Eric was the most changed and, ironically the most the same. He was different in appearance and in the way he carried himself, but he was still, deep inside, a decent human being. That was really what bothered him the most about the situation they were in. The others had pulled the wool over his eyes and he’d let them. He hadn’t wanted to know that they had changed and so he’d let himself be blinded.
But looking back over the last decade, he could see where the signs were all there. George had been the original Angry Young Man, and somehow he’d gotten past that and become a wimp. Cullie had gone from being a loud and obnoxious creep to being just a creep. Only, really, he’d probably just learned to keep his opinions to himself instead of advertising. He couldn’t for the life of him remember why they hung around with Cullie back then or why they’d continued doing so after high school. And Mark? Well, Mark didn’t seem to have changed, not on the surface, but he could still remember a few times when Cullie and Mark had cornered one kid or another for a little fun and games. They’d never beaten the crap out of the underclassmen; they’d just tormented them enough to make the younger students leery of getting too close.
Eric looked at him and shook his head. “I think if I get out of this with Sarah and the boys, that’ll be enough to make me happy.”
Scott nodded.
“And if anything has happened to them, I’ll be coming back around here and taking care of business.” Scott didn’t need to ask for clarification, he knew exactly what Eric meant and he felt the same way.
Scott’s stomach twisted and roiled inside his body at the thought of what Allison was going through and what condition the baby was in.
“I’m trying hard to understand all of this, Scott. You know what I mean?”
Scott nodded. “Oh yeah. You better believe it.” He took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in his seat. “I never would have thought in a million years that we’d ever be sitting here and having a discussion like this one, you know?”
Before Eric could answer him the door leading into the diner opened and the six men who had sat with them earlier re-entered the place. All of the men looked solemn, as well they should.
Neither Eric nor Scott stood, but at least in Scott’s case it took effort to remain relatively calm. The men walked over to the booth where they were sitting and stood looking down at them.
Eric was the one who spoke first. “Have you finished your vendetta?”
“We’re done.” It was the big man who spoke. “The weather’s a bitch out there, but I’m guessing you gentlemen would like to be with your families.”
Eric nodded and stood and Scott followed his lead.
A few moments later they were all outside and the truth of the Viking’s words was made painfully clear. Scott had barely bothered to look out the window; he’d been too busy worrying about Allison. While they’d been waiting, a full inch or more of new snow had accumulated and the temperature had dropped by what felt like at least ten degrees.
The leader looked at the two of them for a moment and then spoke calmly. “We’re going to blindfold you gentlemen, and then we’re going to take you to see your wives and children. The house where they’re staying isn’t far away and this won’t take long.”
Neither of them resisted as they had their eyes covered and were led into an oversized van. The men who handled them were gentle, and spoke only as much as was required to let them know what they had to do.
Scott closed his eyes behind the blindfold and prayed as hard as he ever had. His fears about Allison and the baby grew worse instead of better.
Eric was quiet beside him, but the tension coming off of him was palpable. Neither of them spoke until the vehicle finally stopped.
When they were led from the car and their blindfolds were removed, they looked around in the blustering veil of snow and saw only one house, a large affair with three stories and a fireplace that was burning. They also saw the for sale sign in the front yard, though it was half buried under snow.
The men led them to the door, and knocked softly. A moment later the door was opened by another stranger, who looked around and then nodded his head and let them pass.
Eric smiled for the first time since he’d shown up, just as soon as he saw Sarah and his twin sons. Lance and Tyler looked up from the Disney movie they were watching in the model home, and let out squeals of joy even as they rose from in front of the 32-inch television. Twin bullets of flesh launched themselves at their father and he caught them silently, pulling them up to the level of his face, one on each arm, and hugging them. It was practically a miracle he didn’t crush his sons from enthusiasm alone.
Sarah stood and looked at him for several seconds, shocked to see him. Sarah was not what Scott had ever expected when it came to his high school chum. She had short brown hair and a body that hadn’t quite sprung back from giving birth to the twins. Scott would have expected his friend to marry a cheerleader type, because they were all he ever fell for when they were both younger. Instead Eric had married a woman who was moderately attractive and almost as tall as he was. She also had a brain and was at least as opinionated on every subject as her husband.