“Black hair with red streaks.”
“So you’re into the dyed hair thing, huh? Nice. Does she have any tattoos?”
“One.”
“One that you know about, right?”
“Yes.”
“Does Karen live around here?”
Dale vigorously shook his head. “No.”
“Are you sure? You’re not just saying that to protect her from me?”
“She doesn’t live here.”
“Well, obviously she doesn’t live here. The question was whether or not she lives around here.”
“No.”
“I think you’re being deceptive. How far away is she? Five minutes? Ten?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s really not much of a crush if you don’t even know where she lives. You should’ve followed her home. Women love it when you put forth that extra bit of effort. And with enough practice, you can actually build up a resistance to pepper spray. It’s true. I love the taste now.”
Dale was still crying. It was becoming kind of annoying.
“You know, Dale, we don’t have to be enemies. I’m not saying that we should hang out and drink together and become best buddies, but this doesn’t have to end in such a negative way. Having a werewolf on your side makes you kind of powerful. Ladies can’t resist a nice furry werewolf, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t.”
“I think you’re lying about not knowing where she lives. I think you’ve done a bit of light stalking in your time. Don’t try to deny it--I see that glint of mischief in your eye.”
“I never stalked her.”
“Okay, fine. No stalking from the Boy Scout. But you know where she lives. We could pay her an unannounced visit. If she doesn’t want to let you in, I’ll kick the door down. Or, better yet, you just keep the car running while I go get her. We’ll take her someplace nice and private. You could do anything you wanted to her. I wouldn’t even watch if it made you uncomfortable--I’d just wait in the next room and listen.”
“Go to hell.”
“Do you understand what’s happening here? We’re bargaining for your life. That’s a pretty major deal. On one hand, I’m threatening you with a horrible death--blood and limbs flying everywhere. That’s option one. On the other hand, I’m offering you a completely hedonistic experience, the chance to do whatever you want with your precious little Karen, and she’ll be helpless to stop you. Whatever freaky, depraved, brutal, and just plain fun thing you want to do, you can. I might even let you keep her afterward. That’s option two. What do you say?”
“I said, go to hell.”
“Really? You’re not even going to pretend to go along with the plan? I don’t know if that’s admirable or stupid. Okay, deal’s off. Get out of the car.”
“What?”
“Get out of the car. Now.”
Dale wiped some tears from his eyes. “You’re letting me go?”
“No, I’m not letting you go. You had your chance and you turned it down, so get out of the car and run so I can hunt you down and tear you apart. Go on. Shoo.”
Dale unfastened his seatbelt. “Please, I--”
“The time for talk is over. You should have at least given me a fake address and then waited for an opportunity to exploit a moment of carelessness. That’s what I would’ve done. Get out. I’m giving you a head start, but I’m not saying how long, so if you’re not a complete idiot you’ll get moving now.”
Dale opened the door, got out of the car, and ran. Ivan watched him go. He was a good runner.
If he didn’t have other things to do, Ivan would’ve made an evening out of this. It was extremely rewarding to chase a victim until he or she literally collapsed from exhaustion. One time he’d even followed a man in an electric wheelchair, just casually circling him in full wolfman form, hoping to go until his battery completely ran out. Unfortunately, they got too close to a populated area and the cripple was screaming too much, so Ivan had to kill him, though he rode around on the wheelchair for a while afterward.
He got out of the car, stretched, then completed his transformation. Became the Beast. It felt exhilarating.
The Beast took off after Dale. Caught up to him in seconds. Swiped his claws across Dale’s back, cutting so deep that flesh dangled from all five of his talons.
Dale didn’t fall. Impressive.
The Beast let him run a few more steps, watching him bleed, then pounced. Dale hit the ground face-first, letting out a loud grunt and then a muffled shriek.
Poor, unfortunate Dale. If he’d gone along with it, the Beast really would have helped him rape the girl he loved.
He went wild with his claws and teeth, shredding Dale’s back. Then he rolled him over and shredded his front side.
He rolled him over again to get any parts he might have missed. There weren’t many.
He smiled as he looked down at the remains. A moment later, he frowned.
Shit. Now Dale’s clothes were in worse shape than the ones he was wearing.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Working Things Out
“Is that him?” Lou asked, pointing through the broken windshield.
George applied the brake and leaned forward. “Where?”
“There!”
“The cat?”
“Is that a cat?”
“It’s sure as hell not a werewolf.”
“It’s a possum,” said Michele. “They’re everywhere.”
“I didn’t see what it actually was,” said Lou. “I just noticed movement.”
George muttered something rude. They’d been slowly driving around for more than an hour. They hadn’t been able to get a net, but one of the local shops did have a blanket and a travel-sized sewing kit. So Lou had sewn the silver rings onto the blanket in various places, hoping that maybe if they successfully tossed the blanket on top of the werewolf, the silver would keep him from getting out. It was perhaps the furthest thing from a foolproof plan that they’d ever concocted, but unless they drove past a guy with a cart selling hot dogs and silver bullets, their options were limited.
Michele was filing the handle of the silver cross into a point. If by some miracle they were able to get close enough to use it, it would make one hell of a weapon. Sharpened silver cross to the heart. No more werewolf.
“Looks pretty good, don’t you think?” asked Michele, holding it up for their inspection.
“Yeah.” George was originally going to ask Lou to file the cross and Michele to sew the rings, but he didn’t want to seem sexist. They’d both done fine work. “Oh, by the way, Lou, I forgot to complement you on your lovely bracelet. It really brings out the color in your eyes.”
“It could be useful.”
“That tiny thing? Maybe if we stab him with it a few thousand times.”
“It makes me feel better to have it.”
“Because it’s silver or because it’s a cross?”
Lou shrugged. “Both. Don’t make fun of me.”
“I wouldn’t even bother.”
“Maybe we should get some wooden stakes, too,” said Lou.
“That’s vampires.”
“I know that, but how do we know that the vampire myths didn’t come from werewolves? I completely believe in werewolves now, but I don’t believe in vampires yet, so isn’t it possible that somebody once killed a werewolf with a wooden stake to the heart and over the centuries the story changed to a vampire?”
“That’s actually not a bad point,” said George. “Maybe we should get some garlic, too. What else kills monsters?”
Lou shrugged. “Direct sunlight?”
“Well, Lou, I’m afraid we already know his weakness isn’t direct sunlight, because we’ve seen him out in the direct goddamn sun!”
“We’re brainstorming! You don’t criticize ideas in a brainstorming session!”
“Fine, fine. Write ‘direct sunlight’ on the chalkboard. Jesus. What else?”
“In The War of the Worlds, they defeated the aliens with the common cold.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Yeah. I was just seeing if you would criticize it. How about holy water?”
“Good, good. We’ll pick some up if we drive by a church.”