Beast in the Night

Everfall at night was not at all like any other town in New Hampshire. Aside from its quaintness and a large expansion of wilderness, it had become a hub for families who loved a good dine-out and lobsters. Over the years, the town had seen immense growth, from the restaurants, strip malls, and street vendors that offered a variety cheaper snacks, novelty items, and almost anything that one struggling entrepreneur could think of. Everfall was also known for its abandoned houses and buildings, offering temporary shelters to a few homeless people. But that night, one of the most remote abandoned warehouses—which was farthest from the city and no homeless person ever even tried to make a momentary shelter—something sinister was about to happen. A woman, whose scorching redhead matched the trail of blood on her forehead and the cut on her lip, woke to a dim-lit room. And it was cold. So damn cold. She groaned as a wave of pain overcame her when she tried to make sense of where she was. She was bruised all over and with only a small piece of her clothing left to cover her private parts. The room around her was not only dim, but it also smelled rotten. A basement? The walls were of deteriorating concrete, and the floor was flooded by what seemed to be a badly leaking water pipe while insects crawl freely everywhere. The woman tried to understand what happened to her before she got there. Closing her eyes, the last thing she remembered was an attack. She just left a party that her friends had thrown out for her. A birthday party. Her birthday party. Then she was attacked in a dark alley by a massive beast. It happened too soon that she didn’t get the chance to fight back. With one single blow, she fell, and then all she saw was darkness as she blacked out. She couldn’t believe it. She was no ordinary woman. How could she fall and get defeated that easily? Pissed at the sudden realization, she tried to move but quickly realized she was bound to a metal chair. She muffled a struggle. Her head felt heavier as each pulse of throbbing pain pounded her senses over again. Her eyes, no matter how swollen, darted all over, searching for an escape or at least an answer to what was going on and why was she held captive. Her breathing was labored, and she felt as if her heart was going to explode in her chest. It was even more difficult for her to breathe with the piece of cloth that smelled terrible in her mouth. She paused for a brief moment. Then the iron door leading out of the room creaked open, and a tall young man stepped inside. He was wearing only a pair of ratty denim shorts, his muscular chest shining with sweat, rising and falling in gasps. “I was wondering if you were going to wake up. I thought I had given you more of the drug than necessary.” Aware of the person responsible for the pain and the bruises in her body, she shifted in her chair, writhing and wriggling, and trying so hard to free herself. Her cries muffled by a piece of cloth stuck in her mouth. “You want to talk? Okay, let’s talk, but you let out a scream, and you will die with the tragedy of not knowing why you had to die. Look at me.” But she could actually barely see through her swollen eyes, and her body was exhausted beyond belief as waves of pain crashed onto her. There was definitely something in the chair that seemed to have sucked every ounce of strength in her body. The man pulled the cloth from her mouth. She blinked, trying his best to clear her mind from the fog. “Not quite how you wanted to end your birthday celebration, huh?” “What did you do?” “Animal tranquilizer,” the younger looking man replied. He took a knife from the table in the corner and drew it across her cheek, ignoring the sudden curses that spring out from the the woman’s bloody mouth. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.” She tried so hard to free herself from the chair but to no avail. “Oh, I have a very good idea of what I am dealing with, Ivana. I know who you are, an ambitious omega from River Bed pack.” “You’re one of us!” Ivana’s eyes widened in surprise. “Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this to your own kind?” “On some level, I can understand the frustrations you are feeling of not knowing why you are exactly where you are right now. Don’t worry, I will help you figure it out. Now I want you to listen carefully to the names that I’m about to give you.” “What?” “Alice Brookes. High school student, burned to death. Anastasia Simmons, thirteen years old, burned to death. Jacob Morris, a future omega, burned to death. I can go on the entire list, but do these names ring a bell to you?” Ivana shook his head. “I have—who are they?” “They’re young and filled with spirit and a brigh future ahead of them. And you, you broke them until they begged. The same with the rest of the women you murdered that cold, winter night. You had all their dignity and self-esteem stripped away. Remember  how you made them suffer so much and quenched the very little light that remained in their eyes? You cheerfully tore their souls apart, leaving in your wake an empty shell. All those women and children you murdered were your own kind too, Ivana.” “Look, you’ve clearly got the wrong person! I swear to you! I have no idea who Alice or…Jacob were. My pack—we never attacked any pack or plan to attack. We’ve signed the treaty. We don’t—f**k! We don’t even hunt rogues! We leave that matter to the higher council. If you have done your research, you should know that River Bed is a peace-loving pack.” But her denial only ignited fury that crossed the young man’s face. “A peace-loving pack? Really now? And do you really believe that?” “Look, I swear to you. I have no f*****g idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know those people. I may f**k around, but I never hurt anyone! You’ve got the wrong person! I don’t remember any of them.” The younger man gritted his teeth at Ivana’s persistent lying. “And I thought I was a monster for hunting down my own kind, but at least I try to remember the names and the stories of every kill I make. No matter how evil they were. You, on the other hand—” Ivana suddenly screamed although it was nothing that a few punches to her gut wouldn’t stop. The man raised a knife and pressed it hard against her throat, a sadistic little smirk crossing his lips. No matter the anger he felt, he was also enjoying this. Must be the beast in him. “I’m going to gag you if you scream one more time. Trust me, you are not going to get out of this hellhole alive, but you’re going to want to hear me out, you’re going to listen to me why I have to kill you. For closure. Do you feel me, Ivana?” Ivana cried. “Trust me. You’ve got the wrong person. Please…and what did you do to my wolf?!” “Don’t take me for a fool, Ivana, because nine years ago, your pack and Alpha Raymond’s Blue Blood attacked a small pack in the west. You murdered women and their children, wiped out an entire pack. But you, you’re quite an interesting woman, are you?” “No! No! You’re mistaken!” “Oh, please, Ivana, trust me, I’ve done my research on you. I know that the innocent lives you took that night weren’t your first; there were more before that. Because you’re one sick of a monster. You even keep some souvenirs in your little memento box. Tell me, what’s so fascinating about their fangs?” Ivana swallowed, hot sweat trickling down her forehead and the dried blood on her cheeks. She knew she had to get out of the chair soon. She knew she had to shift to make it out alive. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t tap on the beast inside her. Her mind was so heavy on something she couldn’t quite figure out that it was making it extremely difficult for her to make the connection. She closed her eyes and tried again, as hard as she could, gathering every strength she had left to let the beast out and take control of the matter at hand for her. But…nothing. The young, shirtless man grinned at him. “My father, a brilliant doctor, had concocted a potent drug that is now preventing every fiber of your being from doing what you’re desperately trying to do now.” Ivana writhed and cried, veins bulging and eyes red in desperation. “So yes, I hate to break it to you, but you won’t be able to shift. And all you can feel in your body is an overwhelming, insurmountable amount of agonizing pain for trying. Like every bone in your body is breaking.” She screamed, her body thrashing wildly against the restraints that held her. The guy leaned in, pressing his face up against her ear. “I have debilitated your wolf. It’s paralyzed that it’s now useless to you. My beast, however, has been itching to chew every inch of flesh in your body. Scream again, and I will f*****g let it,” the guy whispered as he pressed his hand down hard around her throat. The beast in him bellowed, feeling the carotid artery pumping blood and enjoying how it struggled to throb beneath his fingers. Ivana cried. So hard. But the man knew more than enough that she never cried real tears. She was too wretched to shed any real tears. And she should have known better that her crocodile tears weren’t going to get her anywhere or save her from her upcoming demise. “After the torture, the bodies of those poor souls were mangled to pieces. But none of those compared to what you, and the rest of the monsters you serve, did to Arthur, Cecelia, and Viola Corvin. It took almost a week for the officers to identify tiny bits of their bodies that the mad rogues shredded with their claws. Their gruesome death made headlines for only a week, but I still think it’s insane for you not to remember it. I still do. It’s etched in my f*****g memory.” “f**k you! The West Creek Pack was our ally. Alpha Arthur and Luna Cecelia were my parents’ closest friends. Arthur was Raymond’s cousin. Alpha Calum and Alpha Raymond sought justice and had the attack investigated right away. The rogues attacked their pack. It was The Mad Alpha and his rogues who annihilated Arthur’s pack, you sick fucker!” Ivana might only be an omega in their pack, but her audacity made the man’s beast furious. “You know, a lesser man might be convinced, Ivana, but I’m anything but it. I know that the River Bed and Blue Blood worked together. I know that a human in the high council had helped that’s why the murderous act was immediately swept under the rug, and not a single human detective had taken on the case. No human questioned the c*****e. Don’t you actually find it intriguing that a m******e with that proportion got solved within a week, and no further questions were asked? Although I pretty much understand why since humans are weak and easy to bend. Show them power and money, and they’d gladly do the deed for you. That’s why I’m going straight for the heads, Ivana. Your head and every f*****g head responsible for my loss.” “Wait—what? Your loss?” “The West Creek Pack was the only family I had,” the man said, his voice was deep, and Ivana immediately sensed the anguish in it. “You’re from the West Creek…I can’t believe it.” “You better believe it. So, now you see, you can’t lie to me. I was there that night.” Ivana narrowed her eyes at him, trying so hard to remember who he was. “Who are you?” “It doesn’t matter now, does it?” She smiled, then grinned, and then a loud, mocking laugh soon filled the filthy room. “Okay, but whoever or whatever you are, you won’t get away with this. If you really have done your assignment, you should know that our pack has one of the best hunters in the east. And Alpha Calum pretty much thinks I am special. He will send out hunters to track and look for me. Your pretty face is fucked.” “You could be right. But, if only I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” The man shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint you, but you will die tonight before your alpha could send his pups for you.” He smiled down at the knife in his hand as he came to her side, grabbed Ivana’s face, and forced her to look into his piercing aquamarine eyes. “By the time they find this place, you’re already dead. Just pray hard that they arrive first because you know what those mad rogues do to lifeless bodies, Ivana.” The look of terror and realization that her life was about to end intoxicated the redhead. She wanted to scream and damn the abductor, but the man didn’t give her the chance as he drove the knife down into her ribcage. A scream soon followed. The young man pulled the blade out and watched the blood flow, Ivana’s eyes wide in shock. He pressed closer. His face edged closer to the enthralling beat of her heart. “My beast can feel your heartbeat. You should know that it’s quite euphoric.” The smell of blood and the sudden surge of emotions had him slightly disoriented. He pulled away. The almost foggy state of bloodlust would have let his beast take control over, something he knew he couldn’t let happen, or Ivana would be shredded into pieces. Although he wouldn’t really care how her life would end. But his beast was furious as he was, and everything must go according to plan. Ivana soon laughed with small breathless huffs in between from the searing pain. “You may have incapacitated my wolf, but I can still smell your pain and struggles, pretty face. And you may kill me tonight, but you’re miserable, and your misery will be your downfall and will be the very reason why you can’t win this war you stupidly wage against two of the strongest packs in the country to avenge your pathetic little pack.” When the young man stood up and backed off a little, creating a small space between her and her inevitable demise, she found a little ounce of hope in the situation. Maybe being truly honest was the way to delay her death, and if she were lucky enough, she’d be able to tap into her wolf, and if she were successful, she’d have a chance to fight and perhaps live. She grinned. “I don’t know who you are and why you think avenging Arthur’s pack is such an important thing for you to do, but you clearly don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, pretty face. And if you’re the same one responsible for the sudden string of deaths that recently created a stir in the council, then you really better prepare yourself of what’s coming in for you because as soon as they find out who you are, you’d beg death to come sooner.” The young man returned her grin with a satisfied smirk on his face. “I’m already dead. I am doing this so I could finally have a life.” He raised the knife in his hand and drew it effortlessly across Ivana’s cheek, then hovered the tip of the blade over her chest. “Now that we’re finally on the same page, tell me, who helped your packs plan the attack?” Ivana chuckled. “Come one, pretty face. It happened nine years ago. I no longer remember any s**t that happened that night. And I thought you all have all it figured out already.” “I know that Blue Blood and River Bed planned and executed the attack, what I want to know are the names of friends in the human council they paid to shut everyone up. You see, I want to kill every walking, talking, and breathing traitors responsible for the brutal m******e – humans and monsters alike.” “Go to f*****g he—” Ivana’s words cut off as the man drove the knife into her thigh this time, earning a scream that reverberates around the room. “I asked you a question, Ivana. Give me the names. The next part of your body that this knife will hit will be something a bit more sensitive and painful, and we’ll keep going until you give me the names or you bleed out.” “Then you may as well just kill me, pretty face.” A smirk crossed the bleeding woman’s lips. “I am getting tired of this, Ivana. I still have work tomorrow.”  His beast was getting more and more impatient. “You are not getting anything from me. It happened a long, long time ago. Why don’t you just let it go? You clearly survived. Why are you still doing this?  Live your life, pretty face.” “Fine!” He swung the knife down into Ivana’s chest, his other hand covered her mouth to muffle the scream. His wolf felt the weak wailing of the woman’s beast until it took its last breath. The soft rhythm of his heart slowing with each passing. “And I’m doing this for the pack.”   *          *          *   The sky was a depressing gray, as he stood in silence by the small marble tombstone jutting out of the ground. Sitting up against the stone was a bouquet of fresh white lilies. With a heavy heart, he stared at the nameplates of the people he had lost. Tears began to fall as if he had only lost them yesterday. Quickly, he whipped them away, telling himself to stay strong. He sighed and gave the tombstone one last glance before turning away from the grave and walked slowly toward a black car that was parked nearby. His eyes trailed along the ground as he went, forcing back the tears. As he reached his car and went in, his muscles tensed. He closed his eyes for a moment before turning the radio on to some alternative rock station, trying to drown his sorrow with some angry song. He stared out of the window and watched the thick gray sky mirror his mood. With one small tear escaping his eye, he leaned his head on the window. As what usually happened after every kill he made, the emotional baggage that he had been carrying for years had somehow lessened, but he knew he still had a long road ahead of him to finally be able to start a new life with and have the entire pain lifted off him—he still had a few heads to cut off, and most probably, a real battle to prepare for in order to finally move on and live his life.