Chapter Six

The room was as dark as it had been before. Richard warned her not to talk or ask questions. Her job was to observe and nothing more. He placed a red disc over the head of his flashlight. The light was now infrared. She kept behind him for safety. Once lit up by the red, the room was smaller than she imagined. The noises she’d heard had emanated from the back corner. That section was bordered off by fence wire. She caught the rough shape of a human, though barely an outline. She focused on what her eye struggled to identify. It wasn’t real or anything her brain recognized from memory.

The person was chained by the arms and ankles, the shackles rooted to the floor by bolts of steel. The animal-being was six feet tall, maybe taller. A lion’s mane covered its neck and back, giving the creature an exaggerated hunchback. Three hundred pounds, she guessed the wolfish creature was. It was made up of sculpted muscle. Even asleep, its muscles flexed involuntarily. The coarse hair poorly covered its flesh, like a baby chicken freshly hatched from the egg. The leathery flesh was satchel brown. The size of its phallus made her blush. It was much larger than a man's, and imagining it in use was cringe-worthy. The face was elongated as a dog’s, the lips a quarter of an inch thick with a resemblance to hamburger. Its eyes were closed in harmless slits. The hands hanging at its sides were bludgeon-size, big enough to wrap around her head and more. The talons were curled in at the tip and inches long.

Richard guided the red light across the wall. There were others curled up in dog sleeping positions, the females slender and brighter coated with manes and longer tails. She counted fifteen total. Her eyes roamed over them again and again. The exhibit didn’t change, yet it grew more interesting with each observation. The closest she could surmise them to be were werewolves, but these creatures were different. They resembled humans as much as they did wolves. Breasts were identical on the females. One wolf had its eyes open, and they were very much like a human’s in shape and color. Questions threatened to burst from her, and Richard sensed the pressing need for her to talk, so he guided her to the exit expediently.

The afternoon sun was up in the sky, beating hot and intense. She shielded her eyes until they adjusted; then she leaned against the door to the creature room and expelled a long breath. “What in hell were those things?”

He smiled. “Ah, yes, you’d ask that.”

Richard escorted her back to her room. “Anything on this island is an offspring of man. They’re real in the flesh and blood sense, but they’re monsters.”

“Monsters?”

“We call them that to keep things simple. What you should be more concerned about is identifying them, reading up on them and learning how to defend yourself against our guests.”

“Our guests?” Addey was outraged. “Are we catering to those werewolves? Coffee and cookies and mints on pillows?”

His smile bordered on shit eating. “You’re quick, Addey. I have high hopes for you.”

Once they were outside her room, he said, “Now I suggest you read that packet of information cover to cover. You should feel privileged. I don’t let everybody see the wolves so early on. You have a leg up on everybody else on the boat.”

“How many people?”

“Oh, it’s about twenty.”

“Then why the huge boat?”

“You witnessed the stuff we have in storage. You’re not the only cargo on this boat. This is a supply vessel. We have mouths to feed, both human and monster. And we’re transporting new monsters too. They pop up time and again.” Lightly shoving her into her room, he said, “In you go, and stay in. Read up. Hey, when you’re done, go to the deck up the stairs where you see the tables and umbrellas. There’s an open bar and open cafeteria. Get some food. You’ll need your energy.”

Before she could add anything, the door was closed.

Alone, she stared at the manila folder on her cot.

She cracked it open and began to read.