Chapter Five

“How would you like to become a werewolf tonight?” Darwin asked his loyal Guardian.

“I pledge my entire existence to you!” Robbie replied, bowing his head slightly.

“That’s good Robbie. I need someone I can trust for a very difficult job. If I give you the gift, then you must use that power to complete a mission. I can’t ask anyone else to do it. I need someone like you who has something to prove,” Darwin stated to Robbie as they walked through a deserted McCarran Park.

“What do you need me to do?” Robbie asked.

Darwin lay a hand on his portly shoulder gently. “As a Guardian, your role is to keep humans out of New Haven during the full moons. I must expand your job description. Someone from the outside got in and they saw me change. I need you to find them, and kill them.”

“How did they get away? If you know they saw you why didn’t you stop them?”

Darwin continued with his half truths, “I made a mistake. I knew they were there and I let them watch me change. I was fucking another werewolf at the time. There was a thrill in it, knowing I had been caught. I assumed I could catch them after I was done…I was wrong and I lost them. If I could leave town to look for them I would but tonight is the first full moon and I am needed here. You will must find her scent and continue the hunt. I will help you find the trail, but you will have to follow it on your own. Most importantly, I need this kept between you and me. It’s an embarrassment—you understand?”

The podgy young man nodded his head in agreement without saying anything. Darwin had his full attention and would have his undying loyalty for the foreseeable future. Robbie, like any other Guardian, wanted nothing more than to become a creature of the night. Robbie was the ideal candidate for conversion. Young, nerdy, bitter at the world—and dying for some payback. Robbie had stood out more than other Guardians for the simple fact he wasn’t an ass-kisser. All Guardians were eager to please which made telling them apart very difficult. They were after all, nothing more than human; a sub-species who happened to know a God when they saw one…and like all idolizations, they wanted the power of God, as well. If for no other reason than to command the respect they had always longed for.

Darwin noted two months earlier that the young man followed orders to the letter without back talk—or any talk for that matter. Darwin was most impressed that around the werewolves, Robbie knew his role and he didn’t offer his flawed human perspectives on the issues brought up. Robbie merely followed the directions that were given to him and it was through this loyalty that brought him to the front of Darwin’s list for blessing.

“It’s time,” Darwin said. “Give me your hand.”

Robbie hesitated, asking one question before giving himself over.

“I know you normally make the person feed from you to make the change happen right away…I was wondering if we could skip that. The full moon is in a few hours and I’d love to have my first transformation the natural way.”

Darwin looked on the fat human blankly but he understood what was being asked.

Darwin grabbed Robbie’s hand and raised it to his salivating mouth. He snapped his iron jaw down onto the meaty flesh of the hand breaking several bones even before the flesh had been torn open. His canines grew, puncturing the flesh and releasing a torrent of salty life fluid. The iron river flowed from the wound into Darwin’s mouth and he lapped it up like a dog on a hot summer’s day. Robbie sighed in pleasure with Darwin’s fangs imbedded in his skin and the pain was welcomed.

Darwin could see flashes of Robbie’s past. A large man who smelt like cigarettes was near the forefront. Darwin watched as the man beat Robbie for no reason other than to quell his own rage.

Robbie’s blood pained Darwin. Another lost soul had been saved and freed to find his revenge.

Darwin released and looked at Robbie who seemed lost in his infection. Through Darwin’s wolf eyes he thought about eating the massive swine before him. The smell of blood infected the air and for a brief moment Darwin leaned in for another bite before stopping himself. Robbie must live, he thought.

He brought himself back under control, reverting to a more human condition. The hair on his face and inhuman teeth receded before Robbie even took notice. The fat man held his hand and began to laugh uncontrollably as the curse he had long sought was now freely floating in his veins, replicating and turning him into something else.

“You took that well,” Darwin complimented. “Are you sure you want to wait for the moon to rise? I can partially turn you right now. The choice is yours, but your chances of finding her are much better if we bring out the strength now.”

“I know. It would mean a lot to me if we could wait. I’ll find her; I have human skills for tracking!” Robbie reassured. “She’s traveling in hostile territory and she must know it, why else would she be in McCarran Park sneaking around? I think she’s going to be keeping a low profile, and moving carefully until she’s beyond the borders of New Haven. I don’t think she’d go north. If she’s a local, she knows the dangers of the northern woods. South would take her to town, a place she would know to avoid. West would take her past Special Handling. Even if she made it past the camp she’d be looking at a long hike to anywhere,” Robbie paused and stared in the night air.

“I’m certain she’ll make her way east; the question is, how long will it take her to realize where she is and what direction she must go? What time was it when she saw you?”

“Dawn,” Darwin answered.

“Did you get a good look at her?”

Darwin nodded as he continued the lie, “she was crouched in those bushes over there. From what I could see, she was a female in her mid twenties, brunette hair, and in decent shape.”

“No idea who she was or where she came from?” Robbie asked as his new confidence rushed through his body.

“It looked like Nancy Betmin. I couldn’t be sure of it, but she looked similar. Nancy was a local until she moved away for school,” Darwin said.

“Why would this Nancy be lurking in the woods?”

“That’s for you to find out,” Darwin replied hoping to get Robbie off on the search without lying further. Darwin sealed his lips choosing to let Robbie take the lead. The bushes would be a waste of time and Darwin was well aware of it. The trail for Nancy would be as cold as it was when Darwin was minutes behind her.

“The girl must be spry as a squirrel. Not a single branch broken or even a blade of grass bent. You’re sure these are the bushes?” Robbie pressed as he crouched down to investigate.

“Who the hell are you, MacGyver?” Darwin asked, growing more annoyed.

“Who?” Robbie asked but not waiting for an answer. “I did some work with the Seton County Search and Rescue a few years back. I know a few things about tracking; it’s pretty easy when you know what to look for. I just don’t see any evidence over here. Mind you the smell from that outhouse is pretty distracting, maybe I’m missing something…is that my new senses or does it just stink?”

“It just stinks,” Darwin replied, looking at the lone wooden structure nestled in the trees.

“Hell, if she had that smell on her, she’d be real easy to follow!” Robbie replied.

Darwin immediately realized his mistake at that moment. “And real easy to overlook if she had been hiding there.” Darwin raced over to the outhouse and flung the door nearly off its hinges.

A trail of filth covered the seat and floor of the outhouse. Shit hand prints covered the door and walls. The toilet paper had all been used up and the cardboard roll was covered in fecal matter. Nancy had attempted to clean herself up but nothing could have helped her eliminate the odor. Her hiding place had bought her time but it was the same hiding place that would lead the young pup to her.

Robbie looked over Darwin’s shoulder to find the starting point of his search. He closed his eyes and sniffed the air, attempting to dissect the pungent aroma. In his mind he could see the odors separating into different categories. The smell of shit was paramount, but hidden underneath that stench were two other distinct colors. His mind searched for a description of what he sensed. What existed in the air was scarce but he was beginning to create a picture in his mind of what her scent was. He distinctly found the smell of bad hygiene, both underarm and feminine. The more he focused on the stink, the stronger and more apparent it became. Another smell existed; one he could not pinpoint. It was unique and uncommon, but without more to go on Robbie could not name the last identifier.

“My hand is healing,” Robbie said, grinning at his scarred skin. “And my nose is working differently; I smell things I don’t think I should be able to smell.”

“Oh, yeah, like what?” Darwin asked.

Robbie replied, amazing himself, “this woman is a dirty little whore. I don’t mean the shit; I mean she was just rank; dirty, like she never bathed. There’s another smell too…I’m sure it’s her but I can’t say what it is. It’s like dust—when I think about it I want to cough or sneeze—but I don’t recognize it.”

“Coal dust?” Darwin suggested without thinking.

“Maybe, yeah actually that’s pretty close, charcoal! She must’ve rubbed some of it on her from the barbeque area. Ha ha! This bitch thinks she’s so clever, but she’s just giving me more to follow! I think this will be easy, Boss!”

Darwin was growing heated. “Don’t get cocky. She got away from me, and I’m a cold-blooded killer.”

Unafraid, Robbie continued to explain, “but now we know what the smell is, and we also know she likes to change it up. So, if I lose the trail I’ll know to find a new smell nearby. I think she’ll get comfortable though as the day goes on, she might get careless.”

“It’s a full moon tonight. She knows what I am. She’ll want to get the hell out of here,” Darwin said.

“If she does get out?”

“Our story can’t get out. Stop her anyway you can. Kill her and anyone she might tell. Use your best judgment and protect our secret; it’s your only priority!” Darwin commanded.