Chapter 1- Zac
Nox noctis Lupus
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle- Albert Einstein
Hey, my name is Zac. I come from a small town in regional Victoria called Hamilton. Its not a very big town, about ten thousand people. The town is famous for wool, even though we have moved into more technological fields as of recent. My friends and I were just like you, once. But that all changed the night we went camping near Jake's house, at the Landslides. The Landslides are a plantation of pine trees on the side of a hill, with small patches of thistles spread throughout it. On the north and east sides there is a twenty meter high cliff, while the south and west sides go into a paddock. A river ran through the paddock that flooded and blocked us off from the outside world most winters. This was our perfect time to go out. Escape away from the rest of the world. And surprisingly we never actually got injured that bad that we had to go back early. Except for this one year, when Cody broke his leg while jumping out of a tree.
We had just set up our camp and were sitting around the fire. Jake was cuddling up to his bubbly girlfriend for a couple of weeks so far, Lisa. Jake was one of my best friends since Year Seven and the shortest in our group. He had short brown curly hair and was muscular, and could never control his facial hair. His facial hair was always short but grew quite quickly, as it went from short stubble to long whiskers in less than a day as we joked. Jake loved to build, and was doing an advanced course in building at the moment.
Lisa was just as tall as Jake, and had short blonde hair which most of the guys in group hated. We constantly referred to each other as brother and sister seeing how close we were; the only thing stopping us was the actual blood relationship. She was also a very competent nurse, and enjoyed taking care of us while we were sick.
Next to them, debating about whether Jake was more flammable than a brick was Ian and David. Ian was really tall, had short brown hair and slightly nerdy. He enjoyed trying to out smarting us at every chance, with sarcasm and short one liners which offended us fully. Luke and I always joked that inside his head there was just a bank of one-liners and some of them had to be good pick-up lines. I had met him in Year Eight and introduced him to the group. We were in most of the same classes, and even though I never studied or anything I always seemed to beat him in tests.
David was short, but only barely taller than Lisa. Teasing him was so easy, as whether it was about his red haired or his parents having the same name ("It's spelt differently!") he always took offence easily. Self-admittedly he was obsessed with fire, and we always let him light the bonfire we always had. Although we knew perfectly well he wasn't, we also teased him about being gay. Dave is also possibly the smartest in the group, having done advanced mathematics and history in Year Ten. When Ian joined, Dave came as well. They were best friends from ages before I had even met them
Sitting next to me was my lovely, sexy, kind and wonderful girlfriend Rose, with her aquatic blue eyes, pitch black transition glasses and long, blonde hair. We had been going out for seven months and things were looking good for the rest of our life. I had met her at Scouts, which I was dragged to by my brother. At first I didn't really take a liking to her, as she was going out with one of the people who I hanged out with at scouts, but eventually I fell in love with her and her caring attitude. She was shorter than me, but nearly as tall as me. Rose was a gamer girl as well, which was awesome as I loved video games. Some of the guys in the group teased her about being overweight, but she wasn't.
The last two members of our group were Cody and Luke. Cody was our resident computer geek who had dark hair. He was also nearly as tall as Ian and was very mysterious to everyone else except for the people in his friend group. He was always on his computer at home, playing Starcraft or World of Warcraft. While all the rest of us did play games, he was the one who we considered an expert at them. Cody had joined our group while I was in Year Eight, with Dave.
Luke, who had short blonde hair and tanned skin, had been one of my best friends is Grade Two and was considered hot by lots of chicks but never had the guts to ask them out. He was a graphic artist and web designer, even going as far as to built his own template for DarkShadow Entertainment, the company that Luke and I ran. He was just as tall as me, and had a pure heart of gold. He never could harm someone else, unless they had caused harm to him and was the peacekeeper of the group. Cody had gone looking for firewood and Luke was cooking sausages for tea.
Suddenly from the woods we heard Cody scream. It was an ear-splitting scream of pure terror. Luke, Jake and I shot up out of our chairs and ran into the darkness. We knew how dangerous this forest could be in the dark, with its heavy shrubbery and other small objects that can trip you over and dangerously wound you. And for Cody to scream like that, something horrifying must have happened. This was the guy who watched Human Centipede and didn't cringe one bit. As we ran, more screams pierced the woods. Visions went through my head of Cody crushed underneath a tree, stuck under a miniature landside and many further horrific sights. Time was running out and we all knew it.
We burst into a clearing to find a massive black wolf pinning Cody to the ground. It's dark fur contrasted heavily with its light, sky blue eyes and the crimson blood trickling down the side of it's coat. Cody was lying completely still now, staring into the beast's eyes. As it heard our approach, the wolf's gaze shifted from Cody to us and back again. Even Jake, who had been out here for the longest time had never seen this monster. I stared at it, and saw clothing on the outside of its fur. Human clothing. It was draped loosely across it's body, and was ripped into long thin strips. Some had been shed upon it's path, from where it had run.
"Cody!" Jake shouted, charging brutally at the wolf. There was no remorse in his eyes. Anyone who hurt one of his friends met Jake's full wrath. We knew he would be the first to act. He always was. The wolf released Cody and leaped at Jake, snarling and flashing us its teeth. Arms and claws swung frantically, blood spraying out as they ripped into each other, till Jake struck the wolf on the side of the jaw. The wolf struck back, biting down on Jake's shoulder. Luke drew his pocket knife out, and ran at the wolf. Luke always saved us, whether it is from ourselves or from other people. He slashed the wolf's soft stomach wide open, which began to pour out blood. The wolf yelped and dashed into the darkness, leaving a trail of blood as it went.
"Are you alright?" Jake asked, helping Cody to get off the ground. He looked exhausted, and was covered in scratches.
"I am," Cody said faintly, pointing at Jake's shoulder, "but you got bitten". Cody quickly caught Jake, just as he fell forward. His shoulder was dripping dark red blood and had many large punctures in it. Jake mustn't have felt the bite, so when he looked at it his eyes narrowed. His shirt was ripped to shreds and soaked in blood. I knew he would be fine. He had fallen from a two meter high tree house he had built, onto his head, and survived in Year Seven. He would live.
"Shit!" I yelled. My legs moved me faster than I have ever before to try and help Jake. He had lost a lot of blood from the deep wounds and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Jake's eyes closed, and we knew he was in trouble. Even when he was injured he would still generally be smiling, or talking. As fast as he could, Luke ripped off his hooded jumper and tied it around Jake's shoulder to stop the blood gushing out. We had learnt this in Cadets at school, in First Aid. At the time we had called the teacher an idiot. As if we would need this. How wrong we were. Cody and I carried him back to camp, which isn't an easy feat for two gamers like ourselves.
As soon as we arrived into the camp, Lisa ran over towards us, weeping with grief. Everyone else came to see what happened. They all quickly got into action, to try and help out to get Jake cleaned up and comfortable. Rose swiftly brought over all the medical supplies we had, which wasn't enough to fix this.
"What happened?" screamed Lisa, crying over Jake's body. Noone could comfort her when she got into a fit like this. No matter how hard that we tried. It usually ended up with the comforter on the ground with a very painful stomach, and finding it very hard to breathe. She hated feeling "weak" as she put it one time when Jake asked. One time Cody had tried to comfort her, he ended up winded for the rest of the day. It was pretty amusing.
"He saved me from a wolf, like a real wolf" Cody said, cleaning Jake's shoulder with anti-bacterial liquid. He then applied a bandage handed to him by Rose over the wound as firm as he could, and Lisa put clean clothes onto him. Ian tried to call an ambulance, but he didn't have reception. As normal in Mojauche, the tightly packed cliffs prevented the phone from contacting the external world. We used to see it as a gift, but at the moment it was a curse.
"Why would there be a wolf in Australia?" Dave said. He brought over some more bandages, which Cody and I applied to our small cuts and bruises. Better to be safe than sorry, we always say out at Mojauche. No matter how small the cut, we always cleaned it and applied a bandage just in case.
"Who knows?" Ian said. He poked the fire with a stick, and it crackled under the touch.
After a while, Lisa fell asleep over Jake's body (still crying in her sleep) while Dave and Luke searched for the mysterious wolf. That left Cody, Rose and I at the fire.
"Weird. A wolf in Victoria." Cody stated, sitting next to the fire, warming his hands.
"Maybe it was someone's pet," Rose said, thinking out loud. That could be possible, but it looked more like a hunter than a pet.
"I don't think so. It looked more wild, but its eyes were more human than animal." It couldn't be. Could it be a werewolf? At that moment Ian, Dave and Luke returned.
"Find anything?" I asked, watching as they sat at the other side of the fire.
"Only a few dead animals" Luke replied, as he sat on the chair he had carved out of an old log.
"Strange" I said, as Rose cuddled up closer. She smelled so nice and was so warm.
"I know" said Cody. He pushed Luke off his chair and stole it for himself.
-
Soon Rose fell asleep in my arms and then I slowly drifted between sleep and consciousness. My dream was as vivid as if I were awake. We were in a clearing in the forest and the sun was setting. The massive pitch black wolf from today had Lisa cornered against a tree. It pounced, but was cut short by another, larger snow white wolf crashing into it's side. The black wolf got up and slashed at the white wolf, cutting into the flesh in its neck. With the white wolf injured, the black wolf returned to its prey. Out of no-where a griffon flew down from the sky. Its feathers ruffled in the wind as it landed. It reared up, clawing the wolf with its sharp eagle claws. The black wolf fled into the trees.
All of a sudden I woke up, and Rose was lying next to me. We were inside our tent, so the others must have carried us in here. Her smooth hands lay on my chest and, embarrassed, she removed them as soon as she realized I was awake.
"What's up babe?" I asked as I ran my hands over her chest, moving closer as I did.
"Just thinking about how sexy you are," she said, kissing me and holding me close. As she did her hands moved down my sides.
"Love you babe," I said, running my hands over her body as we kissed again.
"Love you sexy," Rose said, as her arms held me in close. It felt so good. At that moment Luke burst into our tent. Rose and I shifted awkwardly to face him.
"You'll never believe this!" Luke yelled excitedly.
"Can't it wait?" I said impatiently, sitting up to stare at him.
"Please come" Luke said.
"Give us a minute" Rose replied. Luke went out, knowing he has interrupted a perfect moment. I kissed Rose, before we both got changed into some clean clothes.
"Let's see what just ruined a brilliant moment" Rose said, kissing me again before leading the way out. Luke, Dave and Ian were all outside Lisa and Jake's tent. Arm in arm, Rose and I walked inside their tent. Jake was in there with a clean shirt on, his bandages sat in a pile on his sleeping bag. He had grown over night and he had broader shoulders.
"What the hell?" I said as Jake lifted up his shirt. There was no visible sign he had been bitten, except for a lot circles of paler skin the sign of a 20c piece.
"I don't know. I just woke up like this" Jake said pulling his shirt back down. He walked over to Lisa and kissed her very passionately. The rest of us took this as a very awkward way of saying fuck off.
-
After that, the rest of us left, leaving them in peace. How is it possible to heal such deep wounds in one night and be perfectly healthy? Surely there was a logical meaning behind this.
"Let's get some firewood" Jake said after he finally emerged from his tent, pointing at the dwindling firewood bundle. I got up, kissed Rose and walked into the foggy forest.
"So, how are you and Lisa going?" I asked when we were twenty metres from the camp.
"Pretty good. Glad you hooked us up"
"Don't mention it. She's my little sister after all"
"Why didn't you ask her out?" Jake asked. He found a suitable branch and ripped it from a tree with ease. That was incredibly weird. The branch must have been five to ten times his weight.
Suddenly, bursting through the trees came a flash of black faster than lightning. Then Jake was pinned against a tree by a black robed man with white skin, short brown hair and deep red eyes. He was tall, large and strong.
"So. There is a new mutt in town!" snarled the man, sniffing Jake's neck.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jake replied, as he attempted to escape. The man must have had incredible power, as even Jake's newly found strength couldn't budge him. Thinking quick, I charged towards the robed man, knocking him over. As we tumbled to the ground, I touched his skin. It was icy cold, colder than frozen stone.
"You dare touch me, a vampire! You filthy human!" the vampire yelled, snarling and revealing his large, razor like fangs. He lunged at me swiftly.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Jake yelled, dashing straight towards the vampire. As he ran, his shape became distorted. Suddenly, there was a giant wolf dashing towards me. It was as white as pure snow and larger than the "werewolf" that Jake had fought the previous day.
The wolf, who must have been Jake, smashed into the vampire. The vampire was sent flying, colliding with a tree. He quickly regained his balance and charged Jake. The sound when the crashed was colossal, like the sound of thunder high in the sky. This went on for ages, neither growing remotely tired. By the end, the vampire grew reckless. He sprung for Jake's neck, but Jake slashed at him with his claws and took a chunk out of the vampire's shoulder, which burnt up as it flew from his body.
"This is not over, mutt!" the vampire yelled, as he dashed into the fog.
"Well, that was bloody awesome," I said, walking over and patting Jake. He growled in reply, and we walked back towards our camp.
-
As soon as we stepped foot in the camp, Lisa and Rose screamed and hid behind the guys. Dave picked up a flaming log out of the fire, waving it at Jake. Ian stood in front of the girls, in a defensive pose. Luke disappeared behind the tents.
"Stand back, beast!" Dave yelled, charging towards Jake.
"Don't hurt him!" I yelled, jumping in front of Jake. "It's Jake!" This action surprised Dave, and he stumbled backwards.
"As. Fucking. If." Dave said, jumping back to his feet and retreating back to defend the girls.
"HA!" Luke yelled, jumping out of a tree behind Jake onto his back. He pierced Jake's back with the large knife we used to cut the food. Jake howled in pain as Luke continued to cut at him. Blood poured out of the wound and as Luke jumped off Jake's back, Jake's shape became distorted. After a second, where the wolf had stood, Jake was. His back was still pouring out blood, covering his whole naked body. When he morphed into wolf form his clothes mustn't have been large enough. Lisa screamed and ran towards him, while Rose rushed to get the first aid kit and some new clothes for Jake.
"How could you?" Lisa cried at Luke, who was staring at Jake with tears in his eyes.
"He didn't know!" I said and walked over to comfort Luke. As I got close, he backed away.
"I've killed him!" he yelled, and ran off into the trees. Cody jumped up and sprinted after him.
"Now you've done it!" Cody yelled at Lisa as he ran after Luke. Jake quickly put his pants on when Rose handed them to him, and Lisa bandaged his back, ceasing the loss of blood. After they made sure Jake was alright, Ian and Dave picked up the spotlight and headed into the darkness after Cody and Luke.