Full Moon

by Lisburn-kid

What happens when a few kids discover a few werewolves in their town!

Chapter 1

He craned his neck, trying to sniff the air, pushing back his dirty, thick black hair form his dark brown eyes.

Crouched down smelling the soil, the boy narrowed his eyes and glared at the clump of trees in front of him. Silently he snaked closer trying not to disturb the tranquillity of the forest. He heard a rustle and stopped. Gently he pulled out a blue knife and moved closer, edging towards a large tree.

There was another rustle and then a low growl. There was a moment of deadly silence and then out of no were hundreds of birds flew from the trees.

Still the boy moved closer completely unaware of a large creature tailing him. There was another low growl and this time it was followed by a howling. The moon was at its fullest and was high up in the night's sky.

The boy did not turn round or even move his eyes. He just stood there transfixed on the trees. He knew the sound; the creature that made it was the same as the one in the trees, the same creature he was following.

Silently and without warning a large furry creature jumped out of the dark trees with teeth bared and snarling viciously. The boy fell back, falling on the soft damp soil. The creature stood over him, its dark almost black saucer eyes were fixed upon the boy. He shuddered, a wolf that could stand on two legs!

He saw the other one imitate its partner. He let out a soft cry and closed his eyes tight wanting whatever was going to happen to be done quickly and painlessly. However that only happens in fairytales, normally a knight would come along and kill the creatures. But this is the real world and there was no one coming to kill anybody except the creatures looming over the boy.

The one standing near his head growled at the other and they looked at the sky, the moonlight seemed to be shinning directly above them.

One of the creatures looked at the boy, cowering in fear. He opened one of his eyes slightly trying to see what the creatures would do. The one at his feet raised his paw and swiped at his face.

There was a loud blood-curling scream from the forest and the birds flew away again.

The was growls for a few minutes, the snapping of bones, muffled screams then silence … utter silence. Finally something very large could be heard running at high speed through the trees, followed again by something the same build as the first.

Then a blood soaked, savaged body was left lying on the forest floor …

Chapter 2

'Have you seen James?'

'Sorry John haven't, I saw him last night, though.'

John gave a sigh, where could his cousin be? Last night James had been staying over at his house and he had disappeared during the night.

But to John's dismay he had failed to turn up and no one seemed to know where he was.

'John!'

'Cole! Kathy!'

'Sure call his name first; I was the one who called you!'

Kathy gave him a sly grin and then hugged her boyfriend.

'You two get a room.'

'That's pretty hard, seeing as you always follow us!'

'Well I need to protect my little sis, don't I?'

John gave him an unfathomable look. Cole took it nicely.

'So why are you out and about so early?' asked Cole with suspicion.

'Looking for that prat of a cousin of mine,' he said quickly, 'He disappeared during the night.'

'Probably away into the woods again,' laughed Kathy.

John looked at her; he could not avoid her brown eyes and her shoulder length brown hair. Her pretty features distracted him from the thought of his cousin for a few moments.

'I seen him a last night, going into the woods in the dead of night,' Kathy said, appearing to know what John meant by that look.

'What on earth would he be doing in there?'

Cole looked at his sister, then they both turned their gaze on John who was obviously confused judging by the look on his face.

'It doesn't mater, its old news,' Cole said suddenly.

John looked at Cole and then too Kathy. But he knew his queries would not be answered at this time.

The sun was now high in the blue sky and John had to squint in order to se where he was going. It was such a lovely day, bright, clear blue skies, the sun shining bright making it one of the warmest days in weeks. There was a nice cool breeze going about the village and most people were trying to lure it into their houses by having their windows open wide.

The flowers on the hill were swaying in time with the wind, looking like a choir. It was a picturesque scene, one worthy to be hung up in the Louvre.

John wondered most of the morning what his friends had been talking about, but he did not dwell on it for long. After they had done their usual lap of the village, they got to the corner shop.

'I'm away in for a coke, anybody want anything?' asked Cole.

'No thanks,' replied they.

John turned on Kathy, knowing now that seeing her brother was in the shop Kathy would be a lot more honest.

'Right, now maybe you can tell me what on Earth was going on earlier.'

Cole came out of the shop and Kathy hugged John. Cole just stood there drinking his coke.

Kathy started to stutter but then began speaking confidently, fast like a typewriter, 'Well when you were away for that weekend we all hung out, and then this thing turned up. Like in the middle of the forest. So we decided to go back that night and investigate. It was a waste of time for we found nothing except a clearing in the forest. We left moaning about why we ever went. Only James considered there might be more to what we found than any of us. So I think he may have went back to do more investigating. However I'm sure that isn't the case.'

John stood there with Kathy in his arms taking in everything his girlfriend had said. He looked at Cole and then to the forest. He had no idea he was only being told half of the truth …

'But why didn't he tell me?'

'Coz you'd probably say the same thing you always say to him when he thinks he's onto something,' said Cole with obvious venom in his smooth voice.

John glared at him, daring him to continue.

"Don't be stupid, honestly you come up with the most stupid ideas!"

John broke away from Kathy who looked anxiously at him. Cole stood his ground and showed that he was not intimidated by John.

'Hey, boys don't fight. You'll end up hurting yourselves!' said a mocking laugh.

The group turned round to see who it was. When they saw, Cole let out a moan on annoyance.

'Nice to see you too,' She said aiming her hurt at Cole.

'Janette, why are you here?' Cole said coldly.

'Was in the village and I heard you squabbling like a pack of wolves. So I thought I'd come and say hi.'

Janette was Cole's ex – girlfriend and their split up had caused a lot of hurt on both parties.

There used to be one whole gang when they went out. But when they split up Janette and her friends went back to their village which caused a lot of tears because they had all become such good friends.

'Well you've said your hi's and we're now saying our good byes.'

'You always were a bit temperamental,' she said flirtatiously.

'Listen you're not wanted here!' They could tell that Cole meant business.

Janette looked at him, her facial expressions hard like that on a statue, 'You'll come running back to me, I know you will.'

She started to walk off then Cole shouted, 'You obviously don't know me then!'

But she had already turned the corner and was heading towards her village.

'Why does that girl have to dog me everywhere I go?'

John was going to say, 'Well maybe she was going to say hi to me and Kathy, as we weren't the ones that treated her like crap!'

However he knew that if he said that he'd have no teeth to brush everyday.

So he simply said, 'I dunno.'

Kathy seemed to know what he was thinking because as Cole was walking away cursing Janette under his breathe she whispered, 'Don't worry, I would've said the same thing.'

This made John feel a little better. He and Kathy followed Cole holding hands until they reached the park.

'What did you lot find in the forest anyways?'

John asked suddenly and Kathy let go of his hand and looked to her brother for help.

'Why you ask?' Cole looked at him and John felt a little uneasy.

'No reason, just it must have been something weird for you not to mention it again.'

Kathy turned to her boyfriend, 'You don't want to know what we found.'

She sighed and looked away, almost as if she couldn't look at John.

'We may as well tell him,' Kathy said quietly.

Cole cleared his throat and John knew that that was the sign that he was about to be told a story that needed one hundred percent concentration to understand.

Chapter 3

James was walking up a hill towards Aclyn when he heard a familiar voice calling up the hill, 'Hey!'

James turned round to face a pink faced Cole. He was panting hard from his run up the hill trying to catch up with James.

'Hi. Where are you going?' Although he knew full well where Cole was going, he acted as though he didn't.

'I was going up to see Janette as no one is around, but seeing as you're here then why don't we hang about?'

James looked at him, and thought about it for a moment. He couldn't understand why Cole had taken such a liking for him so suddenly, when just the previous evening he threw a water bomb at James and had shown no remorse.

James put his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans, 'Aye alright. You can't be more boring than John.'

The two boys started laughing; at least they were off to a good start.

The morning had been surprisingly fun, first they went walking about the village and then they played a game of football. Cole's sister Kathy had found them in Cole's bedroom sniggering and packing a bag when she came in to investigate.

'What are you two up to?'

'Nothing,' Cole said simply and innocently.

Kathy looked at them suspiciously and then moved forward towards the bed. Quickly without any sign of a warning she dived for the bag.

She took a whiff of it and nearly choked, of course she was dramatising the situation.

'Oh my word, do you not wash your gym bag?'

'Of course I do,' he said getting a little annoyed at the rude interruption.

'Well were you two off to?'

They boys looked at each other almost as if having a telepathic conversation.

'The lake.'

It was the first time James had spoken directly to Kathy and she was a little taken aback, 'The Lake?'

He nodded and the two boys went back to packing the bag.

'Can I come?' she asked sweetly.

'I hardly think you want to go to the lake with two boys,' Cole said coolly. Sure that his sister would agree and go away.

'I don't mind, it would get me out of the house.'

Cole sighed and looked obviously annoyed but turned into a futile smile, 'OK then, but hurry up.'

She beamed and rushed off to get her things.

In a few moments Kathy appeared at the door, 'Ready?'

The boys got up and left the room followed by a very happy Kathy waiting for them in the dimly lit hall.

The journey to the lake was anything but fun. Well for Kathy it was. As they went through the woods to the lake which was in the centre Kathy wouldn't stop talking.

'Where's John today then?'

'Oh he's away for the weekend. His parents wanted to go somewhere together as Mr Fairfax is going away for six months.'

Kathy nodded, clearly not knowing what to say. James laughed a little.

He could not believe his situation; here he was going to the lake with Cole and Kathy McDermott. He had never uttered more than two words to Kathy before today and Cole had always made fun of him. He had had a conversation with Kathy and Cole was acting like he was James' best friend. However he knew that John's returning would put every thing back to the way it was before. Although there was one John-free day left. 'Best to enjoy it while it lasts,' James thought with a smirk.

The previous day's rain had taken its toll on the forest. The soil was damp and hard. Kathy made the occasional small scream every time she got stuck – which was a lot.

The trees were tall and thick; they took up a lot of room and stopped most of the sun getting through. Cole had barely said a word since they left the house. James could feel tension building, he missed John.

The two of them had been best friends for years, but that friendship had been slightly severed. For almost a year ago James had moved into Aclyn – the next village and made frequent trips into Prothe – the village where Cole and all lived.

James – being John's cousin – had to go visit him sometime and as far as he knew John liked his little cousin coming round for tea or a quick game of football on the Playstation.

There was a rustle and Kathy gave another cry. Cole raised his hand to signal for her to be quiet. His eyes were dark and there was a look of menace.

James looked around cautiously trying not to turn his feet. He sniffed the air – this was given a weird look by Kathy – trying to detect any smells that shouldn't be there.

Then there was a loud bang like something falling from the trees. Kathy let out another scream but no one tried to shush her. Cole looked back at James and gave him a look. He understood that he was to look after Kathy as he went into the trees to investigate, in reply James nodded.

James went over to Kathy and patted her on the back, but she wrapped her arms around him and started crying into his shoulder.

He was very uncomfortable but he still patted her on the back and tried to comfort her. 'A little dramatic,' he thought.

For a few moments the only sound in the forest was Kathy weeping.

The bushes started to move and out popped Cole pale as death, and he had the look of the utmost dread on his face.

There was a rim of red round his eyes, he must've been crying but was trying to act brave.

He beckoned James over to him.

'What I'm about to tell you, you cannot repeat, especially to Kathy. If you told her she'll go running out of the forest screaming bloody murder.'

James said nothing but was fearing the worst, he glanced over to Kathy who was starting to gather her senses.

'The noise we heard, something fell out of a tree.'

Cole put one hand on James' shoulder and pulled him closer.

'It was a body, cut up, but it wasn't cleanly done, it was like it was torn apart by teeth, by some sort of animal.'

James looked at Cole. He looked dreadful, but James after hearing it showed no expression on his face. He just mulled it over in his head. Finally after thinking for a clear two minutes James broke the silence, 'We have to get out of here!'

Cole nodded and walked over to his sister, 'Sorry sis, but swimming is cancelled.'

Kathy just nodded and they trudged back to Prothe.

Once they reached the McDermott home Kathy went inside and went to bed. Saying to her parents she didn't feel well.

James and Cole went to the park to talk about everything.

'Oh my God,' said James breathlessly.

Cole was swinging slightly on the swing as James marched backwards and forwards in front of him.

'What the hell could've done that?'

Cole did not say anything or give any sign he heard James.

James looked at Cole and felt sorry for him. It was he, Cole that found the dismembered carcass torn apart, and it was he who had to tell James what he'd seen.

'What do you think we should do?'

'Not tell anybody.'

James opened his mouth to argue but could find no words to illustrate what he was thinking in his head. The roundabout suddenly started moving and the trees rustled as if talking. But there was no wind. James looked around taking in his surroundings and shuddered, feeling the evening chill – even though there was no wind …

'It's getting late, I have to be back at Aclyn for nine and it's already eight fifteen.'

Cole got up and nodded to James, they didn't speak to each other and they went their separate ways. Cole walked off his head lowered, probably wondering what he was going to tell Kathy.

James then walked out of the park.

The trees continued to whisper and James thought he could hear a voice leading him back to the site they were at earlier.

Chapter 4

'Are you serious? I thought you said you went back moaning about why you ever went!'

Cole looked at his sister and gave her a grave smile.

John was completely taken aback and was confused slightly. He had listened intently to the story and understood everything. But still he could not grasp what he was being told. He ran his hand through his light blonde hair, and took a deep breathe. Kathy gave him a weak smile and he returned it, but it gave him no comfort.

'We didn't know what to do,' said Cole, his gaze not leaving John.

John gave him a disbelieving look. 'Didn't know what to do?'

Cole nodded slowly, his black hair falling over his dark eyes.

The three of them stood there, looking over at the forest. The trees were swaying even though there was no wind. John went over to the roundabout and sat down.

'You said he went back. Did he say anything?'

'No, we didn't even know he did go back until the next morning. When he accidentally let slip. But that was only because he was with us. He would never go near the subject of the forest if anyone else was present.'

John tried to make sense of everything was being told, the more he thought the more frightened he became. His cousin was out there somewhere – in the forest probably – unprotected and the possibility of a crazed killer being about, well he was only in danger if … he was still alive.

'The body … what was it?' John asked curiously but with a hint of fear almost as if he didn't want to know.

Cole didn't turn to face him, 'I don't know … but it was too large to be an animal that you would normally find in the forest. I didn't get a proper look at it. However I was sure I saw a human arm. It was in a clear plastic cover, a person definitely had to be involved. But then again, only a person could've done that … right?'

There was silence among them. The only sound was the whispers of the trees and the roundabout making a few rusty squeaks.

It was obvious that Kathy was going to start crying for she let out a small whimper and Cole went over to her and hugged her. She didn't hug him back but merely rested her chin on his chest.

John felt sorry for them, they had to retell this tale and in such detail which was bound to cause more questions and then cause more pain.

He thought best to leave it but John knew that there was no way this subject could be avoided forever. Someday they would have to tell everyone, and advisably soon before the matter got out of hand.

'What did he say when you found out he had gone back?' said John suddenly.

Cole wrinkled his forehead in concentration – which wasn't one of his strong points. John tapped his foot impatiently but he had to understand the hardship in this situation for his girlfriend and her brother.

'Yes, he said that he heard an enticing voice coming from the forest.'

John cocked his eyebrow and looked at Cole, who just merely shrugged,

'I think he must've been shocked by the whole series of events.'

Cole looked at him, 'Well I have to admit ever since we found it, weird things have happened round here.'

'What!' exclaimed John almost laughing, 'Right, we have to pull ourselves together. We're going into that forest today and searching for my cousin.'

'You're mad!' Kathy cried.

'Cole, Kathy come if you want but I'm not stopping or persuading you, but I'm going now and I don't care how long it takes to find him.'

Cole sighed, 'I see you're pretty adamant to find him –'

'I am!'

'OK, let's go … what about you Kathy?'

Kathy looked at her brother and then at her boyfriend, they both gave her unfathomable looks.

'Fine, I'll go.'

Everyone smiled but none were happy about the situation. Each of them was thinking about how they were going to kill James after they found him, but they didn't voice their ideas.

The forest was dark but not dark enough that they couldn't see.

Cole took the lead followed by Kathy and John brought up the rear. Much to his annoyance Kathy kept coming up with ridiculous ideas as to where James could be, such as; 'For all we know he could be sitting in his living room right now, or he could be back at your house John.'

However the uncertainty was obvious in her voice. A couple of times she stopped to turn round, hoping the others would do the same, but to her dismay they kept walking. She would start muttering under her breathe, however what she was saying wasn't sometimes inaudible. The forest was starting to get darker and sometimes they could see weird shapes or hear weird sounds in the distance. John had no idea were he was going but trusted Cole. They seemed to be going near the lake as John could hear the waterfall. The trees in this area were tall and thick and some of their branches blocked out most of the remaining sunlight.

Cole was still walking on, not speaking or looking at the others. His gaze was firmly on the path ahead. A strange smell was now filling their nostrils and none of them could identify it – but it was definitely the smell of something past it sell-by date.

The group seemed to be moving slower and it was obvious that they were getting tired. Kathy started moaning again but this time John didn't blame her.

Suddenly Cole stopped and turned on the spot. He glared at his companions – not with malice or hate but with a heart full of sorrow. Tears seemed to be slowing moving down his tanned cheeks. He did not bother to push his hair from his eyes. Gently he lowered his head and moved forward. He passed Kathy, brushing her elbow with his arm and stood in front of John.

'I … am … so sorry,' Cole sobbed. This was the first time in years John had seen Cole in full force tears. Kathy looked a little stunned.

John moved past the weeping Cole and the frightened Kathy.

He had a little inkling that what he was about to look at must be truly horrendous for a tough kid like Cole McDermott to burst into tears over.

And he was right. Lying before him was a grotesque corpse. There were hideous gashes all over, especially to the face. It seemed there was a part of his shoulder missing also a part of his lower leg. The blood round the body was dry and soaked into the soil. The clothes had been partly ripped off leaving visible gaping holes. But what shocked John more than anything, more than the hideous body lying before him, more than the fact that there was a crazed killer about was that there was a blue knife in his left hand. The light – however little – was reflecting off the blue blade. As John stooped down trying to ignore the smell of rotting flesh, he tried to inspect the blade more closely. And to his horror the blade bore the markings that he had prayed wouldn't be there. Slightly faint in the dim light scratched into the blade was the phrase, 'Family forever, friends forever.'

John let out a loud cry and despite all the blood etc. he threw his arms round the body and sobbed loudly. Kathy had started to cry and was sitting down leaning against a tree, Cole on his knees, his head buried in his hands. For about half an hour they were all crying, until there was a mysterious bang. John grabbed the blue knife and ran to the others. Kathy was in Cole's arms and then they looked at each other. They all ran but not in the direction of home.

Chapter 5

'Did you get rid of it?'

The voice was cold and high. There was a sense of power in it.

'Yes, I did,' this voice was softer but not as easy. It seemed weak but still tough.

'Good, we can't have unwanted suspicions arousing. In a few more days it will be all over soon. Our curse will be cured and we will …'

The rest of the sentence was droned out by machines above. He started laughing maliciously. The other man did not laugh.

'Were we going?' asked Kathy as they were speeding through the trees. Occasionally the odd branch would hit them. But this was the least of their problems. They were running from something unknown into a part of the forest, which to them was unknown.

'I don't know, hopefully somewhere far away from that body.'

Cole's voice was quiet but could still be heard over the continual rustle of the trees.

John was holding onto Kathy's hand tight, almost dislocating her arm. She did not mind so long as she was brought to safety.

They were brought to a sudden halt. Before them was a stone table, which seemed to be shrinking into the ground. There were weird symbols carved into the stone. As John moved forward to inspect the object before it disappeared, he noticed an engraved picture inside a circle. The picture was that of a wolf, and there were sentences written in some sort of strange language. But one word stood out among the rest "Lupus".

John racked his brains to find out where he had heard that word before, by the time he had remembered the table had completely disappeared and there in its place was a patch of green grass.

'Wolf!'

Kathy turned to face him, John looked almost … happy.

'Wolf, that's what was on the table also in the sentences there, was the word lupus.'

He looked around at the other two, who clearly didn't have a clue as to what he was on about.

'Lupus, but why is that important?' asked Cole who was obviously confused at the entire situation.

'Lupus is Latin for wolf; also there was a picture of a wolf on the stone table.'

Kathy looked at John who merely shrugged.

'Wolves in this part of the country?' Cole looked at his sister who looked at John.

'OK, let's go home. We can talk about this later.'

They walked home in silence, all thinking about the same thing.

But it took Cole's nerve to speak, 'What about James?'

Everyone turned to face Cole, who looked as though he regretted uttering that sentence.

'I know, I mean I can't exactly go home and say, "Oh yes mum, I found James' body completely disfigured and torn apart. Let's go tell his parents."'

Kathy looked at him angrily and then moved over to him.

Cole was staring at the ground; as he always did when he didn't know what to do.

John walked a little ahead and took a deep breathe.

'I'm going to have to lie through my teeth. I know it's a risk but it's one I have to take.'

'You sure this is the right thing to do?' asked Kathy quietly.

John nodded and turned his back on the siblings and started his walk home.

The other two stood there for a moment then went their way home. They all knew that life would never be the same again, but they would have to live with the new way.

'I thought you said you got rid of it!' screeched the voice from the shadows of the dark room.

'I did.'

'You did not! I went into the forest to inspect if you had done it right, obviously I was right to do so. Who knows who might've found it?'

The small man came out of the darkness and looked at his master.

The master also walked out of his shadowy corner but slowly, antagonising. He lifted his hand and struck the small man. He fell into the spot where the moonlight was shining through the grating. Anyone walking over head would have noticed a small man with pale almost grey skin, his hair matching his complexion. His fingernails were yellow and thick. They would've ripped someone's throat out no problem. The small man was trailed away from the spotlight by his master.

'Keso you cannot let yourself be so obvious. Anyone could've found it and then our secret would be out.'

The small man named Keso stood up and swayed trying to find his balance for a moment.

'But no one would've known what it was. They would think it was some stupid artefact from centuries ago.'

'And is that not what it is?'

The two men looked at each other for a few minutes and then they turned their backs to each other.

Keso growled loudly and the other man turned on him in an instant and held him down on the ground while Keso struggled to defend himself against the moonlight …

Chapter 6

The sun was setting and the people were gathering around the forest. Two men stood by a large stone table with the picture of a wolf carved on it. The men and women were wearing black robes with gold tassels. Their shoes – which were covered by the robes – were also black. There hoods were up so their faces were hidden.

They all sat in a circle around the table, closed their eyes and bowed their heads.

Suddenly a man got up and placed his hands upon the table. Another man who was sitting opposite him on the other side of the table did so too. They started muttering in a strange language – which by no doubt the people in the circle could understand – and raised their hands as if praying. They opened their eyes with a jolt at the same time. Their eyes were no longer white and what other colour there pupil was. They were just red, red like blood. Each of them seemed to be crying. But these tears were the same colour as their eyes. The blood tears streamed down their faces and onto their robes. Then without warning they all got up and started moving around the table in a circle. The men's voices started to get faster and the people moved in time to the voices.

They stopped and one of the men raised a knife and cut his arm, the blood dripped onto the picture of the wolf, incredibly the blood seemed to double itself and it filled the entire engraving, highlighting the stone carving. The man who had just cut himself raised his head up to the full moon and raised his arms. Magically the moon light seemed to separate and it beamed down on the man. He then fell and crouched down on the ground, snarling like a wild animal. The other man did the exact same. So now that the two men were both huddled up on the ground snarling like animals. The surrounding people seemed not to be bothered by this. The merely joined hands and lowered their heads.

'Great Mother of us all, for you let them reign, so your power may be enforced. We ask this of you Great Mother of us all.' They chanted in mysterious voices.

The sky opened suddenly and there was great thunder and lightning. The rain fell down heavily washing all the blood away. The people opened their eyes and they were back to normal. They just merely walked off except for one who lingered like a bad odour over the two pathetic looking men.

'You are the two who have been chosen by the Great Mother. Some may say it is a blessing, I however will always see it as a curse. You will remain like this until the next cursed ones are born. I do not know how long this will take … it might be never. However once they are taken up like you have been tonight then you will die. However if you kill them before the night of the next counsel you will be cured of the curse and you will live. However your safety will not be guaranteed, for if you do kill them you will kill our ways. The Great Mother can only live through the two cursed ones. So I am sure that some will want to kill you for revenge …'

The two men were now standing and looking around. Their eyes wide like mad people. They looked at the man standing before them and sniffed him. He simply turned on the spot and casually walked away.

As he disappeared through the trees, huge patches of thick hair were growing all over the men's bodies. Their teeth started growing to abnormal size, they seemed to get too big for their mouth and on that note, their mouths started to widen. They were transforming into what seemed … giant wolves …

Chapter 7

'Hey John,' called Mrs Fairfax from the kitchen as John passed through the front door sluggishly.

'What's wrong hun?'

'Nothing mum, I'm just a bit tired is all. I think I might go lye down'

'Sure, here I'll bring you up some sandwiches and a drink, how does that sound?'

'Great thanks.'

They smiled at each other and as John started to climb the stairs he felt this stab of guilt in his stomach. Not only was James his cousin he was also Mrs Fairfax's nephew. John could just imagine the conversation now.

"Hey mum …" he said slowly.

"Yes dear?" his mum carried on with cleaning the dishes.

"Um … it's about James." He was being very careful with his words, trying not to sound too eager so that his mum would worry.

"Finally, Amanda has been up the wall with worry. So where is he?"

John looked away from his mother trying to avert her gaze.

"John, if there's something you think I should ought to know, you know you must tell me."

John started fighting back tears, "He's in the forest! He's been murdered! His body has been torn apart!"

Mrs Fairfax dropped the plate and it smashed into a million pieces. There was a stunned silence in the kitchen, and then his mother tried to speak, "Murdered?"

As she said this there was a mixture of confusion and anger in her voice.

"Yes!"

John burst into full on tears and his mother caught him as he fell down to the ground.

But John continued walking up the stairs and entered his room. He did not bother to change but simply got into bed with his clothes on, he even had his trainers on.

Mrs Fairfax was humming sweetly as she came up the stairs. She entered John's room and placed his sandwiches and drink down on his table. Mrs Fairfax sat down on the bottom of his bed and looked at her son. He smiled back but could not look into her eyes.

'What's the matter hun? You don't seem up to much the day.'

He shrugged, secretly hoping she'd go away.

'I'll run you a bath, but eat your sandwiches, you haven't eaten since breakfast.'

She laughed and ruffled his hair. He shook her off but gently.

His mum closed the door behind her and went into the bathroom. John looked at his sandwiches and his stomach gave a happy leap.

Food!

He dived into his sandwiches. Downed it with a few gulps of coke and he was comfortable. But as he was taking off his shoes he saw the dirt on the bottom of them. This reminded him of the forest and his thoughts wandered to the McDermott's. Kathy and Cole were probably sitting in a dark room in silence. Not daring to talk to anyone. He should be with Kathy, John thought.

John jumped into his bath and sat, relaxed.

The warm water was greatly appreciated after the long day. James had not gone out of his mind for one moment since returning to his house. But he had not given a great deal of thought as to how he was going to tell his family that James was murdered and lying in the forest with his body torn apart.

It seemed like John had been in the bath for ages because his mum was calling him while knocking on the door. Also the water had got freezing; his toes had actually gone blue!

'Coming mum just a sec,' John called through chattering teeth. He wrapped the towel around him and stumbled into his bedroom, forgetting about pulling out the plug.

'John you nearly ready,' called his mum.

'Nearly, what's the big rush anyways?'

'Amanda's here and wants to speak to you.'

John stopped and froze on the spot. He didn't blink but sat down on his bed. His aunty was sitting down stairs probably wanting to know where her son was. John however could not tell her the truth, obviously it would spark too much unwanted attention, also he would get the blame. John slowly got dressed while thinking of a good story to tell his aunt.

His aunt was sitting on the single red hair chair by the fire in her usual smart work clothes. Her blonde hair was down loose around her shoulders. This was when, John realized that blonde hair must run in the family as, he, his mother and his aunt were blonde. Only James was dark as was his father.

When John stepped into the room she nodded. Amanda wasn't one for talking, well except when she had a drink in her.

'Where is my son?' she asked bitterly.

James returning the enthusiasm said, 'I don't know where you're precious son is.'

He knew he was going a bit overboard but he didn't care. At the moment nothing cared. The image of his murdered cousin lying in that forest made him angry. He just wanted to run and get the body, maybe bury it and then go home. But he knew that he could never hide the truth.

'He stayed with you last night, so I assumed you might know where he was.'

Mrs Fairfax and Amanda were sisters, this however, didn't mean they got on well together.

'Stacey,' turning her attention on James' mother, 'would you know where my son is,' she sounded rather cheeky but was doing her best to cover the tone up in her voice.

John continued to stand by the door, his mum was sitting down beside them and they were both looking at Amanda.

Amanda gave her sister a deadly look which Stacey returned.

The girls looked at each other without blinking. John felt the tension build and his mum just sweetly smiled, by that he knew Mrs Fairfax was ready to hit someone or cause even greater damage. Amanda obviously knowing what that gesture meant got up and walked out of the door without saying a word or even look at her sister and nephew.

'Where is he?' Mrs Fairfax asked sternly as the front door slammed.

'I honestly don't know,' replied John, but he knew his mum did not believe him. Amanda could be seen through the window getting into her car. She did not look happy one bit.

'John, I know when you're lying to me.' Her voice was not angry was set and eager to know the truth.

'In the forest,' he took a deep breathe, what the hell could he say now?

'What is he doing in the forest?'

John began to breathe heavy, beads of sweat were dripping down his forehead. He mum looked anxious.

'Treasure hunt,' he blurted out. Mrs Fairfax gave a small chuckle.

'A treasure hunt in the forest, why that's just madness.'

'Well we wanted a challenge this time,' he sat down beside her and picked up one of the mugs sitting on the wooden tray, he sipped slowly, 'So we decided to go into the forest. It was getting late and so we decided to go home. But we think he got lost, we went looking for him but there were strange sounds. Like men shouting. We heard a few walking in our direction. We just got scared and ran away.'

John burst into tears.

'Aww, shush, don't worry I'm sure he will turn up.'

John's tears became more powerful, because his mum and probably everyone else at some stage would think he had just ran away.

'Listen, you go up to bed. I'll ring Amanda and tell her.'

'No! You can't, she'll blame it on me!'

'I have to darling otherwise she'll make a bigger fuss than she is making now.'

John nodded and hurried upstairs. Mrs Fairfax could be heard taking the tray into the kitchen then moving back into the hallway.

'Hi Amanda, listen I just want to apologise for earlier.'

John was listening eagerly but could not hear what Amanda was saying.

Mrs Fairfax turned round and took the phone into the living room. John trudged up the stairs and into his room. Slowly he drained his glass of the coke and lay down on his bed. Sleep quickly came over him and before he realised, he was dreaming.

"Hey hurry up!"

John turned round to face the person who had shouted at him. It was James! However it wasn't James. The voice and the looks were the same but it was obvious that it wasn't James. The two boys stood facing each other.

John noted his baggy jeans and his blue hoodey. His white trainers were identical to those of James'. There was silence between them until the fake-James started to walk towards a group of trees. Until he stared walking John had not realised where he was. He was standing in by the lake. The water was moving gently in the soft breeze. The trees were still, only a few leaves moved. Fake-James walked a little faster than the real one and John was having a hard time keeping up. He wanted to say something but yet he could find no power to open his mouth. In fact he realised he was being moved rather than moving himself. But still he moved a little slower than fake-James. The moon was high in the sky also it was at its fullest. The moonlight lit their way down the dark path. The trees seemed to move closer in as they walked. The area seemed to be getting darker. All of a sudden the trees came crashing down, but not in a way that they fell on the ground. They seemed to be falling off the scene as if falling over the horizon. John gasped and tried to run for it. But the invisible force on his body was still there and it prevented him. Scared he stood there, motionless as the boy before him. The fake-James started to smile. But a sly side smile. His eyes were full of malice and they bore into John making his soul shudder to the very core. Fake-James moved forward, slowly, his face beamed. John was helpless, nothing happened for a while. There was a loud crash and a great flash of light. The moon seemed to have exploded for there was total darkness. John could see nothing except his hand frozen in front of him. He could hear nothing but his own slow breathing.

Silence.

John closed his eyes. There was the sound of wind rustling and then a high laughter, it sounded like James', only much more colder.

Chapter 8

John awoke with a sweat. He was panting hard, and was looking desperately in all directions. It was dark, barely any light.

He got up and moved towards his window. It was closed and John could not open it. It was not that he wanted to; it was that he had no will to do it. Finally after a few moments John opened the window and a breeze of fresh air swept through the room. The warm air in his room was now cool and John got back into his bed. He lay there for a few moments contemplating on his dream. He merely laughed. Suddenly the whole room was wrapped up in darkness and John was fast asleep again.

He wasn't asleep long when he was woken up by the sound of a dog howling.

Angrily John got up out of his bed again and went over to his window and slammed it shut. The dog was barely audible through the glass so John managed to get some more sleep.

5.47 am the clock read. John swore loudly. The tapping on his window grew even more annoying. He got up and sort of half – ran to the window. He threw back the curtains and glared down into his garden.

Standing there in what looked like their pyjamas was Kathy and Cole McDermott. John did not return their weak smiles. He narrowed his eyes and spoke with a sharp tone, 'What the hell do you think you are doing?'

The siblings, confused looked at each other then back at the clearly annoyed John, 'We need to talk.'

Kathy's voice was firm but soft.

John groaned, got his trainers and then started to climb out of his window. It was an easy climb. When John and Cole had first become friends they had made a few midnight trips down to the quarry. So John designed a way he could easily make it down in one piece. When his mum had decided she wanted a conservatory he coaxed her into building it under his window – without stating his intended intentions.

As John made his way down the conservatory, his mum could be heard walking into the upstairs hall. She switched on the bathroom light. For a few moments there was silence. The three friends stood in the back garden not even daring to breathe. The sound of the toilet flushed then the light went out and all was quiet again.

'She must be back in bed,' said John in a whisper.

'Come on.'

'Where are we going?' Asked John as Cole ran out of his garden.

Cole did not look back or say anything, he just kept running. Fortunately Cole was not the fastest runner so Kathy and he did not have a problem keeping up.

They entered the park. John thought for a moment, 'We spend most of our time here – we are so sad!'

John laughed out loud but none enquired as to why.

The park was dark but not uninhabited. A drunk was sleeping on a seat with a rather large newspaper to cover his feet. A bottle of vodka was wrapped securely in his brown leather jacket. His arms were folded across his chest and you could just about make out his fingerless gloves. He was snoring lightly but they paid no notice to him. Also a woman was walking her dog and doing so near the park obviously watching the drunk in case he did something with the children nearby.

'OK can you now tell me please why on earth you dragged me from my bed this early in the morning?'

'We couldn't sleep and we didn't feel safe.'

'So you decided to go to the park in the all hours of the morning where anybody could come and pick us up!'

'No we needed to talk.'

Kathy sat there with her arms folded looking in the direction of the forest.

'Well what about?' John wanted this to be over quick so he could go home.

'We did a little research.'

John could barely stop himself from laughing; Cole doing research was one of the funniest things he'd ever heard – and probably will ever here. If he needed to research Cole always took the easy route; getting some other poor kid to do it for him.

'Go on.'

'Well this place, it used to be very important.'

John was interested now so he leaned in closer and so did Kathy.

'What you said bout that thing to do with wolves, well it fits in perfectly with what we found. This place was an old site for a wolf cult.'

Cole stopped for a few moments to let John take in everything being said.

'Yeah well this used to be one big town, called Aclynprothe. It was founded by some foreign guy hundreds of years ago. But legend has it that he came from Romania and was leader of this wolf cult. Well when they were chased out of Romania he had to go somewhere that no one would know bout him. So he went to Britain and he and his followers started up their cult here.'

John was flabbergasted. He was being told about cults and everything as if it was the daily business.

'The thing is, according to their beliefs the wolf is the creator or something. But two men are born every so often that carry her trait or something. Every so often are born two men that will become what is required for her faith to live on.'

'And they become what?'

'Werewolves.'

Silence gripped them all. Even the drunk stopped snoring and the woman had disappeared. The moon loomed high over them, it was not full and this they were all secretly thankful for.

John did not speak but werewolves were running through his mind.

This was all absurd! Werewolves were the stuff of legend and that's all they were, legend.

Cole must have his facts mixed up … werewolves here! He got up and walked over to the drunk. Examined his face a little and then walked away back to the others. Without turning his back away from the drunk he spoke softly to the others, 'That guy isn't asleep. Don't make any noise or even look at him. He also has a knife in his hand; it's covered by his arm.'

Without speaking or looking at the drunk they got up and slowly made their way to the gate. They seen a clearing near the road and John decided that were they were running too.

John coughed and they all ran, John taking the lead. All of a sudden the drunk jumped up and chased after the children his knife raised high. They ran faster, they became breathless but they still pressed on. The clearing was near and they could hear the normal early morning traffic. The drunk was still in chase and seemed determined not to let them get away. He seemed to be getting faster. Kathy fell and Cole tried to lift her up. She wouldn't budge, so John turned on the spot and practically dragged her holding onto her right arm, Cole onto her left.

The ground was muddy and Kathy started to scream. The boys let her go and she stood. Wiping down the dirt a little, then realising the situation, ran like the clappers.

The drunk was hot on their tail, but this did not deter their spirits. John could almost taste the petrol in the air.

Only a few metres away from the road, something could be heard running through the forest towards them. The sound was getting louder and a shadow could be barely made out. John kept an eye on it as he ran.

It seemed to be getting larger and his heart started to race so much that he could hear his heart beat in his ears blocking out most sound.

All of a sudden something quite large was shooting through the trees. It actually knocked through several tree trunks! The large, hairy beast shot out and knocked the three children over. The felt its weight on them and smelt its putrid breath. It was large and hairy and it snarled viscously. They all attempted to muffle their cries but were not successful. John let out a loud moan and reached for his ankle and Kathy screamed out of fear. Cole however lay there on the damp grass with the beast on top of him, staring into space. He had no expression on his face and he lay perfectly still. He closed his eyes and his chest was barely rising.

The drunk was still running after them but not with the same enthusiasm and his knife was not in the air. He seemed to show no fear of the creature. The drunk stood a few metres from the scene; he clearly was not a drunk now, as he stood very still not taking his eyes off the creature.

There was a moment's silence, the creatures heavy breathing was the only sound. And the dark sky suddenly lit up as the clouds moved to reveal a large, bright circle in the sky.

John moved slightly trying to move further from the creature but his ankle prevented him.

As the moon shone bright the forest began to light up. Kathy gave a small scream but the others could barely hear it over the sounds of the growing thunder.

The clouds began to gather again and they turned black, with the usual flash. There was a crack of thunder and the rain began to pour down heavily.

The beast did not move but merely lay there.

Cole still had no expression on his face and lay there with eyes closed. The colour had gone from his face and he looked like a living corpse.

The man who had been named the drunk turned to face the forest, sighed and went to the creature. He slipped a rope around its body and dragged it off into the forest. He didn't look or speak to the children.

They lay there. Kathy's hair was now caked in mud and John was caressing his ankle, it had now swollen greatly. Cole continued to lie on the ground with an unfathomable look upon his face still.

With the current situation no one gave each other a second thought and their main worries were getting home safely.

Chapter 9

Keso sat on the stone table and caressed it with his pale fingers. He crossed his legs and tapped the stone with his hand impatiently.

'There you are!' he cried as a man with a fuzzy beard, fingerless gloves and a brown leather jacket came walking through the trees. He seemed to be pulling something large.

'This thing weighs a ton; remind me never to do this again!'

The two men laughed and shook hands, 'Thank you old friend, I knew you wouldn't let us down.'

'Well, your … uh … friend here attacked three kids.'

Keso frowned and started pacing the ground.

'What shall I do with him?' the man said pointing to the hairy creature, who's head was just visible in the bushes.

'Just leave him there.'

There was silence and Keso eventually stopped and clapped his hands. There was a smile of such delight on his face.

'Well, we play with them of course. I mean we can't let them wander about after what they've seen.'

The man nodded with a grin, 'You've more brains than Meñer gives you credit for.'

Keso face turned sour and he walked up to the man, their faces were level. The man's face was a bright red from the previous events, but Keso's was white like death.

'I am more than the man Meñer ever was and more than the man he portrays me as!'

There was obvious bitter in his voice, but this was ignored. Keso had a large grin upon his face and he was looking at the creature. A moment later he was looking up at the sky, the moon had disappeared for the night. There was a low growl and the hairy vicious creature that was there a moment ago was replaced by a tall pale man. He stood there naked but this did not seem to bother him. The darkened sky was restless for a few moments then a star went shooting across the sky. It slowed down for a moment then it exploded, looking like a firework in the sky.

'One left, that is all.'

Chapter 10

John stood at the foot of his conservatory and looked at the glass. The little raindrops were slowly falling down. Inside was a large seat and his sister was lying with a blanket half round her. A large book lay opened in her hand and a torch was lying on the floor. Emily made frequent midnight trips down to the conservatory to read. It was her little sanctuary.

John smiled and opened the door quietly. He closed it behind him and made his way towards the other door. He stopped when he came to his sister; John put her whole body on the seat and put the blanket round her. He lifted up the book and the torch. Turning the torch off, he set them both down of the nearby chair. Kissing Emily on her forehead he walked out with silence.

The house was dark and quiet. Trying not to make a sound he went up the stairs, avoiding the squeaking parts.

As reached the hallway he noticed his mums door was slightly ajar, John looked in to se if she was OK. She was sleeping silently, so John closed the door carefully behind him.

He went into his bedroom and sat on the bed. John didn't bother to close his door or turn on his lamp, he just sat there in darkness.

There was a sudden sound from down stairs. It sounded like glass breaking.

John jumped up and ran out of his room. His heart racing he ran into his mums room and shouted, 'Mum get up!'

John then ran down the stairs, two at a time. He raced for the conservatory to try and get Emily.

His worst fear was right before him. The glass of the conservatory had been smashed and there was a little blood.

Emily was gone.

The book had been torn to bits and the blanket had marks on it. Almost as if a giant claw had ripped it.

John got down no his knees and observed the room. It was a lovely quiet place; John had never really appreciated it. But now as he knelt on the soft carpet, he began to realise why they liked it.

But something caught John's eye. On the glass was a clump of hair, it was quite tanned and very thick.

John went over to it and held it in his hands, it was wet, possibly from the rain. Sighing he went over to the seat and examined it. All kinds of theories went through his head, but when he smelt it that's when he got really scared.

The hair smelt dirty, earthy and John's mind went back to the forest. It smelt like the forest and John decided he would have to go there.

As he got up and was about to leave, his mum came through the door in hysterics.

'What's happened?' she demanded, her voice was high and she was obviously panicking.

'We've been burgled.' John's voice was calm and relaxed. But this seemed to do nothing for his mum.

'Where is your sister? Call the police!'

John couldn't explain his sister's whereabouts but he could try and stop the police getting involved.

'It's all right mum. When the glass broke Emily must've got scared and ran off. I'm sure she's fine. Nothing's been taken so don't ring the police, at least not until I get back.'

She looked at him while she sat down, 'Back? Why where are you going?'

'To try and find her. I think I know where she might be.'

'OK but I don't like the idea of you walking about at all hours. But I'm sure it won't be a problem. I'll think I'll get a whiskey.'

John nodded and hugged his mum. He still had the hair in his hand and he clenched it tight. John gazed out at the night sky then he ran out of the conservatory and towards the McDermott's house.

'Cole.' John shouted up.

Cole opened his window almost immediately and once he saw who called him he started climbing out of his window, shortly followed by his sister.

Once they were all on the ground, Kathy went straight to John and gave him a hug.

They stood there like that for a few moments and then they started moving. They all knew where they were going.

Chapter 11

In a stone room deep under ground, Emily Fairfax was tied and gagged. She was leaning against a very uncomfortable wall. Suddenly she awoke and after a brief moment to take in her surroundings, started screaming. Even though it was barely audible through the gag she was still silenced.

Keso stood over her like a tower. He looked down at her with dead eyes. Emily raised her head and saw whom she was a prisoner of.

Keso smiled at her and you could see his yellow almost black teeth, 'Do not worry little girl.' His voice was calm but cold. It sent shivers down Emily's spine.

'Leave the girl alone!' cried a voice in the corner. It was more cold and high pitched than Keso's.

Emily had not noticed him, but he came out of the shadows like a bad dream.

'Do not even speak to her!'

'I shall if I want. She is not yours to control,' Keso's voice was getting bitter now and he was getting a little hot tempered.

'How dare you speak to me like that,' the man struck Keso with inhuman strength and sent him across the room. Hitting of the stone wall he cursed loudly.

The other man opened a large wooden door and walked out, slamming it behind him.

'It's all right,' he said noticing that Emily was starting to breathe heavily.

'Do not worry, you will not be touched. You are too valuable in the plan.'

Keso did not even look at her when he said this. But once he finished he walked out the door, leaving Emily to sit in the cold room, with only a small opening to let in light, barely enough to light a section of the room. She started to cry but no one could hear her, or they could and just couldn't care.

The three friends were walking fast through the village, the sunlight just visible over the horizon. They were walking up the hill between the two villages when they noticed something strange.

Up in the sky it seemed like a firework had gone off but yet it was frozen. Lingering over the earth it seemed quite beautiful.

They stopped for a moment to take the sight in. John looked slightly worried about it.

'What's wrong?' Kathy asked.

'Nothing, just it's a bit strange isn't it?'

'I don't understand.'

'It doesn't matter.'

Cole and Kathy exchanged glances then continued as their friend walked on.

The strange sight was still above them and they couldn't keep their eyes off it, except John. He seemed like he was in his own little world and didn't want disturbed. So he wasn't, the two siblings hardly talked to their friend.

A part of the forest started to become visible over the hill top and they wondered why they were entering the forest far from where they had assumed they were going.

'Why are we going in here?' asked Cole carefully, trying not to sound pressing.

'Because they will most likely monitor that end, they won't suspect that we'd go the long and pointless way.'

They continued to follow him but slowly. Kathy stopped and looked straight ahead.

'What's wrong?'

Cole looked at his sister fearfully. Kathy started to move violently and fell on the ground.

John jumped to her and put his jacket under her head.

'What the hell is going on?' Cole shouted but John couldn't answer him, his present priority was to save Kathy.

John searched her for any mark. He rolled up her sleeve and found a scratch.

'Oh my God,' John whispered. He stared at the scratch as if it was made of gold.

'What!' Cole was really worried.

'Kathy, I think she was scratched or something by that creature that attacked us in the park.'

Kathy was still shaking violently.

'Then it wasn't werewolves?'

'Oh I think it was, just not the kind of our fairy tales.'

'What you mean?'

'Well when you talk about werewolves, you always assume the stuff of legends. But my theory is,' he stopped to check on Kathy, 'that, that star thing up there has something to do with it.'

Kathy was starting to calm down but she had started to froth at the mouth.

'I think these werewolves aren't affected by lunar activity. But their nature is based around whatever that thing is.' He said pointing to the thing in the sky.

It had now turned a shade of purple and it looked like a swirl, almost like a picture of the Milky Way.

Kathy was now calm and silent. She lay there with her eyes closed breathing gently.

'That would explain why none of these things have happened around full moons, well except the odd one or two.'

The two boys looked at Kathy then at each other.

The sky was getting lighter now and the swirl in the sky began to fade.

Once it was completely gone, Kathy awoke with a start and was breathing heavily.

'What happened?' her voice was raspy and she clung onto the Cole's sleeve almost for dear life.

'Nothing it's OK,' Cole closed his eyes and hugged his sister. John was happy with his decision, not to tell Kathy the whole truth. They told her that she just had a fit or something and that they would take her to the doctor.

'Let's get moving.'

They walked with John and Cole holding onto Kathy making sure that she would not go into relapse, they however knew she wouldn't.

They got near the forest and by that time Kathy was ready to walk by herself.

John let go of her and Kathy gave him a hug, she whispered into his ear, 'I know what happened.'

John held her tighter and sighed, 'I'm sorry.'

She did not reply but merely kissed him on the cheek. Cole was leaning against a tree looking at them. He was crying, his eyes had gone puffy and they were all red.

'We have to go on, my sister life's in danger and so could ours,' John voice was low but they could hear him no problem.

They started walking with John in the lead and Cole bringing up the rear. No one spoke but their minds were buzzing with loads of things to say. Kathy stared at the ground most of the time with her hand over the scratch.

John stopped and the two behind him started panicking, but he just turned round with the look of utmost confusion. He walked backwards and then jumped on the spot. There was the sound of iron bending.

Quickly John and Cole moved all the grass and leaves. They revealed a sheet of rusty iron. Without any time to spare they lifted the iron and underneath there was a crater like hole in the ground, it was pitch black.

They all stared at it in amazement and John picked up a stone.

'What are you doing?' asked Cole.

'Seeing how deep this thing is.'

Nervously he put his hand over the whole, looking as if he expected some sort of alien to jump up and bite his hand off.

Letting go of the stone he lent in, but the stone hit the bottom almost instantly. John, confused, got a stick and poked the hole.

It was in fact about 30 cm deep. So John decided to go down.

Jumping into the hole without a word, Kathy let out a small scream thinking that her boyfriend would fall to the other side of the world.

He cursed and his hand shot to his ankle. It had not completely healed from the attack, but it wasn't serious.

'You OK,' asked Cole, he was looking anxiously down at John.

Laughing, John straightened up and got out a torch.

'It's not even that deep!'

They all let out a smile but quickly got serious again. John got down on his knees and looked about with the torch.

'Well what do you know?'

The others were immediately interested and tried to get a look at what John was talking about.

'It's a tunnel; it gets wider as you go down.'

'Do you think we'd fit down it?' asked Kathy nervously, her voice was shaking but she tried to cover that up.

'Yeah I assume so.'

John started to go down the tunnel head first. Muttering and grunting he finally started to get comfortable. Convinced that it was safe he called back to the others, 'Right, you can start coming down now. Cole you come down next then Kathy then that way if there's any trouble Kathy can get out.'

No one argued but Cole was secretly annoyed with John. He always favoured her over him, however this he would have to deal with and go on with a closed mouth.

'After you,' she said solemnly to Cole.

Her brother gave her a weak smile and started his way down the earthy tunnel.

There were grunts and groans for a while but then they were all silent. The tunnel was far bigger than they imagined it could be, but they still went on.

Finally John began to see light from the end of the tunnel and he said his prayers of thanks. He got out of the tunnel and fell onto a stone floor in a darkened room; it was quite cold as was the room. There was no light anywhere and John was breathing very heavily. Also the room was unnaturally silent. Normally you get these little unexplainable sounds that happen, but there was none in this room.

John moved a little away from the tunnel exist with his arms outstretched, even though he couldn't see them.

His hands came into contact with something hard and stony. Running his hands along it John knew it was a stone wall. Standing very still he called, 'You guys! It's safe!'

Almost immediately the McDermott children came fumbling out of the hole and fell onto the hard floor. Cole cursed loudly and Kathy gave out a little whimper.

'You could've warned us about the floor Einstein,' said Cole.

Nobody laughed for they did not want to make unnecessary noises. John got out the torch and shone it in the direction of his friends.

Cole was lying on his back and Kathy was trying to get up, but this proved difficult as Cole appeared was lying on her legs and he seemed to have no intention of moving.

No one moved or spoke for a while; they all just stayed motionless in the silence. Carefully John moved towards them with his torch beaming on the ground. He was staring at a tapestry while the siblings were arguing. John raised the torch a little higher; he gasped and dropped it. It rolled along the stone floor until it made a small thud; it appeared to have hit off something wooden in the darkest area of the room. Had the torch not knocked itself out and was still beaming light then John would feel a little bit intimidated by retrieving it. But he kept his eye on the tapestry before him, it was just visible in the dark but as his eyes adjusted it began to become far clearer.

It was a man sized drawing and it depicted the upper torso as a vicious looking wolf and the lower body a humans. It was night in the picture and the moon was full, in the background was a thick forest and it as thickly green. A stone table was visible above the shrubbery in the picture. This made John's heart race and he backed off, but something caught his eye. At the bottom of the tapestry in golden letters was the phrase Vir diu ut Lupus noctu

'Man by day wolf by night,' whispered John, his voice barely rising over the noises Cole and Kathy were making.

'What's wrong now?' asked Cole.

'Nothing, just this keeps getting weirder by the minute.

Cole agreed with him and finally they were all up on their feet. They began to walk over to where the torch was lying, being unable to see the torch made things, unsurprisingly, incredibly difficult.

Kathy was prone to "smelling strange things", she would be somewhere and suddenly say, "I say, doesn't that smell odd?"

This case however, wasn't any different. The moment they neared the darkened corner the first thing she said was, 'I smell something funny.'

'You always smell something funny,' moaned Cole.

'What you smell?' asked John, he wouldn't believe her but he wanted to make an effort, anything to stop them arguing.

'Old wood; like wood that is decaying but not quite there yet.'

They all looked at her in disbelief but no one questioned her. Currently they had gone down a tunnel and were in some sort of ancient stone room, and now Kathy was saying how she smelt decaying wood. But then again recent events haven't exactly been normal, so they weren't surprised when Kathy said this.

'Listen sis, there isn't a wooden door. If there was then I'm sure we would've seen it,' Cole said patting his sister on his back. If he had stayed were he was then he would've noticed the torch only a few centimetres. But determined to show his sister that he was right – for once – he decided to go up to the wall. Only Cole didn't bargain on falling over the torch.

'Ahh!' he shouted as he fell over the torch. There was a loud bang and then suddenly out of no were light burst through and lit up the whole room. Cole was lying in a corridor cursing silently while he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

'Told you,' said Kathy has she stepped over him, finding it impossible to hide her smirk.

John was also smiling but he quickly got rid of it as Cole shot him a menacing look.

'OK so I was wrong, there is a door,' his voice trailed off as shouts could be heard down the corridor.

As fast as they could, they ran back into the room slamming the wooden door behind them, so that they were in complete darkness again.

'How nice of you to join us on such a lovely night,' came a high pitched voice out of the darkness, it was cold and high pitched, making the hairs on their necks to stand on end. John stepped forward while the rest stood back. Kathy slowly bent down and picked up the torch, slamming the batteries into place, placed it into John's hand. John immediately shone it in the direction of the voice. Standing there barely visible was a tall man. He was dressed in a grey silky robe, his complexion was very pale. His eyes were a very pale blue and his nails were thick and yellow.

'Who … are … you?' John stammered. He was trying to be brave but even the sight of this person scared the living daylights out of him.

'Oh how rude of me! I cannot believe I didn't introduce myself,' he laughed. It was cold and evil. John was surprised beyond belief, this man was acting almost as if they had walked in on his dinner party.

'My name is Meñer, and this is my home.' He smiled at them, showing yellow grimy teeth.

Kathy screamed and they ran for the door. Yanking it open they ran out of the room and closed the door behind them. Meñer was still in there laughing maliciously, while Cole, Kathy and John ran down the corridor screaming.

They came into another dark room and they slammed the door behind them. John quickly scanned the room with his torch, trying to find anymore unsuspected people.

None, the room was clear. After they barricaded the door with a few barrels full of stuff which in unidentifiable they sat down on the stone floor.

'What the hell!' cried Cole, he got up and started to pace the room.

'Sit down.' Kathy's voice was soft but shaky it was obvious that she was still a bit scared. John was twiddling his thumbs with his legs crossed. He looked like a baby, content with himself and without a care in the world. Suddenly there was a banging on the door. They all jumped but did not make a noise.

'Damn you! Open this door!' it did not sound like the man they had run into in the last room. This person's voice was cold but not as high. There was no malice in his voice but it was certainly tough.

'Emily … please open the door.'

At the name Emily John's whole world fell apart. He started to breathe heavily and Kathy went over to hug him.

'Please, I won't ask again,' the voice was starting to get viscous, 'I'll be back, and I'm sorry but I will have to punish you.'

The voice trailed off and the sounds of footsteps were echoing off the stone walls.

'That was Keso.'

They all jumped and turned round instantly to see who had spoke. Standing in dirty pyjamas, bare feet and red puffy eyes was Emily. Her blonde hair was a mess and she stood with her hands behind her back. John noted her wrists which were red, this indicated that they had been tied.

'Emily.' He sighed as he broke into a jog towards his sister.

He hugged her firmly and in return she swung her arms around him and held tightly. You could hear her small cries and John patted her hair and whispered into her ear, 'Shush now, it's going to be OK. I promise.'

They all remained where they were or a moment then Emily started to mutter something, 'As I sit in the tree, I wait for the sun.'

'O I can't wait to see my golden hun,' chimed in John, 'the birds are singing.'

'O what wonders the new day is bringing,' finished Emily softly.

John let go of his sister and returned to the other two. They were all smiling at each other, but the smiles were short lived as there was a crashing sound against the door. Quickly John scooped Emily up in his arms. Incredible he thought, after all these years he could still lift his sister.

Cole had grabbed onto Kathy's hand and they ran into a dark corner of the room.

The door came crashing open and the barrels smashed revealing a green type liquid. A man of average build stumbled into the room and looked frantically around. Cole picked up a piece of wood that came from one of the smashed barrels and hit the man around the head with it. Emily let out a little cry and buried her head in John's neck. The man fell onto the floor and shouted.

The group took the opportunity to run. But getting near the door was easier said than done. The man had sprawled himself out so that you had to jump over him to get to the door.

Breathing heavily John picked up the piece of wood; there was a glint of red at the top. Blood, John ignored and then hit the man again with the wood. He went limp and lay there. Blood started to flow across the floor and fill up the crevices.

They stepped over the body and ran into the corridor, and started searching for a way out of this hell hole.

But had they taken a moment to check on the body lying in a heap in the room behind them. They would have at least gone back and locked the door, because as they were walking down the corridor, the man was groggily getting up. He stood for a moment looking at the children in front of him, and then slowly he began to follow them …

Meñer was sitting at a very old and weak looking table. He was fiddling with an ornate glass filled with a red liquid. Quietly he swirled it, collecting his thoughts. In a few hours he would be able to live his life again.

It seemed like a lifetime away but yet it was so close. For centuries he had worn this grey robe that smelled of the sewers, the rats nibbling at the hems and live living between the threads. But soon all this would be at an end.

If his plan worked the one he needed would be heading towards him now.

Ah, he could smell his sweet blood now. Undoubtedly, they would have injured Keso in an attempt to escape. Keso may be weak, but he certainly was no fool.

Meñer took a swig and savoured the taste. He thought for a moment then spoke gently to himself, 'I treat than man with no respect. He could easily turn the tables on me.'

Keso and Meñer were like brothers, they hated each other ad their situation on the outside, but deep down even if it was at the very core. They loved each other like brothers and secretly they knew that they couldn't live without each other.

Everything that had happened in the past came rushing through his mind. And then suddenly he began to think about the boy he had killed so ruthlessly and with no mercy. The only thing he can remember about that night was the distinctive blue dagger he held in his hand.

He got up leaving the glass to sit in the spotlight of the growing moonlight. With his back to it the glass suddenly began to fill with a clear sparkling liquid. Meñer turned round and looked at the glass. Hs temper rose suddenly that he swiped at the glass like a cat and sent it across the room with incredible speed. The liquid did not spill onto the floor out of the glass when it hit the stone wall and shattered into a million pieces. Instead in hung in mid air for a few moments and Meñer looked at it. Suddenly it started to evaporate, and slowly disappeared like the moonlight from the room.

Chapter 13

'Come on! We've got to speed up!' John said urgently. He had put his sister down and was now practically trailing her by the hand. They were all getting frustrated and the thought of being trapped down here was getting to them … big time!

'There is no where to go!' Cole was getting impatient of going round in circles.

'We can't go back now! We have to keep moving!' Kathy sounded impatient also but only because everyone else was breathing down everyone else's neck.

John started running his hand against the walls, they were no longer stone, looks like they were entering a house.

'Wait.' Everyone stopped and looked at Emily. She put her finger to her lip to shush them, then to her ear. They all realized what she was indicating. A low lazy moan could be heard from the darkness down the corridor. John looked round the corner and saw a shape moving very slowly towards them. He was not moving with any speed intentionally, and from what John could see, he was in pain. Beads of sweat were glinting in the small amount of light, and as he passed a small opening in the wall the moonlight flooded in and light up his face. It was pale and full of sorrow. His eyes were dark and dull, seeming to hold no life.

John hastily turned round and urged the others on. They did so without an argument but their minds were waging a war inside.

Running down the hallway there was a door closed; Cole silently prayed that it was not locked. He ran over to it and forced it open. Cole did not need to put any strength into opening the door at all. It opened with such ease that in no time at all, they were safely inside the room. Cole quickly got up and placed a lock on the door.

They were safe … for now.

'What the hell happened?' said Meñer. His voice was angry and more cold than usual.

Keso sat in a chair tending to his head wound, 'I don't know. I had to force my way into the room and when I did I was hit with a plank!'

Meñer started pacing the room. It wasn't dark, with a very old ornate chandelier lighting the room. The room had a sense of aristocracy, with the fine carpet laid in front of the fireplace, which was made out of marble, an 18th century Parisian table with complete chairs. Also with the tapestries and paintings of people that lived centuries ago decorating the walls, Meñer felt and lived like a king. Keso was just a Lord in this Manor. That's the way it always was.

'Well at least we know who it is we need.'

'Yes, after that little fiasco with the other boy. That was a stupid mistake.'

'Well we got one of the boys. And in retrospect we're doing them a favour. I mean we're stopping those boys becoming monsters.'

Keso sipped his wine, it was sweet and grand. Bur obviously not as grand as Meñer's, no, he had the have the grandest wine, a rich Myskhako wine, with a strange spark to him. Meñer preferred a glass of this after every kill but sometimes just for comfort and a means to pass the time.

'Yes, and we know the other boy we need … he's the girls sister and the boys cousin. Yes …'

'Is everyone OK?' John's voice echoed through the room. They could not see anything, not even their hands in front of their faces.

Kathy whimpered and John found her hand and gripped it tight, 'It's OK,' he whispered.

'I'm OK, but … John I want to go home!' Emily cried. She grabbed her brother's arm and clung to it for dear life, 'please, please take me home!' the sound of her sobs was filling the room and all John could do was stand there.

'It's alright Emily,' this voice shocked all. It was not John comforting his wailing sister, but it was Cole. Some said that Cole's heart was as black as his name. Had those people seen him now they would've taken that back!

'I'm … I'm scared!' Nobody needed light; they could all tell that Emily and Cole were hugging.

'There's no need to be, we're all with you and we're going to make it out … alive.' It was if these words were magic, for when Cole's mouth closed suddenly the party felt more relaxed. Their hearts felt cheery and a few smiled.

'Such a beautiful scene,' said a sly cold voice from the corner of the room and in an instant the whole room lit up. Now no one was smiling.

A grey faced man stood in the corner. His yellow eyes shining bright, matching yellow teeth bared, 'I do not believe I have properly introduced myself.'

The group shuddered and tried not to make eye contact with the strange man … if that's what he was.

'My name is Meñer. Forgive me for being so blunt but: I killed the one you call James.'

Their hearts skipped a beat, and the man came closer. With him he brought a sense of danger, and his presence made John's hair stand on end and send a shiver down his spine. Eerie, this man was most definitely the definition of the word. With his grey hair, stained teeth and yellow nails, his ripped white shirt not helping much either, he gave the impression as some sort of phantom. Indeed to these children, a phantom was exactly what he was.

'Now if you excuse me, I shall be taking the one you call John and be on my way,' he sounded relaxed. Meñer looked at the children sitting on the stone floor. The scene reminded him of when he was a child, a child looking up at a grown up about to be punished.

'You're crazy!' shouted Cole.

'Maybe I am. But then there are different types of crazy, I may just not be the type you're referring me to,' chatty, it made them feel even more sick about the situation.

'We found the body in the forest,' said Kathy, almost hysterically.

Meñer looked up, pretending to lack interest. 'Hmm, which one, there were quite a few …' he laughed. The atmosphere in the room changed almost instantly to an icy one. The children couldn't look at each other.

'The one in the bag and James!'

'Ah yes. Now I remember. Hmm if wasn't difficult getting James, no sir. Walked right into us, no planning needed. As to that other body, well lets' just say that was an unfortunate accident.'

'Why did you have to do it?' cut in John. There were tears running down his cheeks.

'Because, we wanted to be free, do you know how infuriating it is being like this?'

'But, wasn't there another way?'

'Well now you come to mention it, no. You see, we were going to be killed and you and you cousin James were going to take our place.'

The room suddenly hushed. Almost as soon as Meñer uttered those words everyone quietened and tried not to glance in the direction of John or Emily. John's world just came crashing down around him.

'Oh, poor little boy, too late now anyways.'

'You monster! You monster!' John screamed.

He picked up Emily and ran out the door, Cole ran up to Meñer and kicked him between the legs and ran off laughing. The party moved off into the corridor turning at every bend.

'Get them!' screamed Meñer.

Heavy footsteps could be heard following them up the corridor. Emily could be heard whimpering but she was trying her hardest not to let her emotions take control of her.

'You stupid children, you will not make it out alive.'

'We'll if we don't I'm goin to make sure we try our bloody hardest to make it out alive.'

Cole's speech was followed by shouts from the others. Now the four children were running through the dark corridor with some sinister creature running after them, wanting John's blood and probably will kill the rest because they feel like it!

'Why hello children,' said Meñer as he appeared in front of John holding what seemed to be a knife.

'Crap!' cried Kathy.

The children just turned round and began to run the other way. Dodging Meñer's freaky attempts to catch them, he appeared as a wisp of smoke at every corner. On the third attempt Cole groaned, turned round and kicked Meñer between the legs. This was not taken kindly by the werewolf.

They reached a stone door and they all – including Emily – kicked it down. Running out into the cold dark night, the four children broke into a cheer and found themselves in what appeared to be a field.

The field was dark. The surrounding trees were spaced out to let enough of the moonlight light their way.

'John, are we actually going to go home now?' asked Emily fearfully, her voice trembling as she spoke.

The children stopped, they looked at one another. Could it be true? Where they really going to go home and just leave all this behind? It seemed so; it seemed as if life was just about to get a little bit better …

Chapter 14

'No! Get them back now!' he screamed, 'I don't give a damn, get those children back now! I will not have my planed thwarted by some little brats!'

Keso backed away in fear, true he had seen his master angry before but never to this extent. If he wasn't careful Meñer would literally kill him and go on alone.

'Master please …'

'Shut up! I gave you a task! Go and do it or do you want me to kill you!'

They were standing in a stone hallway, no decorations, just stone. The only light was coming from an entrance through the wall. A door used to stand here, a door which had been knocked down by four children trying to run for their lives.

'OK, if that is what you want,' Keso sighed. He did not want to kill John, but he knew he had to.

Keso made his way out of the hallway and onto the dark field. He scanned his surroundings, there they were. Standing over by the trees, it seemed too good to be true. But sure enough they were there, standing over the way.

Breaking into a run, Keso kept his eyes firmly locked on the group. Once he was close enough he stopped running and looked. How to take John without him noticing?

'Cole, we have to stay and fight,' said John.

'I know but we don't stand a chance,' agreed Cole. His eyes were darker, and it was obvious he wanted to just go home, as did they all.

'We just need to hold them off long enough for the girls to get home …' he broke off. Standing over the way was a tall dark figure, Cole seen John looking and so he turned round too.

'Mother of God…'

Cole made a face and turned to face his friend one last time, 'I'll go!'

'No!' everyone screamed, but it was too late. Cole was already running towards the figure, who everyone was sure, was Keso. Kathy broke down in tears as she watched her brother run to certain death.

John went over to her and put his arms around her. She in return flung hers around him and sobbed loudly into his chest. Emily stood there watching in awe. This boy who she's had seen as a bully was running off to save them. Giving his life for them.

'What!' cried Keso as he saw a figure running at top speed towards him. Confused as he was, he didn't know how to react. Within minutes Cole jumped on him.

'You monster!' he shouted. Punching Keso's face. The man wailed in pain, trying to throw the boy off him.

Cole kept hitting, 'You killed one of my friends!' he started to kick him now.

Keso thrashed, and started punching back but he was too late.

'You bastard! Rot in hell!' cried Cole, this time he was crying. Cole sobbed as he hit Keso harder and harder. Getting off the bleeding man, Cole spotted a rock lying on the ground.

Cole picked it up, 'This is for everything you've done!' Cole grabbed the back of Keso's hair and slammed the rock in front of the mans face. Keso gave out one last wail of pain and went silent.

Cole staggered back and gasped. 'What have I done?' he whispered.

He turned round to face his friends, to see if they were still there. He could see them but only their rough outline. A smile broke across his face.

Something grabbed Cole's ankle and dragged him to the ground. His face smacked off the hard ground and broke his nose. The blood came pumping out by the second. Now Cole's face was unrecognisable. A bloody pulp.

'You little brat!' cried Keso, he jumped on Cole and ripped out his throat. More blood came pumping out and eventually there was no more. Cole was now lying on grass, the grass was now stained with blood, as was the surrounding earth.

Keso wiped the blood off him and growled, 'Ignorant little brat!'

He then started to make his way towards the other children cursing Cole and humanity under his breath. Keso crept up silently upon the children they did not see him coming. He grabbed John by the back of his hair and held his hand to the boy's throat.

'Shout and I will kill him!' he spat.

Kathy was going to let out a scream but Emily covered her mouth.

'Ah excellent work Keso,' said a sly voice from the shadows. Meñer appeared again and walked slowly over to the group.

'To be honest I was worried I'd have to kill them myself, but I must say I am pleased,' he smiled. A sickening smile that makes you want to vomit.

Keso sneered, he was angry with Meñer's judgement. But he let it subside and continued to hold John.

'Please let him go!' cried Emily.

'Ah such innocence, such a loveable scene. Pity,' he sighed, 'pity I have to break it up by killing this boy,' he concluded, waving a hand in John's direction.

John wasn't making an effort to get himself free, he was just standing there. Letting Keso pull his hair, trying to make more pain for him.

'OK Keso, take him you know were to go. Hurry, the full moon is almost at its most powerful point.'

'Yes master,' replied Keso and he walked off into the trees pulling John along with him by his hair.

'Now, little girls … what on earth to do with you,' he mused.

'We promise we won't say a thing, we'll go away!' cried Kathy.

Meñer laughed at her stupidity, 'Like I'm going to let you go! What do you take me for?' he cried disgusted.

Emily looked about, trying to find any weapons they might use. Her eye caught a very sharp looking rock, lying beside a large oak tree.

'What are you going to do with him?' asked Kathy nervously.

'Hmm, let me see. Oh yes, kill him and spill all his blood.'

He said it so calmly, as if he had just said he was goin for a picnic in the park. While Kathy and Meñer were talking, Emily backed off towards the oak tree. She bent down and picked up the rock.

'Ah, I don't think so Emily,' Meñer said cruelly, not taking his eyes of Kathy.

Without thinking Kathy jumped on Meñer and Emily grabbed the stone. She ran onto Meñer's back and smashed the stone against the back of his head.

'Take that you spawn of Satan!' Emily screamed, the birds in the trees flew away.

While Meñer lay lying on the ground the two girls made their way into the forest. Kathy knew were Keso would've taken John so she followed the beaten track.

The trees cleared overhead and they were standing in front of a stone table. But it wasn't the stone table that shocked them or were it was, it was who was tied to it.

John … naked … screaming … crying. He craned his neck and it was smeared with blood. It seemed as a small cut had been made on his throat and the blood was leaking, slowly but surely out of his neck.

'Kathy!' he cried.

Kathy started to make her way towards her boyfriend, but then a wisp of smoke appeared blocking her way. Meñer was standing in front of her looking furious.

'Why … you … little … little …' he stuttered looking at her with such hatred.

'Why you little angel I think is what you're looking for,' she said sweetly.

Meñer seemed to become more enraged, he threw his arms up and hit Kathy across the face knocking her to the ground.

Emily seeing this began to get scared and backed off. Keso appeared behind her and grabbed her by her neck.

Meñer went over to the clearest spot in the area. He threw up his arms to embrace the full moon; it threw a beam of powerful moonlight at him. It engulfed Meñer and then divided and shown upon Keso. The two men shook violently then fell quiet. Never to breathe in this world again …

Chapter 15

Silence. It is a gift as well as a curse. In this sense it is a curse, as John lay there crying as the blood slowly but surely dripped out of him. Kathy lay on the ground in what was most likely a coma, suffering from the hard blow from Meñer. And Emily, poor Emily. She was only young but yet had to witness this. She stood silently watching, waiting.

The two dead bodies just lay there, and silently they began to crumble away to nothing but a pile of dust and their ashes scattered away with the cold wind. Their clothes lay still, until a gust of wind blew them into the undergrowth…

Emily, she stood crying, not wanting what she was seeing to be real. But it was, everything hadn't been a dream.

They were all there, and the final act had been under the Full Moon …