Chapter 2
Silver Bullets
THREE HOURS EARLIER
Henry enjoyed working with his tech and gadgets for more than just geeky nirvana. As his fingers flew over multiple keyboards, and his eyes scanned monitor after monitor of security scans, Henry's mind was forced to focus.
The stillness and concentration required made him gain control of himself, his emotions. This discipline, he liked to think, kept him sane - kept him from losing it when he learned his favorite TV show was canceled or when his favorite comic book sold out.
Because nobody liked a an irritated, out-of-control werewolf in a comic book shop.
He took a moment to lean back in his chair. The daily diagnostic was over, and he'd do an annual auxiliary systems check later on. He briefly checked the alarms array. Nothing.
For a moment.
Henry looked back to check the World of Warcraft updates -
And then the alarms electrified the air around him, turning the array into a flashing blur of color and sound. Henry jumped out of his chair at the racket.
"Henry!" Helen's voice, electronically distorted, came at him from the com on his desk.
He reached up from his current position on the floor and felt around for the 'Speak' button. Pens, glasses, and comic book paraphernalia scattered around and rolled off the table as he searched for it. Mental note: Hire a maid. Finally, he found it, after much straining, panting, and scattering.
"Yeah," answered Henry, still trying to regain his feet. He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"What's going on?" Helen asked, and Henry detected a tinge of uncertain fear in her voice. "It's not -"
"No," cut in Henry after a quick glance at the security screens. "The forcefield's not down. Thank God," he added in a mutter.
"Agreed," said Helen.
"Nope, it looks like a sighting of some kind," Henry continued, studying the alarm lights. "Or an attack. Apparently someone saw a lot of blood and a big furry monster ..."
"Where?"
"Industrial district. Lot of storage facilities, empty warehouses, stuff like that. Not a lot of people, but plenty of hiding spots." Henry's fingers danced over his keyboard, pinpointing the location. "It was first spotted hanging around a warehouse owned by the Turner Shipping Company ... I've sent the address to your phone."
"Good. Get Will and Kate, I'm going to head out now and meet you there. Get some blueprints, take some scanners - "
"Make some tea, dust the servers," finished Henry with a grin. "Yeah, Doc, I know the drill."
"We'll talk strategy on the way," finished Helen, and Henry could swear he heard her laughing as the connection stopped.
Fur receded into flesh and the gang caught the first 'human' look at their adversary.
It was a bit shocking, really, to watch such a dramatic transformation occur. Bones and joints rearranged themselves with sickening crunches and cracks - even Kate couldn't help but wince as the broad, muscled shoulders diminished sickeningly quickly. Henry noted something else: it was forced, unwanted reversion, change that the creature did not want, could not control. He could empathize, in a way.
Everyone held their breath as the last of the changes transpired. The final patches of the dark, matted hair disappeared to reveal a very lithe, very naked, very female person on the ground.
In a way, she was beautiful: mocha skin and dark waves of black hair, toned muscles. She had twisting, tribal looking tattoos on much of her left side. Threads of them seemed to start on her shoulders and trail down her arms.
Henry and Will gawped, Kate shot them a venomous glare.
She was lying on her back, breath coming in sharp, irregular heaves. Tranquilized people shouldn't breathe like that. Her eyes were all wrong, too - instead of peaceful restfulness, her feral golden eyes were glassy and wide, crazed with pain.
Helen voiced these facts and knelt beside her, taking her pulse. She noted one, two, three gunshot wounds: one had found it's way into her side. And her now considerably smaller figure was now dealing with six doses of tranquilizer. Helen quickly removed the darts, scowling at herself for not thinking of this possibility sooner.
"No choice," came the gruff vocalization from the Big Guy, reading her thoughts as usual. Helen gave him a grim smile in thanks. She busied herself with taking into account her patient's deteriorating condition. Her breath was even shorter now, only quick, subtle changes in her chest. Her eyes were wide - yellow pools (with the cats-eye slit of a pupil Helen had observed in Henry) dilated, fearful. No peace came to the werewolf-girl with the onrushing blackness that surrounded her.
With a quick, odd jerk of her head, those yellow eyes stopped looking at Helen and rested themselves on Henry.
Who just happened to be staring right back, along with Will and a decidedly annoyed Kate.
Helen frowned at them. Kate understood her boss's expression and turned away from the injured abnormal, eager to find a different avenue for their attention.
"We'd better check out those drag marks," she snipped, glaring icily at her male teammates. "We never did find out where they ended up."
"That sounds prudent," encouraged Helen, her eyes now narrowed in the exact same irritated way that Kate's were. "I'll tend to her here, but you three need to clear the rest of the place."
Kate sighed and rolled her eyes. "Guys will look at anything female and naked," she mused, seizing Will and Henry by the arms and forcing them to unglue their eyes from the bare sable flesh in front of them.
Kate seemed to know exactly where she was - either that or she hadn't succumbed to the disorienting effect the werewolf had had on Will and Henry. It only took her a few decisive turns to find the blood trail again, and not without the less-than-excited expressions on Will and Henry's faces.
"God, you two are pathetic," said Kate, sending her eyes ceilingward again. "You'd think you'd never seen a woman naked before." She did a bad job of holding back a cold laugh.
The comment was well placed, though. All Henry could do was splutter and Will knew he was beat, muttering something under his breath and following the trail with his head down. Kate grinned in victory.
They observed, like before, that the crimson stain went about fifty feet up the central hallway and down another corner. The three of them hurried along the sides of it, careful not to tread on the blood at all. In a matter of seconds, they'd reached the end of the trail and approached the corner - Will and Kate cleared the area quickly, then turned the corner with Henry on their heels.
They'd been expecting another body, and after the horror of what they'd all seen previously, the shock of seeing someone eviscerated wasn't as atrocious as before. Still, they were more than a little surprised at what awaited them around the corner.
The dead man here wasn't wearing coveralls like the other man was. Instead, he was dressed impeccably well, in a three piece navy suit, no less. Henry couldn't help but note the strange juxtaposition of his dark blue silk tie against the equally dark scarlet of velvety blood. And he wasn't shredded like the other man, either - instead, this man had only a few injuries. A bite on the thigh, and another one on the neck, and perhaps a third nip on the side, but nothing that would have instantly killed him. Henry gritted his teeth when he realized that this man must have bled out. Slowly.
Will knelt next to the body, which was propped up on one of the wooden crates in a seated position. Both Henry and Kate wrinkled their noses at him as he closely inspected the man's wounds and position. Henry fought the urge to plug his nose. Or gag.
Will leaned back on his heels for a moment, lips pursed in thought. "Weird," he said finally, returning to a standing position, putting his hands on his hips in trademark Zimmerman fashion.
"What?" asked Kate. Her previous irritation at him was (almost) replaced by curiosity.
"Well, I don't see any bite-hold marks on him," answered Will, pacing towards the drag marks again. "Which means - "
"That the werewolf thing didn't drag him over here?" finished Kate.
"Yeah. Also, I don't think the werewolf would have had the presence of mind to prop him up like that," Will said, pointing at the man as he knelt by the drag marks. "No offense." Will looked at Henry.
Henry inhaled quickly at his friend's acknowledgement - in actuality, he wasn't offended at all. Mostly, he was sobered. He knew what it felt like to be a part of something as wild, impulsive and instinctive as the wolf, he knew that rational thought really wasn't possible when you were 'the wolf'. He didn't trust himself when he was like that, why should anyone else?
"None taken," said Henry lightly, as he connected the dots in his mind. He moved over towards the crate. Kate took the hint and moved with him. Gingerly, they removed the top of the timber container and lifted it, careful not to disturb the seated body of the well-dressed man. Kate cautiously placed the wooden top on the floor, eyeing the man as if he'd jump to life in protest. Will came up behind them and looked over at the contents.
There was an old six-shooter resting on top of the packing materials: unloaded. Kate picked it up and inspected it, poorly disguising her pleasure. Henry dug through the packing peanuts a bit deeper.
"Okay," he said as he hefted out a metal briefcase. He rubbed his hands together and opened it. "Um, syringes?"
"Interesting," said Will. He plucked a glass bottle out of the padded foam that surrounded it and six small syringes. "I don't recognize this ... Argentium."
"Maybe Magnus will know," mused Kate. "Let's keep going." She brushed off the next few layers of packing materials, scattering the foam peanuts on the floor. Henry fought back a hiss when some of them fell and floated in the pooled blood.
"Ammo cans," Will observed, and drew one out, opening it carefully. He let out a low whistle when he saw the contents.
"Are those - ?" asked Kate
"Silver bullets," affirmed Henry.
They looked at each other, not knowing whether they should burst out laughing or load the gun.
A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed. You absolutely made my day and I needed that. I'm really glad everyone likes this, so I'm going to keep on adding chapters. I've gotten a huge plot/subplot thing in mind, so keep your eyes out for that! I hope you like this latest installment - and keep on reviewing!
