Part 4- The Hunter

Logan laid against the wall of the tavern. The town of Mandive was now nothing more than a graveyard. The bodies of almost every single citizen was crumpled somewhere over the landscape. Buildings were burning and crumbling…nothing left but ruins.

He had done this. He had slaughtered people until the survivors got smart and ran away. But they deserved it. They had treated him like a monster while they truly were the evil ones.

Blood flowed down his chest. Logan's black fur armor was on the ground next to him. Bullet holes were scattered throughout his body. Scrapes and bruises. But they would heal…they were healing.

What scared Logan most, though, was the fact that his claws were longer than he had thought. Fully extended, they were almost the length of his arm. Perhaps the rage he had holed up had forced them out…or the memories. Why did he always remember things before he went into a blood-thirsty rage? Why was he cursed like this?

In the distance, a figure appeared. The man was on horseback. He wore a black, tall hat and a dark cloak. Logan stood to get a better view. The man was approaching the town's barely intact sign. He stopped to read it. Then he looked at Logan.

Logan stood his ground while the man came to him.

"Who are you?" Logan asked.

"My name is Abraham Van Helsing. I am here to…or I was called to Mandive to stop a certain…threat."

"Well, I guess you can see it's already too late now. So why don't you just leave?"

"I don't know, dear sir. It seems the town is…abandoned now. But why didn't you leave?"

Logan glared at Van Helsing. "Why don't I leave? Why did they call you?"

"The town's mayor rode to me. I was out in the woods on another assignment. He was badly wounded, but before he passed on, he told me that this town was under attack…by a monster."

"And you came why, Mr. Van Helsing?"

"It's my job. I'm a hunter of…supernatural creatures."

"Well," Logan replied, "there ain't any around here no more, so be gone."

Van Helsing brushed some of his long gray hair out of his face. He had a rugged look to him. He must have been at least forty-seven years old. "I don't believe I can do that…seeing the circumstances. Why don't I just take a look around?"

Logan grunted. "Sure…do whatever you like."

Van Helsing frowned. "Are you okay? You're bleeding…"

"I will be fine." Logan began the walk back to his cabin.

Van Helsing sighed and got off his horse to investigate the scene.

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Logan rolled out of bed. The covers were now bloodstained, but it didn't really matter. He wouldn't be here much longer. He went outside.

Who would be standing near the ice chest but Van Helsing himself!

"Hello, sir," Van Helsing said calmly. "I was just trying to find you…"

Logan saw that the man was holding something behind his back. "What have you got?"

Van Helsing laughed. "Oh…nothing really…"

Logan smiled back. And then he jumped him. They rolled through the snow, until Logan pinned the older man down.

"I asked you a question, bub!" Logan snapped angrily.

"I believe I gave you an answer!" Van Helsing quickly retorted.

Logan grabbed the man's arms and swung them forward. Gripped in his left hand was the Wen-Di-Go's frozen heart.

"What could this be?" Logan asked sarcastically. He ripped the heart from Van Helsing's hand.

Van Helsing pushed Logan off of him.

"You know," Logan began as he got up, 'I should probably just kill you."

Van Helsing scoffed at this as he stood. "I'd like to see you try!"

Logan pounced, but Van Helsing was quick on his feet. Logan landed head first in the snow.

"I need that heart, sir! I was out in the woods looking for that Wen-Di-Go, and it's too dangerous for you to handle. Especially after what you probably did to that town! I'm going to have to bring you in to my superiors!"

"I didn't…do that…" Van Helsing could see right through the lie. It was pointless to even try.

"Give me the heart, lad, and hand yourself over." Van Helsing threw off his cloak and unslung a crossbow which he had had strapped to his back. "I don't want to hurt you. That heart is a curse upon mankind. Many years ago, two men were lost in these very woods. Finally, when both were starving, one decided to result to cannibalism. Too bad the other man was a sorcerer. He put a curse on him, turning him into the beast. Now, whoever eats the heart of the Wen-Di-Go also transforms!"

"Sorry, Abe. I don't believe in fairytales." Logan replied.

Logan raised the heart to his lips, grinned at Van Helsing, and took a bite. The heart was cold and hard, but his teeth easily tore through it. He chewed slowly.

Van Helsing backed away. "You fool! I hope you know what you are going to set loose!"

Logan swallowed and took another bite.

Van Helsing swore. He leveled the crossbow at Logan. "Sorry, son," was all he could manage before he launched an arrow into Logan.

Logan's limp body fell forward. The arrow had flown right through his chest and into a nearby tree. Van Helsing sighed. And then the wound began to close.

"That ain't gonna work!" Logan screamed.

"What are you!" Van Helsing asked in horror.

Logan began to answer, but then his back arched up into the air. He screamed out in agony.

"And so it begins…" Van Helsing muttered.

Within moments, Logan was covered in white hair, grown to fifteen feet, and gained a lot of body mass. He was the Wen-Di-Go!

He hit Van Helsing and the man flew backwards. Van Helsing was now backed against the cabin. The new Wen-Di-Go approached slowly.

"So this is it, huh? You're going to let the inner beast control you? You've lost your battle, boy. You're nothing now…just a real monster. You've become what you hate." Van Helsing closed his eyes and waited.

Just as the Wen-Di-Go raised its right fist to the air, ready to smash the puny man below him, its eyes widened. Three one-and-a-half foot claws ripped through its knuckles. Three more came out of the other hand. They tore through the hands and stabbed into the creature's chest.

Soon, the Wen-Di-Go's chest was torn open, and a man's body was visible. The claws kept tearing, until they reached the head. The claws ripped through the face and Logan's head popped through the hole. He was screaming and fighting with every ounce of his sane mind.

Finally, Logan fell out of the Wen-Di-Go, but their hearts were still attached. A long, stretchy strand of cardiac muscle was still connecting the two. Logan slashed at the strand until it broke, and kept dicing it to pieces. The man had separated from the beast. Finally.

As Logan's body lay lifeless in the snow, Van Helsing rose and went over to the remains of the Wen-Di-Go. The heart was no more. The curse had been stopped.

"The Wen-Di-Go's reign has ended…" Van Helsing looked to Logan's body. He wasn't sure if it was alive. Logically, he was dead, but…he smiled. "But your reign is just beginning, boy."

Van Helsing trotted back to the destroyed Mandive. He got back on his horse. With one last look to the cabin in the distance, he left.

The rips and holes in Logan's body began to heal. The memories had flooded back during the rage. He knew who he was…his name.

His heart was still in place…of course. The prize. NOOOO!

Logan stared to the sky. He yelled, "MY NAME IS JAMES HOWLETT! AND I AM HUMAN!"

Stay tuned for Wolverine Book 2: Japan!