Chapter 5: Routine and Backstabbing
"There they are, what's left of the pack." Marcus whispered to Katrina as they crouched in the bushes.
"Yeah, told you there was more to the pack than what we encountered at the rest stop."
"I never doubted it; a pack as bold as they were is never that small. At least tracking them down was easy."
Looking from their hiding spot they could see the werewolf camp layout clearly. Three large tents stood around the campsite set in a triangle position; each appeared to be capable of holding eight people. In the middle of the campsite was the campfire with folding chairs and tables positioned around it. To the normal person it'd look like a typical biker campsite. From their position, Marcus and Katrina counted five werewolves sitting around the campfire eating and talking. A quick sniff told them that five more were in the farthest tent sleeping.
Finding them wasn't hard, they both suspected that after the incident at the rest stop a few hours ago that there were more werewolves. They agreed to track down what was left of the pack immediately after Marcus ripped the others apart; neither of them were comfortable leaving an area knowing there were more around. Tracking them down was easy, they just had to follow the scent trail, which didn't take them an hour.
"So, Marcus, you want to go with our usual routine?"
"Sure, might as well have some fun." Marcus shrugged. "I'll distract the ones by the fire long enough for you to sneak into the tent and deal with the sleepers. Once they're done I'll deal with the others."
"No problem, can you keep them distracted for that long?"
"Easily, werewolves are easy to confuse. I got the easier job anyway."
"Well, stealth isn't your strong suit; you're more of a brute force kind of guy." Katrina joked, then planted a quick kiss on Marcus's lips. "Be safe and I'll see you in a bit."
Katrina slowly snuck away from Marcus to the tents, not even making the smallest sound. Marcus waited for Katrina to get into position then stood up and walked casually towards the camp. His steps were silent and approach so sudden that the werewolves didn't realize he was there till he had reached the group and walked past the outer two. He didn't say a word as the werewolves starred shockingly at him as he made his way past everyone and sat down on the log by the fire. The werewolves looked at Marcus and each other confused and stunned at his sudden appearance, none of them made a move for what seemed like forever.
"Hey moron, what do you think you're doing?" The nearest werewolf asked.
"Just looking for a spot to crash. Today's been a long, stressful day and I need a moment to relax. Don't worry, I won't stay long. You guys don't mind sharing some food do you, I haven't eaten all day?"
"We have food, but none for you. We don't give food to sheep."
Marcus laughed as he held his hands near the fire to watch them. "Huh, that's a new one; none of your kind has called me a sheep before."
Marcus saw the werewolves turn and whisper to each other, he could make out a little of what they were saying. What he said certainly confused them, something that wasn't hard to do. After a moment the give werewolves formed a circle around him.
"What do you mean by our kind?" The werewolf standing in front of Marcus growled.
Marcus looked up from the fire and smiled. "Oh you know, the kind of animal that drools with stupidity, wonders aimlessly for anything of value, slaughters innocent people just because they feel like it, I could go on and on but I've seen enough werewolves to know how you are."
"You know what we are?"
"Of course, I've been hunting and killing your kind since the eighth century, I can smell werewolves from miles away. It's weird though, the part of your group we ran into earlier today knew what we were immediately. Apparently, they were the smart ones, though it's been centuries since we've come across a werewolf that could be considered smart. Marcus tried to keep a straight face as the werewolves jumped back while others gasped; he could tell they were quickly putting two and two together. "Let me ask you pups something. Did you really think you could that you'd be able to keep causing problems and we wouldn't notice, eventually?"
The lead werewolf smiled at Marcus. "Of course, we've been controlling this area for decades. The people here are so terrified of us they'll never call for the authorities. The spoils have been good and we don't plan on leaving."
Marcus shook his head in frustration, he'd heard so many variations of that speech it annoyed him instead of making him laugh like it used to. He hated how cliché it sounded, like a bad line out of an action movie before the good guy slayed the moronic bad guys. But, he needed to keep their attention till Katrina was finished.
"You are right, the people are horrified of your pack, but surely you must've known that it wouldn't last forever. Eventually, we lycans were going to find you, we also do." Marcus said as he smiled at the werewolves.
"Maybe, but at the moment it doesn't matter. We outnumber you ten to one. If you attack us our friends will join in and we'll rip you to pieces."
Marcus pointed in the direction of the tent. "I don't think your friends will be assisting."
The werewolves turned and jumped at the sight of Katrina standing in front of the tent, holding her dagger dripping in blood. She looked like a psychopath standing there, thankfully Marcus knew that wasn't the case, she was just doing it to scare the pee out of the werewolves, and it was certainly working. They froze in their places out of fear, as their minds slowly worked out what had just happened that their friends were dead. The look on their gasping faces made it hard for Marcus not to laugh.
"So, now that my wife has completed her task, it's time I complete mine. Nothing personal boys, I just sleep at night knowing that werewolves are roaming around not being slaughtered."
Marcus's word resonated with the werewolves and they drew their weapons but he was quicker, drawing his sword and rushed for his nearest target. His blade instantly found its mark, removing the werewolf's head with little effort. The second werewolf didn't even have time to blink before Marcus' sword sliced across his chest. He turned on the third werewolf thrusting his sword deep into its chest.
The two remaining werewolves jumped back in horror as Marcus withdrew his sword from their friend's chest, both frozen in fear. Marcus took advantage of their fear and sprinted towards them. His sword quickly found its mark as he sliced across the closest werewolf's face, nearly slicing it in two. He used the momentum of his swing to double grip and bring a full forced swing down on the last werewolf's head. His sword buried deep into its target, cutting all the way to the base of the neck. Marcus finished by kicking the werewolf off his blade and the body collapsed on the ground next to the others.
"Is it just me or are they getting easier and dumber?" Marcus said as he wiped the blood off his sword.
"I think they're getting dumber, though that's hard to say since they've never really been too bright."
"True, at least this area is now of pests. Not exactly how I wanted to spend the night."
"No duh, it's pretty obvious how you wanted to spend the night." Katrina replied with a devious smile as she pulled a silver grenade from her pocket. "Granted that's how I wanted this night to go too."
"The night's still young; we got time for some action if we hurry back."
"I like the way you think, hun."
Katrina pulled the pin and tossed the grenade in the middle of the camp. Marcus and Katrina practically ran to their motorcycles as the silver grenade activated and began cleansing the area. Neither of them looked behind as they started their motorcycles, there was no need for them too; they knew within minutes there'd be no evidence other than an empty camp. Both had other things on their mind, though Marcus couldn't help but worry about Jamie and the ride ahead.
Hopefully the rest of the trip is uneventful; if we keep having complications like this Jamie will end up waiting on us.
Ezekiel sighed as he stood in the alley behind the Casino in Tulsa, endlessly pacing back and forth. He'd been waiting and pacing for so long that a small path was starting to form. Ezekiel was a patient man, but his contact was pushing it. He was told to meet at that spot around five, that was four hours ago and yet his contact was nowhere in sight.
Where is that moron, if he doesn't show up soon I'll handle this myself.
Ezekiel suddenly picked up on a new scent from further down the alley. The smell rotted of death to the extent he almost had to cover his nose. He turned towards the smell, unfortunately, recognizing who it belonged to.
Ezekiel crossed his arms and growled at the new figure hiding in the shadows. "You're late, where the hell were you, Matchitew?"
From out of the shadows a tall, hooded figure stepped out slowly, and slowly approached him. The figure stood well over a head taller than Ezekiel, but appeared to be little more than skin and bones. In the figures hand he noticed a severed woman arm that appeared to be recently unattached from its victim; dropping blood as the figure approached. As the figure got closer Ezekiel could make out large bite marks on the arm, telling him that Matchitew had been feasting on it.
"I had other business that demanded by attention." Matchitew replied, biting off his victim's ring finger as soon as he finished speaking.
Ezekiel looked at Matchitew with disgust, watching him chew the fingers and swallow, bones and all. In his over two thousand year long life, he'd seen nearly every gruesome act and carnage imaginable, but watching the man devour a human hand like a corndog was something else entirely. It took everything he had to keep his calm composure at the shameful and disgusting sight.
"Do you have to do that right in front of me?" Ezekiel said, glaring at Matchitew.
"Yes I do, I haven't eaten since yesterday."
"You mean you haven't eaten anything or haven't had human since yesterday?"
Matchitew shook his head and ignored Ezekiel as he turned around and walked towards the end of the alley. "The one you're looking for is in there. He's been mistreated quite a bit by the lycans, convincing him to help you shouldn't be too hard for someone as charismatic as you."
"Hm, if you know that can you tell me his name?"
"Easy, it's David, a Lycan who's grown tired of being mistreated by everyone. He's in there right now trying to drink and game away his frustration, with no success."
"How do you know all of this?"
Matchitew smiled as he gripped the severed arm tightly, cracking the bones like twigs. "It my specialty, the weak minded are easy to discover and manipulate."
"I thought your specialty was ripping the weak to pieces then eating them."
"No, turning people against each other so they rip each other part is far more satisfying than just charging in and ripping to pieces. Finding out what the moron in there is feeling is trivial compared to that."
Ezekiel shook his head as he crossed his arms. "I keep forgetting how screwed up your kind is. Why Lobos is relying on you I'll never understand."
"Because minions aren't required to know their master's motivation, only follow, their orders. But if you just know, your master needed my help and I generous enough to help, I provided him with knowledge to accomplish his plan in exchange for something I require."
Ezekiel growled softly at Matchitew a being called a minion. After the two millennia's he's served Lobos faithfully as his right hand man he was far from a minion. The smirk on Marchitew's blood stained lips only made him want to strike out even more. But, Ezekiel, knowing full well what Matchitew was, knew attacking him was a horrible idea. Though Matchitew looked like a strung out meth head, Ezekiel knew he possessed far greater strength and speed than he did, or any Lycan, possibly even more than Fenrir and Lobos.
After letting out a deep breath, Ezekiel calmed down enough to speak peacefully. "Okay, you sure you have the right man?"
"Yes, you will find him at the blackjack tables, losing horrible. You should have no problem finding him."
"Obviously, lycans are easy to spot in public if you know what to look for. Getting him to join us is a different matter."
"It'll be much easier than you think. A man who's second guessing his life choices, and has a big ego, is easy to manipulate. Just feed his ego and offer him respect and he'll follow you with ease."
Ezekiel turned to face the casino, quickly contemplating the situation. As much as he hated to admit it, Matchitew's assistance had greatly changed the game, IF what he said was true. If David was indeed inside and agreed to help it'd shift the balance of power in their favor against the lycans, possibly even leading him to his long awaited targets.
Ezekiel turned around to reluctantly thank Matchitew only to find himself alone in the alley. Looking around he saw no evidence of Matchitew's presence, not even a scent. He'd vanished completely like a ghost, leaving Ezekiel to complete his task alone.
Wendigo's, how the hell did we get to the point where we have to rely on one of them.
X
"Oh great, lost again." David growled as the dealer slide his chips away from him.
David sipped what was left of his cocktail then slammed the glass on the table in anger, cracking it. That was the fifth time in a role he lost, and the dealer won, leading David to become a little suspicious.
"You going to keep playing or have you lost enough?" The dealer asked in a slightly demeaning manner.
David knew the dealer was talking down to him so he would get angry and keep betting, he'd seen the tactic before. Normally, David would ignore it and walk away but with this build up rage boiling inside him, and the ten cocktails he'd drunk clouding his mind, he desperately wanted to keep going.
David took a deep breath to calm his mind. "I haven't decided yet, give me a minute."
As David's hand rested on what remained of his chips, trying to decide if he should continue, his mind drifted to the other lycans, specifically Marcus and Katrina. The events of their last operation together were still fresh on his mind, and the reason he was there, trying to drink and gamble his frustration away. The last few days had been nothing to anger building up to the point where David could feel it about to burst. Even after reporting the results of the operation to the Lycan safe house his anger continued to build as the lycans there treated him like a lowly errand boy before almost literally tossing him out.
After that, David needed something to relieve the built up anger, for him nothing calmed him down than winning at a casino, getting drunk, and spending the night rocking some gorgeous waitress's world. So far he'd only succeeded in getting drunk, which was only making him angrier. He'd lost nearly half of his money and the waitresses were pretty much ignoring him, at least the cocktails the waitresses brought him were good and strong enough to get him a little drunk. However, each loss only brought back the memories of how the other lycans had spent the last eight hundred years mistreating him.
Those bastards, I'll show them, they'll respect me someday.
David was snapped out of his trance by the dealer slamming his hand on the table. "You going to play or sit out, little man?"
David slid the remainder of his chips forward in a huff as the dealer threw down the cards. His heart sank when the dealer turned over the cards and he saw he lost, again. He watched full of anger and regret as the dealer slid his chips away.
"Tough luck little man." The dealer said to David who only grunted.
David sighed as he contemplated leaving, without chips there was no reason good reason for him to stay at the table. Seeing the smug look of the dealer, made him want to stay, or jump up and smack it off. But, David didn't want to get banned, not with the beautiful, busty waitresses walking around. David wasn't ready to leave till he had at least one of them in his lap, though he was still sober enough to know he didn't have to chips to win and get one of them, leaving him with the unfortunate option of leaving empty handed and unsatisfied. Whatever he chose to do he needed a drink to get moving.
"Hey, waitress, another cocktail over here." David screamed to the nearest waitress.
David heard the waitress sigh as she turned around and approached him. He looked up as she came close, his eyes focused on her large bust covered by a tight top. She was certainly pleasing to the eye in the casino waitress uniform; short, mini skirt, red tank top that revealed ample cleavage, and thigh high boots. All of the waitresses were indeed a gorgeous sight, and the one in front of him was by far the most pleasing.
"Can I help you, sir?" The waitress asked in a seductive voice, David knew it was forced.
"Yes, gorgeous, another cocktail would be nice. Bring it quickly and I'll give you a big tip."
"Right away, sir."
"Don't take too long, I might give you less of a tip." David replied as the waitress turned around and started to leave.
David quickly reached and slapped and waitress's rear, who jumped and glared angrily at him. He just smiled back and continued to play as the waitress walked away rubbing her rear.
"Hm, yeah you'll do for the night." David said, getting a nod from the casino patron on his right.
"You made a good choice; Dazzle is renowned here for her cocktails, but even more for her skills in bed."
"I figured that, though how do you know?"
"Hm, pretty much everyone here does. The only problem is that she's not cheap."
"That's fine with me; I can afford her no problem. Just don't expect her to be walking tomorrow."
David's nose suddenly picked up on a Lycan scent nearby, causing him to perk up. He turned around to see a man wearing a black leather jacket with white hair and green eyes standing behind him. The man crossed his arms and glared at David, making him scoot back in his chair.
"I thought lycans were supposed to treat women better than that. Apparently, they're taking anybody these days."
David remained still as the man continued to stare at him, too stunned to respond. After a moment the man made his way around David and sat down next to him. At first, neither of them said a word, just starred at each other for what felt like forever. The man's presence certainly made David uncomfortable, finding himself starring at a man he didn't know but somehow seemed to know him. He couldn't shake the feeling that the man had something dark planned for him, the thought made David reach for the .45 pistol he had concealed in his jacket pocket, but not draw it.
"Do I know you?" David said softly. "I've been a lycan for nearly eight hundred years and you I have never seen."
"No, you wouldn't know me; neither would any of your comrades. You may call me Ezekiel."
"Ok, Ezekiel, what do you want, to criticize me to?"
Ezekiel smirks. "No, I don't need to do that, you're already in enough misery. I'm just coming to you as a friend."
"If you were my friend you'd give me some chips."
No sooner did David finish his sentence Ezekiel reached into his pocket and pulled out a large roll of chips and placed it in front of him. Just from glancing at it he guessed the chip counted represented at least a hundred thousand dollars. David's jaw dropped when Ezekiel slide the chips over to him.
"I think that should be enough." Ezekiel leaned close to David and whispered. "Keep some back and you'll be able to keep that Dazzle girl in your bed for a week."
"Ha, I like the way you think . . . friend."
David slid a quarter of the chips to the dealer showing he was in. He followed Ezekiel's advice and pulled half of the chips back, just in case; he had plans for Dazzle later he intended to make good on. David lost it pretty quickly but gained it back and then some over the next hour. That whole time Ezekiel stayed in the chair beside David, not saying a word. It wasn't till David had doubled his winnings that he called it quits, and needed answers.
"Ok, I think that may be good enough for now." David said, turning towards Ezekiel. "So, tell me, friend, why are you being so helpful to me? No one is this generous without an additional motive."
"You're not wrong; I'll say that there is a problem I need your help with."
"You . . . need my help." David laughed sarcastically for a moment. "That's a cruel joke. I don't fully know what the other lycans told you but for you to come to me for help you must be desperate."
"I'm a lot of things, desperate is not one of them. I am not part of the Lycan community, so their gossip means nothing to me."
"What, you're not part of the community?"
"It's quite simple, I know the truth about werewolves and it's why I serve a different master than you do."
David looked at Ezekiel confused. "What are you talking about? All lycans know that the werewolves are beast who kill anything in their path that were accidentally created by the long dead Lycan leader Lobos. His mistake cost the lives of thousands, if not millions of people."
Ezekiel smiled as he shook his head. "You're partially right, werewolves are certainly mindless beasts, but their history is far more complex than what you think. But, I'm not here to discuss the two species history with you."
"Then why are you here, clearly it's not for pleasure?"
"Believe it or not, I'm just here to have conversation with you, one that you might find beneficial for both of us."
An uncomfortable feeling traveled down David's back, making him even more suspicious of Ezekiel. Out of instinct, he slowly reached for the .45 colt he had concealed in his vest pocket. Ezekiel just kept looking into David's eyes, not moving a muscle. He couldn't shake the feeling that the new Lycan knew what he was doing but didn't consider him a threat, only making David more nervous.
"What do you know about me if we've never met before?" David asked.
"I know quite a bit about you David, how you are mistreated by the others, more specifically by Marcus and Katrina."
You know Marcus and Katrina?" David blurred out.
"Oh yes, we go WAY back. I also know what they did to you in Colorado, that's not right at all. You have such great potential and yet they're stifling you. I can give you what you want, respect, power, and beautiful women."
David looked down at his chips, pondering what Ezekiel said. The Lycan who recruited him eight hundred years ago spoke a similar message, excel that his promises had yet to be fulfilled. Instead of honor and glory David found himself doing the dirty work of the lycans and still was mistreated by nearly everyone. Maybe it was the alcohol but everything Ezekiel sounded great, possibly because he was promising pleasure and respect, not honor and glory. Despite all that, David still suspicious and confused about Ezekiel. He appeared out of nowhere, gave him a hundred thousand dollars' worth of chips, came out as a Lycan but served a different master, and was making him an unusual offer. On top of all that, David still didn't really know who Ezekiel was, and that concerned him. David was so deep in thought that he almost didn't notice Dazzle sitting the cocktail beside him. He quickly thanked Dazzle before turning back to Ezekiel.
David looked at Ezekiel for a moment before stuttering. "Who the hell are you?"
Ezekiel leaned forward and whispered into David's ear. "I'm just a Lycan that knows the real truth and can do something about it. I'm simply offering you a chance to help me."
To be continued.