Chapter 8
Grace parked the Honda away from the cabin as the sisters approached. They were silent as they moved through the trees, communicating through glances and gestures. Hesitating at the edge of the clearing, Serra turned to Grace, waiting for her next move.
Tilting her head, Grace Browning closed her eyes as she listened and attempted to take in as many details of their surroundings as they could. Being only about a half of a mile away from the well-made cabin told her that the end of the werewolf's trail was here; that somehow, they had stumbled onto an entire family unit of wolves.
An entire pack.
She took a deep breath and shook her head, staring at her little sister. They had never gone after an entire pack of werewolves before and she couldn't deny that it made her nervous. Serra only had four or five rounds of silver left and the three silver blades they had were on the small side.
This wasn't going to be easy.
Leaning close to her sister, Grace lowered her voice, quieter than a whisper. "I don't know about this, Lucky," she began, shaking her head. "This…this just seems stupid. Let's just call Tulley and have him and Fred handle it."
"Tulley and Fred are a thousand miles away and they are gonna be in the wind before they can get here," Serra answered, matching Grace's tone, trying her best not to be heard over the breeze.
"We're asking for it," Grace argued.
Grinning, Serra turned to her sister, "Well, think of it this way: would being a werewolf hunter be so bad?"
"I'd rather not be!" Grace whispered, tilting her head and making a face at her sister. "Would being a werewolf be so bad," she repeated under her breath. "Are you high?"
Serra clicked her gum. "Are you offering?"
Ignoring her sister, Grace took another step towards the house, lowering herself into the brush. "We go in fast, no hesitation. Kill what's there and get the hell out before any more come back." Turning, she furrowed her eyebrows at Serra. "If there was one out hunting, then there're probably more out here, too. We are not waiting around for more to come back."
"Ugh, fine."
Without another second's hesitation, Grace took off towards the small cabin, lurking in the dark shadows, hiding herself away from the moonlight that streamed through the trees. Serra followed closely, splitting away from Grace as soon as they got close to the cabin. Holding her breath, Grace glanced into the window of the cabin, ducking again before anyone had a chance to notice that she was there.
More than ten, Grace thought to herself, squeezing her eyes shut tight.
Serra questioned Grace with a look, quizzically tilting her head.
Holding up both hands and flashing ten fingers and then gesturing with her thumb, Grace motioned that there were more werewolves than they had ever taken on alone. Serra's wide, excited eyes were not the reaction that Grace was hoping for.
Closing her eyes once and nodding, Grace took a deep breath. She held up three fingers to Serra, counting down inaudibly.
Three.
Two.
Grace and Serra bounced up from their position, kicking open the front door and letting loose on the unsuspecting werewolves. Three were in mid-shift, their backs broad and hairy, with claws growing quickly out of the tips of their fingers. Serra had fired four shots before the first werewolf even moved, each of her victims hitting the ground with sickening thuds.
Grace was not far behind her; lashing out with her two silver blades quickly. She jumped from victim to victim, stabbing each wolf in the heart deeply, with Serra following closely behind. She had holstered her empty gun and was doing everything in her power not to empty the cartridge. They could do this without bullets if necessary, but it was always nice having a few extra, just in case.
Finally, the werewolves seemed to catch on that they were under attack. They snarled and turned on the sisters, using claws and fangs to try and cause enough damage to drop one or both of the girls. Grace seemed to move like a dancer, spinning out of reach and stabbing as they lunged. Serra caught the victims as Grace passed, making sure that they had each breathed their last.
Standing in the middle of the living room was a final werewolf, breathing hard and baring his fangs. He stared at Grace, and Grace stared right back. From behind her sister, Serra stood silently, waiting for the next move, barely breathing, not even realizing that she was smiling.
The wolf tried his best to get control of the situation by stepping sideways; hoping to get a clear line for the front door, but the sisters adjusted their footing as well, moving together to keep him dead center in the living room. The wolf glanced over to the younger female, staring at her, wondering who would make the next move.
She winked.
Grace sighed heavily, knowing that Serra had just triggered the last fight. She rolled her eyes and braced herself as the wolf launched towards her sister. She ducked, lifting her arms, holding tightly onto both silver blades, dragging them down his chest and stomach as he leaped over her.
The wolf screamed in pain, curling against the knives, trying to change direction in midair. Grace tucked and rolled away, the werewolf following her closely. Without a thought, Grace lowered the weapons to her hips and turned, whipping them both into the wolf's exposed ribcage. With a final scream, he froze and collapsed to the floor, bleeding.
"Will you, for the love of all that's holy, stop winking at them?" Grace turned and lectured her baby sister, who pressed her lips together into a tight line, trying to suppress a smile.
"It's just so easy."
"What," Grace shook her head as she pulled both blades out of the werewolf's chest. "Getting a rise out of the fanged, clawed, easily irritable monster?"
Serra clicked her gum again.
"We need to get the hell out of here," Grace whispered, glancing around one final time. "Let's go. Back to the bike."
Pivoting on the toe of her boot, Serra fell into step behind Grace, jogging back out into the forest. From the edge of the opposite clearing, Eddie and Bertie watched from the shadows, tears streaming down both of their faces as they held their breath, waiting for the Browning sisters to leave.
