Chapter 2

Jessie woke up the next morning, just before noon, her arm throbbing painfully. She dragged herself out of bed, sitting down on the couch where her medical kit was still sitting, ripping off the bandage. One glance told her it was infected, not that she was surprised, werewolf scratches usually became infected, she would've been more surprised if it wasn't. She spied the bottle of vodka she'd drank from the night before, it was still sitting on the table where she'd left it the night before. She opened it up and poured some on her wound, a faint cry of pain escaping her lips as she did so. She shook her head with frustration at herself, wondering why she hadn't thought of it the night before.

After she changed her bandage, she got dressed into a clean t-shirt and jeans, brushed her hair and teeth, and left the motel room. She walked down the street, almost a block, to a small diner that served all day breakfast. She sat down in a booth in the corner of the room, she liked to keep an eye on the door at all times.

"Coffee, hun?" the waitress asked as she approached the table with a decanter full of coffee.

"Yes, thank you," she replied, flipping the overturned coffee cup on the table over.

The waitress filled the cup near the top, then excused herself for a moment, returning with a pad of paper and a pen.

"What can I get for you, hun?"

"I'll have two eggs, once over easy, with sausage, hashbrowns, toast, and a fruit cup."

"Sure thing," she said with a smile, promptly leaving to place the order.

Jessie opened two packets of sugar into her coffee and one creamer, stirring it thoroughly, then proceeded to take a sip before placing the cup back on the table. She spied a newspaper on the table next to her, so she scooped it up and began to peruse through it while drinking her coffee.

When the waitress brought her fruit cup, she folded the paper up, setting it down so she could read and eat at the same time. As she finished, she noticed two men walk in, sitting down in the booth two spaces away. She wasn't sure why, but they seemed familiar to her somehow, even though she was positive she'd never met them. She cursed herself for having such a terrible memory lately, she wasn't sure what had gotten in to her in the past few months, but she was worried her lifestyle was finally beginning to catch up with her, that she was losing her edge.

When Jessie was finished eating her fruit cup, the waitress brought the rest of her food and refilled her coffee. She nibbled at her food absentmindedly, while she continued to read the newspaper. She was setting the paper down when she saw a photo on the other side of the page she recognized, the man she'd been hunting for months, the werewolf.

She jumped excitedly, knocking the table with her knee, spilling some of her coffee, the sound made many of the patrons turn to glance at her, including the men she thought she recognized. She smiled with embarrassment, then began cleaning up her mess with napkins, until the waitress came and wiped it with a cloth. She smiled apologetically at her, asking for more coffee, then turned to the newspaper again.

His name was Herbert Close and he worked for the newspaper as a reporter and columnist. She was ecstatic she'd finally found the break she needed and just in time She opened the paper to the second page, looking for the address to the newspaper office, writing it in a memo on her cell phone.

When the waitress brought her coffee, she thanked her, paying for her bill and leaving a generous tip, then proceeded to drink her coffee quickly, finishing only half of it. She stood up, beginning to walk towards the exit, when her arm began to throb painfully from the motion of her arm swinging, distracting her for a split second, it was just long enough to walk into the back of one of the men at the table, who had stood up as well.

"I am so sorry," she apologized.
She bent over to pick up her phone, which she'd dropped in the collision when she noticed something peculiar. She could see a knife sticking just out of the boot of the man she'd bumped in to.

Hmm, maybe he's a hunter and that's why he seems familiar, she thought as she picked up her phone, apologizing again to the man, before hurriedly leaving the diner. Once she was outside, she began to wonder if the man might just be a criminal, but she didn't care, that wasn't her problem. Her only problem was the werewolf she was hunting. She had to get him tonight. She wasn't going to stop until he was dead...or she was.

Jessie hopped into her car, a black 1993 Chevy Caprice, with navy blue interior, tinted windows and a push bar on the front. It looked very much like an old police car, or an undercover vehicle, and she liked it that way. It made playing a cop or fed a little more believeable. The car had been her grandfather's and she cherished it almost as much as he had.

She retrieved her lap top from the passenger side of the car and proceeded to google a map to the newspaper office, then began to search for anything she could find on Herbert Close. She found articles he'd written and a handful of news stories about writing awards he'd been given, but nothing of interest. She closed the lap top, then headed back to her motel room to change. She changed into a woman's black dress suit, then drove straight to the newspaper office.

After talking to several helpful people, many with conflicting directions, Jessie found her way to Herbert's boss's office. He was on the phone when she entered, so she sat patiently waiting for him. When the man began to ramble, she glared at him lightly with slight annoyance. The man hastily made an excuse, then hung up the phone, standing up to greet her, hand extended.

She stood up as well, shook his hand, then pulled out her fake I.D. and flashed it for the man to see.

"My name is Special Agent Marks," she said confidently, placing the I.D. back into her pocket, then sitting back down in the chair. "I was hoping to speak to you about one of your employees."

The balding man looked at her shrewdly, leaning on his desk. "What is this about?"

"Is Herbert Close working today?"

"Herbert?" he said curiously. "Actually, he called in sick today."

She nodded once to acknowledge his reply, then thought for a moment about her next question. She knew he'd probably called in sick because he was injured from the night before. She had at least managed to stab him in the shoulder before he'd gotten away.

"What kind of man would you say Herbert is, Mr. Black?"

He narrowed his eyes in thought for a moment, gazing at her shrewdly once more. "Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"That's classified information, Mr. Black."

He looked slightly annoyed for a moment, hoping to find something out, he was a reporter after all, it was in their nature to be curious.

"He's a great employee, always has been. Works hard, punctual...pays his taxes." She laughed to herself in amusement, she knew he was trying to figure out why she was there. "He's a great writer. In fact, he's one of my best."

"How has his work attendance been?"

"Pretty much perfect. He's always here when he's supposed to be, except when he's not working from home. He does that a few times each month."

"Would I be able to look at his personel records?"

He eyed her warily for a moment. "Absolutely. Just go down to Human Resources. I'll call down to them now and let them know you're coming."

"Thank you very much," she said, standing up and extending her hand. "You've been very helpful."

He shook her hand, walked her out of the office, directing her to the HR office.

She could feel Mr. Black's eyes on her as she left, heading towards the HR office. She didn't think he suspected anything, but one could never tell. This was a necessary evil of her job, but she hated it most of all. She could deal with monsters, but she absolutely dreaded having to pretend she was a cop, a federal agent, or someone else she wasn't. She wasn't a liar and these skills were not ingrained in her for many years like some hunters, but she'd learned quickly, she didn't have any other choice. It just so happened she was very believable.

The Human Resources office was very helpful, supplying her with what she'd wanted, Herbert's home address. She left quickly, but not too quickly to arouse suspicion. As she was leaving the elevator on the main floor, she spied two men dressed in suits and ties, the same two men she'd seen at the diner not long before. She cursed under her breath, sneaking out of the elevator, doing her best to stay behind the other people so the men wouldn't see her. Once she was outside, she hurried to her car, driving back to her motel room quickly.

Inside the motel room, she changed out of the suit she was wearing, replacing it with jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket. She lamented about her old jacket the werewolf had ruined, it had been her favorite, but she didn't really have time to worry about trivial things at the moment, she needed to get to Herbert's house as soon as she could. She was positive now that those two men were hunters and she wasn't about to allow them to interfere with her hunt. She'd spent too much time tracking him, not to mention she had a personal score to settle with him. He had to die at her hands, she wouldn't be satisfied any other way.

It was already late afternoon by the time she drove down Herbert's street, parking a few houses away, the sun was already beginning to go down. She got out of the car, opening the trunk. She pulled up hard on the false bottom of the trunk, revealing an assortment of weapons and tools she used for hunting. Unless someone had known what they were looking for, they never would have suspected it was anything but a normal trunk, since her car had a large trunk space anyway.

She pulled her pistol from her pants, double checking to make sure it was still loaded, then placed it in her front jacket pocket. She grabbed extra bullets, placing them into her pocket, then decided to grab another pistol, just in case, a hunter could never be too careful, especially after her last encounter with him. She placed it in her jeans pocket, then grabbed a silver knife, placing it in the boot opposite of the one with the dagger she always carried with her. Once she was happy she had all she needed, she closed the trunk tight, first making sure the false bottom was locked.

Jessie glanced around the quiet street, checking to see if anyone was out and about, but she noticed no one. The street lights had come on, and the sky was darkening rapidly, one bright star could be seen in an otherwise empty sky. The houses on this street were larger than most of the town, as well as the yards. She was always glad to hunt in a neighbourhood like this, the less witnesses, the better. As she turned towards Herbert's house, she caught a glimpse of a bright light on the horizon, the moon.

"Shit!" she cursed aloud. "I thought I had more time."

Jessie hopped the short chain link fence that ran around Herbert's property with ease, then appoached it slowly, deliberately, being careful to make as little noise as possible. When she reached the side of the house, she turned so her back was up against it, pulling out her gun, then walked towards the side window, glancing in. She saw nothing when she looked in, only one lamp was illuminating the room, and she noticed no movement. She continued walking slowly down the side of the house, glancing in the second window, but the room was too dark to see anything. She continued into the back yard, peeking in another window, but still nothing. She didn't have a choice but to try the back door.

She pulled out her lock pick, quickly unlocking the back door and opened it silently. She stood still for a moment, listening, but heard nothing, so she proceeded to enter the house carefully. Holding her gun in both hands, she walked softly through the dark kitchen, the street lights and the moon were the only things illuminating the room. She opened the kitchen door slowly, peeking into the next room, which was the livingroom. The lamp she'd seen turned on through the outside window was in this room. She once again walked in slowly and carefully, her gun raised, held steady in both hands. She walked towards the front of the house, walking around the furniture, heading towards a door she imagined lead to the hallway or a front room. But as she was about to open the door, she heard the front door slam.

She jumped, startled, but she didn't panic. She turned the doorknob, opening the door slowly, but saw no one. She walked into the front room, which had several windows, and saw Herbert outside, walking away from the house. She raced to the front door, scrambling to unlock the door, then ran out after him. He was almost out of his yard when she made it outside, running towards him.

"Get back here you monster!" she yelled, breathing heavily from the exertion of running.

Herbert turned around, snarling and growling, baring his teeth and began to run towards her.

This was the moment Jessie had been waiting for, dreaming of, for a very long time. She squeezed the trigger confidently, aiming for his heart, but he dodged at the last second, still continuing to run at her. She only had a split second to squeeze off another shot, before he ran at her, knocking her over, the gun falling from her hands. She stuck her legs out, trying to push him away, while trying to avoid his angry gaping maw. She managed to get to the dagger in her boot, slicing him all the way up his side, from his hip to his chest, blood spurting everywhere. He screamed in pain, becoming enraged. She tried to get the knife into his chest, but he was fighting too furiously and she was too concerned about his mouth. If he bit her, she'd turn into a monster too and she couldn't let that happen, she wouldn't.

She tried to grab for her gun again, but it was just out of reach. Then she thought she heard someone shout, but she wasn't sure, with all the snarling and growling it was difficult to tell, and she was too busy trying to keep the werewolf from biting her to look around. But then the werewolf stopped his attack for a moment, looking away. That was when she heard two gunshots in rapid succession and the werewolf fell backwards, unmoving.

Jessie was breathing heavily as she tried to get to her feet. She was in a great deal of pain, only managing to sit up, feeling slightly dizzy. She reached for her gun as she saw two figures approaching in the dark.

"Are you okay?" asked the tallest of the two men, who squatted down beside her.

She glared at the other man, who was slightly shorter and had lighter hair, the man she'd accidentally bumped into at the diner that morning. He was looking kind of smug, which upset her.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" she asked angrily.

"We just saved your life," he replied incredulously.

"I didn't ask for your help," she said irritably, brushing the other man's arm away who'd been trying to help her. She managed to get to her feet on her own, though she was a little unstable.

"That doesn't change the fact that we did."

She glared at him for a few more moments, then put her gun away. "Since you killed him, you deal with the body," she replied, then began walking towards her car.

She heard one of the men yell, "Wait," but she was angry, upset and in a lot of pain, so she ignored him and continued to walk to her car. She had her keys out, trying to open her car door, when she got dizzy again, only this time she fainted.

A/N: Much longer chapter. Hope you like it. Wouldn't mind a review of so far. Thanks for reading!