Disclaimer:  Standard disclaimer applies. Nothing here owned by me, all by Squaresoft.

Author's Note:  I can't seem to give this story the dark tone I was trying for, and it's bothering me.  Well, I have two chapters left; maybe I can accomplish it by the end.  And this chapter has been rewritten twice already.  I don't know what it is about this fic that makes me obsessively redo everything!  And I now know why I usually avoid linking a werewolf curse to the full moon; the days in between are a drag!

SHADOW MOON

A 'Falls the Shadow' fic

Part Three

Between Darkness and Light

Werewolves…  The word conjured up images, suddenly sharp and clear, of blood and flesh that parted like butter beneath razor claws and the scent of fear in the air like an intoxicating drug…   Werewolves, creatures of legend that transformed under a full moon, grew fur, grew claws, losing themselves completely to the bloodlust…  My bedding was covered with fur, and the tears were like claw marks!  Werewolves, savage killers who hunted the night, like the creature they'd hunted, who'd hunted them… who'd bitten him…  The curse is passed through a bite!

Gray plastered a false smile to his face, hoping to reassure the tech.  "Neil," he began calmly, "there's no such thing – "

"There's a whole other world in the shadows," Neil said suddenly, a strange, almost fevered look crossing his face.  "The dead walk there and prey on the living…  The light holds them back, but the shadow is spreading, falling over us all…" Neil began to shake, and sweat beaded his forehead.  Fever… He's delirious!

Gray opened his mouth to call for the doctor, but she came before he could utter a sound, summoned perhaps by Neil's moaning and thrashing.  "What did you do?" she seethed, her rage more frightening than a horde of Phantoms.

"Nothing!  He was just speaking to us normally, then asked to see me alone, then…"  Then he panicked…  "Then he seemed to lapse into a delirious state," Gray said helplessly. His eyes were on Neil's, which were rolling wildly.  Froth flecked his lips, tinged with blood.  The look of terror hadn't left his face, but had further twisted it into a grotesque shape.

"Get out… Get out!" the doctor ordered angrily.  She was bent over Neil, and seemed to sense where his terror was directed.  Gray beat a hasty retreat, almost running from the hospital before the doctor could corner him and question Neil's reaction.  Jane and Ryan were nowhere in sight, so he kept running away from the terrified tech and his wild accusations.  Werewolves…  They don't exist!  They don't exist!

Gray didn't stop his flight until he reached the park outside the hospital.  The sad cluster of decrepit, fenced-in trees and withered flowers hardly fit the name, but the bleak atmosphere suited Gray's grim mood.  He found a bench on the lonely far side of the park and collapsed onto the hard plastic with a sigh.  He and his squad were off duty for the next few days, so he had plenty of time to think things through.

Why had he reacted so strongly to Neil's question?  Why had Neil been so terrified of him?

What had happened that night?

Gray closed his eyes and leaned back against the bench.  He concentrated on emptying his head of all thoughts except for the fragments of memories he had of that night.

Pain…  That was the first, most vivid recollection.  His arm had throbbed and his head had felt as if it would burst.  The pain had continued to intensify until he was achingly aware of everything; the blood pulsing in his veins, the rapid beating of his heart…  Even his senses had been heightened; his hearing and sense of smell had threatened to overwhelm him.

I… I smelled them!  He suddenly, horribly recalled the scent of the others, each odor imprinting itself on his mind, calling to… to something that was coiled within, waiting for release.

No… this is impossible.  I'm just rattled by what Neil said.  Then why couldn't he just dismiss what Neil had said out of hand?  Because of the blood on my hands…  Gray examined his fingers, though all traces of blood had since been washed away.  Where did it come from?  Try as he might, he just couldn't dredge up anything more of that night from his memories, except fragments that could have been nightmares… or could be something much, much more…

But… a werewolf?  Impossible!  As if to prove him wrong, the gentle breeze that had been tugging at the listless plants seemed to grow louder, roaring in his ears and bringing to him sounds from across the park that should have been inaudible.  His flaring nostrils picked up the staleness of the air around him, and the faint odor of rot from within the plants.  And his vision…

For a brief moment, he could see spirits, within the people jogging past him, glowing weakly within the hearts of the stunted trees, rippling like an oily blue ocean beneath the grass… And there, in the deep shadow cast by one old tree that had almost managed to grow normally, was… something.  Before he could do more than glimpse it, his sensed returned to normal, and he lost it.

There's a whole other world in the shadows…  The shadow is spreading, falling over us all…  Neil's fevered words came back to him.  Gray couldn't suppress a sudden chill that went down his spine.

It's nothing!  I'm just unsettled, is all.  There are no werewolves, and there isn't anything living in the shadows.

He just hoped the light of the full moon wouldn't prove him wrong.

*    *    *

General Hein summoned him that afternoon.  Gray hoped the general had news of Neil's attacker; the fact that there was someone or something out there that had mauled one of the elite Deep Eyes in the safety of the hangar had many soldiers on edge.

He met Hein in the conference room, where the general was staring out the window, his dark coat making him blend perfectly with the shadows.  His head was angled back, watching Gray out of the corner of his eye.  Major Elliot stood off to the side, a weary expression on his face.  Gray supposed he'd been doing the bulk of the investigating.

A low growl caught Gray's attention, and he turned, his body tensed for battle.  What the hell?  The sound came from a small box resting on the conference room table.  Hein followed his gaze, and a sneer played across his lips as he took in Gray's reaction.  "We searched the entire military building for your…'dog,'" Hein said coolly, striding over to the box.  "This was the most vicious creature we found."

Gray wasn't sure what to expect from the creature's savage growls, but he almost burst out laughing as Hein opened the box and a tiny head popped out, ears slicked back and teeth fiercely bared.  "Mutt here belongs to one of my soldiers," Hein said as the dog clumsily leaped out of the box and skittered around the smooth table, growling at all three of them.  "Please tell me your man wasn't savaged by a Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix."

Gray couldn't hide his pained expression.  The general had called him here to have fun at Neil's expense.  He hadn't suspected the general of such cruel humor.  "I don't understand what the general is trying to tell me," Gray said stiffly.

Hein reached a hand to stroke the tiny dog, but with a low growl, it darted forward and bit his hand, tearing through the leather glove to the skin beneath.  Blood welled from the pale flesh.  "Only that this is a waste of time, Captain."  He gestured to Major Elliot, who scooped the squirming dog into his arms and left with it.  "Perhaps you were attacked by a stray dog, but your tech was most likely the victim of someone who heard about it your little unauthorized expedition and decided to dress up in a mask and give the corporal a little scare.  That may be why the hangar cameras picked up nothing; anyone who would have heard about this would be military, and would have access to the cameras to wipe out the evidence."

Gray paid no attention to the last bit as Hein's words sank in.  He was doubting Neil?  Admittedly, Gray himself wouldn't have paid heed to Neil's wild ravings…  Except for his feelings that something was horribly wrong.  And Gray had learned to trust his feelings.

"We will continue the investigation, of course," Hein said smoothly, "but I want no more talk of giant dogs."

"Yes, sir," Gray said flatly.

"One last thing before you're dismissed," Hein said, his hand going to his pocket and withdrawing something that glinted in the dim light.  "This was recovered by a patrol the other night."  He held out a knife, one of those issued to all Deep Eyes soldiers.  Evidence? Gray wondered.  "Judging from the serial number, it belongs to your tech.  Don't let him lose it again; these things are expensive.  They're silver alloy, you know."

There was a strange expression in Hein's eyes as he said the last, but Gray ignored it.  Where had Hein found the knife?  The chances of a patrol just happening upon it were slim to nil.  So where else could he have gotten it?  He reached for the knife, curling his fingers around the hilt –

- and cried out in pain as his flesh came into contact with the metal.  Hein's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing, only turning away as though disgusted.

Gray opened his shaking hand, staring in shock at the huge welts that had formed across his palm where the flesh had brushed the metal.  What the hell?

He looked up at Hein to see how the man was reacting, but Hein was busy examining his bitten finger and the blood that still trickled sluggishly from the shallow cut.  He seemed completely unconcerned by Gray's hesitation to touch the knife.  Why had it hurt?  He didn't want to consider the thought while in the conference room with Hein, however, so he fished a handkerchief from one pocket and picked up the knife with it, placing it in his pocket.  "Was there anything else you wanted of me, sir?"  Gray asked, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Hein didn't look up.  "You may go, Captain.  I found out everything I need to know."

Gratefully, Gray walked to the door, trying not to seem as if he were in a hurry.  But before he left he paused, realizing he still didn't know how Neil's knife had been recovered.  He turned around, opening his mouth to ask.

The words caught in his throat as he saw the look on Hein's face.  The man's eyes were closed, an expression of ecstasy on his face as he licked the blood from his finger.

*    *    *

Gray wrapped a bandage around his hand absently as he considered the knife resting on the desk before him.  In the brighter light, its pristine length still showed no indication of what had burned him.  The blisters on his hand ached, and he couldn't flex it without sending sharp stabs of pain through his arm.

He pulled a glove over his left hand, and gingerly picked it up by the hilt, studying it in the light.  Why had it hurt him?

And where had Hein gotten it?  Gray doubted the general's men had found it, not without the corpse of the animal, as well.  But if the animal had been found, why hadn't Hein told Gray?  Did Hein know something?  Paranoia about his superior was not something Gray wanted.  Some of the stories about the general were strange enough – really, why the hell would anyone think Hein kept a human skull in his desk drawer? – but General Hein wasn't evil.  But he was hiding something…  Gray had sensed that much.  He doubted Hein was in league with the scientists, hiding the corpse from the Council, though it was possible the beast was some sort of military experiment.   It had, after all, hurt a Phantom…

No, that wasn't an option Gray would consider yet.  That way lay madness.  Though it is more reasonable than some of the ideas I've heard today…

They're silver alloy, you know.  Hein's words suddenly came back to him, and he frowned.  Why would the general think he cared about that?  Silver…    Something tugged at the back of Gray's memory.  Silver… That's it.  It kills werewolves!  Gray dropped the knife as though it had burned him again.  Impossible!  Most of our equipment is made of this alloy, and I haven't been hurt by it!

Except for…  Gray probed the still-bruised flesh around his eyes.  Dimly, the memory came to him of a metal bar, a searing pain…  Then nothing…

Gray's hands shook.  Neil had recognized the wound on his forehead.  That was the reason for his horrified expression.  As for the werewolf thing…  Why would Neil suspect something so absurd?  Could it possibly be true?

All myths are based on fact, Aki had once said to him when they'd still dated.  Over time, they get blown out of proportion, become fantastic rather than factual, but if you dig deep enough, you'll find the truth to every myth.

Gray rested his face in his hands.  There was nothing he could do at the moment.  He needed to speak to Neil alone, but after his episode, the doctors weren't letting anyone in to see him.  I know Neil's attack was my fault… I don't know how, but I hurt him.  If Neil was right, all would be revealed in another three weeks, under the full moon.  There was little he could do until then but get on with his life, perform his duties ad if nothing was wrong.  It was going to be the hardest three weeks of his life.

*    *    *

Neil was finally released after a week in the hospital.  Gray hung back as Ryan and Jane greeted him with declarations that he looked like shit.  And he did, Gray thought as he studied Neil's sallow skin and sunken eyes.  He'd lost weight, too.  And the doctor had said Neil had been plagued with nightmares ever since he'd been brought in.  Nightmares about me?

Hesitantly, Gray went up to Neil after the others had finished their effusive greetings.  The tech greeted him with a broad smile, which Gray tentatively returned.  Did the corporal even remember?

Yes, Gray realized when he saw the shadows flickering in the depths of Neil's eyes.  But Neil saluted him as if nothing was wrong, and launched a rant about the evils of hospital food, which had Ryan laughing and Jane rolling her eyes.

As they left, moving slowly to match the shaky stride caused by Neil's damaged ankle, the corporal turned to Gray.  "Sir?" he said slowly.  "Could you walk with me to my quarters?  I… I need to discuss something with you."

Jane and Ryan took the hint.  They left quickly after promising to take Neil out for his first good meal in a week, and Gray was left alone with the tech.

Once they were alone, the shadows in Neil's eyes crept across his face as he finally showed his fear.  "How's the investigation going?" he asked, almost tonelessly.

That's not what he really wants to know, Gray sensed.  So he hadn't let go of the werewolf thing.  "We haven't found anything yet.  Except a Chihuahua who bit General Hein.  Vicious little bastard, too; you sure that's not what attacked you?"

Neil seemed unsurprised by their lack of findings, and he managed to smile weakly at Gray's joke.

"But you didn't expect anything to be found, did you?" Gray continued.  He carefully considered his next words.  If he continued, he'd commit himself to actually believing the myth.  "Not until the next full moon."

Neil halted, eyes wide.  "Sir…  I just said that because of a dream I had… You don't think I believe…" he sputtered.

"That it was a werewolf that attacked me that night?"  Gray unconsciously rubbed the healed bite wound on his arm.  "That I became one myself the next night?  It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard…  and I'm starting to wonder if you're right."

Neil blinked.  "Sir?"  He sounded wary, as though waiting to be told this was all a big joke.

Gray waited until they were alone in Neil's room before going on.  "I don't remember what happened the night you were attacked," Gray confessed quietly.  "But when I woke up, there was blood on my hands."

Neil stayed silent, but his eyes were wide and fearful.  "I don't know exactly where the wound on my head came from, but I have very dim memories.  Memories you appear in," Gray said, his voice nearly inaudible.  "I don't know how, but I… I think I'm the one who attacked you."

"Oh, no…" Neil's words were a moan.  But he didn't shy away from Gray, as the captain had half-feared.  "They're delusions, sir, they have to be.   You can't be one that walks between the darkness and the light…"

Gray's brow furrowed at Neil's strange phrases, reminiscent of his fevered rambles.  But then Neil's face suddenly cleared.  "There's only one way to tell," he said.  "The next full moon is in a few weeks.  We'll know then.  I'll help you prove this is all one big delusion of ours, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or something."  He sounded desperate to believe his own words.

Gray wanted to believe that himself.  A life locked away in the hospital due to insanity sounded better than a wild theory.  "And if by some chance it's true?" Gray asked.

"Then," Neil said softly, "I'll have to kill you."

To Be Continued…