Dark Moon Brother
Part Nine
Wolf doubled back on his tracks several times, finally approaching the Park from a different direction than he would normally. He stood eventually on the kerb opposite, keeping himself partially hidden behind a stand where a man sold newspapers. The slanting sun of early evening caused many long shadows to appear in the gloom of the Park. Perfect for stalkers. Also good for those hiding from stalkers, but shadows were no barrier to a wolf's keen nose. All he had to do was shut out the other multitude of smells generated by the city. Petrol based chemicals flooded the area, as well as rotting food in bins, perfumes and deodorants, rats, cats and dogs. Phew! He didn't know how the human's bore it all. Yet for all that, the stench wasn't quite as bad as a Troll's midden. He studied the areas of parkland that he could see from his vantage point, looking for those telltale signs of an ambush, the things he had learnt from his father all those years ago. The furtive glances, the unnaturally stiff postures, the obvious avoiding of certain other people's spaces. Nothing. Just the typical evening crowd makng their way home, picking up takeaways, flowers, cramming onto buses, fighting over taxi's. Presently, he left his post and crossed quickly to the other side of the road and stepped up to a large tree, where he paused once more.
He was on the other side of the Park from where the portal and it's puny human guardian stood, so he carefully started picking his way through the shadows and trees, stopping every now and then to snuff the air. Presently he came to the areas of the Park he knew better, seeing that the priest was still there in his spot. Wolf studied him for a moment. The boy seemed to be dozing, his head nodding down to his chest then jerking back up again periodically. The silly man had no idea that he was being watched. Not even the silence of the squirrels and birds that accompanied the approach of the half-wolf had alerted him. Wolf skirted the boy carefully and made his way over to the tree with the marks on it. It had seemed a logical place to start and it was indeed flooded with the scent he was looking for. He drew out the letter had sniffed it again, making sure he had the right man. Satisfied, he pocketed it and cast about for tracks of the man's passage. Soon enough he found heavy boot marks whose scent matched that of his quarry. The light was failing fast but it was still enough for him to pick out the direction. He began to follow, as silently as possible. After a few hundred paces he began to get strong wafts of man scent coming towards him. His spine began to tingle in anticipation and his crest stood up, pushing at the shirt fabric. His canine teeth ached to come down, but he withheld them for now. He knew his eyes likely glowed green in the dusk but there was not much he could do about them. The scent was very strong now, he was close. Wolf crouched down in a patch of fern and began to inch his way forward, all senses afire with danger alerts. No other man scents. No one else rustled the foliage. He raised his head slightly to look over the undergrowth and caught sight of his quarry at last.
It was a man, as he had known. A tall man, likely taller than Wolf himself. He had his back to the trees and stood in a tiny opening between a half-dozen oaks. His stance was one of someone presently at ease, but Wolf could see the tense readiness of the man's shoulders and legs. He saw the man looking around without being really obvious about it and he moved his head only slightly as he listened to the sounds of the darkening woodland. None of the more unusual sounds emitted by the forest seemed to bother this man though, the owl hoot and the angry chatter of squirrels didn't make him jump in alarm. A man used to forest noises then, thought Wolf. In fact, it was uncanny just how much the man's overall posture, bearing and attentiveness reminded Wolf of other half-wolfs. He himself probably cut a similar form when he was observed by others. He looked closely at the man, seeing that there was no telltale bulge in his trousers where a tail might be hidden. Maybe this man was a quarter-wolf, one of those born without a tail? But no, even tail-less wolf's still carried that particular scent of kindred. This was a man, no more. He stirred a little bit, giving out just the slightest sound to see if the strange man would hear it. He did, and Wolf tensed as the man swung round suddenly to face his direction. He could hear the man's heartbeat thudding in excitement or fear, probably both. Good.
"I can't see you, but I know you must be there! Friend?" the man called out softly. The voice was deep, educated and it quavered only a little bit. Wolf was impressed at the man's control. He stayed hidden, wanting to see what the man would do.
"I am Elias, friend. I have no weapons here, no trap to spring. Will you not show yourself, that we may talk a while?" he continued, the voice becoming less tremulous and more coaxing, calming. Wolf felt his hackles relax just a tiny bit, but then the man did something that totally surprised him. Working his throat muscles furiously, the man ground out a rough approximation of a word in the wolf tongue.
"Friend?". It was a simplistic word, like what Cub might have made, but it was clear nonetheless. Wolf was stunned at the revelation. Human's couldn't speak wolfish. They didn't have the vocal range, nor the aural capabilities to learn it. His head reeled with all the possibilities, but nothing obvious came to mind to explain how this man could use that tongue. He decided to speak to the man in wolfish.
"I am here" he said, slowly, watching the man's reaction. Elias started nodding earnestly and a huge grin broke out over his features before he could stop it.
"Yes, yes, you are here! Forgive me, friend, I can understand a little of your tongue and speak even less, at least at this time of the moon anyway! Your voice sounds strange to my ears. You have the human vocal chords also. Will you not speak with me?" Wolf could see Elias straining to see him in the darkness, but the man wisely stayed where he was, perhaps knowing that Wolf was in the process of either deciding to speak, or to kill him and ask questions later.
"I understand your reluctance, friend. I know what was done to you. But the men of this world are not all the same, and I do not usually count myself amongst them. I have held myself away for countless years, but those priests would likely treat me in the same manner as they did you, even those who once were family to me". Wolf's skin prickled in agitation as the elusive familiarity of the scent came to him suddenly.
"You, you are Peter's kin" he blurted out roughly, standing up now and showing himself. Elias stood his ground firmly.
"Yes! And you are my brother's killer. His demon"
Wolf stood a scant few feet away, certain now that this Elias meant him harm. Every instinct raged within him. Run! Fight! Kill! Get away! He wavered a moment. He knew his eyes glowed the feral hunting red, his fangs had come down, his hands bunched to claws. He was almost ready to spring when he heard the last thing he expected, laughter. The man Elias was chortling and trying unsuccessfully to thwart the giggles as he bent over nearly double in his merriment. Wolf was perplexed at the display. He had seen hysteria before, had caused it on many occasions in fact, but this was not the typical manic shrieking that accompanied real terror. No, this man was genuinely happy. There was no bitterness or irony in the laughter. He had collapsed weakly to the grass now, still holding his sides and dashing away the tears that dripped onto his pristine suit pants. Wolf relaxed just a bit as Elias lay back now on the ground, a loud chuckle escaping him every so often. He wiped his eyes with a large hankerchief and blew his nose with gusto. He sat up once more, cross legged, and patted at the ground next to him.
"Here, sit down, Wolf. I'm sure you're doubly curious now, enough maybe not to kill me on the spot before I tell my tale, yes?". Wolf willed his teeth to return to their hiding places and felt his eyes lose some of their intensity as his vision became less red and more green. He stared at the man, and the two locked gazes for the first time. Elias' eyes were clear, brimming still with humour, but Wolf saw in them an underlying sadness, a self-pitying look that he supposed he got himself from time to time. He snorted quietly at the man, but did not give up his position of advantage by sitting down.
"Ah, as you will then. May I call you Wolf, or do you have some other human name you go by?"
"Wolf will do". Hesitant.
"Well, Wolf, as you may have guessed, I have been in some contact with our young Connor who watches in the Park. It was he who gave me most of the recent information about you. Foolish boy was all too willing to give away what he knew. You really shouldn't let him continue to know such things"
"The boy is mad. No one would believe him"
"His former superiors still believe him, you know. They watch him as closely as he watches for you. I'm sure they hope to use him as a first warning system. I managed to convince him to call me in the first instance of seeing you again, but I don't know if he will also scurry over there with his news as well". Wolf scanned the night once more. Alone still, no danger hiding in the bushes. He doubted whether the priest folk would risk an open confrontation with him anyway. Another sneaky trick more likely. He shouldn't have left Virginia and Cub alone. If this man could find the den, so could others. Elias stirred restlessly on the ground.
"I think you can relax a little, Wolf. Connor hasn't gone back to his former friends, I am sure of it. He hates them now. They cast him out". Wolf continued to scan and gradually became more restless at the thought of Virginia and Cub undefended at the apartment. Maybe this whole meeting was a ruse, a ploy to seperate them. He scowled deeply at the man on the ground.
"I don't know you. I don't trust you. You will come with me, now" said Wolf roughly. Closing the distance between them, he hauled the man to his feet, keeping a firm grip on the back of his neck. Elias offered no resistence to being manhandled and allowed himself to be frogmarched out of the grove. Within minutes they had reached the open spaces that bordered the trees. Wolf was careful not be seen by the dozing Connor as he escorted Elias across the street and walked him up the few blocks towards the apartment building of Virginia's Grandmother. When they reached the expansive foyer, he searched around for the row of buttons on the wall he wanted. He studied them for a moment, then pressed the correct one. There was a faint buzzing sound and then a crackling voice came through the speaker.
"Hello?"
"Virginia, love, it's me. All is well there with you?"
"Wolf! Yes, everything's fine here. What are you doing down in the lobby? Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I'll be up in a while. I need to have a talk with the letter writer, but I needed to be sure you were safe first. If one person can find us, then others can too. I'll be within earshot, so you just holler if you need me, okay? I love you"
"Okay okay. Be careful". Wolf released the buzzer and turned to stare at Elias once more. He seemed calm enough, but Wolf could sense the underlying fear, plus, a touch of defiance in his attitude. Not used to being roughed up, obviously. There was a small sitting and reception area on the ground floor, and Wolf nodded towards it, letting go his hold on the man. Elias went ahead and selected a pair of old fashioned chairs, sinking down into one with a relieved sigh, stretching out his long legs. Wolf took the other chair and moved it slightly so he could see the front doors over Elias' shoulder. The men sat in silence for a few minutes.
"You must be wondering how it is I can understand your wolf speech"
"Amongst other things"
"Well, do I start at the beginning of the tale, or where we are now?" Elias mused. "Ah, well, it seems I am about to trust you with the greatest secret of my life, one that I have told but twice before, and now, none living know it" He paused, fidgeting with his tie, cufflinks, shirt buttons, before raising his head and looking Wolf squarely in the eye. "I don't know if the term is familiar to you, but in this world I am called a lycanthrope, a werewolf, a shapeshifter, and this has been my existence for more than twenty years"
Wolf sat dumbfounded by the revelation. The man spoke truth, that was easy to see. Body language did not lie. A werewolf! He certainly did remember reading about such creatures more than a year ago in Virginia's apartment. He recalled wanting to pursue the legends further, but his plans had been interrupted. Virginia had believed that werewolves didn't exist, but Wolf knew that most legendary mythical tales could be traced back to some form of a real event, or monster. There were no werewolf stories in the 9 Kingdoms that he had heard, but then, the reality of half human, half wolf hybrids walked daily amongst the peoples. He supposed that if all half-wolf's were wiped out suddenly, a child of distant generations could sit at the fireside and hear stories of a creature no one believed ever existed. It was an unsettling thought. He looked back to Elias finally. The man sat as if waiting for some sign from Wolf, some judgement. He seemed smaller somehow, defeated, like a man whose wounds had been reopened and expected salt to be rubbed into them. Wolf found that all his danger senses had receded suddenly. This man was no enemy.
"Cripes! A werewolf! You are right, Elias, we have no such legends amongst my people of such as you. You were not born as you are though? You are many more than twenty years of age. How did you come to be?" Wolf sat forward in his chair, eager, smiling at Elias in encouragement. The tall man smiled back, hesitantly at first, then broadening. He reached out and gripped Wolf's forearm, testing the realness of it, pushing back the sleeve to feel the skin. Wolf laughed softly.
"Nay, those are human enough arms, for sure. Here, give me your hand" Wolf spoke, guiding Elias' hand around to the back of his shirt where his back crest was quite detectable under the thin fabric. "'Fraid I can't drop my trousers right here, but later my mate might let me show you..." he teased, seeing the wonder in Elias' eyes. "And look at these!" he continued, letting his long canines drop down from his upper jaw and flashing them for a moment at the man. Elias' was wide eyed with amazement and Wolf was secretly pleased at the reaction. It was just like two school boys playing a game of 'you show me yours and I'll show you mine'. The werewolf and the half-wolf sat back now, each lost in his own thoughts, processing the new information they had just received. Wolf broke the silence after a few minutes.
"Now, strange man who can become a wolf, tell me the whole story! But first, we must eat! I'm starving, and the old lady has just taken the roast out of the oven. Let us retire to the kitchen upstairs. My Virginia will be wanting to meet you. And I have a Cub, did you know?" And so chattering on, Wolf lead Elias into the elevator and pressed the button for the right floor.