Chapter Seven- Shifting Preparations

Elisa was surprised and delighted when she reported for work to learn that seventeen people had been killed last night, the last of the Quarrymen among them. Paw prints were found at the murders, but so badly smudged that they couldn't be used for DNA evidence. Officers had followed a trail of smudged prints but lost the trail at a puddle. Elisa had been careful to conceal clear prints and washing her paws to avoid leading her pursuers to her home. The city was in a state of panic and she was happy knowing she was the cause.

She kept her happiness and delight to herself and affected a concerned and preoccupied expression that matched her co-workers. She also learned that the animal was being dubbed The Full Moon Killer as the murders had only occurred during the full moon.

"This is serious," Elisa said as she drove her and Matt around during their shift.

"Yeah. Captain thinks there could be another werewolf or some similar animal is loose."

"I agree with her thought of another werewolf. The smudged prints and the trail being lost points at cunning and a predatory animal doesn't conceal their trail like that."

Matt nodded. "Makes sense."

"Of course. It's important to know how your suspect thinks."

"Elisa," Matt said slowly. "How's your sense of smell?"

"Quite good. You may want to apply less aftershave, for example."

"Hey!"

Elisa laughed at Matt's annoyed face. "So, why did you ask?"

"I just thought that maybe you would be able to sniff out our killer even while human."

Elisa affected a thoughtful expression. "Yes," she answered slowly. "That could work. It makes sense that a werewolf could be caught by another werewolf. I'll suggest it to the Captain after our shift."

"An interesting suggestion, Maza but let's wait on that. Other officers have already been assigned to track and catch The Full Moon Killer."

"I understand," Elisa replied, but inside she was worried and annoyed. She was worried that she may have left clues that would point to her and she was annoyed that the Captain wasn't putting her solely on the case. Even if she did, she might get suspicious if the murders continue while I'm sniffing out the "suspect" in between moons.

Chavez watched Maza leave her office before leaning back in her chair. The search for the killer hadn't really started as officers were searching for evidence; once they collected what they could, then they had to figure out a pattern. Initial reports stated there was no pattern: The murder scenes were all over the place. Rich, poor, young, old, the killer wasn't picky. She kept the werewolf theory between herself, Bluestone, and Maza. Speaking of Maza, I'm becoming suspicious. There hadn't been any deaths until the last full moon last month. This month, the full moon deaths total twenty-four. It's possible that Maza got loose last month and killed that night. If so, she's allowed herself to roam this month, resulting in those deaths. I can't ask her as she'll most likely lie. I can, however, tell Bluestone and he can keep an eye of her.

Elisa carefully drove around the city, visiting each scene and obliterating any evidence once the scene was devoid of any police. There had been one scene where she found strands of black fur that could have been her fur, so she collected it. At another scene, she spotted clear prints and quickly smudged them with a white cloth that she took with her. She went home, got some sleep, and ate a dinner of medium-done meat before heading to work.

Matt watched Elisa out of the corner of his eye as he had been doing for two weeks now, ever since Chavez had called him into her office two nights after the full moon. She voiced concerns that Elisa may be responsible for all those deaths, despite claims that she stayed home. Matt took Chavez's concerns seriously and knew it was likely that Elisa had killed. I've read that once a werewolf kills, he or she becomes addicted to it and will want to do more murders and eventually eat people. Indeed, two of the dead people showed signs of being eaten. If Elisa has killed and eaten, then she's becoming a dark and possibly evil person. She needs to stop before that happens or goes much further if she has already started.

"Elisa, you haven't killed anyone, right?" he asked gently.

"Of course not, but what if I have?" she asked neutrally.

"If you had, I would ask that you resist doing it again. You know killing is wrong. But since you haven't, no problem then."

"Of course I know it's wrong and you're right. I haven't killed, so there's no problem."

How dare he!" she silently growled once at home. He doesn't understand! I'm a werewolf! Killing is what werewolves do! I bet Chavez is suspicious and told Matt! They dare meddle in how I conduct myself! Fine, then in two weeks, I'll kill them.

Her nose and mouth itched as she imagined ripping out their throats and a growl of satisfaction emerged; a real wolf growl. She blinked at the sound and then noticed the reason for it: Her muzzle had formed! She ran to the mirror to see herself with the ears and muzzle of a wolf!

How did this happen? Did my desire to kill make them appear? She thought back to the night she was bitten and remembered that there had been no full moon that night. She looked back at her reflection and focused on making her muzzle disappear. She watched her muzzle shrink back into her human nose and mouth, leaving the ears. She focused and they changed too. Nice. I can change whenever I want. I don't have to wait two weeks to kill Matt and Chavez. She smiled evilly as her ears reappeared and her eyes turned gold and cruel.

Elisa practiced shifting back and forth and discovered that her clothes molded with her fur and skin which made it convenient: If she was going to kill, she didn't want to strip for that as it would give her prey time to get away or shoot her. She learned to partially shift first and then fully shift. She contemplated which version she would use on her targets and decided to use the full one on Matt and for Chavez that depended on the circumstances.

Matt glanced side along at Elisa. His partner seemed calm and happy tonight as opposed to the tense way she had been three nights ago. He wondered whether she had simply a good day's rest. "You sleeping better, partner?"

Elisa smiled slightly and nodded. "Oh, yes. I slept well today and my head's a lot clearer now."

"Glad to hear it."

Suddenly, Elisa pulled over, stopped the car, and turned it off, her attention on the alley behind Matt. "Elisa?" he asked.

"I thought I saw something in there." She nodded at the alley.

"Well, let's go." Matt got out of the car and headed for the alley with Elisa slowly following, a cruel smile on her face.