Chapter 6

11 Hours 45 Minutes until Dawn

"Shan, how are we even going to hope to find Jana before he does if we're following the same blood trail?" Tom asked as they ran. Their lungs burned from the cold air that tortured them like shards of glass scraping through the tissue on contact every time they breathed it in.

"It's all we've got for now, Tom." Shannon replied. "I really don't have a better idea."

"Well that's comforting." Tom muttered sarcastically.

"Look, I can't work miracles all the time, okay?" Shannon snapped. "No one can."

"Yeah, but tonight is the night we really need to!" Tom countered. "People have died already, Shan. We can't let anyone else be hurt, human or Wolfblood."

"I get it, Tom." Shannon said as she ground to a stop. "I really want to stop any more deaths from happening too. The trouble is we can't even ask ourselves where Jana might go. It's not her that's in control here, it's the wolf. Rhydian knew that his wolf might try to bait us into the cellar and it did. The problem is that there's no telling what Jana's wolf might do and she can't warn us."

"Okay, so we should probably get to a high vantage point and use the night vision binoculars." Tom suggested. "With a lot of luck and a hefty portion of total guesswork, we might be able to spot her or some sort of clue that could help."

"The only thing is; there's nowhere that really overlooks enough of the town." Shannon shrugged.

"Wasn't there supposed to be a lighthouse somewhere near the beach?" Tom asked.

"How the hell would we see the town from there?" Shannon countered. "The beach is nowhere near Stoneybridge."

"You won't have to go quite that far." Shannon and Tom looked to their right. They were too late to counter as Kyle's boot slammed into Tom's side, sending him sprawling. Shannon went to reach for the gas grenade in her pocket, but was cut off as Kyle grabbed her by the hair and dragged her round in a circle before throwing her into something he'd been carrying with Rick's help. As the wooden panel came up and Kyle slid the crossbeam into place locking her in there, Shannon realised that it was actually the same wooden crate that he'd trapped Maddy and Rhydian in back when she'd been stupid enough to help him.

"Why are you doing this?" she screamed as Kyle through the box.

"Do you want the short list or the long?" Kyle snapped as he hauled Tom to his feet and quickly cable-tied his hands behind his back. "I must say, it was very clever how you killed Steve." Kyle turned his attention back to Tom. "I never thought you had it in you. It's just too bad that all my gas canisters are coated with a fine film layer that makes fingerprints glow under the light of our torches."

"I just put him to sleep!" Tom snapped.

"Oh, and you conveniently forgot that the stuff attracts anything with a predatory olfactory system even after the anaesthetic dissipates? I don't buy it!" Kyle kicked Tom behind the kneecaps, cutting his legs from under him. "But now, we're going to get a chance to get even. Since you also let the wolves go the first time and stole my first batch of the bait, you'll be replacing it. When we draw the wolf in, we'll lull it into a false sense of security and then let the anaesthetic do its work. She'll probably kill you before she drops off, but you'll be asleep anyway. For you, it'll be painless. Shannon on the other hand, will be watching every detail from the box."

"You're a monster!" Shannon spat.

"I'm not the one who used a gas grenade to kill an innocent man!" Kyle countered.

"He's just asleep though!" Shannon said desperately.

"The wolf came back for him, Shannon." Kyle landed a savage kick on the box and caused it to topple. Shannon put her full weight into tipping it back over onto its front. She managed it and landed with such force that she heard the bottom of the box splinter. "Maybe if your friend hadn't left the door open, he'd still be with us." Kyle dragged Tom a couple of meters towards the tree line and then threw him downwards so that his face hit the floor hard.

"Stop it!" Shannon screamed. Kyle pulled one of the bait grenades from his belt and threw it to Rick.

"Okay, just pull the pin and roll it by his head so I can get out of firing range before it goes off." Kyle instructed as Rick let his camera hang slightly in disbelief that he was actually holding a weapon that would be ending someone's life by his action.

"I have a better idea." Rick grinned maliciously.

"What? Is this too big a job for you?" Kyle rolled his eyes.

"I'm just wondering if we don't need a bigger bucket of bait." Rick shrugged.

"Who did you have in mind?" Kyle asked. The air crackled with an energy so strong it was the next best thing to visible. Kyle stood there with Tom squirming under his foot. The heel of Kyle's boot was digging into the small of Tom's back. Rick clipped the grenade to his belt as he hefted his camera onto his shoulder. With split-second timing, he swung it like a club. The strike was a hair's breadth away from smashing half of Kyle's skull in. Kyle just managed to drop back and whirl round, swinging out a kick that knocked Rick's camera off his shoulder and to the floor.

"I have to do something!" Shannon muttered to herself as Kyle began grappling with Rick and winning.

"What the hell is it with camera people?" Kyle hissed through his teeth. Kyle was definitely the stockier and stronger of the two. He was easily overpowering Rick. Shannon didn't have time to think. She pulled her bait grenade she stole from Kyle from her pocket before pulling the pin and pressing the release nozzle against the viewing window of the box. Blowing through the window also helped prevent any from doubling back on the breeze and knocking her out instead.

"If you're out there Jana, then now's the time." Shannon muttered.

"Do you remember the moment we met?" Kyle asked Rick as he threw him on the floor. "Do you remember how it could have gone and didn't? Well nothing's going to save you now!"

"I don't kill kids." Rick spat. With that, Kyle pulled another grenade from his belt. He smashed it into Rick's mouth with enough force to nearly dislocate the younger man's jaw.

"You were right, you know?" Kyle laughed as he pulled the pin. "We did need a bigger piece of bait." At that moment, an eerie howl tore through the air. Panting could be heard as the wolf approached. Rick struggled and thrashed desperately as Kyle held him down with his boot just as he had done Tom. Tom wasn't getting up to help. Shannon must have realised that he'd exhausted himself fighting Kyle before.

Having not thought any further than pulling the pin on her grenade, Shannon watched with her heart in her mouth as a wolf stepped from the tree line. The gleam in her red coat was matched only by the hostility in her blood red eyes. Kyle had pulled his scarf up to shield himself from the gas, and he reached for his strobe torch just in case the wolf didn't fall asleep quick enough. He waited and watched as she prowled around the pair of them and ignored them completely.

Shannon heard the crunch as Jana's fangs bit into the box. She pulled back, tearing a large strip of wood away from it. But it wasn't enough. Shannon couldn't crawl through that. Even if she did, she'd only be crawling into Jana's jaws. The anaesthetic in her grenade had dissipated, so Jana wasn't going to fall asleep. Shannon guessed that Kyle's grenade was about to expire as well. As if speaking of the devil, a rock cracked against the box, just next to Jana's head. Kyle bent down and picked up another one as Jana turned to face him, not wanting her meal interrupted. She was about to rush him when a roar sounded from off to the right. Suddenly, Jana turned tail and ran. Kyle's eyes looked ready to drop out from widening so much.

"What the hell are you?" he screamed. Shannon couldn't see much from inside the box, but she could make out a black, furry shape move past the container's viewing window, silent only but for a low purring growl. Kyle jumped back and ran like the wind leaving Rick exhausted and alone on the ground. He didn't dare make a move to dislodge the canister from his broken teeth, but remembered the torch in his pocket. If he could get it and use it, he could disorient the creature long enough to remove the canister and get a decent head start. All he had to do was pray that it couldn't climb trees as well as him.

The only thing Shannon heard was a wet slicing sound and a brief muffled scream of agony before the thing leaned down and executed a death bite. She froze as it cast its nose to the sky. It turned to face her, blood dripping from its fangs as its golden eyes burned right through her skull. It sauntered over and forced a blood-soaked claw through the bottom of the box. It pulled back, ripping the front from it and freeing her. She stayed exactly where she was, tears streaming down her face and praying for a quick death. The creature turned away, ignoring her completely. It sauntered off into the woods without a care in the world.

Only after a solid two minutes of absolute silence did Shannon actually begin to move. Slowly, she extracted herself from the box and crept over to Rick's shattered carcass. She noticed the torch in his hand and quickly made the connection. It had killed Rick because he'd been reaching for something with the intent to harm it. It had spared her because she'd had no ill intent towards it. Clamped in Rick's other hand, she noticed a multi-tool. She grabbed it and pulled out the knife blade. Ignoring the blood that was gluing her fingers to the handle; she cut the cable tie binding Tom's wrists.

"What the hell was that?" Tom asked shakily. Shannon couldn't believe it, but knew it to be true.

"I think we've just met the Beast of Stoneybridge and lived."

Author's Note: Yay, I finally managed to update! Sorry this took so long. It would have been yesterday but the site wouldn't let me. Please remember to review. I'll try and double-update next time to make up for the delay. I'm still writing Chapter 11 at the moment since I took a break to write Valentine's Day Chaos. I have to say, it was kind of refreshing writing something where people weren't deliberately trying to kill each other for a change. Still, the support has been great so far. Please remember to review and tell me what you think.