Those Squirrels, That Are Dead Pt2

Tena took a large sip of her steaming hot tea and sighed heavily.

"I moved into a farmhouse a few miles from here, up near Kidwelly, it really is a lovely place. Well anyway I moved in and it was all fine until about a month later when the full moon came around. Until three days ago I'd have called any person who'd mentioned the notion to me a raving lunatic. But now, well now I've seen it with my own eyes. Werewolves. About four of them that I saw. They attacked the house and killed the other girl I was living with. I only just managed to get away, as horrid as it sounds I got to my car while they were busy with Sarah-" Tena broke off here and a tear slid down her cheek and she took another sip from her tea. Morgan took over.

"Now here's where it gets weird. I've shown her several pictures and descriptions of werewolves and she says not one of them matches what she saw. From what she described them to me as they were much more human that normal werewolves. None of that running around on all fours nonsense." Merrick frowned at this description which caused a look of concern to appear on Morgan's face "so you have no idea what it means either?"

"I can honestly say I have never come across werewolves other than the common ones." said Merrick solemnly, leaning back in his chair. Tai spoke then, for the first time since they had entered the house.

"I have."

Every head in the room turned to Tai, who was staring intently into his mug of tea, he took a deep breath and then his narrative began.

"I was stationed in Burma. This must have been oh, almost ten years ago. Well we were out there for a covert tactical strike, the mission was to take out a Chinese drug cartel that had set up a base in the middle of the Burmese jungle and who were really getting under the skin of the Aussie government by this point. The group I was with were Australian special military, very similar to your SAS." He nodded at Morgan, directing this statement at her "but I was working for ASIS at the time, that's Australian Secret Intelligence Service. We were making perfect time and got to our designated camping spot about and hour before dark, it was a perfect spot, a clearing with a sheer cliff at our back and the forest at our fronts; we wanted to make sure no-one could sneak up on us in the dark. The moon that night was huge, I can still remember it clearly to this day. We heard things moving out beyond the tree line, we assumed it to be just animals but not wanting to be caught with our trousers down we set a watch just in case. I couldn't tell you what time it was when I woke up, checking my watch was the last thing on my mind. I knew as soon as I opened my eyes something was up, I couldn't work it out at first and it took me a minute to realise that what was up was that the guy we'd set to watch was being eaten. I don't know who it was, I didn't know how long I'd been asleep so I had no idea who's watch it was, and none of the men were in any fit identifiable state afterwards. It must have been seconds between me noticing something was wrong and picking up my gun but it felt like a lifetime. I didn't stop to think, I just fired. I emptied my entire magazine into the thing and it didn't even flinch. And then they were everywhere, coming out of the trees faster than anyone could get up from the floor, they tore the entire platoon apart in minutes. I hid in a cave that was behind me, just too small for them to get in but just big enough for me to squeeze into. I stayed in there until dawn. That was the longest night of my life, they stayed there all night just waiting for me. I've been a rogue ever since. ASIS tried to find me at first, but they gave up after I put two of their operatives in hospital." Tai took a deep breath through his nose pushed his tea away. "I need a cigarette." He said, and got up and left the room.

"How strange, werewolves in the Burmese rainforest. And the same werewolves in South Wales. And we have to assume they're the same ones because it's not like any of us have come across any werewolves like them before." Merrick stood up and stretched "shall we go and take a look at this farm then?"

The group got up from around the table and they filed for the door.

"Can I sit in the front with you?" Asked Tena, her eyes sparkling.

"Now now, there's no good turning those charms on me. I'm gay," countered Merrick, matter of factly.

"Oh God it's like Dumbledore all over again," Exclaimed Morgan with disgust.

"It's OK, I'm just kidding," Chuckled Merrick, putting his arms around the two women and leading them from the room and leaving Tara and Tai alone.

"Merrick tells jokes?" Said Tai, a distinct note of fear in his voice.

"I think my soul just died a little bit," squeaked Tara.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later, after getting horribly lost twice, the group pulled up outside an old but cosy looking farmhouse with a few outbuildings attached. Merrick got out of the old Citroen and stretched out once more. Tena got out of the passenger side, leaving Morgan, Tara and Tai to pile out of the back of the car rather unceremoniously. Merrick headed off in the direction of one of the outbuildings and was followed by Tena. As soon as he entered the small barn the coppery, rusty smell of old blood hit him and he wrinkled his nose. He went over to one of the pens where the smell was strongest and peered over the door, he was met with a ghastly sight. There was a large horse on the floor of the pen, long dead and surrounded by flies. It's throat had been ripped open as had it's stomach, it had been eviscerated, organs bile viscera and blood pooling thickly around it. Merrick took a step back and Tena walked up to the pen curiously.

"No, don't."

But he was too late and she had already looked. She let loose a small chocked scream and threw herself back from the pen, retching loudly. The smell of vomit joined the stench of death and Merrick decided it was time to leave. He turned on his heel and strode swiftly from the barn, taking a long deep breath of fresh air once he was outside. He waited for Tena to join him a full five minutes later.

"You OK?"

She nodded weakly and headed off in the direction of the house. Merrick was about to join her when Tara approached him.

"Don't go in the barn," he told her, she however shook he head.

"I wanted to talk to you," she didn't wait for him to tell her to continue "werewolves are only actually werewolves for 3 days a month aren't they? I mean, they're people the rest of the time aren't they?"

Merrick sighed, he had seen this coming.

"Yes, that's right."

"So, we'll have no way of knowing who the werewolves are until the full moon will we?"

"Yes, there are ways you can tell if you know what you're looking for."

"But Merrick, they'll be people won't they. What do you plan on doing when we find them?"

Merrick once again sighed and raised his eyebrows at her. The result being an outburst that was not entirely unexpected.

"But Merrick you can't possibly suggest we kill them?! They're people Merrick, vampires is one thing but I'll not allow you to kill people. How can you justify it?!"

"The same way the majority of your country justifies the death penalty."

"I don't. And besides it's not the same, the death penalty is for killers who know full well what they're doing; these people become werewolves once a month and there is absolutely nothing they can do about it. It's not like they want to become werewolves and kill people."

"Do you know that for a fact? I've come across people who have relished their transformations and the power that comes with them, and have even managed to retain a certain amount of control during their transformation and can fully recount they actions as wolves."

"And you come here all full of your own sense of justice and aloof with arrogance, you're no better than they are Merrick. I will not allow you to murder people." She made to stride past him and towards the house but Merrick grabbed her jumper at the chest and lifted her off the floor, he slammed her into the side of the barn and brought his face alongside hers so he could whisper in her ear.

"What would you have me do? These wolves have actively hunted and killed people before, I'm sure of it there's too much coincidence. I'd rather kill three or four people than have to hear reports of people dying once a month for years."

"Get off of me!" Tara's shout alone seemed to knock the wind out of Merrick and send him soaring away from here to land with a thud about 12 feet away.

Merrick looked up in surprise at Tara whose eyes had turned to a deep, solid purple. Tara stood there, her face contorted with anger for a few moments more then her eyes faded back to their normal colour and the anger was replaced by a look of exhaustion and she collapsed to her knees. Merrick was at her side in an instant and caught her before she fell sideways to the floor.

"W-w-what happened?" Asked Tara weakly, not even lifting her head.

"You tapped into a power you can't control yet."

"I'm sorry Merrick..."

"It's ok. Focus, just like I taught you, you need to rebuild your energy levels."

"I think I'm ok, help me up."

Merrick helped Tara to her feet, she stumbled and he caught her. She straightened herself up and took a tentative and wobbly test step, then another, and then settled into her normal stride.

"...It was like one of those squirrels you see in the road, that are dead." Tena was saying as Merrick and Tara walked into the kitchen of the farmhouse, Tara still looking slightly pale.

"You mean you mean like a dead squirrel right?" Countered Morgan, looking around and catching Tara's eye she gave a small smile, which faltered as Tena spoke again.

"No I mean like a squirrel that's been hit by a car, like... splat!"

Morgan looked down, her blush hidden slightly by the orange glow the setting sun threw in through the dining room window. Tena scanned the room and saw Morgan's reaction to Tara and smiled, she also saw Tara slump into a chair and the concerned look on Merrick's face. The only person who seemed completely composed was Tai; his face was set with a stony resolve and there was a gleam of anticipation in his eyes.

"Merrick," Morgan said, looking out the window at the setting sun "tonight isn't a full moon, how are we meant to know who these werewolves are?"

Merrick sighed and dropped himself wearily into a seat.

"We aren't. Tonight we see what's what and secure the place. There's a forest out back there and I'll probably go reconnoitre it later. "

There was a mechanic clicking sound as Tai cocked his guns and holstered them.

"I'll come with you."

"No, you stay here." Tai opened his mouth to argue but Merrick cut him off "I'll be counting on you to look after things here while I'm out."

Tai looked from the weak, tired looking Tara; to Morgan who was back to looking anywhere but at Tara; to Tena who seemed like the type of girl who couldn't even make a cup of tea without a resulting disaster. He nodded at Merrick and sat back down, setting his guns back on the table.

"Tena," Merrick turned to the distracted looking blonde, who seemed to come back to earth at the mention of her name "you know this place, so I want you to give me the grand tour. I want to make sure the place is secure. Tai, make sure every thing's secure down here."

The two people addressed nodded and Tena followed Merrick out of the kitchen and up the stairs while Tai, once again holstering his guns, got up from the table and silently went to check the other downstairs rooms, leaving Tara, Morgan and an awkward silence in the kitchen.

Merrick entered the main bedroom of the house, he walked over to the large window offering him a view of the dense forest that lay just metres from the house. He looked up at the tiny sliver of moon that was rapidly rising in the East.

"So Tena," he said as she entered the room behind him "with an 'e'. That's quite an odd name, is it short for something?"

"Oh yes, Merrick with an 'm', I could ask you the same question?" She flashed him a coy smile, which he returned.

"Most definitely. So what's Tena short for then?"

"Tenebrus," was the reply.

Merrick frowned at this, he had heard that name somewhere before. He was about to ask her about it when she started speaking again, this time her voice had dropped a few octaves and had a slight growl to it.

"It's bollocks you know," Merrick felt her moving closer to him "all that about the full moon, bollocks"

Merrick whipped around and saw her eyes had turned yellow with cat like slits for pupils. She grinned at him, revealing razor sharp fangs filling her mouth and she uttered a low growl. Merrick quickly dropped to a combat position, his centre of gravity low and hi weight poised on the balls of his feet. But Tenebrus was faster, too fast, unbelievably fast. She was right in front of him in a split second and her foot connected solidly with his chest, it was like being hit by a truck and Merrick was sent soaring back out through the window with a crash and he landed with a thud on the sodden ground below. He pushed himself to his knees and looked back up at the broken window and saw Tenebrus, back to normal, grinning down at him. He picked himself to his feet and looked back up. She was gone. His jaw tightened with anger and his hands clenched into fists at his side and he turned around meaning to go back to the house and warn the others, but he found himself facing a werewolf. The creature was about seven feet tall and lunged at him instantly. Merrick put one hand on the creature's neck to stop it biting him and wrapped his other hand around it's wrist, holding it's claws back. But the thing had another set of claws and they raked red slashes across Merrick's chest. Merrick felt his back connect with the wall and also felt the claws of the creature's free hand cut his chest again. He braced himself against the wall and planted both his feet firmly on the werewolf's chest and pushed; it staggered back a few paces and Merrick fell to the floor. The werewolf gave a low growl and bared it's teeth, Merrick decided not to wait for another charge and leapt up, pushing himself off the wall and launching himself at the creature in a flying kick that sent it crashing through a small wooden fence that surrounded the garden. Merrick turned to leave but saw another werewolf approaching him from the other side of the garden and as he looked over hi shoulder he saw that the first had already recovered from his attack and was making a bee line for him. He looked from one werewolf to the other and then to the tree-line, and started running.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tara looked over at Morgan and for the tenth time caught the girl looking hastily away. Tara looked down and drew in a deep breath, mustering every ounce of courage she possessed.

"So, h-h-how've you been?" Asked Tara, silently cursing the ever present stutter that had brought her so much torment in her youth and still now popped up and reminded her of it's presence.

Morgan looked up in surprise at the silence being broken, it took her a few moments to recover, and then another few to get her response from her brain to her mouth.

"Yeah, not too bad; you know. Same old. How about you?" It was now Morgan's turn do do the silent cursing. How was that all she could come up with, that was pathetic. Words were her puppets and she manipulated them with unusual skill, like a master carpenter making a beautiful chair. How did this girl have the ability to steal from her this one skill with which she was gifted, how was it this girl rendered the great word smith Morgan Lacy speechless.

"Oh, I've been fine. You know. LA. Never a moment's peace." Tara continued, emboldened by the other girl's obvious nervousness, the playing field seemed level at least "I helped rescue Merrick..."

"Oh, well that's cool."

"Yeah, I'm not entirely sure he really needed rescuing. But I think I helped."

"Definitely. Help is always helpful." Both girls giggled at this.

"I've missed you."

Silence descended again as Tara flushed bright red, how could she have been so stupid; what a stupid, stupid thing to say. Morgan also flushed bright red, that comment was possibly the last thing she expected from the blonde. The silence continued thus for several minute until it was eventually broken by Tena bursting in through the door and giving the dining room a quick, flustered scan. As soon as she saw everything was fine she regained her composure. The whole thing took less than two seconds and went unnoticed by the two girls in the room.

"Is Tai not back yet?" She asked. Then not waiting for a reply, continued "Are you two ok here?"

The two girls nodded in response, Tena smiled at this. There was obviously something going on between the two and she could possibly use it to her advantage. Merrick obviously hadn't returned with news of her betrayal which meant Lucidus and Ferinus must have done their their jobs and he must either have been dealt with or being swiftly so.

"I'm going to look for Tai," she said, and headed for the kitchen door. Morgan's eyes followed her all the way, a guilty look on her face.

Tena however had no intention of looking for Tai and instead went straight for the front door of the farmhouse. When she got to the door she pulled a set of keys from her pocket and smiled, sliding the key into the lock with a mechanical click. She was about to turn the key to unlock the door when a cold voice stopped her.

"Tena, what are you doing?"

She turned her head slightly and saw Tai standing behind her, one of his guns raised, his eyes gaze was accusing and unwavering. Tena sighed in defeat and spun around with the same dizzying speed that had caught Merrick of guard not long before. Her left hand shot out and wrapped around his right wrist, pushing his gun away from her, at the same time her right fist flew into his nose with incredible force. He felt his nose break with the impact and the tell-tale pressure build up in his sinus cavity as a thick wetness began running down from his nose and he tasted the coppery sweetness of blood filling the back of his mouth. His vision blurred and he dropped his gun, but he managed to stay on his feet. Tena's fist came in a second time, this time connecting with the side of his head, this time his vision blacked completely and he found himself on the floor. He rolled onto his back, fighting to stay conscious and scrabbling for his fallen gun.

Tena went back to the door and unlocked it, a draft of air blew her hair back as the door swung open. A sharp crack filled the air and suddenly she felt a pain around her sternum. She looked down to see blood welling up from her chest and she fell back slightly, the door keeping her from falling over completely.

Tai blinked the tears from his eyes, they were causing his vision to blur; and it was bad enough as it is, the blow to the side of his head causing it to become blotchy. He saw the blurred outline of Tena fall against the door and prepared to fire again when a tall shadow loomed over him. He looked up but all he could make out was a large black shape, which sharpened into a large boot that kicked his gun from his hand. Tai barely had time to react to this as the boot came back around and, in the same fluid motion, swiped across his jaw with such force it sent him skidding across the floor and crashing into the wall where he slumped, this time staying down.

The single gunshot sounded incredibly loud in the dining room and caused Tara to squeak with fright and grip the table so hard her knuckles turned shock white. Morgan also jumped in fright but was quick to recover herself, she grabbed a medium sized axe from the array of weapons that littered the table top and hurried off in the direction she thought the shot had originated.

When she arrived on the scene, moments after Tai had been kicked, she took it in with a confused look. She saw Tena, using the front door to keep herself up, holding a bloody hand to her chest; Tai slumped, unconscious on the floor; and a very tall stranger filling up the small passage that led from the front door to the small kitchen. In doing this assessment Morgan had done the one thing she shouldn't: she hesitated. A small smile curled up at the corner of the stranger's mouth and Morgan realised she had made a mistake, she lifted the axe to strike but it was too late; she hadn't even finished lifting it before the stranger was on her, he grabbed the axe just above where she was holding it and wrenched it from her grip. He then kicked her in the midsection and she flew back, bouncing off one of the kitchen counters and landing on the floor. She lifted her head and saw the stranger grin as he took a step towards he, axe raised.

"No!"

The stranger looked up from Morgan to see Tara standing in the kitchen doorway, he smiled at her. But the smile was short lived as the axe flew out of his hands, Tena only just saw it in time and threw herself sideways to avoid being decapitated. The stranger turned back to Tara and snarled, but the door swung shut in his face. Morgan looked up at Tara as the blonde looked from the door to the large fridge, which flew across the room and crashed into the door. Tara then exhaled sharply, as though she had been holding her breath and she put her hand to her head. Morgan was on her feet in an instant and ran over to Tai, helping him to his feet. He was bleeding profusely from a cut on the side of his head and from his broken nose, but he seemed to have regained consciousness at least and with Morgan fro support managed to walk. She grabbed Tara's arm on the way past and the witch shook her head and started running.