"Gotcha," Jacob responds over the radio, seeing the dark silhouettes of Edward and Emmett approach through the thick wood. The rain is steady now, heavy enough to play tricks with the eye. It soaks through their uniforms, chilling the skin in an uncomfortable layer of wetness..
Bella, squatting atop Shiva with a partially raised wing covering her head, turns at Jacob's voice. Through the moist air, she smells the men nearing. Their sweat, their breath, and something else. Not them. Dank, sticky. Not human and not nearby. But it was there, and thankfully upwind of them.
"Got some new information," Edward says as he appears in the clearing.
"Good information?" Jacob ask, quickly taking the opportunity to stand out of the rainfall pooling around him. He runs a hand over his face, wiping the water from his eyes.
"Get me my sword," Emmett says, brusquely as he immediately heads in to Shiva.
Her sniper rifle hanging around her neck, Bella moves along the aircraft's roof and perches above the door between the wings. Water weighs down her hair and spreads across her face as it runs through the ridges. Her eyes grow intense at the sight of Edward's heavy breathing.
"It was more of a clarification, honestly," Edward begins. He hears his voice shake, though he doesn't know if it's from nerves or dampness. "It's not a witch. It's an utlunta."
"Fuck," Jacob says, absently.
"Fuck, right," Emmett says as he departs Shiva. He thrusts Edward's rifle to him before turning and closing Shiva's loading ramp.
"How are we going to stop it?" Jacob asks.
"We need to find it first," Edward says, loading his weapon while he speaks. "And there's a tribe of anadas we have to get through before that."
Bella slaps Shiva's roof beside her, catching their attention. She takes a breath before deliberately repeating the word 'anada,' through her fangs and extended tongue. Her heart thumps with embarrassment at the sound of her own voice.
"Yeah," Edward says, recognizing what Bella is asking. "Clear Water said they're the real thing."
Bella lowers her head briefly, letting her hair fall off her shoulders and hang, before shaking it back up. A shower of sprinkles fly in all directions, mixing with the rain. She watches the red warning beacon at the top of the cooling tower blink as she listens, focuses.
"The water cannibals?" Jacob asks. "What do I need to know?"
"They live in water," Edward says, watching Emmett anxiously move to the edge of the opening. "What else do we know, Emmett?"
"That's it." His voice is tight and his eyes stay on the woods. His typical seriousness has escalated to a level Edward can't recall. A dim flash of lighting across the sky makes the sword on his back glint. "Lilim's never seen anadas before."
"We've only heard of them through legends," Alice says through the radio. "There's only been one or two verified instances where they appeared, and those where centuries ago. So, why ever they're here, we need to stop it."
"Fun," Jacob says, sounding more casual than expected.
"I'll try to do some more research on anadas for you." Alice adds, "But I can't make any promises."
"Anything you can get us," Edward tells her.
"As far as the utlunta," she continues, "What exactly do you remember?"
"They're damn near impossible to kill," he says with a scoff.
"Right," Alice says, bemusement in her voice. "Also, they're shape-shifters."
"Yeah," Edward says, his face turning towards the cloudy sky in frustrated thought. "I was trying not to think about that."
"How so?" Jacob asks. "Like me?"
"They can look human," Alice radios back. "Typically old women. That would explain why Clear Water thought it was a witch."
He looks to Bella, still perched atop Shiva. Her mouth is tight, the lips uneven as her fangs press against them, and her eyes comforting and sympathetic. It's a look of patience that Edward needs.
"Any thoughts on stopping it?"
"Historically," Alice says, "Their wrists or ankles are weak points. But it's different for everyone."
"Got it," Edward says.
"There's still a wampus, right?" Jacob asks. The rain covering his skin makes him look more youthful than ever.
"There is still a wampus," Edward says, patiently appreciating the young soldier's enthusiasm. "We may run in to her in the woods."
"Cool."
"Can we go?" Emmett growls as he impatiently taps his index finger against the trigger well of his rifle. He stands at the corner of a wing, gazing intensely into the dark forest.
"You know where I need you," Edward says to Bella. His voice his thin as he fights back the slowly returning nerves, hoping this isn't last time he sees her.
With a smirk and understanding nod she stands, cinching her rifle against the front of her body. Her wings rise and with a solid whumpf she's airborne. Rapidly beating her wings to gain altitude, she moves against the falling rain, disappearing in to the blackness toward the nuclear plant.
She levels out a few meters above the trees and allows the wet scent of pine and oak to surround her. She moves back and forth, scanning below her as she flies. Rain drums steadily on the back of her wings.
About a quarter mile from the plant, the smell hits her. The same curious stench as before. She turns and glides like a carrion bird in a circle above the trees, her eyes narrowing as she peers through the small cracks between the branches.
A flash of lightning above and she just makes out the shadow of a woman on the ground below. She can make out no details, but it's enough for her.
Reaching down, she detaches a small metal sphere, just bigger than a golf ball, and with one hand turns the upper portion until it makes a loud click. She glances down, seeing a thin row of green LEDs light up in the small gap around the ball. With a single motion, she throws the device to the ground. It quickly cracks through the branches and stops dead in the mud and brush below.
The single, dull ping that sounds through her radio is followed by Emmett's voice.
"She just dropped a motion flare."
"For the wampus?" Edward asks.
"Probably."
"Map it."
Good, she thinks. Pumping her wings, she goes in to a momentary hover and twist in the air, turning back towards the cooling tower. The forest below her ends into a massive pool of black water, glistening with ripples as the rain gathers atop the abandoned parking lot. Reaching the tower, she glides around it before landing beside the blinking beacon.
The concrete rim is about a four foot wide. She loosens her rifle off her chest and lays down, allowing a leg to hang over the inside of the tower. She curls her wings up like a tent over and around her, their clawed ends pressing hard against the concrete. Peering through the sight of her rifle, she scans until she can make out pitch black curve of Shiva in the distance.
From her tactical vest, she unhooks a flashlight while studying the rhythm of the nearby beacon. On. Off. On. Off. On. As it goes out, she presses the small, rubberized button on the metal tube. The space beneath her wings glow bright red. A moment later, she releases the button and darkness returns while the beacon flashes.
Again, she illuminates herself opposite the warning light. Her wings blocking the view from behind her while creating a flesh-colored reflector. From a distance, it's almost impossible to tell which is the light and which is Bella, the pattern broken.
"Got you," Edward says over the radio after Bella's third repetition. "We're heading out." Moving a hand to the small of his back, he presses the small switch that powers his ARMS. With a gentle hum, the weight of his rifle and pack disappears. "Jacob take point."
They leave the safety of Shiva's wings in to the rainy night, Jacob between and ahead of Edward and Emmett in a loose, three-person 'V' shape. Snaps, cracks, and shuffling leaves whisper around them with their steps. They each scan around them, weapons out at an angle prepared to raise in an instant. Through the trees and darkness, they see only each other's shadowy outlines. Instinct and training keep them moving as one.
For over an hour they continue their slow, methodical walk through brush and water. The rainfall has increased, and the night grows darker around them the closer they move to their destination. The sound of Jacob's methodical steps cease, causing the other two to do the same.
"I smell something," Jacob whispers over the radio. "Close."
"We're not far from the motion flare," Emmett whispers.
"Let's sit tight," Edward says. "Try and draw her out."
"No, sir," Jacob says, his machine gun already placed on the ground and his tactical vest hanging from a nearby branch, "Let me handle this."
"Jacob, don't," Alice's concerned voice cracks through like an unseen ghost.
"I can handle it." The muffled sound of his pill bottle just rattles over the falling rain. "There's not a lot of time."
Edward bites his lip, looking between the animorph and the addonexus lost in the shadows. He had every intention of keeping the three of them together, but has no desire for the mission to last until sunlight. Too much can go wrong. They're still too close to Hartsville. Too close to a couple thousand people who don't know they're there.
"He's right," Emmett volunteers in the pause. "He can handle it."
"Okay," Edward says, cutting off Alice's protest. "Take care of it and find us in the plant." He tries to calm his breathing against his pounding heart.
"Yeah," Jacob says. He hangs his pants off the trees, ensuring his clothes and equipment are organized as the cool rain runs over the his naked body. Ignoring the mosquitos starting to swarm he takes a deep whiff. The wind winds through the trees and chills him.
"She's south east of us," he says. "We're down wind."
"Right," Edward says, with a sigh. He and Emmett start moving to Jacob's side, cutting a swath away from the wampus. "Good luck."
"Love you, Alice," Jacob says, a surge of pain gripping his spine as he begins to transform. It moves through his ribs, through the bone. Shaking. Cracking. Stretching. Curving. His muscles burn as they contort around his joints. A charge like electricity courses through his skin as thick fur rapidly grows from his flesh. His body undulates and loses form. He groans and whines, until the numbing sensation of the pain-killers kick in and covers the crippling hurt with a drug-addled calm. His voice lowers in to a growl.
He breaths heavily once the change is complete, a cloud of fog appearing from his slitted nostrils. Rain weights down the jet black mane circling his head. The blurriness subsides, and his cat-eyes see clearly in the darkness; grays and greens from the night. His massive paws are silent on the wet brush below.
I'm the king, Jacob thinks. This is my jungle.
Resting on his hunches, he sniffs the air. A rush of scents assail him, hundreds of trees, dozens of animals. And there, cutting through it all, a supernatural reek.
With a graceful power he moves through the trees, an unnatural shape amongst the American foliage. The smell grows stronger as he silently approaches.
A loud crack makes him stop. His black eyes narrow under his huge brow. He just makes out the shape of a person, a female, stalking through the forest. The falling rain covers the sound of his approach as he lowers his head and creeps forward. A giant shadow. Twigs and burs snag his mane, scratch in to his fur.
Closer. Now only a dozen or so feet away.
She is nude, her bright orange hair tangled and falling to her waist. Dirt and grass stain her pale skin. With primal movements she moves between the trees like a scavenger.
A loud ding pierces the night, the motion flare activating its baiting noise when it detects her movement nearby. The sound causes the woman the straighten. Wide, startled, and attentive her green eyes shine brightly. Cautiously, she draws closer to the source.
Jacob swallows, avoiding his instinct to growl.
Three, he thinks. Two. He closes his eyes. One.
The motion flare blasts, sending out a blinding flash of brilliant light. She screams and cowers away from the momentary daylight that fills the wood.
Now. Pouncing with the dying light, Jacob explodes through the air, a low growl accompanying his widening mouth. His eyes open while airborne, and they flash with an animalistic glee.
She glances up from wiping the stars from her eyes, glimpsing the jet black lion flying to her. With unexpected speed, she rolls forward causing Jacob to miss her with his outstretched claws as he flies over her.
Crushed brush fills the air with noise as he lands. He turns and stares at her, now standing, staring back at him. She's faster than he expected.
"The hell are you?" she says, her voice raspy with anger.
Jacob only growls, his chest vibrating deeply. The sudden ruckus along the forest floor wakes the birds above, who fill the sky with protest as they fly away.
"Whatever," she says. Her eyes begin to shine in the darkness. "I can smell you." She grows stronger as she speaks. Every muscle thickens. Her fingers elongate, her feet become massive paws. "You can't be here." Her voice a roar. "I can't let you live."