Chapter 7

Shinigami Play Fetch

The group of stunned Shinigami stood stock-still as the wolf glared up at them, curling its lip back and snarling. Its silver fur bristled with rage as it glared up at them with those hatred-filled black eyes. Ronald shuddered at the sight at what a simple shove into the moonlight had done to his girlfriend. He made a mental note to never take her for a moonlit stroll before being pulled back into the present situation with another low growl from the creature.

"Will, what do we do?" Alan asked, his voice a whisper.

"Well, Alan...the first thing to do...is to get the Hell out of here." William answered.

As if on cue, the wolf growled and jumped up at them, narrowly missing climbing onto the roof. The Shinigami snapped out of their surprise-induce trance and ran, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. The wolf snarled and attempted to follow, but was quickly left behind by the Shinigami's speed. The panicked group quickly found themselves standing in trees at the edge of the forest outside London, panting and looking out at the city.

"What in the name of Undertaker's favorite joke was that?" Eric asked, pointing sharply out at the city with the tip of his Death Scythe, a handsaw.

"Looked like a wolf to me." Grell said sheepishly.

"You're close. It appears that Ashling was hiding a terrible secret indeed. That was a werewolf." William answered calmly.

"A werewolf? What is that?" Ronald asked nervously.

"A werewolf is a person cursed to change form when exposed to the light of a full moon. They loose all control of themselves and act upon instinct. They are equivalent to a large, feral wolf with a person's intelligence. They're incredibly rare."

"Rare? I don't understand, people are killed for being werewolves all of the time." Alan pointed out.

"No, people are killed for thinking that they're werewolves all of the time. It's a mental disorder called Lycanthropy, in which the victim believes themselves to be a wolf. Ashling, however, is the real deal." William said softly, a puzzled look on his face.

"Why do you look so confused? I think it's pretty obvious that she's a werewolf. We all saw it." Grell complained, shuddering.

"I'm just wondering how it happened. Werewolves come about in one of two ways. They are either born to a mated pair, or they're turned by a bite from another wolf. Ashling couldn't have been born one, because it's impossible for werewolves and Shinigami to produce offspring, and she's both. So, it comes to reason that she was bitten. However, werewolves don't attack simply to bite people. They attack to kill. So either Ashling fended the creature off after it bit her, which I doubt. Or someone saved her." William muttered, furrowing his eyebrows.

Something about this didn't add up. It would take something stronger than a human to fend off an attacking wolf. However, had it been a Shinigami that had saved Ashling from being killed, they would have reported the incident to the Administrative Department immediately. Werewolves were incredibly dangerous, especially in populated areas. William looked up from his thoughts in horror.

"The murders." he murmured, and the other Shinigami gave him a curious look.

"What about the murders?" Ronald asked.

"That's it. The identity of the murderer is unknown because the department didn't know Ashling was a werewolf. And they go in a string toward the forest. Sending us here to clean up the souls of the victims is the cause of the murders in the first place! Which means..." William paused as a high, frightened scream pierced the night like an arrow.

The Shinigami all went pale as the scream was followed by a loud, ravenous howl. The cry persisted for a moment, then the scream abruptly ended. William groaned.

"I hope one of you lot can write. This deserves a novel. Anyway, we'll need to collect the souls of all of the people set to be killed by the wolf." William returned to his usual, business-like tone.

"How the Hell are we supposed to do that with a werewolf running rampant through the streets of London?" Grell yelled at him angrily.

"The murders line up in the direction of the forest. We simply wait for it to run into the forest before going into the city."

"There's nothing simple about that! It's not just going to run into the forest by itself with so many potential victims inside the city!"

"Then we lure it out."

"How?"

William was about to retort, but Eric interrupted him.

"Hold on, I have an idea. Watch this." he said with a grin.

Eric cupped his hands over his lips and threw his head back, giving his best imitation at a wolf's howl. He stopped and listened, frowning when the only reply he got was another shrill cry from Ashling's second victim. With a determined glare the Shinigami tried again, louder and rougher than before. This time, he got a response. There was a pause, then he was answered by a low howl. He grinned and howled back, and there was a loud reply before the only sounds that pierced the night were the cry of victims; growing closer.

"She's coming this way." William observed simply.

Alan turned to give Eric a quizzical look.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked curiously.

"Saw it in a movie once. No time. I suggest we get out of sight until she passes us by."

The others nodded, and they quickly jumped up into a thick patch of tree branches a little farther into the forest. A few minutes later, the wolf ran up underneath their tree, panting and looking around. Its fur was covered in blood, and it lifted its head to sniff at the air tentatively. Eric cupped his hands and howled softly, throwing his voice to make it sound like it had come from far away. The were wolf hesitated, then ran off deeper into the forest with a low whine. Alan shot Eric another quizzical look.

"I learned a little bit of the art of ventriloquism. The ladies used to love it." Eric offered with a shrug.

"Alright, enough clowning. We've got souls to retrieve. We can all talk about this little incident after work tomorrow, with Ashling present to explain a few things. For now, let's go before she comes back." William interrupted quickly.

The others nodded slowly, and followed William out into the death-stained streets of a now silent city.

Look out, Ronnie, your girlfriend's a werewolf! How did that come about? Why was she so secretive about it? How did she even survive the initial attack? Keep reading to find out! Thanks for all of the support!

~Silver