Comment.

I have always liked the Wolfen. I have tried to write them as intelligent, caring creatures who just want to live, raise a family etc like everyone else. Just because they regard humans as food, should we hold that against them. Mind you, they are the last thing I would want to meet on a dark night, and probably they would be!

Whats coming

Well Matt knows that Prue's a witch and he's going to learn very fast about what being part of the Halliwell family is going to mean. And he has hidden a secret from Prue that's going to cause all sorts of complications. To be fair, if Prue was a normal mortal, Matt's parents jobs would not be a problem.

There's a traitor to unmask, the clues start below.

And the Rising Moon coven is going to make the sisters lives even more complicated.

Wednesday

The Wolfen attack (very early wednesday).

They had found the Hunters base of operations exactly where the Triads map said it would be and the hidden way in. While it was a difficult and dangerous trip through an old, abandoned sewer that had half collapsed, the Wolfen could negotiate it. Carefully removing bricks, then concrete blocks, that had been obviously weakened recently, they had gained entry to a room filled with old timbers and boxes.

Two security sensors, designed to detect movement, had been disabled before they arrived, presumably like the weakened concrete, by the demons. The Triad had kept their word and the hunters would now become the hunted.

Firstfang had already decided on the attack plan and like most good leaders, she kept it simple. Firstfang, Jumper and Seeker had healed rapidly, a natural advantage that shape changers possessed and all were ready and eager for the fight. Watcher still found walking very difficult, as her wounds healed slowly due to the contamination caused by the use of silver weapons. She would stay to protect Ripper and the two very young cubs.

Springer lived up to her name when she found out that she was allowed to join in on the attack, and not even Firstfang was immune to the enthusiastic young Wolfen's pleasure and excitement about being allowed on the hunt.

This gave her six adult Wolfen and one youngster for an attack on an unknown number of hunters on their home turf. Still given that they had the advantage of surprise and the sheer aggression and power behind a Wolfen attack, meant that Firstfang was right to feel confident. Led by Striker, they set off into the night to remove the oldest and most dangerous of their enemies.

Inside the Hunter's building, it was quiet as nearly all of them were asleep. The only exception were two guards, quietly patrolling the corridors together, one leading and the other always following a few yards behind. Camera's watched the corridors with motion or infra red sensors used to watch the rooms used for storage. Another hunter watched the display screens, and to prevent boredom, the three currently on guard duty, rotated their jobs until they would be relieved, again in rotation after another two hours.

An excessive level of precaution, most people would say, but the Wolfen had massacred hunter units before and James had only survived this long because he refused to underestimate the enemy.

Given the Wolfen's resistance to normal gunfire, each of the guards was armed with automatic weapons loaded with silver plated bullets. Exactly why silver had proven to be so very effective against Wolfen, while other metals had not, was still a source of research by various hunters. Given the near impossibility of obtaining Wolfen for research, so far only a semi educated guess could be made. The most popular theory was that silver caused a chain reaction that would unravel the Wolfen's magical existence. Its toxic nature meant that little was needed to kill them if it hit a vital area.

Entering the storage room, the Wolfen stayed quiet and low as Firstfang crept over to the door that led into the corridor and carefully listened. Now luck played a cruel hand for the hunters as Tara led the patrol down that corridor and following behind her, was Michael. Both were alert and competent, and currently being watched by Harry Wilson on the internal camera network.

All the Wolfen could hear Tara quietly walking down the corridor with Michael some four meters behind her. As Tara passed the door, both Firstfang and Striker led the charge, breaking down the door, which collapsed far too easily. Each attacked with Firstfang turning towards Tara and Striker towards Michael. Tara turned fast but before she could raise her weapon, Firstfang was on her. She died quick, as Firstfang ripped her throat out, as speed was now essential. As Striker charged towards Michael, he was just able to raise his gun and pull the trigger with the Wolfen only centimeters from the barrel. A brief burst of horror filled him, as the gun malfunctioned and nothing happened. Michael, like Tara died quickly.

For a second, Harry who was watching the TV screens, could not believe what he was seeing, but he quickly recovered and hit the intrusion alarm button. Turning to grab his automatic, which like the now dead guards was loaded with silver bullets, he knew that he had to warn the rest of the sleeping hunters. Leaning over the controls, a frantic Harry, activated the buildings PA system and began to broadcast a warning.

Following Firstfang's plan, the Wolfen split up to locate and kill as quickly as possible all the hunters before they could wake, rally and arm themselves. Only James was currently awake, his scarred face showing at least one close call with a Wolfen. As with many nights before, he has been unable to sleep without nightmares and now he waits for morning to arrive. Sitting on the floor with his back pressed into a corner and all the lights on to prevent any shadows, James can not help but remember losing his wife and children to the Wolfen.

As the alarm sounded, he doesn't hesitate and is on his feet, weapon in hand and in the corridor with in seconds. The remaining seven hunters, woke and frantically tried to get ready. James joined Julie and her lover Nathan in their bedroom so he could protect them as they readied themselves. Both Starbright and Jumper joined them in a frenzied attack.

As James aimed and attempted to fire his automatic, he too found that it would not fire. Starbright killed him swiftly as Jumper slammed into Nathan as he tried to protect Julie. This gave Julie just enough time to reach for the one weapon that did function, another automatic hand gun that she had always kept next to there bed. Only, because it was a different caliber, its ammunition was not silver. Firing at short range, she emptied the clip into Starbright, who shuddered and collapsed as she fell back from an already dead James.

Before she could reload, Jumper turned from a dying Nathan, and incensed at the pain caused to his mate, pulled Julie down onto the floor and savagely tore into her. She took a fearfully long time to die.

Elsewhere Gary and Terry were quickly killed in their bedrooms by Slowdeath and Striker before either could wake fast enough to make any decision on what to do. Like many attackers in the past, the Wolfen knew that human's sleep patterns made them the most vulnerable in the early hours and they ruthlessly exploited this weakness.

Joseph woke fast enough to grab his automatic rifle, release the safety and enter the hallway were he was promptly pulled down by Seeker who hit him from behind. Dropping the rifle he tried unsuccessfully to stop Seeker from seizing his throat by raising his arms. From the room alongside his, Alex emerged to reach down to pick up the rifle and at point blank range, pull the trigger. Again nothing happened and before she could do anything else, Firstfang killed her. Seeker waited just long enough so that Joseph had time enough to realise what was about to happen, before she ripped his throat apart.

Susie woke slowly as she had been working late with Alex to learn how to make the Wolfsbane potion, so she emerged just in time to see Joseph and Alex die. As she also attempted to fire her automatic, like the rest it too failed, With no other weapon available, she turned to run for the armory where she knew the Wolfsbane potion was stored. As she entered the corridor which gave access to the armory, Sprinter caught up with her.

A frustrated Sprinter had failed to locate any of her prey and had become afraid that she would miss out on killing any of the hated hunters, so running down Susie caused an explosion of blood lust within her. She forgot Firstfang's instructions to kill as swiftly as possible and attacked Susie in an uncontrollable blood rage. Biting at any part of Susie's body she could reach, she savaged her legs, both arms and finally her face.

Harry who had run from the control room to the armory in seconds now saved Susie's life as he emerged and threw a bottle containing the Wolfsbane potion at Sprinter. The bottle missed and shattered against the wall, spraying the potion in every direction. The massive and instant pain associated with being spattered by some of the potion forced Sprinter to leap sideways, off Susie and away from Harry. The spatter also hit Susie who despite being almost unconscious still screamed weakly in agony.

As Sprinter saw Harry raise his arm to throw a second bottle, she forced herself to turn and run down the corridor and around the corner. The second bottle shattered against the wall at the end of the corridor, with the spatter covered corridor now making it almost impossible for any of the Wolfen to pass without the grave risk of being poisoned.

Harry reached down to grab one of Susie's arms and pulled her back into the armory, where he secured the door. Turning he used what first aid was available to do what he could for Susie. The reinforced door and the rest of the room should be Wolfen proof. If not, he had a plentiful supply of the potion and ready access to silver weapons.

Both Tracey and Al had more time to react as they secured the door into their bedroom. This and that the Wolfen were occupied with the other hunters gave them just enough time to prepare. Both had automatic weapons and Tracey was one of the few hunters who possessed a silver plated knife. Short range weapons such as these were rarely effective against the Wolfen as if they got this close, then it was generally all over.

It took almost 30 seconds for Striker and Slowdeath to break down the door and enter the room. Neither of the Wolfen cared about the possibility of the hunters having guns as the blood lust had now completely possessed them.

Had both automatic weapons functioned, the Wolfen would have died but as before, the horrified hunters found that they would not work. Only Tracey was able to wound her attacker with her knife, cutting Slowdeath's neck and shoulder. Both hunters died quickly.

An already severely ill Sprinter staggered down the corridor and was met by Firstfang and Starbright. Without hesitation, Firstfang ordered Sprinter into a shower unit and after a clumsy attempt with her teeth, managed to turn the shower on. As Sprinter lay shuddering in the shower, the water washed away all of the potion, saving her life. Still she would be a very sick youngster for some time and that she had failed to kill her first hunter, filled her with disappointment.

As Sprinter lay in the shower stall, the rest of the Wolfen unwound by savaging their killed enemies. Consuming part of their bodies and scattering their body parts allowed the Wolfen to celebrate their victory. Only Starbright failed to take an active part in the activities as her wounds caused her great discomfit and pain so she stayed with Sprinter, giving her comfort.

Only when Slowdeath and Seeker found themselves in the light cast by a torch from a human located outside the building, did they decide to leave. All the Wolfen exited from the building through the way they had entered. Sprinter barely able to walk, left first, escorted by Starbright followed by the rest of the pack.

The Hunter's fate (very early Wednesday morning).

The security guard quietly walked his rounds, carefully checking that doors and windows were still shut and locked, that the fence was intact and no one else was on the site. With him was a large, dark brown Alsatian named Blue, for reasons no one had ever been able to find out. Between the two of them, they made a good team as the guard's military training combined with Blue's senses, made them ideally suited for their chosen job.

Given the site was used for heavy machinery manufacture, they rarely had cause to worry about intruders as theft was difficult given the weight of what was available. Vandals and the odd curious thief, tended to be the main concerns, all of whom had run for it when challenged or Blue had started growling.

The guard whose name was Nathan Jacob, was a 55 year old retired marine who had seen action in many of America's wars. Happily married with three children and several grand children, he took this job to remain active and to get out of the house. Thirty years of being a marine had kept him away from his family for extended periods. Which had not prepared him or his wife for a retirement which involved him being around the house 24 / 7. Having this job, allowed both of them some much needed personal time and while they did not need the money, the extra income was saved to provide the really good holiday vacation they otherwise could not have afforded.

Nathan is enjoying the quiet of a three am morning, with virtually no traffic in this industrial zone and only a muted rumble from the nearby motor-way. The moon is half full but still provides enough light for both Nathan and Blue to see. For this reason, Nathan's torch is still in his belt as his night adapted eyes provide enough vision. And not using the torch prevents it giving away his presence.

It is Blue who first signaled that something was wrong as he tensed and then pulled hard towards the fence as he looked over the road towards another building. Nathan who had immediately noticed Blue's reaction, carefully moved sideways into a shadow cast by one of the walls so that he could observe and remain unseen.

Initially nothing was apparent but as Blue became increasingly agitated, Nathan realised that the hairs on the back of his neck had raised and his breathing had become increasingly rapid. And without being aware of it, for the first time since he had taken this job, he had reached for and started to draw his gun. Something was wrong, very wrong and he could be in a great deal of danger.

As he carefully studied the building, he tried to recall what he knew about it. He knew that it was a storage facility and that people had been seen entering and exiting at all hours, sometimes during his shift. Rumours of possible illegal activity had been rife as these people had kept to themselves but this had not been taken any further due to a complete lack of any evidence.

Nathan's uncertainty and unease grew rapidly as Blue suddenly for the first time, showed real fear, first backing behind Nathan with his tail between his legs, then trying to pull his handler backwards with increasing force. As a series of flashing lights from one window and muted sounds, that Nathan recognised as automatic gunfire. He followed his military training and retreated back towards his office, pulled by a now frantic Blue. There he used the phone to call the police and report what he had seen and heard.

Responding to the report involving gunfire, four police officers carefully examined a large, single storied, concrete building located on the out skirts of the bay industrial area. The thick dirty glass windows were covered in thick metal bars and the three doors, one large enough for vehicles and two for people, were made of thick sheet metal and could only be opened by keypads.

The building was listed as a high security storage facility owned by a company that could not be contacted. As none of the officers could find a useable entry point, and nothing suspicious could be found, the officers were about to leave. One of the owners would have to be located before the police could ask to search the building.

Only when one officer, who turned on her torch to peer into the window Nathan identified as the one he had seen the gunfire, did their views change as she found herself looking into a slaughter house. Three bodies, ripped apart and with blood pooling on the floor, were scattered around the room. What the officer would remember to her dying day, was the two large dogs, ripping into the corpse's and scattering body parts even further.

Illuminated by the torch and hearing her yell, the two Wolfen promptly left the room and disappeared. Within twenty minutes another thirty police and two heavily armed SWAT teams had arrived with more on the way. The first SWAT team took only two minutes to blow open the main door and enter the building.

What they found caused even the hardened SWAT teams and experienced police officers a great deal of distress. Three officers were forced to leave the building to throw up outside so as not to contaminate the crime scene. Six bodies were quickly found scattered around the building, all savagely mutilated, some partially eaten and all missing internal organs.

As the police and SWAT team members carefully searched the blood stained building, they found five more bodies and a sealed room. Breaking in, they discovered two survivors, one badly hurt with both bite wounds and severe chemical burns, the other unhurt. Neither was prepared to talk.

Inside the room, the police found little to help them identify any of the dead found scattered amongst the rooms and corridors of the building or the two survivors. The commanding officer ordered the wounded survivor to be taken to hospital under heavy guard. Four officers were dispatched to guard her around the clock. The remaining survivor was taken to a secure holding facility to be guarded by a SWAT team.

Also in the room was the evidence that brought a Chief Inspector Cortez and Inspector Morris onto the scene. There they found the last of the groups Wolfsbane potion, the remains of the documents the survivors had insufficient time to destroy, a cache of ancient silver based weapons and general stores, in particular containers of plant and animal material. Something both Inspector's Cortez and Morris recognised as probable potion ingredients.

A total of five bodies, male and female were found either in two rooms, with another six found in the connecting corridors or in rooms by themselves. All of them had been brutally mauled, in many cases almost ripped apart. Only in one of the rooms, was there any sign of a fight, with shell casings from an automatic weapon, and signs of blood that could not be matched to any of the corpse's.

Apart from the automatic handgun found in the bedroom which was matched to the shell casing, no other automatic weapon was found within the building.

Only when the searchers located the Wolfen's entry point, were the police able to piece together the sequence of events that resulted in the massacre. The killers had entered through a sewer that was so old that it was not even on the city maps. Old, heavily damaged and partially collapsed, even the more enthusiastic officers did not want to risk exploring it. Especially when one of the SWAT team members noted that if the dogs were still in the sewer, it would not be a good place to start shooting.

What caused some confusion, was that it was apparent that the entry had been made from the sewer side and exactly how was unknown. It was clear that the bricks and concrete that made up the sewer and the rooms floor, had been weakened in some way. Two non functioning security devices were also found, each independent of the other. An initial examination could not determine why they had failed.

With the possible return of the dogs in mind, the entry point was secured with heavy sheet plates welded together to cover the hole, and the door from the room, was also secured. The building was searched carefully from top to bottom by three heavily armed and cautious SWAT teams, backed up by equally heavily armed police. Only after the building was completely searched and secured, were the CSI's allowed in to conduct their investigation.

Apart from eleven mutilated bodies and great deal of human blood and tissue was scattered around the rooms and corridors, there was little to go on. Only in the room where they found the cartridge cases was some blood which defied identification. A DNA analysis would later show that it was not human, canine nor any other species that was on record. Strange black, brown or red hairs found scattered around the building, showed enough similar DNA patterns to indicate that they came from the same species. To avoid press speculation, to say nothing of public panic, this information was kept secret as no one could give a rational explanation of their existence.

The secret room offered more in the way of information in the form of documents, most shredded beyond reconstruction, however the rest showed that this group was also hunting the killer dogs, apparently called Wolfen. Most of the officers however remained uncertain as little made sense.

Only Inspector Cortez seemed to except what was said and he ordered that all the intact documents were to be removed to the police lockup, where they were to be immediately copied. Since the unknown substance appeared to be the same as encountered in the park, it was roped off and treated as a toxic biohazard, along with the rest of the biological containers.

Once the CSI's had finished, the coroner moved in to remove the bodies for an autopsy and identification. Lastly a patrol schedule consisting of two teams of SWAT and police were tasked to patrol the building on a 24 hour basis.

Like at the Manor, the building rapidly became the centre of a media circus. Denied access to the insid/e of the building and with the police providing little information, rumours became rife.