Chapter 15:
Midnight
Sheriff Williams spots the two beasts, kicking his ankles and galloping on his horse, he dashed through the fire and burning rubble. The center of the City burned orange with embers, heaves of black smoke rising into the sky and the Sheriff never felt so much shame. How would he explain this to the Mayor? The two beasts collided into chariots through the street, bashing into everything in their path until finally coming to a dead end. Smirking, the Sheriff knew they were in a tight corner.
He drew his sword.
His confidence quickly faltered as the two beasts head-butted into the cobblestone, double-teaming, gouging out every brick until the smell of the sewer filled his nostrils. His horse stood, screamed, dropping its rider onto the street before fleeing the frightening encounter, leaving the Sheriff to scramble to his feet. Before he knew it they were gone, vanishing into the deep maze of tunnels beneath the city.
The hum of their growls echoed.
He couldn't let them get away!
In a flash, he jumped, his boots landing in the mucky water.
Meanwhile:
Ivy searched everywhere for her husband! Looking over her shoulder, she trembled in fear, thinking of the strange unnatural unholy things roaming in the dark. Sweat dribbled down her neck as her feet began running down the street, scurrying past abandoned collections and belongings, faster and faster until her toes ached. Her humble house was a couple blocks away.
Quickly hiding behind a barrel, she checked every direction, double-checked, before dashing for her next hiding spot and for the next. Throat burning, she closed her eyes, catching her breathe trying to think of some way to find her husband, go home, or to a sanctuary with the city's patrolmen.
In her path lay turned-over booths riddled with building rubble, huge potholes within the cobblestone, blood, and flags. This was the worst Festival she has ever attended and she swore she would never attend another for as long as she lived! Her husband told her he had a surprise waiting for her, but he never came back and she would scold him for doing this to her! Make him sleep with the pigs!
Grrrraaahhhwwwl
A huge bulge swelled within her throat as a terrifying growl came from the shadows of an actor's stage, riddled with torn flags, abandoned costumes, and tattered masks. That sound was no man or woman. But it was something not from this earth. Slowly, Ivy peeked from her hiding spot; careful to control her breathing for fear the monster will discover her. There, rising from the stage like an actor portraying the Grim Reaper himself, a large beast emerged with fur as black as night, long canines as deadly as swords, with two burning fierce red eyes.
No, it was one red eye.
His other eye was white as snow, damaged by a past battle.
Scars were etched across his face, slashed deep enough to see pink tissue.
Face, shadow, face, shadow, face and shadow he appeared from the stage.
He was the most magnificent beast she's ever seen. An old brute, fleet, elegant, a pattern of fine modeling in his massive skeleton frame, beautiful, wild, with a gleam of electric murder in his eyes. Ivy would've gawked for a moment longer but her unborn infant kicked, reminding her she was in a fragile state of being, so carefully she slid away. Kneeling she crawled through the barrels of ale and beneath the wagons and past the music chariots, eager to move to the nearest entrance. Sweat dripped from the tip of her nose, she dared not to open her lips to yelp as the monster poked its large snout against a puppet showcase, sniffing and huffing.
Biting a lip the young girl held her breathe, feeling her lungs expand in a way she's never felt before, her heartbeat speeding. The snout poked a Jester puppet, swinging the doll on its strings attached to its every cushioned limb. It wasn't the Jester that amused the beast, it was the smell. A smell was attracting the powerful male to investigate her hiding spot. It was as if he enjoyed the scent of a familiar friend.
The sounds were noisy, as if the beast was almost cat-like. Ivy lowered her head against the ground touching her ear against the dirt; she discovered a bottle of ale, wilted flowers, ribbons, and mud. Then there he was- Ivy witnessed the large paws prod against the street in a predatory manner. Her eyes moved with his every movement. Despite the size of his body, his paws were massive, equipped with deadly claws, outmatching any beast in the land. Before she knew it, the beast wasn't there anymore. A quick gasp, she looked from side to side. How on earth? Did it somehow…take flight? Silence.
CRASH!
She screamed, wooden chips flew into her hair, before feeling a solid object push her backwards onto the ground. Her dress ripped, her arm was bleeding, and she could feel its large wet and cold nose press against her leg. Whimpering, she crawled on her hands and knees, making a useless escape before feeling something sharp and uncomfortable snatch on her moccasins, dragging her back. Squeezing her eyes shut, her nails raked into the street stones, making her fingernails ache and snap. The dragging stopped. The world faded, blinked in colors, then faded again, and somehow she lay on her back with a perfect view of the monstrous beast. Her mouth opened for a scream-
Meanwhile:
Father Solomon lost them.
The wolves were gone.
His men were exhausted and their equipment had become useless. The large crossbow had emptied its bolts. This was not defeat. The battle may have been lost, but the war shall be won.
Father Solomon assembled his finest horsemen to track and report while he called his Captain to his side to assist him in a personal matter. Solomon clutched the sword handle in his grip, remembering a promise he made to himself. His mind may have devoted to the service of God, but his heart was devoted to the lives of his daughters whom had taken safe refuge somewhere in the city. But that personal matter would have to wait when Henry returned to him with a final word.
"I know where they went…"
The holy man looked at the young boy with a skeptical eye, calculating his next decision. Henry looked at him with the same gaze, holding no emotion other than boldness, the willingness to disobey. Even if his apprenticeship would be at stake, his face seemed to hold a true integrity while holding a defying gaze as well. Solomon nodded, sending his entire crew into a hunting frenzy.
Meanwhile:
The devastation of losing April had slammed Cesaire, crushing him until he could feel nothing but hot rage boil within his body, severing his tie to reality and hallucinations. The moment he smelled April's scent of death on Valerie, he knew that there was nothing he could do, nothing he could to soothe the pain of this loss.
He couldn't save her.
He failed Vanessa and he failed himself. The little white wolf nuzzled her long snout into his chest, offering comfort, softly wagging her tail back and forth. His huge golden eyes gazed upon her features and he could smell her sincerity and understanding. She knew that her father loved April as much as she loved him in return. And that love could never be recovered.
But it could be remedied.
Take care of Vanessa, in honor and respect and dedication to April.
But a second emotion ravaged his mind and Valerie could see it in his eyes. Not only would he take full responsibility to Vanessa, he would have the upmost pleasure of avenging April as well. Valerie smelled the air, locating the exact location of their enemies and the location of their apartment building. Her father immediately snapped from his vengeful daze and smelled, too. Although the white she-wolf could not move as fast as she would've liked; she was eager to follow her father. The larger wolf pushed her back with a shoulder-nudge, growling, twitching his ears and huffing and trying to spare her the pain of walking further. You must rest and regain your strength, my daughter. The white she-wolf whimpered, head lowered to the ground, pawing the dirt. I can help you, Father, please. He responded with a growl, raising his tail high into the air as a flag of authority. Vanessa, you must look after her.
The she-wolf bowed her head, obeying, and taking a stroll into the darkness. Vanessa would be heart-broken and she would be there to soothe her pain. Turning her head over her shoulder, she watched her father gallop into the night.
The Big Bad Wolf galloped as far as he could until he was sure he was alone, pointing his nose into the sky, twitching his ears for any signs of danger. The tower guards were not at their posts upon the walkway since the catastrophe at the City Festival had happened earlier tonight. A couple of more ear twitches and a sniff and he confirmed those beasts weren't here or anywhere near. One tongue lick to the air, he confirmed there was nothing here. Shaking his mane, he walked to the city's wall, pawing the red bricks before leaping up and over, landing on the other side with a thump. He arrived to the bank of the City, to the far edge where civilization meets the wilderness of the forest. Walking to a muddy hill, the wolf peered down to see water dribbling from a hidden man-made burrow coming from the city wall. The wolf walked down, scouting the tunnel ahead for any signs of danger, when he found none, he trotted forth.
With his paws splish-splashing in the water, chasing away lizards and snakes, he walked further into the tunnel until he could see the guard bars looking into the stars and the moon. Like a window to the upper world he looked up to see the buildings from beneath the street. That's how they operate and this is how they live. The sewage tunnel reeked with many things, but the smells of those animals were the strongest.
They've been living beneath the city for a long time, maybe even years.
This huge maze beneath the city, the sewage system would be impossible to track or find anything. The sun is coming up soon. And he couldn't leave Valerie alone. Cesaire didn't have time for this! So there was only one way he would be able to finish this: a howl.
Let anything and anyone down here know that he was here and ready to fight!
For you, April.
Meanwhile:
Suddenly within the disgusting bowels of the city, Sheriff Williams heard a howl penetrate the silence within the sewage systems, so loud it trembled within his chest. Were they close or were they far away? He didn't know. With his sword in hand, he stepped through the murky water until he reached the heart of the sewage scheme, carefully stepping out onto a stone cat-walk, he peered down upon the impressive waterfall gushing into the earth. The cat-walk was built to attach from the tunnels to a canal where all waste go to dump, the murky water swirling 3 miles deep into the dirt, flushing everything that went in.
Great burst of plant life and vines grew upon the tunnels reaching up and down the walls, almost making him feel he was in some large undiscovered oasis untouched by man. The waterfall roared while he carefully stepped forward, unable to depend on any guardrail to prevent a 600 foot fall. Grabbing a bushel of vines from the wall, the fur was plain and visible, meaning they were here not moments ago. Matter of fact; due to the obvious signs of feces and plethora's of fur, they've been living here. He remembered this canal was built nearly 16 miles in distance, with available tunnel roots to every neighborhood and every street within the City. This canal has been here long before he was born.
Another howl—but instead the animal sounded bigger, howling as if in the throes of battle. Their voices were everywhere, so loud that the Sheriff had to cover his ears and wait for them to stop. The Sheriff was a smart man and he knew that all the animals needed to be annihilated, the beasts lived in the sewers, but why would they fight each other? Why would they fight now and leave the City in ruin? What disagreement did they have? If they weren't one species, then what were they and where did they belong? Were they natural foes? Fighting for territory or something much more important? He crossed the shoulder of the canal and in no time at all—there! There they were! The Sheriff ducked! They didn't see him. Peeking from his hiding place, the Sheriff witnessed a shocking truth. There are three beasts.
One beast had red/brown fur, another had caramel fur, and the last one was bigger than the rest of his kin, sleek with black fur and a gashed white eye. He was in a safe spot, high above them a couple hundred feet on the cat-walk, but despite the distance, they were huge! Three times the size of any regular tiger or lion and double the brutal strength and vicious appetite. They were a force of nature not to be dealt with recklessly.
The red/brown beast seemed to growl, moving its head back in a notion that it was searching or listening for something, anxiously pawing its snout, scratching its ears. That seemed to be the youngest of the pack, immature and vulnerable to its own instincts and sought to seek acceptance and lessons from the darker colored male. The Sheriff knelt down and laid on his belly, his arms crossed over each other to support his head. The darker colored male blinked its one eye and nuzzled its snout against the caramel colored animal, growling fiercely, nudging it with its paw, snarling through its fanged teeth. The caramel beast paid no attention to the male; instead it began licking its wounds with careful and thoughtful precision, nibbling on the skin covering the ribcage then switched to the other side. They did this for a long time, circling each other, growling and moaning, shaking their manes and snarling through their teeth.
They were anxious about something.
The bigger male head butted into the smaller beast. He was knocked to the ground before feeling a heavy paw swipe against its head and performing immediate submission. The darker male suddenly turned its attention to the other beast, roaring before swiping a paw to the ear, earning submission. Suddenly, in a crazy rage the larger male began to paw the younger male over the head many times, earning whimpering howls. The great beast growled and turned to shove the caramel beast into the wall, bashing its head, and falling to the ground. Once again, the younger male received a blow to the face and a bite to the belly. The Sheriff would hate to be him. Their argument ended suddenly when another howl came from within the tunnels, catching their immediate attention. The Sheriff became anxious, too. If something was scaring them… then he should be scared, too. But not before he took another look. These creatures were so fascinating. Everything they would write in history books were about to change.
"What do you want?" he softly whispered, gazing upon these ugly animal-demons. Their conversation with eachother was nothing he had ever seen before, their growls and grunts and snorts. The Sheriff looked at the alpha, at his muscled broad shoulders, eyeing his gashes across his face, mumbling "What are you looking for?"
The bigger male pointed his nose to the air before pressing his talons to the stone. Smart, the Sheriff thought. Feeling the vibrations like a spider on a web to attract and locate its prey and enemy. Almost like a blind bat using its vocal tracking system to locate prey. The two other beasts did the same, too. They were intelligent. In no time at all, the male dashed into a tunnel followed by its kin. The Sheriff peeked from his high vantage point and knew they were gone. They wouldn't be found unless they wanted to be found. The Sheriff chose to report back to his office and headquarters, satisfied that he saw what he needed to see. The Mayor needed to know this! He stepped across the cat-walk- when he saw another beast appear.
With fur as black as night, big gold molten eyes, and almost the same size as the other male. But this beast was more impressive looking, built like the best well-bred horse in the world, carved and toned with muscle and complete with talons and fangs. Its large full mane acted like a crown of strength and wisdom and there was no doubt that he was an male Alpha.
It was… a wolf?
He wasn't sure. The Sheriff watched as the beast twitched its ears, licked its tongue, and doing anything else a beast would do. This was their enemy, thought the Sheriff. Those other larger beasts were running from…him. Surely, a cat could defeat and devour a rat. But could 3 rats defeat a cat?
Woof!
He was broken from his thoughts when the impressive beast turned, looked one last time, and disappeared into the dark tunnel. Only the sounds of the waterfall could be heard now. Leaving from his post, returning to the tunnel, and to the world of civilization, the Sheriff had to stop and catch his breath a few times before returning to his office. He was like the citizens now, in shock, frightened, and having no idea what to do next. During the entire night, Mr. Henson had waited for his return and eagerly asked him what strategy he would plan next. His assistant tried to speak with him. Unable to come to words, the Sheriff sat in his desk with a quill in his hand. How was he supposed to convince the Mayor to evacuate the City?
The howls came again, and louder. There was a vibration as if the houses were being rattled by an earthquake. After that followed a sharp grating noise coming from beneath the sewers, a shouted gibberish, and the deafening discharge of a mighty roar, fired spectacularly as a pirate might fire a canon for effect.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city located safely in the neighborhood of the Middle Class, a newborn roamed the nearby houses, slithering from shadow to shadow like a burglar and looking for a safe passage home. The white she-wolf would have arrived back to her home in time—but not when she faintly caught the scent of a human, a human she knew, which caught her upmost attention. It was a faint musky smell belonging to a young male human, almost like the smell of cinnamon and apples.
Richard.
The frog prince, Valerie remembered his face and his love for acting and his stupid frog costume! She had forgotten they were supposed to meet!
What's worse? She smelled blood.
Careful to not put pressure on her leg, she limped to a pub. The smell of blood arrived from there, strong like burning Sulphur, so strong she didn't want to go any further. But he needed her help, he could be hurt. Prodding the door open, the small white she-wolf entered to find Richard sitting at the pub with a cup of ale in his hand. His clothes had been stained and matted with blood, reeking of death; his face had been coated with blood too.
Valerie sensed he wasn't hurt.
Richard didn't even have a scratch.
So why did he have so much blood on him? It didn't belong to him.
But he did seem different, he wasn't the smiling quirky boy she met before, instead he seemed to have caught the nature of being… possessed.
He wasn't the Richard she knew him to be.
Wanting to go to him and ask him if he was alright, she couldn't tear herself away from his sight.
She quickly crept out of sight when Richard rose from his seat, throw his pint of ale against the wall, and walked out the backdoor. So far, she didn't need to worry about him. Through the streets, Richard seemed to be angry or wrestling with resentment, his eyes were darker than usual while he rolled his hands into a fist. There was some sort of savagery and wild nature within his face, writhing with a truth she wanted to know. Within the darkness, she followed him down the street, catching whiffs of ale upon his clothes, wondering what could have happened to Richard.
He wasn't attacked.
He was not bleeding and he didn't seem to be suffering from any injuries from the recent night. In his drunken stupor, Richard stripped from his shirt, tossing the green and purple fabric into the fire, kicking the burning ashes. Deciding she would not follow him anymore, she turned to go back home, not before watching Richard slip something from his pants pocket. She peered forward to see what he had kept as his secret treasure. It was a mask. A wolf mask was tightly strapped with a ribbon behind his head, stumbling in the dark, going nowhere. The sun would rise in 3 hours.
He wasn't hurt and he wasn't himself.
Valerie hoped he would be ok for the remainder of the night. The poor boy must still be in shock.
Turning back, Valerie turned for Vanessa. She leapt from her spot, leapt onto the roof, onto another roof until she was at her window. Slipping through, she stumbled and fell onto the floorboards, feeling her fur fall off her back while her hands and feet shrunk, shortened and minimized into human hands. Her blonde hair replaced fur.
Her mind whirled for a few moments before regaining consciousness. All her human senses returned.
She was Valerie again.
"V-Vanessa…?" she mumbled, standing to her wobbling legs. "Vanessa, are you there?"
Pushing the door open, the body of the girl lay, unbeknownst to the loss of her mother. Like she had done for her sister so many times, Valerie came to the edge of her bed and softly stroked her head and brushed her hair with her fingers. In the morning when she is awake, she will delve into sadness, suffering from a terrible loss.
Meanwhile:
Father Solomon followed Henry to the mouth of a tunnel that connected to the river, gushing and spewing in torrents, the young boy led his teacher inside the dark channel. The Captain held a torch to lead the way.
"You see… all beasts need a home somewhere," Henry spoke to his teacher. "A bird has a nest. An eel has a rock. And a wolf has its den."
"How do you know they're here?"
"Look around you, do you see any rats?"
Solomon and the Captain did not.
"They are the reason…" Henry pointed. "They have a nest here somewhere. This is a perfect place where they bring their prey and eat. It's only a matter of time before we find it."
"How long have you known this?"
"When you taught me that even bees must return to their beehive, as all other animals have a home in this world, the wolf must have a home, too. And as for the beasts? There is no other place in the world better than living beneath the city. The sewers are perfect."
"Hmm, it seems as you have learned well," spoke Father Solomon. "…My apprentice."
Further and further they walked until any other natural light was impossible to see. The pitch black enveloped them completely. The echoing sounds of their footsteps and their breathing only added to their horror.
Henry stepped to make a turn around a stone corner when Father Solomon suddenly grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back. The Captain stepped forward first, torch burning and he squatted to his knees while Solomon unsheathed his sword. Henry did the same and crawled forward. Father Solomon patted his back, urging him to go first. Hesitant, Henry went first with the sword given to him.
Within the dark- he saw it.
It was a colossal and nameless blasphemy with glaring eyes, and it held in its bony claw a thing that had been a man, gnawing at the head as a child nibbles at a stick of candy. Its position was a kind of crouch, and as one looked one felt that at any moment it might drop its present prey and seek a juicier morsel. But damn it all, it wasn't even a fiendish subject that made it such an immoral fountain-head of all panic—not that, nor the dog's face with its pointed ears, bloodshot eyes, flat nose, and drooling lips. It wasn't the fat fury body, its mound-caked body, gashed and scarred—none of these, though any one of them might well have driven an excitable man to madness.
While the eventful night had dimmed to a slow dismal drought, the City had never been so silent and so desolate of life before. The entire neighborhood had become orange by dying embers and black smoke rising into the sky.
The first beams of sunrise hit.
Cesaire returned to his apartment building, happy to be home with his daughter, saddened by April's unfortunate early departure, worried about Vanessa's liability, swearing revenge at the unknown murderer, cautious of Sheriff Williams, and hating Father Solomon and his hunters. It had been one hell of a night.
"Valerie!" he called out, wiping the sweat from his brow and putting a shirt on. "Valerie!"
"We're here, Papa!"
He opened the door to his bedroom. "Is Vanessa alright?"
She touched her forehead," She's worse. Her body temperature isn't normal and her skin feels cold."
He touched her skin. It was too cold. It was a surprise that she's lasted this long in the first place. But different from his own kin—Cesaire only cared for his own flesh and blood.
"How are you feeling, baby girl?" he examined her leg, which had already healed. "Are you alright?"
She touched her leg, "It's much better. A little numb, but I'll be alright." She smiled, and then looked at him. "Thank you, Papa, for last night. That beast was stronger than I…"
"I'm your father; it's my job…" he smiled. "Don't think for a second that I wouldn't have done what I did."
"I thought I could be strong enough but—"
"You were trying to keep Vanessa and the people safe, I understand. But you're not the only here doing all the heavy lifting. Now we know that we're not alone here. Those… things… have been living in the sewers for a long, long time."
"Are they wolves Papa?"
"If they are, I don't know what kind of wolves they are… They've nothing I've ever seen before. But if they are wolves, then the fight last night is only the beginning."
"Will they fight until one of us is dead? Or until we are all dead?"
"We are territorial by nature, Valerie. Millions and millions of years of pure instinct driven by the sheer power of nature, and it is within you and me."
"But last night… when I attacked the beast…" she looked at her open palms, remembering the taste of its blood within her mouth. "That wasn't driven by instinct."
"Then why did you attack?"
His question made her rethink everything about herself. For a moment, Valerie had forgotten why she wanted to become a wolf in the first place.
"I just…" she trailed off. "I was so angry…"
He nodded, "Vanessa will be okay."
"It's not only about her," she sighed, shaking her head, feeling shame. "It was about you and it was about April."
The name left a bruise on his heart every time he heard it, but he continued to let her speak.
"And?"
"I f-found her body in the ground and… I-I was so angry… I was so hurt and sad… I wanted to kill him, I really did. April meant so much to Vanessa and April meant so much to you and I wanted all of us to be happy." She restarted again. "I didn't want anyone to die."
Those words were the exact words she used when she lost Lucy.
Lucy.
Cesaire now fully understood where her heart was, making him a proud father.
"I didn't want anyone to die, either. And I didn't want to lose April and I didn't want anything to happen to Vanessa. Does it always hurt like this?" she leaned her head against his elbow, hugging his arm, sniffling.
Another bruise appeared on his heart.
Cesaire stroked the top of her head, whispering, "Yes."
Suddenly before she could respond—there came a knock at the door.
Cesaire jumped up, covered Vanessa with a blanket, Valerie wiped her tears away and tucked their dirty tattered clothing in the dresser drawer, Cesaire adjusted his shirt collar, and they caught their breath and slowly approached the door. Father and daughter gave the other a knowing look; ready to face whatever was behind that door. Whatever was behind there would change their destinies. If it was the Sheriff, then Cesaire would confess that he murdered April and Madame Alice and the fisherman. If it was Father Solomon, Cesaire would be the one to strike the first death blow and spare his daughter. If it was Mr. Woodsten coming to collect then he would be the one to surrender all of their money and assets. The wolf father was willing to place everything on the line for his daughter.
But for once—Valerie wanted to contribute.
She opened the door.
"Peter…?"
(A/N): Okay! PETER IS BACK! Richard is alive and he has a wolf mask! Mr. Bufkin and Jacques are still missing! Cesaire lost April and now he needs to take care of Vanessa and save her from her illness. Sheriff Williams needs to evacuate the entire City! Father Solomon and Henry might know where Valerie and her father are!
And before we go any further, I want to explain that the next chapter is going to be from the point of view of Solomon's daughters! Olivia and Bella! The two girls we see in the chariot during the first part of the movie. Their point of view will happen 2 days BEFORE the Festival. Hope it's not confusing! Thanks and review your thoughts!