Hair, Greg - Werewolf 01, page 18
“Mr. Lonely,” said Landon. “Whoever it is has a penchant for the oldies.” They eased toward the room.
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Reaching the little room’s door, each werewolf took a position on opposite sides of the window. Landon mouthed a three count. She opened the door quickly as he rushed inside. She followed, closing the door behind her. Though the light remained off, Landon and LillyAnna saw a woman tied to a chair in the middle of the room and a man standing behind her, a knife to her throat. The music continued.
“I can see you,” said Landon. “Drop the knife, Jerry.”
LillyAnna crossed behind Landon and turned off the stereo. Creeping around the wall of the room, she made her way behind the man, never losing sight of the knife. Landon’s gaze never left the man’s eyes.
Landon ran his hand along the wall behind him, searching for the light switch and turning it on. Then, for the first time, he looked at the woman’s face. He nearly forgot where he was as the woman from five years ago sat before him, a butcher’s blade to her neck.
“Paige,” he said, surprised as much at hearing himself say her name out loud as he was to see her sitting there.
“I’m sorry, Landon,” responded Paige.
“Sorry for what? What are you doing here?”
“She’s sorry,” spoke Jerry, “that you won’t be the one who has the last dance with her.”
“Landon,” said Paige, “there’s something I need to tell you.”
“She wants to tell you that she’s had a wonderful time, even without her kids,” said Jerry. Paige slowly closed her eyes.
“Kids?” asked Landon. “Let her go, Jerry. I don’t know where Jamie and Nicholas are, but you don’t realize who you’ve gotten involved with. They’re not just gonna let you walk out of here. Let her go, and I can get you out alive.”
“Oh, they’re off somewhere with the kids. They should be here soon,” Jerry said. “And they will let me go.”
“They have your kids, Paige?” asked Landon.
“Landon—” began Paige.
“Wait a minute,” said Jerry, jumping up and down like a little kid, the knife grazing her throat. “They’re his kids, too? And he didn’t know? Oh, this is so much fun.”
Landon looked at Jerry, then back at Paige. The tears kept falling from her eyes. LillyAnna, still standing behind Jerry, unbeknownst to him, stared at Landon. The gravity of Scott’s words atop the Empire State Building now made sense. Landon’s eyes burned red.
“LillyAnna,” said Landon, “go.”
LillyAnna darted from behind Jerry and out of the room. Landon closed the door and locked it.
“You’re not going to walk out of this room alive, Jerry,” he said. “I’m sorry, too, Paige.”
“Sorry for what?”
“That you have to see this.”
Within seconds, the werewolf stood before them. He tried to keep his wobbling from being obvious; he was still under the influence of the full moon. Jerry backed away from Paige, who remained tied in her seat as the beast crossed the room. The knife dropped, clanking on the concrete floor. Landon took one swipe at the rope, freeing Jerry’s captive. She ran to the opposite side of the room, giving the creature more space to work with.
“I told you he was going to kick your ass.”
Jerry backed up as far as he could, hitting the wall behind him. He screamed as Landon’s left claw connected with his right side, throwing him like a doll into the corner. Jerry bounced to the floor, his head smacking against the cold surface. Landon reached down, picked him up, and tossed him into the chair, breaking it, sending jagged pieces of wood jutting into his body.
Suddenly, the door exploded, splintering into thousands of pieces, dust filling the room as another werewolf, covered in blond fur, burst into the room. Both werewolves stood their ground silently while Paige cowered in a far corner, and Jerry lay on the ground. The beasts shook their heads from time to time as if trying to get something out of their brains. Jamie took a slight step forward, growling, giving Landon all the justification he needed to scream back and lunge at his son. The elder rocketed into the younger’s torso, causing the two beasts to fly out of the small holding area and into the large room that became their arena.
LillyAnna ran as quickly as she could down the tunnels, checking all possible rooms and branching passages. It didn’t take long for her to find what she hoped she wouldn’t. Standing at the end of the primary corridor was Nicholas.
“Well, well, look at the dog that’s gone hunting without her master,” he said. “Ryker told you that someday you would have to face someone who you cared about. How is Scott, anyway?”
“Jamie is following you blindly. What have you done to him?” asked LillyAnna.
“What have I done? You mean what has Landon done. It always comes back to the sins of the father. I have simply recognized what your boyfriend failed to see—Jamie’s potential. He’s going to set things right.”
“And you’re just along for the ride, I guess,” she remarked sarcastically. “Where are they?”
“The children? Oh, they’re around. You want ‘em? Come get them,” Nicholas snapped.
LillyAnna took a few steps, and Nicholas ripped off his clothes and mutated. The large black werewolf beckoned her with his claw. He staggered slightly. She noticed that he was no different than any other werewolf under a full moon, and took a half-step back, her heart pounding, blood racing. Then she darted forward, turning into her brown werewolf form as Nicholas sprang to meet her. The contacting bodies thundered in the passageway. LillyAnna was thrown down an adjoining tunnel, hitting the wall at the end with her back, the concrete crumbling around her while she lay on the floor motionless.
Paige watched Jerry struggle to pick himself up. She saw him look around the room, focusing his gaze across the floor. Following his line of sight, she saw the knife lying near the broken entrance. He tried to stand quickly as she ran to the knife, but he collapsed again. Paige didn’t hesitate. Running back to Jerry, knife in hand, she fell to the floor beside him, and thrust the blade into his stomach. While Jerry McClursky lay there bleeding out, she turned his head toward her and opened his eyes.
“I wanted you to see that it was a woman who beat you,” she said, pushing the knife in farther until she felt it exit his back. He died immediately.
Outside, in the chapel-sized room, the blond werewolf struggled to keep up its fight. Landon repeatedly picked Jamie up, slamming him against the floor, or throwing him against a wall. At one point, as he catapulted Jamie to the ceiling, Jamie’s body hit a dusty, rusted pipe, knocking it loose. The pipe still hung there as he came crashing back down, putting an eight foot crater in the floor. Landon was relentless. He bounded on top of Jamie, tearing into his fur and flesh with his teeth and claws. He could only think about taking the teenager in, discovering the boy was his son, and the devastation that followed. Now Jamie had kidnapped his other children. Justice wasn’t coming quickly enough.
Paige stepped out of the small room and watched as Landon brutally attacked her kidnapper, her children’s kidnapper. His son. Jamie lay there, taking it, no longer fighting back. She ran over to Landon, crying, begging him to stop. She tried in vain to get through. Landon looked at her, letting out a terrible howl, when suddenly a brown werewolf flew over his head, landing near Jerry’s tomb. Landon barely turned his head back to the main door when he was rushed from behind, knocked into a far wall.
Paige, trembling, turned to run toward Landon when Jamie grabbed her by the ankle and lashed at her back. The wound opened to her kidneys, and she collapsed. Landon gave another terrible howl. The black werewolf stood by Jamie, protecting him while the teen changed to human form to heal his wounds. Nicholas transformed into his human shape.
“You never could beat me during all your trainings, Landon,” said Nicholas, looking down at Paige, as Landon and LillyAnna turned human.
“Paige,” whispered LillyAnna, crying.
“It’s real easy to get the jump on someone when that person doesn’t see you coming,” said Landon. “And it’s easy to attack a mortal, isn’t it, Jamie? How about both of you come a little closer and try me again.”
Landon’s claws extended as he stepped toward Nicholas, never taking his eyes off Paige.
“You were irresponsible to bring her along,” said Nicholas, pointing to LillyAnna.
“I’m still alive, aren’t I?” said LillyAnna.
“Only because I let you be so.”
“Please,” begged LillyAnna. “Let us help Paige.”
Paige’s blood continued spilling out over the cold cemented floor. Nicholas looked down at her, back up at LillyAnna, and shook his head.
“Nicholas, please, my kids,” said Landon. “Jamie, they’re your brother and sister. Don’t do this. You don’t know anything about the man you’re with.”
“I know enough,” said Jamie. “I know he was unfairly hunted in France for a murder he didn’t commit. He’s not like you.”
“I know that story, about the killings that took place in Gevaudan. He’s told that story before. Jamie, if I were you, I’d begin to question what he tells you. I now suspect he was the creature who killed all those men, women, and children. Jamie, I’m sorry for my attack on you. Come back with me. Let’s start over. Please let the children go. They are completely innocent. Whatever he wanted with them, you can help them now.”
“You’re not always very good at putting the pieces together are you?” asked Nicholas.
“Jamie,” whispered Landon. “What does he mean?”
“You ruined my life, and I wanted you to hurt the way that I’ve hurt. I wanted to take away something that you cared about, just as it was taken from me.”
Landon took a few steps closer as Nicholas became the hulking black werewolf once more. Jamie inched nearer to Paige, laying his hand upon her back. She was still alive.
“If you come closer,” said Jamie, “I’ll make sure she keeps breathing, and that it’s slow and painful.”
“He took our kids,” began Paige, raising her head slowly and looking at Landon. “Kill the bastard.”
Jamie angrily raised his hand, claws extended, and aimed for her head. Before he could make contact, LillyAnna, as a werewolf, burst across the floor, grabbing Jamie, and sailed out of the large room into the corridor.
Nicholas howled threateningly at Landon. Paige lay between the two, unable to move, blood gushing out. Nicholas began to bend over, reaching toward her ankle. Landon, in all his full animalistic glory, rushed him.
Nicholas was not incorrect in what he said before; Landon had never beaten him during any of their trainings. Of course, Nicholas had never taken Landon’s children. He had never felt Landon’s full fury—until now.
Landon threw Nicholas across the entire length of the room. The black werewolf burst through the concrete wall into the smaller room that contained Jerry’s body. Landon crouched down to attack, baring his glistening, white teeth. The black wolf stepped out. The red wolf, opening his mouth wide, let out a deafening scream and, using his powerful hind legs, propelled himself through the air. Both werewolves collided in mid-air falling to the floor below, their impact causing Paige’s near lifeless body to bounce.
Out in the corridor, both LillyAnna and Jamie struggled to gain the upper hand over the other. He attempted repeatedly to gain entrance to the cathedral room; she did her best to prevent it. As he sank his teeth into her left shoulder, she dug her claws into his inner thigh. Each thrust the other back, transformed to heal, then re-morphed, charging again—all in perfect unison. They seemed to almost dance as they whirled around, trading the subservient position against the parallel walls of the hallway.
Landon used all four of his limbs to push Nicholas’s weight off, tossing him straight up. As the black wolf came back down, he used his powerful right leg to knock him to the side like a soccer ball. Landon shifted to human form as Nicholas regained his composure and did the same.
“Why Jamie?” he asked.
Nicholas stood there, his soulless black eyes smiling as his mouth followed suit. His human teeth reflected the dim fluorescent light shining from above even as he stood in the shadows. And that was the only answer he offered to Landon. He said nothing. Suddenly, his black eyes blazed red as he morphed again to werewolf and charged at Landon.
Landon stayed human a split second longer than he usually would have, then changed right before Nicholas made contact, using the energy of his transformation and that of Nicholas’s charge to grab the black wolf, sending him flying out into the corridor.
Nicholas burst upon LillyAnna and Jamie’s fight, the latter two pausing to watch Nicholas struggle to get up, falling back down once, then finally gaining his balance. LillyAnna and Jamie turned human as the hulking black mass gathered its senses.
Nicholas turned, staring at Jamie. He nodded at the blond teenager and gave a sharp-toothed grin. Jamie took a step forward as Nicholas jumped back toward Landon.
Nicholas rushed upon his enemy, grabbing the red werewolf and tossing him toward the ceiling, which was exactly what Landon wanted. He flew so high, so fast, that he thrust his claws into the ceiling, only inches from the pipe that Jamie had earlier knocked loose. There Landon hung upside down, clinging to the ceiling, his enemy waiting below. He grabbed the steel pipe with one arm, leaned his head back, locked his sights onto his target, and pushed himself back down toward the floor.
LillyAnna and Jamie reached the doorway in time to see Landon come upon his opponent like a missile. The black werewolf leaned back to look upward toward Landon, and Landon thrust the pipe through Nicholas’s midsection with such force that it went clear through him and lodged in the cement floor. Jamie screamed while LillyAnna held him back. Landon straightened the pole, revealing its fifteen-foot length. Then he slid Nicholas halfway down the pike as the broken werewolf began bleeding out, unable to shapeshift.
Landon morphed back to his human form and marveled at the scene. The aide to the Consuls, was now broken, beaten, and impaled.
Jamie’s eyes welled up for his friend and mentor. LillyAnna tried to put her arm around him, but he only shrugged it off and walked toward Nicholas, who was dying slowly.
“It’s over,” said Landon.
Jamie saw that Landon was right; the mighty werewolf would be dead momentarily. He stared at the wolf’s large black eyes, his reflection staring back at him. He heard the labored breathing as it became shallower and shallower, slower and slower. The gaps between each breath became longer until the last interval was never ending.
“Where are they, Jamie?” asked Landon. “Where are the kids?”
“In a room to the side of the entrance of this place,” he said, still staring at Nicholas’s still open eye. “They’re safe. You guys were too busy looking for us, you missed them.”
“You need to come with us.”
“Landon,” said LillyAnna, cradling Paige’s head.
“She’s trying to say something.”
Landon ran over to where Paige lay dying.
“Liam and Mara are your children’s names,” Paige whispered. “I’m sorry I never saw you again to tell you. They have beautiful red hair just like their father. Mara is so smart, and Liam’s as strong as his dad is. They are just like you.”
“It’ll be okay,” said Landon, crying softly. “I’m sorry I walked out on you back then. It was my way of trying to protect you. I failed.”
“Protect them now,” she said.
Then she was gone. He picked her up and walked in circles, tears falling on her lifeless body. He carried her to the doorway with LillyAnna trailing him and turned back toward Jamie.
“Come on, Jamie. LillyAnna,” he said, “I’m gonna move ahead and bury Paige. You get the kids.” He bolted out of the underground complex.
The teen laid his hand on Nicholas’s eyes and closed them. He then followed LillyAnna into the corridor and back up toward the entrance by the subway. There, in a room next to the entrance by the subway, they found Liam and Mara sitting on the cold floor, huddled together in a blanket to keep warm.
“Are you the monsters?” asked Liam.
“Monsters?” LillyAnna asked.
“Uncle Nicholas said that if we opened the door, the monsters would get us,” said Mara. “Are you the monsters?”
“No, honey. We’re not monsters.”
“Are they gone?” Liam asked.
“They’re never gone,” answered Jamie.
“Yes, they’re gone,” Landon said, returning from above, and throwing a disapproving look at Jamie.
Landon had LillyAnna take the children up to the park. Jamie stayed with Landon. The father transformed once more, and with his great, brute strength, slammed the entrance door into the concrete surrounding its space, sealing it shut. Such was Nicholas’s tomb.
Moments later, in a dark, tree-covered area of Central Park, everyone gathered around a fresh mound.
“Where’s mommy?” asked Mara, holding Liam’s hand.
“I’m sorry, honey,” LillyAnna said, bending down and putting her hands to the little girl’s cheeks. “Mommy’s somewhere else. You’re not able to see her, but she’s still with you, and she loves you very much.”
“Landon, don’t you think someone’s going to find her here?” LillyAnna asked.
“Not for a little while,” Landon said. “Then she’ll get a proper burial. We have to get back.”
“Back where?” asked Jamie.
“Burghausen,” he answered. “You have to be judged.”
An hour later, they pulled their car back into Times Square. Neither Landon nor LillyAnna spoke. Tears ran hot down his cheeks, from his burning red eyes. Jamie and the kids sat in the back seat. Silence enveloped the car as it moved back out of Manhattan and returned to the airport to the waiting plane.
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