Fourteen

An Abandoned Train Station, Valiant, Human Territory

As the Pack gathered into their formation, Alice tapped the hilt at her side. The train yard was full of old vehicles, twisted hulks of steel and wood from the golden age of mankind. Now, the smell of rust and rotten wood filled the air, oil spills from decades past still staining the gravel under her feet like blood.

She turned to look at Lana, who was sitting in the massive vehicle. Akinrinade stood by the car, his massive hammer resting against his shoulder as he scanned the group of werewolves.

“Take the car, go home.” Alice said to Lana.

Lana raised her eyebrows and smiled widely. “You'd really let me take the car?” She asked her sister. The eagerness in her voice was obvious.

Alice cocked her head to the side and turned to Akinrinade.

“I don't think that's the best idea you've ever had, Alice.” Akinrinade said knowingly. “She drives like a lunatic.” Lana stuck her tongue out at him, which Akinrinade returned with a smile.

“Well today hasn't been my day.” Alice said before turning to Lana. “I thought you hated that car?”

“Not when I get to drive it!” Lana said eagerly.

“Get out of the car, Lana.”

Lana pouted, then opened the door and hopped out. She glared at the both of them.

“Stick close. Don't talk.” Alice said sternly. A press of a button locked the car doors. “If there weren’t so many of us here, I’d have you handcuffed to the car. Right now, it should be safe, but run when I tell you to.”

Lana let out a resigned sign but surprisingly she kept quiet and merely nodded, seemingly sensing the seriousness of the situation. Alice turned and walked towards the Pack.

There they were, men and women Alice had worked with and laughed with for years. It had been a long while since she'd seen them.

“Alice.” A woman with spiky hair and an almost razor thin build said, with a small nod as Akinrinade and Alice made their way toward the group.

“Elizabeth. Good to see you.” Alice said, awkwardly. She'd forgotten what it felt like to be a leader of such skilled warriors. She laughed uncomfortably.

“What's wrong, Alice?” A man by the name of Henry with the build of a bear and the black hair to match asked, his brown eyes watching her.

Alice swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to Akinrinade. “Was I always this nervous?” She asked under her breath. Though she was certain some if not all of her pack were listening in.

Akinrinade shrugged, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips.

Loki laughed. “Our fearless leader is back, only this time...she's no longer fearless it seems.” Her suspicions were confirmed, they definitely heard.

“Hey, I haven't done this in a while.” Alice replied. “It seems the fearless part leaves with age.”

Some of them laughed.

Alice shook her head, also letting out a laugh, “It's good to see you all, though I wish it had been in better circumstances.”

“Don't we all.” Henry said grimly.

“Awh come on, Henry, fresh air will do ya' good.” Loki said jokingly.

Henry shook his head, a small smile on his lips.

“We'll split up, that's the best way to find it.” Alice said looking around at the group.

Loki laughed uncomfortably. “Yeah, I'm sure that's a great idea. What with all the horror movies I've seen with all the people who survived after splitting up.”

Some of the people in the group mumbled in agreement.

“Go in pairs, you'll be fine.” Akinrinade replied, his mace propped casually on a shoulder.

“We don't even know what we're after.” Elizabeth said unsurely.

Alice stared at them all for a moment----they were scared. It had been a while since she'd seen them so scared, but then again the photos of the victims had been unnerving, to say the least.

“You all came here to fight. So that's what we're going to do.” Alice said. “If any of you would like to leave, now is the time.” Alice looked them each in the eye, as if daring them to take the offer. “Also, if you do leave would you be so kind as to take my kid sister with you? If anything happens to her though, you will be held responsible.” Alice threw them a winning smile. Lana waved cheerily next to her.

A few of them shuffled uncomfortably. Lana was notoriously hard to deal with. Loki was the first to speak he ruffled his hair, “You sure do make a difficult deal, Alice.”

Alice shrugged, not really caring past the job getting done. “I know my crowd.”

Elizabeth laughed, “Looks like it's me and you kid.” She said clapping one of the younger werewolves on the shoulder and dragging him along with her. The young man yelped, unable to fight back.

When Alice was done, Akinrinade smiled proudly. “Ah, to hear our noble Alice's speeches once again.” He said teasingly.

Alice turned to him, if it had been someone else that had made such a comment she might have been offended, but instead she punched him in the shoulder slightly, also smiling.

****

Loki and Henry slowly made their way through the train cars.

Loki saw something move from the corner of his eye and swiftly turned, his flashlight shining brightly on whatever it was. A rat scurried away.

Henry shook his head and chuckled. “Why are you so nervous?” He asked. “I've got your back, man.”

Loki let out a long sigh. “Well, yes, I'm aware of that, but who's got yours?” He asked.

Henry grimaced. “Don't say stuff like that.” He said, glancing around uncomfortably.

It was Loki's turn to chuckle at the funny sight of his massive fellow werewolf getting nervous as they continued their trek down the path. The gravel crunching under their boots, steam coming out of their mouths. 

A crackle sounded before Alice's voice was heard from their walkies. “Anything?” She asked.

“Nothing so far.” Loki replied.

****

Alice brushed her hair back, eyes narrowing at the world around her. The smells around her seemed muted somehow, fake. “Are you sure this is near where it's been spotted?” She asked the woman standing beside her, a new werewolf by the name of Jae In she wasn’t familiar with.

“We followed it as far as here from where it attacked. This is the only way it could have gone.” She replied.

“Okay.” Alice said releasing a long sigh. She studied the train yard searching for a hint that might lead them in the right direction. “It's quiet. You don't think that's strange?”

The woman shut her eyes, and listened closely. She turned to Alice, confused. “Nothing.” She said.

Alice nodded. Lana glanced between them curiously. “What does that mean?” She asked.

“Something is very wrong.” Alice replied absentmindedly before realizing who had spoken.

She turned to look at Lana, and opened her mouth to say something before closing it again.

“What?” Lana asked, her eyes as wide as saucers, “What is it, Rin?”

“I won't lie to you.” Alice said finally. “It's bad-but we'll get through this.”

Lana looked down for a second, before looking up at her older sister. If there was anyone she trusted to get her out of this, it was Alice. She nodded once. Alice smiled reassuringly before becoming serious again to deal with the situation at hand.

Alice held the walkie up to her mouth and pressed the button to talk. “Loki, Yuri, Akinrinade, Elizabeth. Don't rely on sound. Use all your other senses.”

****

Loki stared down at his walkie before he turned to Henry.

Henry shrugged before shining his light around, searching for any signs of the beast. “What do you suppose she means?” Henry asked.

Loki shook his head, “Manipulator of sounds maybe? Ever heard of something like that?”

Henry continued walking, deep in thought. “That's a new one.”

Loki trailed behind him, keeping careful watch of their surroundings. “Fae?”

“No, the murders aren’t their style...I'm beginning to think that this is something we haven't faced before.”

There was a movement from the corner and again Loki shone his light on it. Nothing was there. “Great, now I'm starting to see things.” He said.

Henry turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

“We should keep going.” Loki said walking ahead of Henry. He stopped abruptly and looked down at his boots. Confusion crossed his feature as he took a step, still watching his feet.

Henry watched as Loki stomped his foot once, twice before realizing what was wrong. The crunching of gravel could no longer be heard.

Henry smelled it first, the faint smell of copper, a familiar smell he'd smelled before.

What was that?

“Do you smell that?” He asked his companion.

Loki lifted his head for a moment and sniffed the air, “Yeah.”

Both of their expressions darkened. “Blood.” Loki said.

He and Henry continued walking, both of their bodies tense. The smell getting stronger as they got closer, and that's when they found the source of the blood.

****

“We've found something strange, Alice.” Loki said over the radio as Alice, Jae, and Lana strode past an old storage shed.

Alice activated her walkie and brought it up to her mouth. “What is it?”

“Not sure.” He said. “There's blood here. And these cars look like they've been used recently. No dust on the floors, and there’s new welds on the doors.”

“Any sign of the beast?”

“It looks like it's been here recently.” Henry said over his own radio.

“Where's it gone now? Can you track it?” Alice said softly.

****

Loki searched the ground for tracks. For something that had been leaving a mess of evidence behind. It chose a mighty fine time to hide its tracks now.

“Not sure.”

“I'll tell the others to find you, you guys keep trying to track it.”

“Got it.” Loki turned to Henry. “Looks like it's just you and me.”

Henry chuckled, his mouth turning into large snout as the rest of his face began to transform.

Loki grimaced, “You could have warned me.”

Henry smiled at him, now fully transformed. “It's more fun this way.”

****

They found it. It took a few minutes. In the end, it wasn’t even hard. It was sitting in a train car, calm as a cucumber. Its features were indistinct, hidden in the shadows. The creature was ignoring them, it's back turned to them and shoulders shifting slowly, busy at whatever it was doing.

Loki grabbed his walkie. “Found it.” He managed to say before it stopped what it was doing suddenly, its shoulders no longer moving, its ears perked up.

Henry grabbed Loki's shoulder, but before they could make any move to attack it was on them, it got Loki first, its claws going for his eyes. Loki managed a few shots before the beasts claws slipped into Loki’s eye sockets.

Loki screamed in horror and fear, unable to comprehend what had occurred even as his world went black.

It pulled his eyes out, leaving the torn flesh to dangle at the ends of the optic nerves. Then it thrust a hand out, slamming it into his stomach like a child digging into jello. The creature, still so hard to see, chuckled.

“Lambs.”

Once it was done with Loki it turned on Henry who was busy firing shots at it and yelling maddeningly as tears fell down his cheeks.

Henry continued to shoot at it as it stalked toward him, throwing aside the screaming Loki like trash. He could see the black pitiless holes where Loki’s eyes should have been, and the gaping hole where his guts spilled out.

Henry threw down the gun, leaped at the beast with a snarl, his own claws lashing out, and—