In the Woods Ch6

Police cars were just leaving as they pulled up in the minivan. Jack spotted a few raised eyebrows at the sight, but thanks to the tinted windows they were saved from answering awkward questions like: ‘Why did you bring two teenagers to a crime scene?’

Like Miss Rider, Eleanor lived on the very edge of campus, but instead of a run-down, single-story house, Eleanor lived in a run-down, two-story apartment. The building sat on a short hill, with a deck looking out over the small side-yard. Apparently, the students had decided that instead of carrying their trash to the dumpster farther behind the building, they’d simply throw all their garbage over the balcony. Piles of trash bags, loose bottles, and food remains formed a mountain at the edge of the tree line.

“How could anyone stand living next to that smell?” Katherine said from the back, one hand pressed to her nose.

“People can get used to anything,” Koz said, though even he had sour look on his face. “All right,” he stated. “Try not to attract any attention. Don’t leave the car.” He eyed the two in the back. “Behave yourselves.”

Katherine and Nightlight’s eye-rolls were so in-sync they could’ve been rehearsed.

Jack’s hair was freshly dyed and he was wearing another borrowed suit. He tried not to fidget with either too much as they walked up to the crime scene. Koz nudged him discreetly as he reached into his breast pocket and Jack hurried to follow suit. Mr. Qwerty (or rather, someone who supplied Mr. Qwerty) had recently finished Jack’s fake badge.

Jack and Koz flashed their fake IDs at the officer standing at the scene perimeter and were allowed through. Jack felt a rush of excitement—now that he was officially a fake FBI agent, he felt like a real hunter!

Then they stepped into Eleanor’s apartment and he saw the body.

It was startlingly matter of fact; it was as undramatic as a slab of meat fallen to the floor—but it had a face. And it was a face Jack had known, even if for only a very brief time. Just like Miss Rider, Eleanor had been eviscerated. Rubbery-looking organs were puddled across the floor next to her body, blood tacky as it dried in the heat. Suddenly, Jack’s moon sickness nausea came back with a vengeance.

“The coroner is ready to move her,” an officer said, approaching Koz.

“That’s all right,” Koz replied. “I’d like a moment to make some impressions and then the coroner can have her.”

Jack tried not to stare, but he also felt ashamed to look away. He compromised and watched Koz examine the area surrounding the body.

“Any footprints?” Koz asked as he tread carefully around the dried blood carpet.

“Just those paw prints,” the officer replied. “But we haven’t had a chance to look under her yet.”

Koz crouched beside Eleanor’s pale form and cocked his head to look into her open chest. “Heart taken through the abdomen,” he murmured.

“We didn’t specify the details of how the heart was removed in the papers. Looks like the same person as before,” the officer said.

Bloody paw prints littered the floor, leading up to the door, where smeared prints covered the frame and knob.

“Go ahead and move her,” Koz said, stepping back. “I’d like to hear the coroner’s report.”

Jack looked away as the coroner and a few uniformed people—EMTs?—came in to move the body. His eyes trailed across the room. A lumpy couch sagged against one wall, facing a small, old television set on a bookshelf. He glanced over the textbooks, knick-knacks, and photographs set on the shelves, chronicling a life just beginning. It was strange to think these things all held meaning to someone. Now that someone was dead, and the objects seemed dead too.

Koz cleared his throat to catch Jack’s attention, then gestured toward the door. He directed Jack toward the edge of the crime scene and then beyond its bounds.

“Are we going to see the boyfriend? He’s looking kind of guilty right now.” Jack said as they headed for the car.

Koz shook his head. “Tracking him down the human way will take time. He’s taken another heart so we can cautiously conclude that he means to summon another Black Dog. We need to find him before that happens. Koz unlocked the vehicle and opened the minivan’s trunk.

Katherine and Nightlight’s faces peeped over the backseat. “What’s going on?” Katherine asked.

Koz unzipped one of several duffle bags stashed in the trunk, revealing a collection of guns and other assorted weapons. “We’re going to track down our murderer,” Koz said.

‘Great!’ Nightlight knelt on his seat so they could see his sign.

“We’ve been a little bored,” Katherine said.

‘A lot bored!’ Nightlight added.

Koz pocketed a bottle of holy water and held a second in his hand. He looked up at them. “You’re not coming with us,” he said incredulously.

Nightlight and Katherine’s faces fell. ‘What?’ Nightlight signed, his expression giving away his disdain in place of a tone of voice.

“Why did you bring us along then?” Katherine asked.

“Because I didn’t have time to take you home,” Koz replied, handing Jack the second bottle of holy water, then a handgun. “Just as I don’t have time to argue with you now. Stay here, where it’s safe.” He shoved aside the other duffel bags and rummaged deep in the luggage compartment beneath the seats. Finally, he pulled out not one, but two hula hoops.

“If worse comes to worse, put these around your waists.” He offered the rings to the two baffled teens. “They’ve got salt in them, they’ll protect you against a Black Dog.”

Koz zipped his bag and reached for the trunk lid. “We’ll be right back. Behave yourselves.”

Katherine and Nightlight looked as indignant as any two teens holding neon pink hula hoops could. Then Koz closed the trunk, locked it, and turned to Jack with a grim smile. “Shall we?”

Jack cocked an eyebrow. “Hunters are a lot less gritty than I thought,” he said. “A lot of it seems to be . . . how to kill monsters using chewing gum and rainbow-colored toothpicks.”

Koz looked thoughtful a moment, a helpless smile creeping across his face. “I don’t know about rainbow toothpicks,” he said. “But a blue toothpick might be effective against goblins.”

“You’re fucking with me.”

“No. Goblins abhore the color blue.”

*

Koz and Jack crept through the dusky forest. Jack remembered how unnerved he’d been by the slumbering Black Dog’s presence. He wasn’t feeling it now, but the very thought that their quarry might be right at the end of this trail, summoning a Black Dog at this very moment, was enough to make him clutch his bottle of holy water tightly to his chest.

He caught a sign of movement out of the corner of his eye and nearly jumped out of his skin. He stood frozen, staring at where the movement had come from. Even as bare as the trees were getting, there was still too much shrubbery for him to say with certainty that there was anything there. And Koz was leaving him behind.

He hurried to catch up. Behind him, he thought he heard the ‘crunch-crunch’ of someone following after, but when he stopped and looked back, he found only the wind blowing dead leaves across the ground.

The air felt damp and cool and there was a threatening tone in the wind that promised more rain. They would have to find this guy before then, or his scent would be washed away.

They walked for nearly thirty minutes before the sun went down. Jack could only be glad his night-vision had kicked in, otherwise this would be significantly harder and much more frightening.

The sky was dark, the wind nearly howling, buffeting the trees so fiercely their branches rose and fell like waves on an ocean. Occasionally, Jack felt a pinprick as a tiny raindrop struck him. The sky rumbled overhead and Jack’s unease grew.

Then Koz stopped so suddenly Jack nearly walked into him.

“I think I know where our guy went,” Koz said, pointing ahead.

Jack looked over his shoulder and saw through the gloom, a building. It was large, with wide windows, and an expansive deck that looked out over the hillside, and bizarrely enough – a parking lot.

“What is that?” Jack asked, trying to keep his voice as low as he could with the wind snatching away all sound.

“One of the park’s Visitor Centers,” Koz replied, having to raise his voice over the wind. “For the Beluta Caves. I’ve come here with Ser—I’ve been here before. It should be closed down now though—they’re expanding the caves.”

They watched light flicker through the center’s huge windows. Jack swallowed hard and clenched the holy water to his chest. They were going to face a murderer! His heart pounded as Koz lead him down an incline, keeping to the thickest shrubbery and avoiding the lit parking lot and wooden walkways heading to the center.

Koz moved quickly, keeping low and quiet. Jack followed, not as low, fast, or quiet, but scared enough for the both of them—and that had to be worth something, right?

Koz stood straight at the Center’s front door, one hand on the door’s metal push bar, the other holding his gun at the ready, muzzle pointed upward.

Jack crouched on the other side of the doorframe and looked through the glass door. His night vision flared to life, revealing a reception area, complete with chairs, a magazine and brochure rack, and a shuttered service window. Next to the window was a narrow hallway lined in photographs. Beyond the hallway he could make out strange shapes and just the barest flicker of light.

Jack looked up at Koz who was watching him solemnly. “Stay behind me,” Koz spoke as quietly as could be, the wind nearly stealing his words. “Watch our backs.”

Jack nodded, heart racing.

Koz gently pressed the push bar so the metal barely made a sound. The hinges were another matter. The door let out a squeal and Koz froze.

They both waited a moment, barely breathing. When nobody appeared at the end of the hallway, Koz gestured for Jack to slip through.

Jack did so, scurrying to the desk window as quietly as he could. He stuffed the holy water into his pants’ pocket and pulled his handgun from its holster. He wished he knew how to use it better, but if anyone came around the corner, he was in the perfect spot to shoot them point-blank.

Koz slipped through the door, trying to close it behind him as quietly as he could—but with little success. He hurried to Jack’s side, putting himself between Jack and the hallway. With the door closed, the turmoil outside seemed a distant thing, just the dullest roar. It was dry, warm, and calm inside the center, but Jack would’ve much rather been out in the storm.

“Can you smell who it is?” Jack asked.

Koz shook his head, jaw clenched, speaking so low, Jack nearly had to distend his hearing to catch what he said: “Just smoke.” He glanced down the hallway and then turned back to Jack. “I’ll go first, wait for my signal, then follow.”

“Okay,” Jack said in an embarrassingly anxious whisper.

Koz moved suddenly and silently, ducking around the corner and out of sight. Jack waited a breath, then crept to the corner and peeked into the hallway. Koz crouched at the far end, gun held in both hands, pointed upward. Jack hurried to copy his stance.

Koz snuck a quick look around the corner of the main room and gestured with one hand for Jack to come to him.

Jack tip-toed as best he could, wincing at little tap of his shoes. He was still wearing the loafers from his Agent Annie disguise. Note for next time: change into sneakers when the game is afoot.

Koz scanned the next room before leaning back and nodding to Jack as if to say ‘go on and look’.

Hesitantly, Jack stepped forward and peaked around the corner into the Center’s main room.

The room had floor-to-ceiling windows on three of its walls. Somewhere on the other side of the room, a fire blazed, but Jack’s vision was obstructed by three rows of glass-lined shelves, covered in rocks, fossils, animal bones, feathers, nests and even a few taxidermied animals.

Jack swallowed.

Koz signed for Jack to watch their backs and lead the way down the line of shelves. He moved slowly and quietly, keeping low and taking frequent glances through the glass cases to try and spot their quarry.

Jack tried to follow suit, but instead of glancing ahead, he looked behind. He couldn’t help but feel like a sitting duck, but at the same time, if he were the one in the lead, he would’ve been much more frightened. He swallowed. Koz knew that. He resolved that one day he’d be good enough that Koz wouldn’t have to look out for him like this.

Koz moved silently, stalking to the end of the first line of shelves. He paused, carefully peering around to check the aisle between the first and second shelves before gesturing for Jack to follow.

Jack joined him. Out in the main room, surrounded by windows, it was much noisier. More than any other sound, Jack could hear the leaves rattling across the ground outside and the branches groaning against the wind. He strained his hearing, trying to stretch his senses beyond the line of shelves.

Easier said than done. His hearing flew far beyond the windows and he flinched at the sudden howl of wind and the roar of trees. He took a deep breath and imagined a radio dial in his mind’s eye, turning the volume lower and lower. Gradually, the radius of his hearing shrank. Just in time too–no sooner had his hearing come back inside the building, than the roof began to rumble under the weight of heavy rain.

Jack watched their rear as Koz checked their front, but he saw nothing. No movement but the flicker of light and shadows. He forced himself to focus his sight on what was in front of him while he listened intently for something out of sight.

Beneath the noise of the roof, he could hear the crackle of the fire and then—creeeak-CLUNK!

He and Koz froze.

Someone had just come through the front door. Koz lifted his head--the only sign he’d heard the sound too before he ducked around the back end of the shelving unit, out of sight from the hallway entrance.

Jack paused a second, then followed after, the firelight briefly throwing his shadow across the floor before he ducked around to the other side.

Koz was stock-still. Through the assorted objects on the shelves Jack could just make out a shape moving from the doorway. But in addition to all the junk cluttering their view, the shelf’s glass casing reflected any glimmer of firelight that struck its surface, hiding the other side from view. Whoever was coming might very well be able to see them, while Jack and Koz were sitting blind.

Jack swallowed. He was reminded by his nearly hysterical mind of the kitchen scene in Jurassic Park. He certainly felt like he was on the verge of death by dinosaur.

He took a deep breath and expanded his hearing once more. He could hear a heartbeat other than his and Koz’s. Then another! Then another! He was barely prepared to handle one person!

His hands clenched around his weapon as one set of footsteps drew near.

His hearing went back to normal as he zeroed in on the approaching figure, just catching movement coming toward them along the other side of the case.

Jack’s finger itched to go over the trigger. Should they shoot through the glass? What if the other guys had a gun? He glanced to Koz.

His partner was breathing deeply through the nose—trying to catch their scent? Koz’s nose crinkled. The scent of woodsmoke must’ve been overpowering, even Jack could smell it.

His partner crouched and looked through the glass. Surprisingly, he looked at Jack and scowled, furious.

It was then that Nightlight popped his head around the shelf.

Jack jumped, his jaw dropping in outrage.

Nightlight at least had the sense of mind to look sheepish as he signed: ‘Can I help?’

‘No,’ Koz signed back with a sharp snap of his fingers.

Nightlight rolled his eyes and glanced behind himself. He started suddenly, stepping away from the shelter of the case as he signed the letter ‘K’ and pressed it to his heart—Katherine. It was then Jack remembered that he’d heard three people.

The hair rose along the back of his neck. He whirled in time to see someone drag Katherine bodily across the aisle and out of sight.

“Shit!” Jack cried, forgetting his earlier fear as he bolted from their hiding spot. His loafers skidded on the floor as he chased the two shadows out to the main deck. Koz ran hard on his heels and was first to raise his weapon. Jack tried to follow suit, but Nightlight tore past him and suddenly he was yanking on the back of the boy’s shirt and hauling him out of Koz’s line of fire.

Jack nearly threw Nightlight behind him and the boy whimpered.

Before them stood a man, his face obscured by the skin-walker pelt slung over his head and shoulders like a hood. The coyote skin’s shriveled eye-sockets bore into them coldly. One of his arms was tightly wrapped around Katherine’s middle, just under her chest. The other held a knife tightly to her throat. Katherine was breathing fast, standing on tip-toes to make up for the man’s height, neck craned back to avoid the blade.

For a moment they all stood frozen, shocked and frightened into silence. Koz spoke first: “Good evening,” he said in a pleasant but cautious tone.

The man tightened his grip on Katherine’s middle and she let out an uncomfortable squeak.

“Koz, the knife is silver,” she said with panicky quickness.

Jack glanced at Koz and saw his jaw tighten. His dark eyes glanced to the fire, then back to the skin-walker.

Jack’s eyes flicked down to the fireside and his stomach turned. They’d found Eleanor Hammond’s heart. It was laid out on a bloody rag on the edge of a pentagram painted on the floor. The fire was on another corner, with a bowl of water and a jar of dirt making up the other two sides. The fifth was empty.

“I can’t believe this,” Katherine moaned. “I’m sorry.” She blinked rapidly, eyes wet.

“It’s fine, Katherine,” Koz said. “Calm down. Let’s all calm down.” He lowered his weapon a fraction and inched forward.

“Stay back!” The man bellowed, taking several steps forward and forcing Koz to take a few back.

Jack lowered his gun. “Are you—“ fuck he couldn’t even remember his name! “—the boyfriend’s roommate?”

“Hank!” The man cried. His tone was shrill with outrage. He stepped forward, dragging Katherine along with him. She squirmed at the rough treatment. Between the blade and the arm squeezing the breath out of her, she could barely move.

“Right,” Koz said, keeping his tone professional but light. “You drove your roommate to both victim’s homes. You knew they were both virgins and you knew about the pelt because Eleanor Hammond told all of you just what it was. Or did you already know?”

Jack looked at Koz from the corner of his eye. Was he trying to get the guy to confess—to . . . to monologue? Like some dumb supervillain? Did people really do that?

“How did you know about the pelt?” Hank demanded.

“You’re not the first skin-walker I’ve met,” Koz said.

Hank seemed a little surprised by this, but he recovered quickly. “Maybe—but you have no idea what’s coming next!” He started for the pentagram’s empty corner, hauling Katherine along with him.

“You mean the Black Dog?” Koz asked.

Hank froze, head jerking to Koz so quickly his hood fell askew, finally revealing his face. He was definitely startled, but there was also a hint of manic alarm on his features.

“This isn’t my first time with those either,” Koz said. “I’ve already found the one you lost.”

Hank recoiled at that, but Koz didn’t stop. “I’m curious, who do you want to kill so badly that you’d sacrifice two others just for the chance to do so?”

Hank bristled. “First I’m going to start with the town council,” he spat. “Then the Parks Department!”

Jack’s mind raced, searching for an explanation. What was this guy talking about? Before he could stop himself, he blurted: “Why?”

“Wh—they’re going to build a new visitors center and chop down over two dozen trees!”

There was a baffled pause, during which even Katherine gave the man a side-eyed look.

“You’re part of an environmental right’s group, aren’t you?” Koz asked. “The uh . . . “

“The Eco Guard!” Hank said, sounding almost excited as he jerked his head to the upper left.

Jack, Koz, and Nightlight all glanced up to see a flag haphazardly hung from the ceiling. In messy black paint someone had written ‘Eco Guard’ underneath a definitely traced image of the FireFox logo—with the fox replaced by a Black Dog.

“I’d already learned how to summon the Black Dog when I made the club,” Hank said. “I’d just never tried it out until those hacks in city hall decided to put in a new Center—do you know this forest is part of the migration pattern of an endangered species of bats? Nobody cares that they might not have anyplace to live when they pass through this fall!”

Jack noticed that Hank had slackened his grip on Katherine as he spoke. Apparently monologue-ing was a tried and true method for escape, even in real life! He glanced at Koz. He was out of his depth here, but Koz was in his element. He looked back at Hank and held his position, ready to stop Nightlight again if need be, but otherwise determined not to get in Koz’s way.

“Why did you choose Samantha and Eleanor?” Koz asked, edging just slightly closer to Hank and Katherine.

“They were disgusting!” Hank said, the excitement leaving his tone. “You saw their houses, they had no respect for the environment!”

Koz nodded, edging closer. “Yes, I saw the litter.”

“It was insane!” Hank said. He used the knife to gesture at the heart on the floor. Jack could see a sliver of relief enter Katherine’s eyes.

“She was the worst!” Hank jabbed the knife at the bloodied organ. “She basically turned her yard into a scavenger buffet, then she had the nerve to lay out traps for them! I only picked Sam first so I could pin the blame on Greg.”

“What’d he do?” Jack asked before he remembered he was supposed to let Koz do the questioning.

Hank just shrugged, his grip slackening around Katherine’s middle. “I just needed someone to take the fall.”

Katherine seemed to realize that her captor’s grip had waivered along with his attention. She elbowed him hard and jerked away.

“Katherine, down!” Koz roared as he surged forward, gun up.

Katherine tried to do as he said, stumbling for the floor, but Hank grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her up again. Katherine shrieked as she was hauled back to her feet and Jack was momentarily distracted trying to keep Nightlight back and out of the line of fire.

The silver blade flashed in the firelight as Hank struggled to get a grip around Katherine’s waist. The blade came dangerously close to cutting her arm, but Hank was more concerned with getting a hold of his hostage than he was on hurting her. He had wrapped both arms around her midsection, when one hand landed firmly on her right breast.

This was apparently too much for Katherine. Her face turned beat red as she let out a vicious snarl. There was a tremendous ripping noise as Katherine burst into the change, brown fur exploding across her skin as her torn clothes fell away.

The knife clattered to the ground as Hank suddenly found his arms devoid of teenaged girl and full of furious wolf. He screamed and fell to his knees—or Jack thought he fell to his knees. He’d actually transformed into a coyote, which was . . . barely above knee-height.

Katherine turned on him and it was like watching a Rottweiler face off against a Chihuahua—except Chihuahuas know no fear. Hank bolted to the far corner of the room as fast as his four legs could carry him. Katherine cleared the distance in a single bound, nearly landing on top of him.

“No biting!” Koz snarled.

Katherine froze, tail drooping as she turned to cock her head at him.

Koz let out a sound that was either a laugh or an exasperated sigh. He approached the two, gun pointed evenly at Hank. “I’m much more open to shooting vermin than a human so I suggest you change back,” he said coldly.

In an instant Hank stood up on two legs. Somehow as he did, his fur reverted back to a pelt, but the transition was so quick and so smooth, Jack couldn’t see it.

“Take that off,” Koz demanded with a flick of his gun.

Hank yanked off the pelt and threw it away. Without the concealment of the pelt’s weathered face and dead eyes, Hank’s pasty skin, runny eye makeup, and tousled hair looked downright pathetic.

“Put your hands on your head and turn around,” Koz said.

Hank put his hands on his head, but hesitated to turn around, eying Katherine fearfully. She growled. Koz stepped forward and slightly between them. “Don’t mind her,” he said. “Turn around and keep your hands on your head.”

Hank seemed to refocus on Koz’s gun, and his hesitation evaporated. He turned around and held still as Koz patted down his sides and legs.

“Alright,” Koz said, flicking the safety back on his gun and putting it back in its holster. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed Hank’s hands behind his back. He then sat him down and straightened.

The whole thing seemed so . . . Cops. Jack felt almost silly for feeling anxious before. But now he had a new cause for concern: “What are you going to do with him?” Jack asked.

Koz reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. “I’m going to call the police,” he said simply.

There was a pause. Jack dropped his arms to his sides. “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Koz said.

That seemed tremendously anti-climactic, Jack thought. “Seriously?”

“There’s more than enough evidence here,” Koz said. “The bloody hearts right there. He’ll definitely go to jail.”

“What about when he gets out?” Jack said. “What if he tries this again?”

Koz looked thoughtful and nodded. He pulled out his gun once more, pressing it to Hank’s neck. Hank had seemingly lost all will to fight with the loss of his pelt. He whimpered. “Oh, please!” He keened. “Please don’t kill me.”

“Hush, I’m not going to kill you,” Koz spoke in a low, cold voice that sounded at once infinitely threatening and strangely intimate. “It’s good you’re afraid though, I want you to remember that feeling.” He leaned in close, taking all of Hank’s attention. “I’ve got a two strikes rule when hunting humans you see. If I catch you doing anything like this again, I’m going to let her have you.” He jerked his head toward Katherine. Right on cue, she snarled, revealing long, sharp fangs. “Do you understand?”

Hank nodded, his throat bobbing beneath the gun’s muzzle. Jack noticed that the safety was still on just as Koz pulled the weapon away and backed out of Hank’s space, holstering the gun once more.

He clicked his cell phone open and dialed the police.

Jack was impressed and just a little turned on. He looked away from where Koz was talking to the police chief over the phone. Katherine trotted over to where he and Nightlight stood, nails clicking on the floor. Her head was high, but her ears flicked back in irritation, still obviously indignant at the rough treatment she’d been through.

To both their surprise, Nightlight dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her neck. He buried his face in her ruff. Katherine blinked, green eyes flicking to Jack and then back to Nightlight. Slowly, her tail began to wag.

The police took Hank away and Koz took the pelt and swapped it with a knock-off Mr. Qwerty kept stored for just such an occasion before handing the fake over to the police. It seemed a little cheap to tamper with evidence, but given how much lying they had done already, Jack didn’t mind. Plus it meant that instead of it dry-rotting in an evidence locker, the pelt was given to a hunter from the Yoku tribe, who would make sure the spirit trapped in the pelt was respected and utilized only as it wished.

It was extremely late by the time they managed to extricate themselves from the crime scene. Jack was a little surprised when Koz suggested they celebrate, but he didn’t complain. If the exhausted Dairy Queen employees were curious as to why two slightly rumpled suited men were coming in just before closing to buy an ice cream cake, they kept their questions to themselves.

***
With the skin-walker case closed and the Black Dog situation on hold, there was little else for Jack and Koz to do but help Katherine and Nightlight with the RV trail. Koz was still wary of the Thing in the Trees, but the atmosphere overall was relaxed. They spent most of the day arguing about the metric system versus the American measuring system. Apparently both Katherine and Nightlight were home-schooled by Ombric and had learned the metric system. From this subject, they meandered into a conversation about high school. Katherine had never attended and Nightlight hadn’t been in public school since he was eight.

“Is it like in the movies?” Katherine asked as she walked from one tree to another, pulling a line of thread behind her. “Do bullies steal your lunch money? Do people make out in the hallways? Is the food really awful?”

Jack looked up from his task, holding a piece of thread to one tree while Koz lead another trail. “No!” He said. Then he thought about it a moment. “Well, sort of.”

Koz reached the next tree and counted the marks Katherine had carefully noted along the length of twine. “Three point seven-five meters,” he said.

Katherine hurried to make a note of it on her journal. The map was massive now—so big it couldn’t fit on a single page. Instead Katherine had many pages with different sections. She’d laid them all out on the floor and tried to explain it to all of them once before, but frankly Jack thought only Ombric had understood it all. If he ever were asked to line-up the pages himself, he knew he’d never be able to do it. Nightlight and Koz must’ve felt the same, for they all let Katherine take the lead when it came to measuring and recording the map.

As she flicked through the journal to find the right page, a few loose leaves fell out and fluttered to the ground. Koz stepped forward and picked them up before she even stooped to get them. He glanced over the page for only a second before quirking an eyebrow.

On the upper corner, Jack could just see a ring of perfectly spaced dots, marking trees. Katherine noticed their gazes.

“Oh that place? That was so odd!” Katherine said. “The trees were exactly the same distance apart—and in a perfect circle!”

“Yes,” Koz said, “that’s a Druid circle, it’s a magical place with a naturally formed barrier that repels all who would do you harm.”

Now it was Katherine’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Really?” She asked, sounding severely doubtful.

Koz nodded. “We used it to stay safe when the Bennetts were hunting us. And it kept us safe from Manny.”

Katherine frowned, clearly not believing Koz, but not wanting to appear impolite by contradicting him. She and Ombric were more than willing to accept all manner of magical beasts, but any real magic they approached with extreme hesitancy. Still, she delicately wrote ‘Druid’s Circle’ in the center of the line of trees.

It was a cold, damp day. They’d off and on argued about whether or not it would snow or rain, but it was certainly going to do one of the two. The sky was overcast and the trees were almost entirely bare now. The overall effect was gloomy, but Jack was heartened by the thought that Ombric could be relied upon on cold, wet days to have a warm meal going for them by the time they got home.

The days were getting shorter and shorter. They’d have to get the RV to the cabin soon or the days wouldn’t be long enough to get to the end of the trail and do any work before they needed to head back—plus soon they’d be dealing with snow. Once they got the RV nearer to the cabin, they probably wouldn’t be able to move it again until spring.

“All right,” Koz said. “I think we should start back to the car now.”

On cue, a fat raindrop splattered onto Jack’s head. He jumped at how cold it was.

They started back to the car, a group misery settling over them as it began to rain in earnest. Unfortunately, in a fit of optimism, they’d left their homemade ponchos in the car.

It was the sort of cold rain that soaked you through to the bone. Some of it couldn’t even be called rain; it was sleet. Jack could see his breath pluming out with each exhale. He kept his head down, only occasionally daring to lift his gaze enough to make sure he wasn’t wandering from the group. He was shivering fiercely and from what he could see of his companions, they were faring no better.

Katherine didn’t dare take out her map—it was nicely sealed away in a zip-lock bag for situations just like this. Without the map, they were all relying on Koz’s sense of direction and mental memory of the area.

Jack was a little concerned that they wouldn’t be able to find their way to the car. He’d been lost in the woods before and didn’t care to repeat the experience.

“Help!”

The whole group froze at the cry. Jack looked to his companions. “Did anyone else hear that?” He shouted over the noise of the rain. Katherine turned to speak to him and then—

“Help me!”

They all froze again. The voice was a man’s, just a little raspy, just a little warbly. They were so, so far from the cabin, and yet it sounded just like—

“Ombric?” Katherine cried as Koz reached for his holster.

“Help!”

“Something doesn’t smell right—“ Koz barely got out the phrase before Katherine bolted.

Koz swore and tore after her, Jack and Nightlight hard on his heels.

“Ombric!” Katherine shouted. “Where are you?”

“Here!”

Katherine veered sharply to the left, following the voice; oblivious to Koz sliding and scrambling over the mud to stop her.

“Ombric! Say something!” She turned her head this way and that, sopping wet hair clinging to her face. She ran up a low incline, slipped, and was caught by Koz. He gripped her by the upper arm tightly, even as she tried to pull away.

“Ombric needs help!” She cried as if Koz might not have heard.

“Something’s not right,” Koz said more evenly. “Stay behind me and stay together!”

While Katherine tried to tug free of his grip, Koz’s eyes quickly flashed from her to Jack and then behind him—

Shit, Jack forgot about Nightlight!

He whirled to see the teen’s pale shape loping toward them.

For a second, Jack breathed a sigh of relief and then, suddenly, Nightlight’s feet left the ground. Time slowed down as Jack realized that Nightlight was being hauled up into the trees. He moved, as fast as if he’d heard the starting gun ring. He leapt and grabbed Nightlight’s ankles. Mud from the teen’s shoes splattered his front. He could distantly hear Koz and Katherine starting toward them. Nightlight thrashed in panic, kicking Jack’s chest. Jack hung on for all he was worth, grabbing for a hold on Nightlight’s wet jeans. His heart nearly stopped when Nightlight gave a huge jerk upward and Jack’s feet left the ground.

Nightlight’s legs began to shake and swell. Jack yelped in alarm as he realized the young man was turning. There was a sickening crack and then Nightlight fell.

Jack landed hard, cold mud splattering around him. A second later, Nightlight—half-transformed—landed on top of him. For a moment, Jack had the wind knocked out of him. He opened his mouth, trying to inhale and failing. He looked up at the sky, raindrops falling onto his cheeks, and saw a shadow flit between the branches.

Nightlight rolled off of him just as Koz and Katherine reached them. Jack sucked in greedy gulps of air as Katherine knelt in the mud.

“Nini!” She cried, voice shrill with alarm.

“Jack?” Koz barked, weapon trained upward as he looked this way and that for the . . . the Thing in the Trees. “Jack, are you all right?”

Jack sat up. “I’m“--he croaked and coughed--“fine!”

“Good, we’re going to the Druid circle—get the kids up.”

The branches rustled with the weight of heavy raindrops. The wind and rain tore leaves and loose twigs from the trees and threw them to the ground. Everywhere there was noise and movement.

Jack’s heart hammered in his chest. He hopped to his feet and grabbed Nightlight’s shoulders. “Nini?” He asked, giving the teen a little shake.

Nightlight was conscious, but his eyes didn’t focus on Jack, instead flicking this way and that. He was back in his human form, looking terribly small and young. Tears trembled at the corner of his lashes as his shoulders heaved with deep, panicky breaths.

Jack glanced up at Koz and back down to the teen. “Nightlight we gotta move!” He hauled the boy up by his arms.

“What about Ombric?” Katherine said from Nightlight’s other side.

“It’s not safe here,” Koz said firmly.

Katherine whirled on him, fire in her eyes. “I’m not leaving Ombric!” She snarled.

Koz looked down at her a second and then, in one swift motion, knelt, swooped one arm behind her thighs, and stood, slinging Katherine over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Wh—“ Katherine sputtered, momentarily speechless with shock.

“Jack. Move. Now,” Koz said, taking off back the way they’d come.

Jack didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed Nightlight by the upper arm and hauled him forward. For the first few paces, Jack was all but dragging him, but after a moment the boy remembered how to run and moved on his own. Still Jack had to clip his pace—he’d trained to excel in running—and his old leg wound had stopped fussing ever since he’d been bitten, but Nightlight had no such athletic skill. Jack kept a constant grip on his sleeve—he wouldn’t lose him again.

Ombric might’ve been in danger—but so were they, Jack reasoned to himself. They could come back for him after the pups were safe at the circle.

Katherine didn’t see it this way. “Put me down!” She snarled in outrage.

“Katherine please watch our backs—“ Koz said as if she weren’t hollering her head off and flailing against his back.

Miraculously, Katherine did lift her head, rainwater dripped down her chin and her hair clung to her face and neck.

“I don’t see anything!” She cried right before a branch swung down and struck Koz across the side of the head. There was a second where he teetered off balance with Katherine on his shoulder, then something grabbed the back of Katherine’s jeans and hauled her up into the trees.

Pain burst along the back of Jack’s neck and suddenly he was on all fours, stumbling as his clothes tangled his limbs before falling away; then he was gaining speed.

He leapt, long, spindly legs carrying him just high enough that his claws could scramble for purchase on the lower branches. The speed and rainwater left him blind and confused, but he was angry. His nose struck something fleshy and his lips parted. He snapped down—too late to catch anything but twigs and leaves. He was successful still—he fell back to the ground and Katherine fell with him.

She landed hard. Nightlight and Koz were on her in a moment. Koz scanned the trees for signs of their attacker, a gash on the side of his head bleeding freely. Jack circled around them, snarling and scenting the breeze. He’d caught the briefest flicker of a scent when his nose struck the Thing, but the rain covered up any trail he could follow.

He cocked an ear back to his companions and growled in frustration—he couldn’t understand what they were saying! But Katherine was talking at least.

“Please,” she whimpered. Jack understood the distress in her tone, but was more concerned about the wheezy quality of her breath. Definitely a few cracked ribs. “Please don’t leave Ombric—he’s all we’ve got!”

Nightlight helped her to her feet even as she shook her head, teeth grit and face pained.

“I have to keep you safe,” Koz said, not quite shouting, but loud and firm.

Katherine shook his head, face pale, and jaw set. She took a step back the way they’d come—back toward danger.

Jack whirled on her and roared, fur flaring up in spiky wet matts.

Katherine stumbled back into Nightlight. Nightlight grabbed her hand and tugged her away. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears as she gave Jack one last pleading look. He stared her down, tail raised in warning.

She caved first, tears falling from her eyes as she turned and allowed Nightlight to pull her away. She ran half-stooped, a hand over her side. Koz flanked the teens on one side while Jack covered the other, all senses trained for signs of pursuit.

A few times Jack heard the branches overhead shake as though something large were bounding between the boughs. He’d stop and snarl, stalking along the ground and glaring upward. He wasn’t frightened as a wolf. He was angry. This thing had preyed on the weakest of his pack. But now things were different. He was huge and he had sharp teeth. Nothing could hurt him. And there was the smell. The Thing had the same scent as Katherine--as Nightlight--and even, in brief flickers, Koz. Jack had come to realize what it was: the stink of fear.

*

Koz stopped what felt like hours later, but was likely only a few minutes. The rest of them ground to a halt, panting and dripping wet. “We’ll be safe here,” Koz said, looking around at the trees edging the circle, gasping for breath.

Nightlight immediately collapsed to his knees. Katherine clutched her side and bent at the waist, breathing deeply and wincing with each inhale. She stood at the very edge of the circle, looking out. Jack eyed her warily, ready to hop to and haul her back in if she bolted.

She straightened, her back to Jack. Nightlight coughed urgently and Jack whirled in time to see him wretch. His ear flicked back as he heard Katherine run from the circle.

“Katherine!” Koz cried, tearing after her and throwing an arm around her middle. “Stop!”

“Stay with Nightlight!” Katherine pleaded, voice heavy with tears as she struggled against his hold. “You can stay and I—I’ll get Ombric myself!”

“Katherine that thing is still out there!” Koz tried to pick her up again, but he jostled her broken bones and she flinched away with a sharp gasp. He nearly let her slip from his arms, concern etched across his features, before catching her again.

“You don’t know it’s still there!” She cried, trying to pull free.

Koz threw his gun away and locked his arms around her. “And you don’t know if Ombric is still there!” He snapped as he dragged her back into the circle.

Katherine froze, looking up at him with wide, frightened eyes. Koz looked back at her. He swallowed. There was a moment of silence and then Katherine sagged, pulling Koz down to the ground with her as she crumpled. He knelt beside her as she keened softly.

For a moment, Koz looked lost. His jaw clenched, he blinked rapidly. He loosened his lock hold on her and held her gently, rocking her ever so slightly.

Nightlight sniffed and Jack turned his attention on him. The boy was trembling from head to toe, though Jack couldn’t guess if it was from fear or the cold rain. His eyes were rimmed with red and his face was paler than usual. Jack nudged his cheek and got a good whiff of fear. He whined and bumped Nightlight’s side, pushing him to go sit by Katherine and Koz.

The night passed with the four of them pressed together, seeking some measure of warmth against the cold that had settled in their bones.