Something Wicked This Way Comes Ch2

Happy Labor Day to my US Patrons!  I'll be at work, but I hope you guys can enjoy yourselves:

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Jack slowly uncurled from his crumpled position and blinked sleepily up at his companion. Koz was riffling through the cabinets and drawers, not being particularly quiet, but then, Jack reminded himself – Koz had stayed up all night being quiet - he knew from the occasional moments when he’d jerked awake, seized with terror. Each time, Koz had been wide-awake and on-guard.

The few times he noticed Jack stir, he’d whispered softly. “It’s alright, he can’t get in. Go back to sleep.” It was a little creepy how calm the older man was, but it was also a huge relief.

Jack stretched and rolled his neck, wincing at the loud popping noises. “Good morning,” he said, voice hoarse and sleepy.

“Good morning.” Koz replied automatically, still riffling through the drawers. “You haven’t found anything like a weapon around here have you? Knives? Guns?”

“No?” Jack stood up, wondering if he should help look. He was pretty sure he’d checked everywhere in this place trying to find food. He watched in complete confusion as Koz got down on his knees and started running his hands along the seams in the floorboards. Jack shoved his hands in his sweater pocket and bit his lip. Right now was one of those moments where he worried about who the universe had chosen to be his partner in this crazy adventure.

Then Koz lifted away one of the floorboards to reveal a hidden compartment under the floor.

“Whoa,” Jack said, taking a step forward to see what Koz had found. Nothing. The compartment was empty.

“Well that’s a little anti-climactic,” Jack announced.

Koz pounded his fist on the floor and Jack jumped. “There should be something here!” He growled.

“Frankly, I’m still amazed there was even a compartment there but…” Jack’s eyes widened. “Oh, God.” He stared at the man before him. “This is a drug thing, isn’t it? Shit. That’s where the werewolf came from! I just accidentally inhaled something and now I’m tripping balls!”

Koz replaced the beam with a sigh. “Whatever makes you feel comfortable, “ he said. “I don’t suppose you have a cell phone?”

Jack pulled his hands out of his pocket, holding the only thing he had on him: a pocketknife. “And I didn’t even bring this,” he said, “I found it here!”

Koz sighed. 
“Are you surprised? You have noticed I’m not even wearing shoes, right?”

Koz stood up from the floor and quirked an eyebrow as Jack rocked on his heels. “I have been wondering.”

Jack smiled ruefully. “Good to know.”

Koz looked at him expectantly, Jack pretended not to know what he was waiting for. Finally he spoke. “Are you going to explain?”

Jack shrugged and forced a smile. “Not much to explain, like I said: I got lost.”

“Really?”

The smile faded from Jack’s face. “Are you going to tell me why you’re out here?”

Koz blanched. “No.”

“Then neither am I.” Time for a change of subject. “What about you, do you have a cell phone?”

Koz grit his teeth. “I wasn’t expecting so many complications.”

Jack remembered yesterday. He’d seen Koz from afar and been so glad to see another human. He hadn’t questioned why he was out there until he caught up to the man in the clearing and found him on his knees with a gun to his head.

“Okay. Yeah.” Jack said nervously. The last thing he wanted was for Koz to realize how much easier it would be to off himself instead of helping Jack not get killed by a werewolf. “So, we’ll have to walk, armed only with your gun and my pocket knife. Sounds good. Let’s get going.”

Koz sighed. “Breakfast first,” he said. “We won’t last long without that.”

*

After eating some of the remaining frozen pies, they set out northward, towards Claussen. Jack was edgy at first, but Koz reassured him, he knew a place between the cabin and the town where they would still be safe from werewolf attack.

It was a foggy, chilly morning. Despite Koz’s reassurances, Jack couldn’t help but look around at every sound to creep through the morning mist. “Do werewolves need moonlight to turn?” He wondered aloud. “They don’t in Teen Wolf.”

“You shouldn’t trust everything you see on television,” Koz said, walking calmly as they strode through a dark grove of fir trees. “They need moonlight, but just a sliver of moonlight will do, cloud cover makes no difference - as long as the moon shines brighter than the sun, they can transform.

Jack peered around nervously as they made their way past the fir trees. “So we’re safe during the day?”

“So long as he doesn’t decide to come after us as a human.”

Jack stepped on a jagged stone, hopped on one foot for a moment, then hurried to catch up to his companion as he continued on without pause. “But why would he do that? I understand he can’t help it when he’s all wolfy but—”

“He can help it. Werewolves only lose control when the moon is full or very near full. It was barely half full last night.”

“You aren’t full of shit are you?” Jack felt the need to ask. “You aren’t just dismissing my MTV ‘Teen Wolf’ knowledge and then feeding me Michael J. Fox ‘Teen Wolf ‘stuff, right?”

Koz grinned ruefully. “I wish,” he said. “Unfortunately, I’ve had quite a lot of real-world experience with this type of thing.”

“Great.” Jack still wasn’t sure if he trusted Koz or not, but the man seemed to at least think he knew what he was talking about. Also he had a gun, so Jack wasn’t about to argue.

Koz ducked under some low-hanging branches and Jack followed suit. “So if there’s some psycho werewolf out to get me – why are you so sure he won’t attack as a human during the day?” He asked.

“I’m not. However, some werewolves, when they’re in wolf form, feel so strong, they think nothing and no one can stop them from doing whatever they please. When they’re human, however, they feel all too vulnerable. Hopefully, your wolf is one of those.”

“Insecure werewolves?”

“There are insecure humans, why not insecure werewolves?”

The conversation came to an abrupt end as Koz stopped dead in his tracks and tipped his head, eyes unfocused as he seemed to concentrate on something in the distance. The area seemed a little familiar, Jack thought, but he had surveyed all the forest within a day’s walking distance from the cabin so many times, that that was no surprise.

Jack took a quick moment to check his foot from his earlier mishap, flipping his bangs out of his eyes as the wind blew against his face. He’d confirmed his foot wasn’t bleeding when Koz spoke suddenly.

“You said you found bones?”

“Oh.” Jack looked around. That’s why this place looked familiar. “Yeah. Up… up ahead.”

Koz nodded and started off, heading straight towards the bone pile. Great.

Jack followed at a distance. He was not in a hurry to get back there again.

Koz waded through a short bramble patch – Jack remembered it because he’d walked through barefoot. This time, he chose to stand outside. He could see the jagged patches of white bone well enough.

Koz walked right up to them, completely unafraid, his hand pressed up against his nose. It did smell, but not as badly as when Jack found them a week ago. He shuddered. From what he could tell, there was a lot less meat on the bones than there had been last week.

Koz knelt down and examined one of the bodies. He reached out and picked something up from the ground, upsetting the undoubtedly human skull so that it twisted towards Jack. He looked away with a gasp and forced himself to breathe deeply. If he threw up he’d be hungry and shaky the rest of the day and he couldn’t be weak - he needed to get home.

That was a thought he would’ve never expected to have. Funny how a little thing like a werewolf attack could put things in perspective.

Another wave of nausea crashed through him and he knelt down into a crouch as the taste of bile hit his tongue. ‘Breathe,’ he told himself. ‘Breathe.’

Koz was there in a moment with a large, warm hand on his back. “Breathe evenly,” he said. “Inhale while counting to seven. Hold it ‘til the count of four. Breathe out for seven.”

Jack couldn’t think well enough to count, but Koz was gently rubbing his hand over his back. It felt nice and Jack forced himself to focus on the sensation until the world stopped feeling like it was turning inside out.

“Those were humans, right?” He asked when he could find his voice.

“Yes.”

Jack swallowed. “Yeah. I thought—” he shuddered. “I thought I’d found some serial killer’s hideout when I first found them.”

“Sure adds weight to your drug ring theory though.”

“But it’s not drugs, is it?”

“No.” Koz stood and offered Jack his hand. Jack took it and the older man pulled him to his feet. “Those men were hunters.” He held up a filthy dog tag. “Acquaintances of mine actually.”

“When you say ‘hunter’ are you talking camouflage and neon orange or… demons and leviathans?”

“Leviathans? Is that Teen Wolf again?”

“Supernatural.” Jack shoved his still-shaking hands into his center pocket. “I busted my leg last year and watched a lot of television, okay?”

Koz shrugged like it didn’t matter. “I’ve never hunted a leviathan, but yes, demon, vampire, werewolf, nasty, ugly, human-eating monster hunters.”

“And you’re one too.”

“Retired. Sort of.” Koz looked thoughtful. “Before you found the cabin – did you see or hear the werewolf?”

Jack shook his head. “Only after I found the cabin. I thought it was such a stroke of luck…” And then came the snarling and the scratching at the door, every night, all hours of the night. Last night was probably the best rest he’d gotten since he got lost.

Koz’s shoulder sagged. “That explains it,” he groaned. “That cabin is a hunter’s cabin. That’s why there was a compartment under the floor, to hide weapons.” He growled. “Which the wolf must’ve cleaned out! He’s after hunters and he must’ve mistook you for one when you used the cabin.” He frowned and looked into the distance. “Are you ready to continue?”

Jack nodded and the two started walking once more. “I’m sorry you got pulled into this,” Jack said.

“You’re sorry?” Koz turned and offered him a humorless smile. “You only got dragged into this because some hunter couldn’t be discreet with his hide-out. Stumbling into a hunt is just part of the job, but you’re a bystander. I apologize to you on behalf of this idiot.” He waved the dog tag.

“I-I thought that was a friend of yours,” Jack said.

“No, an acquaintance - and not a good one either. He was a moron, as further evidenced by the fact that he is now dead.”

Koz seemed to be in a foul mood, so Jack decided now might be a good time to keep quiet.

Of course, that only lasted until he overcame the shock of seeing the skeletons again and fully came to terms with the fact that he was traveling with a real life supernatural hunter. Still, he spent a few minutes silently sneaking glances at his companion. He was a hunter. A real, Winchester-style hunter! Jack felt a little star-struck.

They climbed a steep ridge and found themselves in a small clearing where a cluster of boulders cut off the trees’ growth and allowed a few rays of sunlight to pierce through the tree canopy in thick, golden veins. It was beautiful. It also reminded Jack of a certain movie. “So do vampires sparkle or do they burn up in the sun?”

Koz looked up, surprised by the question. “They sparkle.”

Jack’s jaw dropped. “Really?”

“Yes, the burning flames could be described as sparkly.”

Jack burst out laughing at his companion’s rueful smirk. “So you don’t know Teen Wolf but you know Twilight? Teen Wolf is so much better!”

Koz started climbing from one boulder to the other, Jack scurried to follow his movements, stepping lightly over the hot stone. “I took my daughter to one of the movies,” he said.

Jack nearly lost his footing. “You have a daughter?”

Koz frowned. “Yes.”

“Oh.” They slid down the last of the boulders and Jack relished the feeling of cool dirt under his feet. “What’s her name?”

Koz seemed torn. He was frowning, but he also looked very much like he wanted to talk. “Seraphina.”

“That’s pretty!” Jack said, hoping to lure his companion into conversation.

“She says it’s weird.”

“She should appreciate her uniqueness! ‘Seraphina’ is way better than a basic-ass name like ‘Jack’, let me tell you. There were ten other Jacks in my grade alone! I’ve gone by Jack F. my entire school life and let me tell you it has made for one rude nickname.”

“Oh?”

“Jack-off.”

“Oh.” Koz winced in sympathy. “At least your classmates are creative. Mine just called me a tit and left it at that.”

Jack laughed. Koz was almost smiling and it was kind of cute. He was no Jensen Ackles, but he definitely was much cuter when he was (sort of) smiling. Jack was a little curious what he’d look like when he really smiled whole-heartedly.

“What year are you in, then?” Koz asked.

“I graduate in May.” Jack braced himself for the typical near-graduation interrogation.

“Congratulations.”

“Yeah, well, I might get eaten by a werewolf first.”

“That’s why you have me.”

Jack realized he was right. He owed the universe an apology. It turned out he’d found exactly the right person to go on a werewolf adventure. Thank you, Universe.

“So…” Jack switched topics. “In all your hunting trips, have you ever seen a real alien?”

“Some people believe fairies are aliens,” Koz replied.

“Have you ever seen a fairy?”

“A… colleague of mine rescued a fairy as a child, now it follows her around everywhere. My hunting partner – he’s from Russia – brought a whole pack of elves with him. They clean his house for him and in return he pays them in milk and cookies.”

“Sounds kinda like tiny slave labor.”

Koz laughed. “I thought so too until I met them. They’re absolutely awful at cleaning and seem to spend more time eating and breaking things than anything else. It’s more like he has ten toddlers than servants.”

If Koz was annoyed at Jack’s constant questions, he didn’t show it. The young man spent the rest of the afternoon playing true or false with all his (largely film-acquired) knowledge of the supernatural, not stopping until afternoon, when they finally took a rest for lunch.

They set out again after a healthy meal of poptarts. Exhaustion and the slowly sinking sun began to take their toll as Jack’s questions gradually slowed down. Occasionally he’d think of a supernatural related query and put it to Koz but as the afternoon slipped into evening, he was too nervous to think of anything but the oncoming night. He couldn’t help but remember what happened the last time he’d tried being outside the cabin at night. He could still remember the beast’s breath bursting against the back of his bare feet, teeth clicking over empty air as the wolf tried and failed to grab hold of him.

“Koz, you’re sure the werewolf won’t be able to catch up to us, right?”

Koz frowned. “Werewolves are incredible hunters; they can run faster than even a real wolf and are among the greatest trackers in both the natural and supernatural worlds. He’ll probably catch up to us within a few hours after sundown. We haven’t exactly been covering our tracks.”

Jack froze in his tracks, trying to force down panic. “What? What was the point in leaving the cabin then?”

“We’d eventually run out of food and starve to death.”

“So we’re going to die out here instead? I don’t really want to die at all, Koz.”

Koz narrowed his eyes at him and his nostrils flared as he took in a deep breath. “We’re not going to die. I’m going to get you home, I promise.”

Jack’s heart sank. He didn’t want to go home.

‘One problem at a time, Jack,’ he reminded himself.

“I know these woods, Jack. Monsters love woods. I’ve spent a lot of time in this forest in particular – albeit, the northern most half – but still, I’ve spent enough time looking at maps of this place to have the locations of safe-zones memorized.” He pointed in the distance. “There’s a druid circle just over that hill. We’ll be safe there.”

“Oh.” Jack felt a little silly. “Well, you could’ve said so! Let’s get going!”

“You sure you don’t want to break for dinner?”

Jack turned around to reply when he saw Koz giving him a rueful smile. “Tit,” Jack said. Koz snorted and lead the way forward.

Now that Jack knew where they were going, he kept looking up at the ridge hopefully, wishing it were nearer as the sun sank further and further in the sky. The wind blew at their back; urging them forward and making the leaves rustle behind them, making Jack jump at every sound. Koz kept close beside him, more so than he had during the whole day. This coupled with the fact that Koz kept glancing over his shoulder only made Jack more nervous - especially since he did it more and more.

“Should I be worried?” Jack finally asked. “You keep looking back…”

Koz looked up at the sky and frowned. Jack didn’t like it when he frowned – frowns generally meant bad things. “We don’t need to worry just yet,” Koz said finally. “I don’t think he’ll do anything until the sun fully sets. Just keep moving. Quickly.”

“Oh, God.” Jack whirled to look behind them, but saw nothing. “He’s behind us?”

“I caught a glimpse of him a little while ago, but he’s kept his distance. He’s made his move earlier than I anticipated.”

“Shit.” Jack looked up at the red sky. He couldn’t even see the sun over the ridge.

“We’ll be alright,” Koz said. “We’ve just lost a little time.”

“How close are we?”

Koz couldn’t hide a wince. “Can you climb a tree?”

“Yes.”

“Can you do it quickly?”

“I’m extremely fast at anything if my life depends on it.”

“Good answer. We might need to climb trees.” He lowered his voice. “But first we’ll try running.”

“Do you think we can lose him?”

“Probably not, but we’ll shorten the distance between us and the druid circle.” He glanced down at Jack’s bare feet. “Can you run?”

“I was on the track team… before I messed up my leg.”

“Like riding a bicycle.” Koz said in what he probably thought was a reassuring voice. “On the count of three. One—”

Jack took a deep breath.

“Two—”

‘Just pretend you’re at a meet,’ he thought. ‘And if you don’t win, you’ll be killed and eaten.’

“Three.”

The two burst forward.

Jack’s feet stung for all of two seconds as he scrambled over stones and broken twigs, but he quickly lost all feelings of pain to the familiar burn in his legs and chest, drowned out every other half second by the pounding of his heart.

He leapt, swift as a deer, over fallen branches, logs, and roots. He slid for one moment on a patch of bare, damp mud, but recovered, sliding into it like a professional ice skater until his feet found the sharp, spongy-cacophony of the forest floor once more.

Koz was keeping up with him - which was cool because he’d been sort of scared that one of them, would be slower than the other. If the wolf attacked, he really didn’t want to see or experience the old ‘zombie survival 101’ (run faster than your friends or be eaten).

If only Jack had been a cross-country runner. Or he hadn’t sat out for a year. Or had his leg broken. Already he was tiring and his leg was beginning to ache. ‘Your life depends on this,’ he reminded himself. ‘You can survive physical therapy, you can push through this!’

He heard a crash of breaking tree limbs behind them and an unfamiliar voice swore loudly. Their attacker had quite the potty mouth. Jack was so giddy with adrenaline, he would’ve laughed if he weren’t gasping for breath.

They came over the top of the ridge just in time to see the last golden sliver of sun sink below the horizon. Behind them, Jack heard another crash and a loud, high yelp of pain.

‘Maybe he fell and hurt himself,’ Jack thought hopefully – but all positive thinking abandoned him as an agonized scream split the air. Jack swallowed back panic as the cry twisted in on itself, turning to a tremendous groan and then a snarl. The sound grew more and more distant, but that did little to reassure him.

“We’re almost there!” Koz said.

The snarling stopped and for a moment the woods were eerily quiet but for the sound of their heavy breathing and the underbrush crunching as they tore past. Then came a terrible crashing behind them and the sound of deep, doggish panting coming closer and closer.

“Oh God!” Jack gasped, pressing a hand over the stitch in his side as terror seized him. He tripped over a tree root and swore breathlessly.

Koz grabbed his hand, nearly yanking his arm out of his socket as he pulled forward, stumbling as he tried to regain traction. “Keep going!”