Suggested Audio Candy

 

Michael Jackson “Thriller (Instrumental)”

 

TK had been sprinting for a good five minutes and had become utterly disoriented and totally out of puff. He decided to take a brief hiatus before his lungs exploded and found a secluded spot off the beaten track to catch his breath. He was beside himself after witnessing his buddy being torn asunder by a creature he still couldn’t rationalize despite his mind conveniently attempting to ignore what he had seen. He had two adolescent sisters so was more than aware that menstruation could be a bitch but his eyes hadn’t lied. This wasn’t a simple case of released ovium, the all-over body hair attested to that. But he didn’t believe in werewolves and, despite all evidence pointing towards ominous, he still tried his level best at discounting what he had been made privy to.

Suddenly there was a sound from within the undergrowth directly behind him and he sank down into his seat at the tree root in an attempt to remain concealed. Could she smell his ripened flesh? He owned a mutt so all signs pointed to yes. His dog would come running and sniffing the moment he defrosted a sirloin so it was looking rather portentous at this juncture. Becoming all too curious, he peeked around the stump and, indeed, his pursuer had picked up on his scent. Delilah was no more than thirty feet back and surveying her surroundings with both nostrils flared. More disparagingly she was heading directly toward his coordinates and something told TK that he couldn’t divert her attention by simply throwing a twig for her to fetch.

“I can smell your liver boy…” she called out “…you can’t remain hidden forever you know. I promise I’ll only lick, maybe just a light nibble but no reason to be scared”. He glanced around for a potential weapon as it was inevitable that she would track him down soon and he didn’t relish his chances in a one-to-one with this particular aggressor. Mostly twigs and berries, nothing substantial enough to use against such a formidable foe. “I hear you rustling you know and it hasn’t gone unnoticed that you’ve shit your pants”. He mouthed the word ‘fuck’ to himself, fully aware that he had, indeed, soiled his breeches and feeling frightfully exposed. There was a burly discarded branch to his left and he grabbed it as a last line of defense, clutching it tight as the footsteps began to approach his proximity.

If he took another look now it would invariably highlight his position so he relied on this instinct and listened intently to the whorewolf’s movements. She was clearly closing in and he began to discern breath clouds from behind the tree he was using for cover so he gripped his improvised bludgeoning tool and swung it with all his might. To TK’s great relief it made cranial contact, knocking Delilah back on her heels just long enough for him to mount his escape. He took his final gifted opportunity and hightailed using every ounce of remaining stamina to fly the coop before his concussed antagonist regained her composure. He hadn’t the slightest inkling as to where he was heading, but right now, anywhere had to be better than on Delilah’s dinner plate so he kept up the gallop, heart threatening to explode through his chest at any given moment.

Back at the warehouse Bill could take no more of playing the waiting game. He was infuriated with his nephew for throwing a spanner in the works as he would have been content just to wait it out until the full moon dissipated but, as heartless as he liked to think he was, he could no longer sit around and listen to his nephew whimpering downstairs. He had been there at his birth and, despite the fact that Bill often taunted him for being a few sandwiches short of a buffet, he was flesh and blood after all. Besides, he knew that right now there was only one whorewolf to contend with as he had seen Delilah giving chase to TK and she hadn’t returned as yet. Whorewolves were indisputably fast but he would pay a princely sum to see one outrun a silver bullet from close range.

He ventured down cautiously, attempting to remain stealthy but totally betrayed by the rickety staircase. As he reached the halfway point a voice rang out from below him. “You’ve come to join us Bill. How delightful”. Cover blown, he lunged straight into a verbal assault. “Listen to me you walking doormat. If you so much as harm one hair on that boy’s head I swear to God…” Eloise cut off his flow. “What about this hair?” She plucked a single straggler from his crown and held it aloft, carefully keeping the youngster propped up in front of her, in case Bill decided to squeeze out an opportunist shot. “When I get my hands on you I’m going to carve you into a pair of Ugs for my wife”. “Are you now Bill? Well you seem to forget that I’m holding the cards here”.

Bill traversed the last few steps and glanced outside. The full moon hadn’t budged and, by his estimations it should have been sunlight by now. “Bill you are a silly sausage. Did nobody tell you the clocks went back tonight? We get an extra hour in bed you know” Eloise gleefully informed him and his heart instantly sank in his chest. “What do you want from me?” he barked. “It’s not so much what I want but more what I’m damned well going to take. You see, first I’m going to take a dump down your boy here’s neck hole and then I’m going to take an extra squishy one in both your hollowed out eye sockets. How does that sound Bill? I have to warn you, being bipedal sure does give you the runs”.

Bill was clearly snookered. Just then a figure darted in through the open doorway to his left and he fired a shot out of reflex. Imagine his horror when the realization dawned that this wasn’t Delilah but actually TK who had crashed the party. He had gotten lost on his way through the woods and found himself back at the starting point. Being a self-confessed crack shot, Bill had put a shrapnel pellet straight between his eyes and the lad slumped to his knees, his final glance being one of utter befuddlement. “Oh shit” he cursed his lightning fast reactions. “Why did you go and do that Bill?..” came a voice from outside. It was Delilah “…don’t you know meat always tastes better when it’s still fresh?”

Bill was very much aware that he now had a solitary bullet left in the chamber and he was now totally outnumbered. Delilah remained out of his line of sight as she continued to taunt her prey. “You seem to have found yourself in something of a pickle”. He backed himself up against the wall, watching intently for the first sign of movement and keeping his other eye fixed on Eloise who still had Teddy in her grasp. He considered putting the remaining bullet into his own noggin, after all, he didn’t want those bitches having the satisfaction of tearing him limb from limb while still conscious. Thinking better of it, he then considered the valiant option of ending his nephew’s misery but that also appeared a rather fruitless plan as the pair would then overcome him and no doubt make it slow and painful.

“What to do, what to do. Why don’t you just put the gun down and give up the Dirty Harry routine Bill. It really is in everyone’s best interests”. Eloise’s option was even less appealing to him. “We seem to have hit a brick wall ladies. Tell you what, just let him go and take me. Poor boy hasn’t even learned to piss straight yet”. Delilah let out an almighty “Aah” before continuing “… quite the nobleman Billy Boy. I have to say I’m very impressed by your kind offer. I’m actually starting to kind of like you. Who knows, if the situation had been different, we could’ve become besties”. This led him to try another angle “We still can. Listen, I will turn a blind eye. We all go our separate ways and I won’t breathe a word about you to anyone. I’ll sort this mess out and you two just get yourselves across state line and give me your word to never come back”.

It was an admirable endeavor but surely Bill knew that you can’t reason with a whorewolf. “No deal Bill. Sorry love. I’m afraid it’s shit or get off the pot time…” was Delilah’s response “… but your kind offer is very much appreciated. Truly it is”. He was out of ideas and utterly demoralized. Suddenly the Gods appeared to answer his prayers and both girls felt their unwanted metamorphosis beginning to take place. Teddy managed to squeeze out possibly the first smart thing he’d said all night. “It’s next week. The clocks go back next week not tonight”. Sure enough, the full moon had begun to fade and, with it, both women began their transformation back into regular whores once more.

“You stupid dumb bitches…” Bill sneered. “… I should have known a couple of hos like you couldn’t read a calendar”. Eloise snatched a cleaver from the table beside her. It had been intended for Bill to use as a torture instrument but was about to be put to an entirely different use. She held it up to Teddy’s throat and pressed it in just enough to draw blood. “Thing is Bill, we may not be whorewolves any more but we’re still whores”. She ran the rusted blade straight across the lad’s jugular in one fluid motion, causing blood to spray out in sickening fashion. Bill cried out in anguish and dropped to his knees as he watched the last drops of life drain from his nephew’s face.

Ellie kept the boy’s lifeless cadaver in front of her, shielding her while she edged back out of the building to rejoin her friend. Not that she needed too, Bill was beyond dejected and sitting slumped against the wall, mumbling incoherently. When she reached the entrance she tossed his corpse to the side and the girls made their swift exit back to the camper van, hurriedly grabbing the keys from Chris’s jacket pocket and starting her up. “We have to get gone…like yesterday” Eloise remarked. “What about Bill?” Delilah inquired. “What about him? He ain’t got nothing. Look at him”. He hadn’t so much as moved and had his head in his hands. “I guess. Would be a bit like kicking a kitten…” she admitted “… and I know you love cats. Come on then, let’s get going slag”. “I love it when you call me that” Ellie looked at Delilah, smiling warmly and commenced driving away. “Slag” they chirped in unison, bursting into fits of laughter as the van disappeared back into the woods. As they drove away a solitary gunshot rang out from the warehouse, Bill finally got to fire his last bullet.

The sinning is just beginning,

 

Keeper of the Crimson Quill

Copyright: Crimson Quill: Savage Vault Enterprises 2014