THE UNDYING | TWILIGHT

29. Howl

The city was quiet.

As part of his deal with Caius, Michele Distefano had established a strict curfew, which was met with great dissatisfaction by both locals and tourists alike. Still, when the clocks struck nine, mothers called in their children, tourists stumbled back to their hotels, and business owners begrudgingly closed down their shops for the night.

Of course, not all obeyed the mayor's curfew.

Shortly after ten o'clock, Christopher Redgrave crept out of the shadowed alleyway and began his climb up to the roof of one of Volterra's tallest and most centrally located buildings, which just so happened to be the local history museum. With his messenger bag slung over his shoulder, Christopher climbed to the top and readied his equipment.

"Leave now," the red-eyed man had told Christopher. "Leave this city before it's too late."

But how could he expect Christopher to leave now, when he was so close to capturing real, indisputable evidence of the supernatural? He had a duty to stay—to his fans and to himself. So he stood there on that roof, and he waited.

... and waited.

... and waited.

... and waited.

Christopher checked his watch for the eighth time. It was after midnight, and the closest thing to a wolf he'd seen was the stray dog that had walked by and was now pissing on the side of the road. A pissing dog. Yes, that would surely boost his ratings.

With a deep frown, Christopher watched as the mangy mutt lowered its leg, sniffed the air, and then sped off down the street with its tail between its legs.

Now what's got him all worked up? wondered Christopher as he inched toward the roof's edge and aimed his camera down into the empty city square. With a steady eye, he zoomed in closer and closer until he saw it:

A plastic bag rustling in the breeze.

Christopher groaned and lowered his camera. "Stupid dog."

As he leaned back, however, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A large, monstrous figure was hanging from the church tower, holding on with one arm and swinging back and forth. With each forward swing, the moonlight would catch its yellow eyes and illuminate its silver-grey fur. And with each backward swing, the beast would throw its head back and let out a fierce howl that shook the earth and made Christopher's ears ring.

At its call, a second figure appeared upon the roof of the bank, and a third above the café across the street.

Coming forward on four massive paws, the third beast stopped on the roof's edge and rose onto its hind legs, instantly doubling its size.

Before he was spotted, Christopher dropped onto his stomach and flattened himself against the building. But his camera was on and filming everything.

Five beasts were perched upon the city rooftops, howling together in perfect harmony. And with every round, a new voice seemed to join the chorus. Six, seven, eight voices, Christopher counted before he lost track of the sounds. They were coming from all over the city, perhaps even further. 

Taking quiet, shallow breaths, Christopher turned and focused his camera on the grey wolf that was standing upon the church tower. The light was too dim and the distance too great for him to get a decent shot, so he belly crawled across the roof and repositioned himself.

Closer and closer he scooted.

At last the image was becoming clearer.

Closer ... Closer ...