CW: Potentially graphic scenes
A half-hour later, Willa and Clara found themselves next to a shaded clearing. Jenny was examining the corpse of a massive grizzly bear, its jaws agape. Willa waved her hand against the flies that started to buzz around her head. The stench of decaying flesh hit her nostrils, as she narrowed her eyes against the black haze. Clara was shepherding the children away from the bear's corpse.
"Willa! I was just about to call you!" Jenny waved, her latex gloves stretching to her wrists. "I found the bear that everyone was looking for, but now a rogue moose is roaming around near Upper Waterton Lake. Most of the park rangers are tied up there, so I would like a helping hand."
"Willa's here?" A voice piped up. Although the carcass' scent masked numerous scents, Willa recognized the characteristic cologne and bleach scent of Jenny's brother. She waved.
"Yeah, you're not the only person here who had her siblings show up." Jenny nodded. "I would have sent him away, but he wanted to learn more about animal decomposition."
Caleb stuck his head above the bear's stomach. "Nice to see you again! You should come to look at this. The rate of decomposition is fascinating."
Willa trod over to the belly of the bear. Caleb was wearing a face mask, a cap, and latex gloves. Currently, his hands were deep inside the bear's intestines with gaping holes. She sighed. Willa had accepted a long time ago that Caleb and dead things were a package deal.
"So what did you want to show me?" She asked.
"Alright, so according to Jenny, your bear has been dead since yesterday, right? Using this guidebook, the decomposition of this bear matches that of a bear that has been dead for longer. This is a bit weird, right?" He pointed at a wriggling section of the bear's innards. "If you see here, that section of the intestines has become a maggot colony, and there are empty pupae inside. Those flies are black blow flies, which have a lifespan of two to four weeks. So this bear has been dead for longer than yesterday, I would say about two or three weeks. There are also beetle larvae inside the stomach, which helps to date the time of death. And there's something else as well!" He gestured to the bear's head. "Look into its eyes, and tell me what you can observe."
Willa peered into its eyes, or rather, its eye sockets. It had no eyes. "There aren't any eyes."
"Yes, and that is a great mystery. I would have expected the eyes to remain, but here they were gone, without any trace." Caleb looked at Willa in his 'So what do you think?' way.
"It's...different." Her interest in deceased things only extended to being aware that people die. Her shoulder had been a place to cry for her sisters and cousins and Jenny, although Willa often found herself dry-eyed. She grieved, but not outwardly.
Certain that Caleb was done showing her the parts of the corpse that interested him, Willa inhaled deeply—and the wrongness of the scent sent her head twitching. If she had dog ears, they would have been flattened. The wrongness permeated the entire glade, and its potency threatened to make Willa gag. Something was wrong, she thought, turning her head back and forth. Jenny was mourning the dead bear, while Caleb kept examining the insides of it. Clara was chewing out Liza over taking the children near the trail. Why doesn't anyone notice how wrong this place was, she thought. The decaying flesh was sloughing off, and the wrongness grew stronger. Willa remained alert, her eyes darting quickly between her friend and the shadow-casting trees that surrounded them.
"Something's wrong," she stated.
"It's a dead bear, and some of the other rangers are heading up here. Don't worry about me. I have PPE, and it doesn't appear that the bear was diseased." Jenny gave Willa a thumbs up. "Caleb, can you go with Willa?"
"But this bear is fascinating. If I can ask my friend at the body farm—"
"I am your older sister and I know you are studying to be a medical examiner, but a bear isn't the same organism as a human. Please go."
This time, Liza took the wheel since Clara was too incensed to drive, Caleb preferred to write inside his journal about the specifics of bear decomposition, and Willa was too nervous. As Liza regaled Nina and Miguel with tales of marathons she ran or that time she and Dana briefly vandalised their old high school, Willa watched outside the windows. Occasionally, she would see a glimpse of unmoving shadows or eyes watching her, hidden beneath the trees. She shuddered and was still on edge by the time they reached the hotel. The open fields now contained long shadows that stretched into the distance, and she felt the presence of more than old ghosts in the darkened hotel.
Sleeping couldn't dispel any of the creeping images that filled Willa's mind, nor could she sleep. Her eyes remained wide awake, as she stared at the windows overlooking the town. She tossed and turned all night, haunted by visions.
They're overwhelming us, light the signal fires!
Over here!
Libra, look out! Below you!
So here, right?
My hands are stained, tell me, is this how I'm supposed to live?
A creaking noise sounded from the main floor. Willa jumped out of bed and fiddled with her pockets until she grasped the amulet. Peering around to make sure she was alone, she whispered the transformation phrase.
"Let me guard those who I love with zeal and fidelity, and beware the mark of the relentless hunt."
The amulet burst into a terracotta-coloured light, as sepia marks appeared around her body and head. From those marks came forth armour and some clothes. Willa knew that her ears and tail were beginning to sprout from some of the other marks. Her senses sharpened, with that wrong scent making her nose wrinkle.
She opened the door to her floor, the circular chandelier above hanging precariously and gently swaying. There is no wind, Willa thought. In all of her five years living in Pincher Creek and travelling to Waterton in the summer, the wind had never entered the hotel.
That wrong smell was everywhere, but it was strongest on the main floor. She tiptoed to the grand staircase, rounding each corner with a sniff. There was a large stone disk that always hung by her side, but she has never used it. Now she held it in her hand. If anything happened, it would be something to protect her.
At the end of the staircase, her ears pricked up. The sounds of sleeping guests resonated across the hotel. Nothing unusual.
In the middle of the night, the windows and chandelier cast long foreboding shadows into the hotel. Willa's own shadow was contorted as she sneaked against the walls. The scent was becoming stronger the closer Willa got to the reception desk. Suddenly, her amulet started blinking a pale orange. She tapped on it, trying to turn off the blinking lights—and that's when it attacked.
On instinct, Willa punched whatever decided to attack her with the discus in hand. Her hand connected with bone. It couldn't bite but kept trying to shove her away.
Willa retreated to the dining hall, where she opened her amulet. Inside was a radar, with a blinking pale orange dot heading steadily towards her. Someone had left a stray flashlight on the bar, so she picked it up and turned it on. Illuminated within the harsh glare was a moose, eyeless like the bear. Willa shuddered. The wrong scent emanated from the crazed moose. She quickly dodged it as it careened into the bar, smashing multiple bottles with its antlers.
Taking advantage of the temporary lull, she scrambled back into the main lobby. Only the haunting wind, the sound of her breathing, snoring guests, and the crackling of hooves against glass could be heard in the hotel.
Willa gripped her discus as she stared down the deranged moose. She sprinted towards the wrought iron gate near the elevator, wrenched it open, and watched as the moose jammed itself inside it. Death and decay wafted into her nose. The moose struggled to free itself from the tight space, kicking the gate in the process.
Willa wondered if she should wake Jenny up to deal with this. Outside of the Chang family hunting trips, she never dealt with animals in any capacity. She was about to call Jenny when the moose ripped apart the wall of the elevator, knocking Willa onto the reception desk.
A pop sounded from her left shoulder as she screamed in pain.
No one stirred, except for some quiet feet, and the moose turned towards Willa. She swore that malice crossed its face before it charged her.
Her legs refused to move, and she fumbled for anything. She wouldn't throw her discus, who knew if it came back? She couldn't stand still though. There were some small rings on the left side. Willa had no clue what it did, but she held one in her right hand anyways.
The moose charged at her, intent on something. When it reached her, she grabbed its neck and slapped the ring onto it. The ring formed a tight circle around its neck. The moose tried to stomp on her but she twisted to the side for the helmet to catch most of the blow. The ringing refused to cease, making her clutch her head in pain. The moose was trying to bite off the collar which kept tightening around its neck and beeping repeatedly.
Warning: 3 seconds to neutralisation of the acquired target.
What? Willa tried to pop her dislocated shoulder back into place to no avail. The collar on the moose started pulsating rapidly in a strobe of terracotta light.
Commencing neutralisation of the target.
The moose's body shook with great energy until it exploded into fine dust.
Neutralisation of target completed. Seek a new target for the hunt?
Willa staggered to her feet and warily approached the collar beeping sky blue. The dust of the moose lay scattered over the floor of the hotel. Good luck explaining any of this to the receptionist, Willa thought, the cleaners, or anyone with a functional brain. She picked up the collar and put it back on her waist.
"Huh?"
Willa turned around, her left arm hanging limply. The young girl from yesterday was watching her, her phone shining brightly in the night.
"Hokori wa erebētā kara kita nodesu ka?"
You should have listened to me.
"I told both of you to leave me alone," she snarled.
The moose and its ilk are what your friend and the Park Rangers have been chasing for the past two weeks. I don't know what they are, but your collar was effective at killing it. I doubt that any kind of conventional weaponry would be effective. Work with me to eliminate this threat.
"And why should I?"
Think of the people here, your friend, her brother, your sisters, and your niece and nephew. We both know that if these creatures run amok, they would be a danger to the guests and the rangers here.
Willa marched herself up the stairs, ignored Hina's pleading eyes, and closed the door behind her. Wincing in pain, she lay down and slept. Her arm would heal, just like the marks where the cage had imprinted onto her back.