Monday 26. The rest of the weekend had been fine, after I'd gotten back from the Lab. I spent pretty much the whole time lying on the sofa, wrapped in blankets, only getting up for snacks and with Seth always in reaching distance whenever I needed comfort. To be completely frank, the pain had not gotten much better; all that had changed about my circumstance was that I now had painkillers to dull the agony and Phoenix Tears to hand, for all the good they did me. But as Monday rolled around, I just didn't feel like I could take another day of lying around at home, feeling useless. So I loaded Seth into his cage, grabbed my crutches and began to make my way towards headquarters.
The lights were off when I descended into the Lab; something I found very unusual. It appeared that I'd interrupted Eva packing for something, and I thought that I'd caught a glimpse of worry on her face before it shifted to perplexion upon seeing me.
"Michael, what are you doing here? I thought I'd told you to take a few months off! If it's pay that you're worried about then you've no need for concern, I'm planning to pay you in full for-"
"Eva, it's not that." I interrupted. "I just can't take sitting around at home anymore, doing nothing and feeling useless. I know I can't go out on missions but if you need me to take care of the cryptids, or clean around the Lab, or anything like that... well, I'm here to work."
Eva finally gave a relenting sigh as she slung a pack onto her back and began to approach me.
"As it happens, I'm actually glad you're here. I've received an urgent callout, and I was worried that I'd need backup if things went badly. Sid and Randy are both unavailable today, and Lucy's still in recovery for her arm. Do you feel ready to go out again?"
I plastered a smile onto my face and gave her a firm nod.
"What's the mission, Eva?"
Taking her place in front of Gambo's tank, Eva began to explain the situation.
"A strain of recent animal attacks has sent a fairly local town into a panic. Only on nights where the moon is full in the sky, people's livestock have been found torn apart, half-eaten and generally massacred. Two days ago, it happened again, and the moon will be full again tonight."
"So, you're saying we have to go out there to protect the townsfolk from a Werewolf?" I asked, desperately hoping that I'd understood the situation properly. A strange emotion overtook Eva's face as she answered and stepped onto the elevator, one that gave me impressions of regret.
"I certainly hope so... Anyhow, the town in question is nearby enough that we can get there by train. It shouldn't take us too long to get there if we leave now. I've grabbed a button, just in case we need a quick way back, but hopefully we'll be able to sort the issue before night falls."
The train station wasn't too far away, close enough that we'd be able to reach it soon enough even with my current speed. And so, with just a quick stop on the way to drop Seth back off at home, I climbed into the crowded carriage and took my seat beside Eva, gazing out the window as the train set off and another mission began.
By the state of the train station that we had arrived at, I could already tell that our destination wasn't exactly a tourist attraction. Nettles and other plants had begun growing through the rusted metal fence into the station platform, and the rustic brick building that led out to the town's cobbled roads was desperately in need of some new paint.
"So, this is the place?" I asked, stepping out into what felt like a whole different era.
"We'll be heading just down the road from here, towards the three farms that reported attacks. Apparently there's a pub nearby that acts as the area's primary social hub. It might be worth checking it out."
Heading down the path, I could hear the sounds of the pub before I could see it. 'The Bird in Hand', as it was called, seemed a welcoming enough place, at least from the outside. The windows were well-lit and the sounds of discussion and laughter were audible from outside. As soon as we entered, a wave of heat and the smell of beer washed over me, and the conversations slowly died as all parties turned to look at us.
"Good afternoon, everybody!" Eva announced to the room, looking jovially around the tables. "My name is Eva, and this here is my associate, Michael. We're here to ask if you've noticed any unusual activity in the area, maybe some animal attacks that you can't quite explain?"
"There's no need for you to be so cagey about it, love." a steely man in a stained shirt answered from the table by the door. "You've heard about our little Werewolf problem, haven't you? Well, no need for you to worry about it. It's been dealt with."
"Dealt with?" Eva asked, her tone shaky. "Can I ask you to elaborate on what you mean, 'dealt with'?
The man's face contorted into something of a pleased smile as he swigged the rest of his pint and pointed with his thumb towards the bar wall. Eva and I turned in unison, our eyes locking with those of a mounted canine head.
"Don't tell me, don't tell me that you..." Eva stammered as I looked on in horror. Even in death, the head appeared to be in pain, with skin that seemed stretched over bones that didn't belong. The eyes looked disgustingly human, so much that after just a few seconds, I could no longer bare to look at it.
"Finally got her two nights ago." the man bragged, puffing out his chest as he sauntered up to the bar to grab another drink. "She turned up at my farm, probably expecting another easy pickings, I'd bet. Well, little did she know that I was still awake, waiting for her, just in case. She did figure out pretty quick though, when my first bullet clipped her ear. I chased her down through the rain, and I'd finally cornered her at the edge of the woods. And then..."
The man turned to us, still bearing that hideous smirk but now with a glint of misplaced heroism in his eyes as he mimed drawing a rifle to his side, loading a bullet and firing. As a small applause and a round of cheers came from the other patrons, I turned to Eva in horror, who was visibly shaking.
"That... that wasn't an animal, that was, a woman! You know that, right? She- she was probably a part of your community, your friend, your friend's sister, I mean how, how could you do this to someone!"
The man returned to his seat, sniffing deeply before hurling a loogie into his empty glass as he answered.
"Course she was. That thing was Graham's wife."
"And if I'd known that she worshipped the Devil in 'er free hours, I'd 'ave put the bullet in 'er misself." the bartender, Graham, apparently, added as he mopped down the counter.
"So, if, if, if that was your mother, or, or your sister, or brother, or if that was you, then! You'd just, you'd just shoot them?" Eva questioned in horror as the wolf's attacker started on his second pint.
"If that was my Chris, then I'd send up a prayer that his soul somehow makes it up there before I put a bullet through his skull." the man confirmed. "And if it was me, I'd hope that he would do the same. Scrawny git was the most scared of the creature anyhow. Wouldn't even get to sleep that night until he'd locked himself in the basement, just in case it came for him. If he had the choice to pop its brains out, even if it was me, he'd do it. Just like the rest of us would."
"Are you going to order anything, or am I going to 'ave to call security?" Graham asked, glaring us down much like the rest of the pub now seemed to be. "I don't want to 'ave to use force against someone on crutches, but I will if I 'ave to."
"Oh don't worry, we're leaving." Eva snapped, as she turned towards the door, twisting back for one last remark. "But answer me this. How many people had that woman actually killed?"
"How long were we supposed to wait before she started?" the braggart at the table replied, as one of the patrons walked up to the door and slammed it behind us.
Eva and I walked in cold silence, at least until we'd reached the edge of the town. She was the first to speak, eventually.
"You know, when you go anywhere." she began, voice still cold and shaken. "Especially somewhere so close to home, you really do hope that they've advanced at least somewhat in the last one hundred and twenty years."
"Eva?" I asked, trying to shift the subject. "So, what actually is lycanthropy?"
"It's a bacterial infection." she replied, closer to her typical tone. "One that rearranges a human host into a more bestial form beneath the light of certain lunar conditions. They lose control over who they are, reverting to a more primal nature until the state ends and they return to their usual selves. Typically it's passed on through bodily fluids; either blood, saliva or on occasion, sweat."
"Well, is there a cure?"
Something sparked in Eva's eyes for just a second, before she turned away again.
"There's... no. Currently, there is no known cure for lycanthropy. But there are ways to prevent and delay the condition- for example the bacterium is particularly affected by the oligodynamic effects of silver, and certain silver compounds which will delay and weaken the transformation. But I'm certain, if we used what we had, we could come up with a real cure, something that could kill the lycanthropy in its entirety! But now... there's nothing we can do."
Stopping in the middle of the road, Eva's expression shifted once again. Her mouth opened slightly in realisation, and another spark had entered her eyes.
"Or maybe, there is something after all! Exo, I need to borrow your phone."
Dubiously, I reached into my pocket and handed Eva my phone, to which she began scrolling through with urgency.
"Okay... why?"
"For the weather report. That man in that pub, he did say one useful thing in his... diatribe. He said that he hunted her down two nights ago, through the rain. There was heavy rainfall that night until early morning. Any evidence of that night would have been washed away by now."
"So what?" I asked, clearly missing something. She beckoned down to the ground with her eyes, to which I followed her gaze and finally saw what she was focusing on.
"So why is there still a wolf print embedded in the ground?"
Eva knocked twice on the farmhouse door, firmly but respectfully, as it was creaked open from the other side and a pale, sickly looking young fellow with a shock of messy brown hair peeked out. His eyes bore some noticeable dark bags, and he itched passively at his right arm as we chatted.
"Chris, I assume?" Eva asked, as he gave a quick nod and opened the door just a little more. "We were just at the pub, we ran into your..."
"Brother." Chris confirmed, remaining in the doorway, ready to close it at any moment. "Hugh, he's... he's great. Good thing that he did, he was, uh, he was protecting us all."
"Would it be alright if we came in for a talk?" Eva asked, as Chris nodded quickly once again, opening the door fully and allowing us inside. As we sat around the hand-crafted table, the clearly nervous resident of the building stood by the kitchen door awkwardly.
"Do, um, do you want something to drink?"
"That won't be necessary, Chris." Eva replied. "Please, take a seat. This shouldn't take long."
As he awkwardly sat opposite us, Eva continued her speech, resting her hands gently on the table as she explained.
"We have reason to believe that the Werewolf that your brother shot was not the only one in town. There may be another, unknown to the rest of the populace."
"You, uh, you think so?" Chris asked, eyes darting between us but always avoiding contact. "That's, uh, that sounds like a problem. Are you going to, uh, tell Hugh?"
"No, we're not." Eva explained. "And I doubt you will, either, will you?"
Chris' body began to shake as he spoke, and he fiddled with his hands as he did so.
"I'm, uh, I'm not sure what you're-"
"Two nights ago, when Hugh was hunting the Werewolf, you were hiding from the creature in the basement." Eva explained. "Or that's your story at least. So what were you really hiding from? The creature? Or the moon?"
"I'm afraid I, uh, I don't-"
"Hugh told us that of everyone in the town, you were most scared of the Werewolf? But it's too late for that, isn't it? No, what you were scared of is what Hugh would do if he found out. And even right now, as we're talking, you're itching the bite mark on your arm, aren't you?"
Chris' lip began to tremble and tears began to well in the corners of his eyes.
"Please, please, don't tell Hugh. If he finds out, then he's going to, he would, he- he'd g- go through with it."
"We won't tell him, Chris. I assure you." I promised, looking into his eyes.
"Right now, we're the only ones who know that there even is a second Werewolf." Eva explained. "And that's our advantage. We can camp on the edge of the forest for tonight, take a few samples from you, and then we will do everything we can to get a cure ready for the next full moon."
"But, if Hugh-"
"Let us deal with Hugh." I reassured, as Chris finally began to calm down a little. It didn't take him long to grab the few things he needed for the night, and as soon as he'd gotten his bits together, we were ready to head for somewhere we could set up camp. Or we would be, if we hadn't been greeted at the door by Hugh himself.
"Well, fancy meeting the two of you here, at my house of all places." Hugh lead, with a suspicious glare. "For what do I owe the pleasure?"
"The pleasure's all mine." Eva replied, her cold gaze just as piercing as his. "I decided that I might run a follow-up on our conversation with your brother. Just to see his perspective on the situation."
"Did you really, now?" Hugh interrogated, as I ensured that my face remained stony in return. "Well, I won't be keeping you too long. I'm just here to grab my rifle. Turns out our little 'problem' might not quite be as solved as I'd imagined."
"Well, I was wondering how long it would take for you to realise that fact." Eva retorted, a tad waspish. "That's actually why we're here. Not that we don't appreciate your, ahem, efforts, but Chris has decided that he'd feel safer spending the night with a team of trained cryptozoologists."
"And you were planning on telling us that there was another werewolf around, I'm sure?" Hugh accused, puffing his chest in an attempt to intimidate.
"Hysteria and mob mentality can be just as dangerous as the creature itself." Eva explained, stepping aside to allow him to pass. "Likely even moreso. Now, we'll be on our way, if that's alright with you?"
As Hugh shoved past with a belligerent grunt, I let out a sigh of relief. The moon would be rising soon, and we still had our entire campsite to set up- not that I imagined I'd be much help in my current state. With time against us, we began our trek towards the forest.
"One last time! Just hold on for a second more!"
As Chris held onto the metal stake, Eva knocked it firmly into the ground once more, pulling at it as if to convince herself that it was sturdy enough. Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out a chain that I didn't quite think seemed sturdy enough and looked up at the setting sun.
"Chris, would you mind chaining yourself to the stake? We're running low on time and I've still got a few things to set up. Michael?"
"Yeah?" I responded, surprised to have heard my name, as Eva pulled me into the tent out of Chris' earshot.
"Michael, I think it might be best if you ran some cognitional tests on Chris. I, for one, would like to assess how Cryptomagnetism affects Lycanthrope-human interactions, and whether your ability helps him to remain more himself in the moment. Do you feel up to that?"
"Of course!" I replied, eagerly. "I'm glad I can help!"
From outside, I'd begun to hear the sounds of quietened shouts of pain, and I just hoped that he'd managed to get himself chained up in time. With Eva shortly behind, I approached the stretched and misconfigured form of Chris to begin my interrogation.
Staring at his grossly stretched spine and coarsely furred, gaunt frame, it took all of my resolve not to turn and leave. But I had a job to do, so making sure to keep out of biting range, I began my questioning.
"Do you remember who you are?"
The creature didn't respond, remaining on its knees in silence. I continued my enquiry.
"Do you have any ill-will against either us, or the town?"
As I looked on in confusion, it sagged down and began to whimper. Raising my hand just a little in reassurance, I inched closer to Chris' prone form.
"Are you... are you-"
As soon as I was in its reach, it dropped the act, charging forward at me and pulling the stake with it as it clamped onto my right arm with a ferocious bite. I cried out in pain, as Eva dashed to the tent entrance and fired a single dart into Chris' side. Dropping my crutches, I leaned against the tent's side as I held onto my arm shakily. Pleadingly, I turned to my boss for help.
"Eva, please, what do I do?"
Eva's face clouded with darkness as she took a deep, shaky breath.
"It's come to this already, then. Button."
Reaching into her jacket pocket, Eva pulled out a black wallet about the size of a jewellery box as I fished around in the backpack and handed her the return circuit. From the wallet, she pulled out a screwdriver and began fiddling around with the circuit, handing it back to me and clutching it to my chest. Before I could even question her, she'd pulled a folded letter and a small, clay coloured pill from the wallet and handed those to me too.
"Michael, I am so, so sorry. But if you want to get out of this, I'm going to have to send you into hell." Eva began, her face somber and her eyes focused on mine. "Read the letter as soon as you get there. Leave nothing lying around. And if she catches you, then you swallow that pill."
"Eva..." I asked, dread coursing through me. "What is this-"
"No. I'm sorry, but there's no time for any questions. You need to leave now, before the infection spreads any further. I- just... good luck. That's all I can say."
Inhaling the cold night air, I took a few steps towards the town, taking one last look back at Eva as she gave me a shaky nod. With a click, I activated the circuit, as everything faded to white.