Bark (The Werewolf Journal's Book 1) (3 page)

CHAPTER 5

The man in the white uniform, who looked to be around forty-five, told Arnie to remain calm as he slowly came to.

“What do you mean?  Where am I?” Arnie asked, confused.

“You’re in an ambulance.”

“Ambulance, why?  All I did was bang my knee.”

“Relax, son. You’re in shock.”

“In shock of what?”

“Don’t you know?” the man asked Arnie.

“Know what?”

“Last night, apparently you and your friend where attacked, and the way we found your friend, hell, you’re even lucky to be sitting here talking.”

“The way you found my friend?  What’s that’s supposed to mean?”

“It means that you are one hell of a lucky person.”

“How was my friend found?”

“Let me put it this way, son.  If it weren’t for the ID in his bag, we would have had one hell of a time trying to identify him.”

“Danny’s dead?”

“I’m sorry, son, but you are one lucky kid.  God knows why; whatever did this didn’t do the same to you.  About the only thing he did to you was give you a slight bump to the head.  So tell me, son, do you at least remember what the thing that did this looked like?”

“No,” Arnie replied.

At that moment, the door swung open, and a messily dressed man, who looked as if he had not shaved in a month, walked in.

“Hello, my name’s Inspector Rodriguez.  You doing okay?”

“I could be doing better,” Arnie replied.

“I know this is a bad time, but I need to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?” the inspector asked.

“That’s fine.”

“I need you to try and remember what happened yesterday.”

“Not much to tell.  Danny and I were playing basketball.  I hit my leg pretty bad; after that I remember Danny going and getting me some water and then . . . everything’s a blur after that.”

“Can you at least try and remember why you were found unconscious and half naked?”

“Half naked!” Arnie said in disbelief.  “How the heck did I wind up naked?”

“I was hoping you could tell me, Arnie.”

“I just don’t know.  I wish I did, but I don’t.”

“Don’t worry, Arnie.  Everything’s going to be all right.  Now just lie back so we can get you to the hospital and make sure you’re all right to go home.  Then we can have your Mom and Dad take you home.”

“Where are my parents?”

“They’re on their way to the hospital.  Don’t worry.  Everything’s going to be fine.”

“I hope you’re right,” Arnie said softly as the sirens to the ambulance sounded loudly.

CHAPTER 6

Arnie’s Journal, February 8, 1993:

I am starting a journal because things have been going so bad lately that I really do not know what to do anymore.  Everything in my life seems to be going wrong.  A few days ago, some animal attacked me.  I keep telling myself it was a bear, but something deep inside keeps telling me it was something else.  Then there was the way Elena acted the other day when she read my palm.  It was as if she had seen a ghost.  That’s not even all of it.  The day after I was attacked, I was going to clean my wounds but they were gone as if I never was attacked.  Then the night before yesterday, that night Danny was killed…  no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember what happened that night.  I just remember Danny giving me water, then waking up in the ambulance.  That’s when they told me Danny was dead and that I was found unconscious and half naked.  The scary thing is what or who killed Danny could have killed me, but didn’t.  Judging by the way Inspector Rodriguez kept using the word, it must mean whatever killed Danny isn’t human.  Could it be the same animal that attacked me?  I pray it’s not because there is something very wrong if the same animal that attacked me the other day is the same one that attacked us. Then there are the sick nightmares I’ve been having lately.  I can’t seem to stop having them.  I’m running through the woods chasing a deer.  I catch it and kill it.  Then I start to eat it.  I’m tearing away at its flesh and it is then that I realize it’s not a deer.  It’s a girl.  I hate these dreams because when I have them I feel alive in a way that I’ve never felt.  A part of me longs for these dreams to become a reality and it scares me.  My mom’s worried to death about me.  I can see my dad is too, but he always has been one to keep in his true feelings.  As for Danny, he didn’t deserve to die the way he did.  It’s weird; it doesn’t feel like he’s dead.  I guess it’s just I haven’t actually seen him, and even if I could, I don’t know if I would want to.  You know when someone who practically grew up with you dies it makes you realize how short life really is.  I always thought Danny would always be there.  Now he’s gone and I can’t bring him back.  I wish I could.  It is also a scary thought to think that eventually one day I’ll die.  Things like this really wake you up and let you know how vulnerable we really are.  On to my other problems.  Been avoiding Sarah.  My life’s too screwed up at the moment to have to drag her life down with mine.  I love her too much to do that to her.  Well, I’m getting tired of writing so until next time.  I have to go.

CHAPTER 7

A pair of hungry eyes watched in anticipation as a young couple walked through the trail of the park.  The creature looked on, awaiting the perfect time to strike and capture its prey.  The predator grew hungrier and hungrier as each moment passed.  It followed the unsuspecting couple until its hunger for meat rose beyond imagination.  The beast jumped out from the trees without warning, sending its teeth deep into the skull of the man, killing him instantly.  The distraught lover screamed in horror, ran and stumbled down the trail to the park.  Maybe if her stalker was human, she would have stood a chance, but this was not the case.  Suddenly an object fell from the trees before the girl.  She looked at the unknown object in horror as it rolled into the light revealing her lover’s decapitated head.  Only then did she realize the horrible truth that there would be no escaping for tonight; death had come for her, she thought, as the beast jumped out of the trees, sending her body crashing to the floor.  As the beast sunk its teeth deep within her neck, screams filled the forest until finally there was silence.

Twelve midnight, halfway across the other part of the city, a homeless man sits against the cold metal of a dumpster, clinging tight to his medium-size bottle, which he kept safely in a brown paper bag that over the years had been his only escape out of the life he so dearly hated.  The shots and screams of the city did not bother him for he lived with them every night.  You live in an alley long enough you get immune to that sort of stuff.  Then for the first time in years, his ears picked up a sound that caught his attention.  At first, the man could not tell what it was, but as the sounds of growling grew louder, the man knew exactly what it was.  At least he thought he did.  Damn dogs, the man thought.  The creature revealed himself, stepping into the light of the alley as the man looked on in dread.  The poor, homeless man spoke only two words for that’s all he had time for as the beast grabbed his weak, fragile body, slamming it to the wall again and again, breaking every bone in his body.  The beast began to devour the flesh from the man.  Sirens echoed in the distance momentarily ending the creature’s feast.

12:20 a.m.

Policemen Gabriel Valince and Eddie Rollins drove into Vermont Alley cautiously as reports of someone screaming for their life came pouring in.  Eddie flashed his flashlight up and down the dark alley, and suddenly the light shone on a body that looked to be sleeping.  But when Eddie’s eyes focused on the body, his heart fell to his stomach.

“I think we found where the screams were coming from, Gabe,” Eddie said, stepping out of the passenger’s side of the squad car to examine the mutilated body.

Gabriel called in what they had discovered.  The sight of the body made Eddie sick to his stomach, making him vomit all over the dark alley ground.

“Hey, Eddie, are you all right?” Gabriel asked, concerned.

“Yeah, I’m all right.  It’s just, who would do something like this?” Eddie said,

wiping his mouth.

“You know how it is, Eddie.  Nothing but sicko’s in this fucking town.” 

“This is nothing, Gabriel.  About ten years back, I found a baby thrown in a garbage can.  Damn maggots had eaten away at his skin.  Poor thing was still alive.  I still can hear that baby crying sometimes.  I nearly quit the force after that.  Took me a couple of years before I stopped dreaming about that poor baby,” Eddie said as he scanned the alley with his eyes.  At that moment an eerie growl echoed at the end of the alley where the drunk had first heard the horrific sound.

“What the fuck was that?” Eddie said, grasping his gun and pointing it in the direction where the growl came.  Gabriel ran over to the squad car, aiming the spotlight toward the end of the alley.

“Holy shit!” Gabriel said, pulling his gun out as his eyes looked on in disbelief.  The sight of the beast, which stood before them, scared Gabriel so much that he nearly dropped his gun as he held it in the direction of the beast.

“What the fuck do we do?” Eddie asked in panic as the beast started toward them.

“Shoot the damn thing!” Gabe yelled.  The two policemen began firing at the beast until their guns were empty; and when the smoke cleared, the beast was still standing, blood dripping down its chest from the bullets, heading toward them.

“Now what do we do?” Eddie screamed.

“Get the hell in the car!”

The two officers got in the car as fast as they could.  Gabriel quickly started the car, but the beast leaped on to the windshield, cracking it immediately as it landed.  Eddie grabbed his shotgun as Gabriel drove the car in reverse.  Eddie pointed the gun at the beast.  The beast smashed its huge claws through the windshield, putting its huge palm over the barrel of the gun.  Eddie fired the rifle before the beast had any chance to stop him from using it, blowing a clean hole through the creature’s gigantic palm.  The creature let out a horrific and painful howl but didn’t let up.  Still holding the barrel, the beast pressed the gun to Eddie’s chest using its powerful arm to send the rifle straight through Eddie’s sturdy chest, causing a gush of blood to spurt out his mouth.  Gabriel screamed helplessly as he watched the beast kill his partner.  The beast then turned his attention to Gabriel, grabbing him by his uniform, sending him crashing through the already half-shattered windshield, throwing him over the back of the car and sending him plummeting to the ground.  Gabriel tried with his last bit of strength to get away, but it was all for nothing for the car was still in reverse and still moving at an incredible speed.  The beast hit Gabriel, smashing him.  An awful crunch was heard as every bone in Gabriel’s body was smashed.  The beast then ran off, howling in victory.

12:35 am

“Who discovered the bodies?” Rodriguez asked.

“A night watchman while doing his rounds,” a slightly younger officer with a slender build replied.

“And where were the bodies found?”