Welcome to the Shit Show

Chapter 3

Felix

I love moonlight. The liquid silver glow it brings when the world falls asleep is mesmerizing. Especially to the heightened gaze of a predator's eyes. Instead of losing focus the landscape beyond the windshield became a shadowy wonderland of hidden potential. Trees became safe havens for small critters. Suddenly every rustle, every shift became a deciding moment between life and death. For small critters, that is. Luckily for them I wasn't currently in the mood to sink my fangs into their flesh. Though there is something about the sound a dying animal makes when you rip it's skin off that gives a certain thrill to the hunt.

It was one of the few things vampire clans and wolf packs had in common. Our heightened senses caused us to indulge the more primitive urges of our respective species. Vampires hunted animals for blood mostly. It was a condition of being born with their particular genetic mutation. Blood, as far as studies showed, provided them with vitamin D as well as other nutrients that their bodies couldn't produce. It was why they all looked so deathly pale no matter how long they stayed in the sun. Scientists in their community have been researching the full extent of vampirism for decades, but all they've been able to figure out thus far is what genes must be present for the condition to be passed on.

As the Alpha of my pack, forming an alliance with a clan of vampires was in everyone's best interest. By alliance I mean more of a symbiotic relationship between two species. No one is truly certain why our people have clashed for so long, but closing that gap would be crucial in moving forward. The world around us became smaller and smaller each year as regular human scientists continued their 'exploration' of the earth. Banding together to protect the community of the unseen was in everyone's best interest. Even if it meant I had to be the first to trust a clan.

It was also why we were driving back so late. Spreading the idea of collaboration with other pack leaders further south had gone less than ideally. They laughed in my face, saying it was a waste of time. The thought of their sneering faces was enough to make me yearn for the crunch of a rabbit neck between my teeth.

I watched the boring landscape pass by through the truck windows. Hours upon hours of nothing but empty fields made me long for that elusive sound even more than normal. That, and a lack of a special someone to share the beauty of the night with. How mysterious it is. To know love could find you at any moment, and being forced to wait for it to find you at the same time. Maybe I should consider a different kind of hunt when I get home. One with a much more pleasurable outcome. I let those dark sinful thoughts entertain me for a while. Until they were rudely interrupted.

"Hey Boss," I glanced over at the driver, who was also my second in command, my best friend Klein.

"What?," I asked. Clearly I had not been paying attention to the road ahead of us. He nodded to something out the windshield.

"Take a look. What do you think that's about?," he asked flatly. I could never tell just by the tone of his voice how he felt. Most of the time that was a good thing. Unless you wanted to have a meaningful conversation with him.

I peered out the front of the truck to see another truck far ahead of us on the road. Klein slowed so we could approach it with caution in case someone was in trouble. It was black from what I could tell. Strange patches of what might have been rust peppered the tailgate and there was a locked cover on the truck bed.. The cab appeared to be empty even though the tail and headlights were still lit.

Out of nowhere two figures came running off the left side of the road to the truck. The taller of the two was being dragged by the shorter. They broke apart to run to different sides of the truck. The shorter took the driver's side while the taller raced to the passenger's side. Their movements were frantic, like a rabbit trying to escape capture.