Eclipse of nightmare

Chapter Thirteen

Third POV
"So the guy on the phone, the same one who's been calling us from a No Caller ID, says he knows how your father really died 17 years ago." Cyrus told the group that the mysterious man had called him before this all started " What did he tell you?" Alice asked " We didn't get that far.  He's not the first person to try and fսck with me." " What do you mean?" " Well, they never actually found the bodies. And you know what happens when they don't find the bodies? Conspiracy theories. I've had crazy assholes calling me for years, telling me shit like aliens abducted my dad and the rest of the crew, or they're all still alive and being used in a government experiment." the boy breathed out  "Okay, so there's no one who knows what really happened to your dad. Like, not one real witness to the fire." Everett said "There's this one guy, Malcolm. He was in the hotshot crew with the rest of them." " Wait. Someone survived?" Harlan asked  "He works at a hospital. I think he's, like, an orderly" "What did he say?" " He said that the fire didn't kill my dad and the rest of the hotshot crew." "What did?" Luna asked "a wolf...you think it was the same werewolf that is out there right now" Cyrus looked up "maybe but it's hard to tell," Alice said "what do you mean" "there could be a pack" "or an average wolf" Everett sighed "dude it couldn't be just a wolf" Alice started "why" "because there haven't been wolves in California already a hundred years" the girl finished "okay we need to talk to Malcolm," Blake said and everybody agreed "you stay here and don't make a sound" Mccall addressed her mate. And the teens went outside. They got into the car and drove away.
They got to the hospital and looked for this guy. "Oh fuck" Alice said annoyed "what is it" Harlan looked at the girl "he looks just like someone from my world" "who" "Daucalion the demon wolf, he actually tried to kill me," Alice said with a shrug, "I thought the crazy alpha did" Everett peeped "Peter and yeah he tried too, also Gerald and kate, yeah many people tried to kill me" "I'm concerned about your calm tone," Luna said the Mccall just shrugged and they came closer to Malcolm who was doing his job. "I don't know what you're talking about. A crew died in a fire." he said annoyed " I know it might sound crazy, but sometimes, it happens to firefighters. " he added "We heard that you told people it was something else." "I'm telling you right now it was a wildfire." the man was getting annoyed "Cyrus Nix told us you had a different story." Everett argued, " Remember him?" Harlan asked " Nix's father was a dick, but a good firefighter. I remember telling his kid he was a hero. That's what you tell a kid who never met his father." " So you didn't tell him that a wolf killed the hotshot crew?" Blake asked with a raised brow "Nope. Never said that." " What kind of wolf was it? " the teens didn't stop "How about all you fսck off and let me do my job?" " Was it a gray wolf? "Timber wolf?" " I said fսck off." " Werewolf." Alice was getting irritated "how about you tell us the real story," the girl said through greeted teeth "How about no" the girl growled quietly and was about to attack this man if Harlan didn't stop her. They entered an empty room. "You aren't going to leave me alone are you," the man asked "no" the teens answered at the same time. "Okay fine" Malcolm gave up and started to tell his story. "This wing's been closed for months. Six of us splintered off from the rest of the hotshot crew when the fire was spotted outside the containment line. We tried to get it under control, but it was moving too fast.
The wind shifted, drastically reducing our chances to get back to the safety zone. So we kept going. The canyon walls closed in. There was only one path out." the man stopped for a second  "Something stopped you."  Everett realized "A gray wolf. The largest one I've ever seen." " What did it do?" Alice asked "Stood there, watching us, baring its teeth at us. The fire was right behind us. We could feel the heat on our backs. Path to the ridge and the only way out was behind that wolf." " What happened?" Luna looked at the man "Rinzler... I think it was him. He threw a rock at it, tried to scare it off." Malcolm scoffed " All that did was make the wolf angrier. It wasn't letting any of us get through." " Didn't you carry axes? " "Yeah. Some of us also carried handguns. I fired off a couple of rounds to scare it, but... the thing didn't even flinch. So I fired the next rounds into its hide and dropped that Fսckеr to the ground." " But you didn't kill it. Did you?" " No. The wolf went down and got right back up. And then we opened fire.  That animal must have taken 40 to 60 rounds. It went down and just kept getting back up. And Nix, Cyrus's dad, finally managed to put a bullet right between its eyes. When we came over to push the body out of the way, we... " the man sighed and continued " Saw the thing was still breathing. We dragged it as close to the fire line as we could and watched the flames take over. "That's when it died?" Blake guessed "No. That's when it changed." "The fire changed it?" " Transformed it. At first, we thought we were seeing a trick of the light... Till we saw its arms grow longer. Snout extended. The wolf started to stand up on its hind legs, which, all of a sudden, were twice as long. You could see muscles pushing through the fur. And the fur itself didn't burn. Grew and darkened. And the eyes. The eyes started to glow." " You said the fire turned the wolf into... A werewolf." Alice said "Maybe the fire took it from one shape to another. 'Cause the next thing we saw, a 50-foot oak tree came crashing down on it. The whole ridge collapsed. Everything got swallowed up by the fire. It was gone. But then who killed the hotshot crew?" Harlan asked what everyone was thinking "The wolf was protecting its pack." "That's why it didn't let you and the rest of the crew through the trail." " Right." the man answered  "Where was the rest of the pack? Did you see the cubs? Did you see where they were hidden?" Harlan asked quickly Alice took his hand in hers feeling his emotions " No. No cubs. But we saw the mate." " You shoot that one, too?" Blake asked "We couldn't. We were out of bullets. The strange thing is, I think the animal knew it, too, because... it came right for us." "You ran." "You're goddamn right I did." "You didn't see it kill the others? No. I only heard it." the man finished
---------------------------------------------------
Garrett entered the stable. "Did you start those fires?" the man asked the scared boy "No." Cyrus couldn't look up " Don't say it to the ground. Say it to me." Cyrus didn't look up "Look at me, Cyrus. Did you start the fires?" " No." the boy looked straight into the man's eyes. "I believe you. But there are some people, who don't. You're gonna have to convince them." he said.
---------------------------------------------------
"Wait, hold up. Garrett found you in that same fire 17 years ago. " Everett said as the group entered the house "Yeah, we know." Harlan said "The hotshot crew killed your mother, but your father killed the crew. And then, like, ten years later, you're in the middle of the woods, and you see your father." Everett continued "But he was a wolf." "Until this fire. The guy calling us. The voice on the phone. He knows all about werewolves. If he's the arsonist, then he probably knows what fire does to a werewolf." Everett said " That it turns the wolf into a monster." Alice said understanding what Everett was saying "What if that's why he set the fire: not just to draw the wolf out of the woods, but to change it? To transform it into the werewolf killing everyone right now. Into the werewolf that bit us." the boy finished Alice looked through the window "the lights on" she said and they ran towards the stables. "Where is he?"!Harlan shouted "Harlan..."  "What the fսck did you do?" "Only what I had to."  "You told them he was here. You let her arrest him?" The boy was in rage "That thing is out there, killing your friends. Right now, Cyrus is probably safer with Ramsey." the man tried to explain "In jail." Harlan wasn't having it "In a juvenile detention center. Then in court, where he'll get a chance to explain his side of the story." "You fսck! You fսcking piece of shit!" the boy's eyes flashed golden. Others' eyes flashed to but the anger was coming from Harlan. They sneered and were about to attack Garrett. But suddenly Alice shouted in her Alpha voice "Harlan" Her eyes were bright red. The group came to their senses. "You do know that it's taking me oh so much to not just rip your neck with my bare teeth right now" the girl addressed the man. Garrett just nodded. Alice came up to Harlan and hugged him "we will get him out" she whispered soothingly into the boy's ear and he just nodded. "How did you do that?" luna asked "Call a werewolf by its given name, and it might remember who it is." Alice explained simply. "I'm sorry." the boy said to his father "The wolf you saw in the woods as a boy and the thing you saw last night? It's not your father." the man explained "Blonde hair. Pale skin. Same age as us, right? He couldn't remember his name." Everett remembered the boy he saw earlier  "Who?" " His name..." "Everett?" " His name is Baron. " Everett said. Alice's suspicions were right she knew that something was wrong with that boy and it wasn't just drugged "What?" Luna asked confused "His name is Baron." the boy repeated, "How do you know that?" Harlan asked "I have no idea. But that was him. The quiet kid at Tia's. The one no one saw. No one but me and Alice" Everett finished "He's not your father. But he's part of the pack." Garrett continued "Our brother." the dots started to connect slowly and little by little everything started to come clear.