Relapse to Instinct

chapter21

There was a light drizzle of rain coming down as they drove, but it didn't deter or slow Jazz in the slightest.

The sight of a silver Mondeo, its driver side door flung open but otherwise abandoned at the side of the road, had Jazz screeching on the brakes, John pushing open the passenger side door of the Skyline and racing across the damp grass before they'd even stopped, Jazz not far behind.

The old oak tree above them swayed but offered some small shelter from the cold droplets of rain.

When John got to the silver car, he ran to the driver's side, staring in shock and a little horror at the blood on the seat and ground, staining everything red.

He stayed immobile in his fear, Jazz comingup next to him but only glancing at the damage, instead he pushed in front of John,touching the blood and lifting his stained fingers to his nose.

"Still warm, they can't be far."

The thought terrified John even more, he wanted to find Chris, of course he did, but he din't want to find Kieran, or worse, her corpse.

A rustling in front of him had John snapping his head back around to Jazz, to see that he was taking off his coat and shoes, handing them to John and telling him to put them in the car.

"Wha - what are you doing?" He tried to tell himself that it was the cold air making him shiver.

Jazz grunted, "Well, it'll be much easier to track Chris the other way, and I'll bet you anything that Kieran will use whatever advantage he can get, and he wouldn't risk Chris recognising him in case she got away."

With that being said, Jazz stood up from his crouched position, and John watched as he shifted, dropping the shoes and coat in his surprise.

Bones cracked as his legs bent backwards atthe knee, reforming sharply. His forearms extended into front legs, and hands and feetchanged to paws; long, lethal looking claws extending from the nails.

His back arched, as though pained, fur was sprouting along his body and clothing tearingand shredding, falling to the ground in tatters.

Jazz's nose and mouth elongated into a snout, ears forming a point.

When a long tail began to grow from the endof his spine, Jazz bared his teeth - teeth that had changed shape, the canines lengthening into deadly knife-like tips.

The whole process only lasted around three seconds, and looked smooth and easy, but John continued to stare, finally looking into Jazz's eyes and seeing light pain reflected in them.

"Does it hurt? When you do that?" John's voice was small, timid, and he felt more than a little humbled at the sight.

' More than anything you can imagine. I can'tsay that I'll get used to it, and to be honest, I really hope I don't. But we need to find Chris and get her away from that bastard.'

John nodded in agreement; watching as Jazzlifted his cream snout into the air, sniffed afew times and took off towards the trees to their right.

He struggled to keep up with the werewolf; despite him only having three fully functional legs, Jazz could move quite quickly, although he seemed to notice John's plight, slowing and stopping under the guiseof resting.

They continued on in this little dance for a few minutes, before Jazz halted in his tracks, head in the air and ears perked forwards.

John caught up quickly, breathing heavily but trying to quiet it in his sleeve.

Ahead of them, in the middle of a small clearing, was a body.

Chris.

John wanted so badly to run to her, but he knew that it was a trap; that Kieran was using his black coat to blend in with the bush, and was probably waiting just ahead of them out of sight.