Moonlight

Chapter 5

            Michael crept out of the house around midnight and went on the hunt for the werewolf. He went back to Fleet Street and tracked him down from there. He followed the scent to a rundown studio complex in some part of the city. Since no one was around, Michael stepped into the building and made his way up to the second floor. There he came to a weathered door and opened it. The place was an absolute mess. There were scratch marks on the floor and walls, furniture torn to pieces, it was bloody terrible in there. Mike went to investigate more around the apartment, and something caught his eye. It was small framed photograph of a young man and an older man. And that older man looked exactly like Jerry, the person next to him could have been the son that was taken by werewolves.

            Michael caught a whiff of a familiar smell and turned around.

            “What the fuck are you doing here?” the stranger in the doorway said to him. “Put that down.” Mike set the photo back on a small stand.

            “Don’t want to give you any trouble,” Mike said the man.

            “Fuck you,” the man said. “You’re lying.”

            “I know.” Mike ran and pinned the man on a wall. “You’re the son of a bitch that killed my friend and made me what I am now.” The man grabbed hold of Mike’s jacket and pushed both of them to the ground, the man on top of Michael.

            “You bet I am,” he said. “And you’re the son of a bitch who killed me dad.” The two rolled twice on the floor. Mike was now on top.

            “Yeah, that’s because you’re dad was a fucking psycho and tortured me for no reason,” Michael said and snarled. The man threw Mike off of him, sending Michael into a wall and landing on the floor. He came over to Mike, grabbed him by the throat and hoisted Michael up.

            “He did it for you, y’know,” Mike managed to get out.

            “My dad never cared for me,” the man said.

            “That’s not true, Benjamin,” a voice said. Ben let go of Michael and turned round to see an old man standing on the other side of the room. “After you were taken, I was lost, wanted to avenge you by harming those who took you and any other kind that stood in my way of trying to find you. Now that I found you, my work is done.”

            “Work? You never did any work,” Mike sneered getting up from the floor. “What you called work was torture. Ben, you’re dad’s a complete nut. He may have cared for you, but he did it the wrong way by killing innocent beings like you and me. How do you feel about him now?”

            Ben looked from his dad to Michael and back to Jerry. “Did you really do that? Killing beings that never did a thing to you, all for me?” His dad nodded. “Cor, you really must’ve snapped when I went away. And I was never taken, I ran away. Sick of living cooped up in that house. After mum and Danny were taken, you just couldn’t risk losing another member. You put bars outside my window, locks outside my door, you kept me in that house for so long it almost drove me to the brink of insanity! You were always mumblin’ about killing those bastards who were responsible. But I found the right moment to run away. My best mate, Troy, you remember him? He’s a werewolf, he’s the one who got me out. We made that whole mess a set up, made you think a nasty mean werewolf got in and took off with his last remaining kin. That night he turned me. I didn’t know what to think next, I felt liberated, it was exhilarating, dad. I felt like the real me.”

            Jerry stood in silence for a moment. “If that’s how you feel,” he said, Jerry vanished. Ben and Mike looked around, puzzled. Ben suddenly felt a cold feeling come over him. Jerry had taken him over and turned him; he raised a claw and brought it down on Mike, he tucked and rolled.

            “Fight him, Ben!” Ben closed his eyes and turned back into human.

            “Get outta me!” Jerry’s figure flew out of him, Ben changed and swiped at his father, who vanished. “I don’t need you!” There was a moment of silence.

            “You did the right thing,” Mike said.

            “Shut up, you!” Ben shouted and came at him. Michael quickly changed and lunged at Ben. He head-butted Ben in the chest and the two crashed into the wall, Ben slashed at Mike’s back, to which he punched Ben in the jaw. Ben jumped to his feet, Michael putting himself in an attack pose. Benjamin made the first move, they went at each other, clawing, slashing, knocking each other into walls. Ben left a scratch mark at Mike’s left eye, thankfully he closed it. Mike made a powerful strike to Ben’s jaw, almost breaking it. Benjamin yelped a little, then threw an right uppercut to which Mike blocked; he scratched a deep gash in Ben’s left leg, Ben lunged and sank his teeth into Mike’s right side. The two fell to floor, Michael unable to get up; his right claw dug into Ben’s left side, Ben his right claw making a deep gash in Mike’s left. Michael grabbed Ben by the nape of his neck and pulled him away. Bad idea; Ben wrapped his mouth around Mike’s neck, but didn’t puncture the skin. Mike didn’t move an inch, if he did, Ben would snap his neck; so the two remained there.

            “Mike’s gone,” Terry said to Eric.

            Eric turned to Terry and groggily asked, “What? Where is he?”

            “Come with me,” Terry said and the two headed out.

            The two werewolves stayed motionless for a very long time. A voice broke the silence between them.

            “Go on,” it said. “Break his neck, Ben. Avenge your father.” Mike saw Jerry’s face come from behind Ben. “You’ve got him pinned, he’s helpless, finish him. Rip his heart out and eat it. That’s the only way for a werewolf to kill another.” Ben started to get more annoyed and tightened his grip on Mike’s neck, Michael could feel the teeth starting to sink in. “Do it now, before the sun rises.” Ben released his grip and snarled at his dad. Jerry stepped back and watched as Ben wrapped a claw around Mike’s neck and dug his other one into Michael’s chest.         

            Mike’s eyes widened and suddenly changed back into human. His cries of pain filled the room.

            “That’s it, m’boy,” Jerry said to Ben.

            “Don’t . . . do it,” Michael managed to get out. “He’s . . . insane. You don’t need . . . to AAAAAGGHH!!” He was cut off as Ben slowly started to rip out his heart.

            At that moment, Terry and Eric burst in. Ben turned towards their direction, he quickly forgot about ripping out Mike’s heart and went straight to the two people standing in the doorway. Michael rapidly changed and grabbed Ben by the shoulders and flung him across the room. Benjamin’s vision was blurry as he tried to clear his head, but soon found a dark figure loom over him and felt a claw go in and out of his chest. The last thing Ben saw was his heart in the claws of another werewolf. Terry and Eric looked on in disgust as Michael ate the heart; he let out a deep howl that rang through the building. He could feel the sun’s rays coming up and felt a great burden being lift off of him. The sun came up and bathed him with its warmth. He changed back into human form and stayed that way. Ben’s lifeless body also changed back to human, Jerry rushed over to his son’s side. 

            “You bastard,” he muttered to Mike; he vanished and was never heard from again. Terry felt a tingling sensation come over him.

            “Guys . . .” Eric and Mike noticed that Terry started to slowly vanish.

            “It’s all right, Terry,” Mike said. “You can rest.”

            Terry gave Mike a small smile. “Thanks.” He vanished. Michael grimaced and fell to the floor, Eric rushed over to his side.

            “Let’s get you to a hospital,” he said.

            “What are we gonna tell them? I got attacked by a wild animal?”

            “That works.”