DARK SOUL

Chapter Twenty Three

The moon was at its Zenith as the trio sped down the moonlit motorway in the dead of the night. With every passing hour they journeyed further north and ever closer to their quarry. As Greg concentrated on the road ahead of him he absently listened to his two passengers who by now were deep in conversation.

"So you believe then that they are a species evolved from the union of both beast and man?" Jacob quizzed Marcus on his origin beliefs of the werewolves.

"I am simply telling you what Cain told me earlier this evening that he believes he is some kind of offspring between man and the dire wolf or some other species that evolved prior to man." Marcus replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"What about the legends man, werewolves, vampires, demons they could all be true and if what is written down in that book that let's not forget the Vatican has kept a closely guarded secret for hundreds of years then I am very much inclined to believe the writings are true!" Jacob waved his hands in the air as if to drive home his point.

"I'm not disagreeing with you Jacob. I just" Marcus was cut short as the Chaplain interrupted his friend.

"It all makes sense Marcus, these things are clearly men possessed by Demons and they are driven to transform into beasts to serve the Devils purpose. For God's sake man the name Cain even means possessed what more proof do you need?" Jacob made the sign of the cross as he sat back in his seat.

"I think both are compelling arguments and depending on which flavour of thought you prefer Darwinism or Religion both have equal merits and neither detract from the fact that whatever they are; Cain at least is a threat to us and must be stopped." The professor absently patted his pocket in which his small pistol rested before continuing on his conversation "The key factor here is that both lines of thought have two distinct themes in common and that is in the way these creatures can be killed." Marcus was interrupted again as it was at this point Greg felt compelled to interject in the conversation to have at least one of many questions that were burning away in his mind answered.

"Explain to me how silver can be poisonous professor? I have never heard of anyone dying from silver poisoning and believe me in my line of work I would have heard about it." Greg glanced over to Marcus as he posed his question.

"Oh my dear boy; you have to understand that everything that walks this earth has its strengths and weaknesses. The Cucujus clavipes is a beetle that lives on Everest and produces chemicals in its blood with similar properties to anti-freeze effectively allowing it to survive where most creatures would perish for example. There are many metals and metalloids that are toxic to humans in the right dose. Take arsenic for example; for thousands of years its been used for therapeutic use but we all now know of course its more lethal side effects too. Let's not forget tribes have been hunting with poisonous darts for millennia." Marcus smiled as he finished his rambling sentence feeling satisfied he had enlightened his detective friend.

"I think what Marcus is trying to say in his own way is that what one species of animal may find toxic another certainly may suffer no ill effect from." Jacob interjected as he patted Greg on the shoulder.

"That's what I said my dear fellow." Marcus started to protest but Greg interrupted him by saying.

"Okay! Okay! I get it. So you have silver bullets then professor? So we should be able to kill Cain regardless of whatever he is." A solemn silence fell over the three men for a moment before Marcus broke the silence by saying.

"Yes. I think the silver does more than simply poison the creature. It prevents it from regenerating and if it has poison flowing through its veins I believe it can be killed like any other creature as it will not be able to rely on its amazing healing abilities." The professor pushed his glasses back and smoothed his moustache as he spoke.