Bad Moon On The Rise (Sample)

Chapter 4

By the time Leila pulled up to the Stillwater Bar and Grill with the windows rolled down in her beat up old Chevy s10 because the air-conditioner had never worked, she could already smell that Clyde’s body had been removed. Stale blood still permeated the air, and lots of it. It seemed that Clyde had been practically exsanguinated by whomever or whatever took his sorry life. Leila felt bad that she didn’t feel bad the man was dead. But she knew many others in the small town felt the same way.

The gravel lot was empty beyond several police cruisers, Sterling’s Ford heavy duty truck, and Zenia’s old tan VW bug. Was it bad that the last thing on her mind should be if Sterling’s large truck was a good comparison to the size of what was between his legs? She somehow doubted he was overcompensating for something. Not that she would be in Stillwater long enough to find out.

Leila lost faith in Stillwater’s finest rather quickly when despite the lot being overpopulated with law enforcement vehicles, she made it out of her truck, and around the back of the bar before she was stopped by a deputy. Not before her eyes took in the yellow police line framing an area near the dumpster where a chalk outline was upon the concrete. But more importantly was the vast amount of blood surrounding the outline. So much, it hadn’t all dried in the shade of the building, despite the hellish heat already that morning. She wondered if Clyde was feeling another kind of heat that morning, down even further south than Florida.

“Bar is closed. You can’t be back here. Can I help you ma’am?” asked the deputy.

He was young. Average looking with a buzzed haircut and a still toned physique. Probably a Rookie or close to it. His dark skin shimmered with a sheen of sweat, not all that unappealing. Leila wasn’t exactly a sucker for a man in uniform, but she found herself being converted a bit more today.

“I work here. I got a notice on my door from the sheriff’s office wanting me to contact them and then I got a call from a friend so I figured I would just come on down here sir,” explained Leila.

Her dark hair was down, she hadn’t even brushed it. Soon it would be a frizzy, giant mess thanks in part to the humidity. She realized maybe she should have at least brushed it and made herself look a bit more presentable. At least she had brushed her teeth before she mad a dash out of the house in a t-shirt that said “Larry’s sausage is the best” and pair of sweats she usually slept in that read #juicy down the hip. The back of the shirt was even worse really, it read “So meaty and juicy. Give Larry’s sausage a taste. Everything’s bigger in Texas.”

She had gotten it when she worked at a college bar outside of Dallas which was famous for its sausages, cheap beer, and cheap girls.

“What is your name ma’am? Let’s go on inside out of this heat. I’m deputy Clayborn.”

“I’m Leila Dupree. I just moved here about a month back. It’s nice to meet you.”

Leila followed the deputy gladly. The scent of Clyde’s blood was overwhelming her senses and giving her a headache anyway. Not to mention all the bugs it was attracting. Leila was still healing from all the scratches and bug bites she had received in the swamp this morning.

In her wolf form she healed even quicker, on two legs she would be healed by late evening at the most. Of course, deeper wounds took longer and could be fatal. Werewolves were not indestructible, just harder to take down in wolf form, but you didn’t need a silver bullet to do the trick. She had developed an allergy to silver since being turned, it caused burning welts to appear on her skin.

The air-conditioner seemed to have died again. That was the explanation Leila’s stressed brain conjured up to explain why Sterling Mount was sitting in barstool naked from the waist up. She swallowed hard as she took in the beauty of his exposed chest.