Hunter

Chapter 10

** I thought I was dying. I could hear my heart beating as if it was in my head. My body seemed to want to dissolve itself.

"Arthur?!"

I knew my father was close, but I could barely hear him through the racket of my bones. Even if he had just confirmed I was indeed this mistake of nature, I refused to admit it. Yet, I was about to turn, there was no other explanation to this stabbing pain, slowly ripping through my guts. What I did not understand was that the sun brunt bright outside. It must have been 9am at best. Even if that night was the full moon... something was wrong.

**

          It seemed like Arthur could not see me. His body had started to twist and crinkle. His screams could have killed. He threw himself to the ground near the counter on which I had been leaning earlier and crawled back as far as he could from me. In a moment of clarity, probably his last, he looked at me in the eyes and between to screams of pain he managed to articulate:

"Run!"

I did not wait, I rushed to every door of the house and checked they were locked. It would have been better to lock Arthur in the basement but it was too late. I had been so shaken and horrified to see him like this that I had stayed idle for too long. When the screams of pain became terrifying wolf howls, my heart missed a beat and I wheeled towards the kitchen. I was in the middle of the living room.

Slowly, the clinking of claws on the pavement and a husky growl started to draw closer to the living room. I had to hide real quick. I left the room as siltently as possible, pricked with fear. The profound silence following the clinking only enhanced my anguish. Either he had stopped, or he had reach the living room and walked on the carpet which made its steps inaudible.

I had reached the second dining room, the one we used as a reception room, and had soflty closed the door which separated it from the hallway. Unfortunately, I let go of the handle a bit to fast and a slight clang echoed. I held my breath. An awful silence reigned on the house, and suddenly angry grumbles flowed and the beast which had replaced Arthur crashed into the door. My weigh would not be enough to hold the door and there was no lock to bolt it. My only hope was to run away. I imagined the wolf hitting the door with his two arms and his maw until it broke. A second blow had me take a step back. I kept pushing with all my strength. Terror filled me. Adrenaline was the only reason I was able to hold that door.

Third blow.

The door started to weaken, so did I, it also had come out of one of its hinges and the monster's muzzle showed. My only chance: the door to the laundry. I breathed in, keeping my eyes on the muzzle of the wolf which kept pushing through.

I would have only one shot.

I let go of the door and started to run screaming, fueled with a discharge of adrenaline. The furious growl of the animal resounded in my back. I reached the door and ran through the laundry, exiting on the other side, in the living and dining room. I paid attention to nothing, I just ran through the house, the noise of the wolf's race in my back, dangerously closing in every second. I launched in the stairs. I had hardly reached the seventh step when a clawed hand caught my ankle and hauled me backwards. I let out a scream of terror and surprise as I tried in vain to hold myself to anything. I used my free foot and kicked the muzzle of the wolf who let me go, surprised. I started to crawl back up the stairs.

As a wolf, Arthur was much taller than as a human and measured at least 6.5 feet. With dangling arms and a foamy mouth, he stared at me, ready to devour me. Outside, Ul started to growl and bark probably in reaction to my scream. He yowled, sounded the alarm. It unsettled the monster who listened to what our dog was barking at him for a moment. I took advantage of the situation to run away and find refuge in my office. I needed to arm myself as fast as I could. Soon, the barking stopped after a sinister howl from the half-man half-wolf creature. I bolted the door as fast as my shaky hands allowed me to. I grabbed the rifle on the wall and began looking for anaesthetic cartridges. I did not know if it would work, they were only experimental. Panic made me forget in which drawer I had put them and Arthur was already violently banging on the door. I eventually found them and loaded my gun, keeping ammunition in my pocket. In ambush behind my desk, I waited for the door to break when suddenly:

"Daddyyy!!"

I wanned in an instant and my breath broke. Agate! I had forgotten Agate! I had forgotten my own daughter! I heard the wolf turn in the hallway.

"Noooooo!!" I shouted. I left my shelter and unlocked the door, panicked.

Silence filled the house again and it was far more worrying than the wolf's howls. Mon dieu! Where was Agate?!

I walked slowly to my room, breathing raggedly. The wolf was now on all four and snooped around sniffing the air. He had his nose in the wardrobe and I deduced that Agate probably hid there for a time. She could only be in the library. I headed there in silence, walking backwards to be sure the wolf would not surprise me. When I arrived in the library, I caught sight of Agate hidden behind one of the armchairs, apparently safe and sound. Relief filled me. It left me the next second when my daughter saw me too.

"Daddy!"

I heard hasty stampings and guessed the monster was running through the landing and then the narrow hallway - which I hoped would slow him down - leading to the library.

I slammed the door shut and locked it before putting Agate near the window. Then, I threw the rifle on my shoulder and tipped the nearest bookcase over to block the door. I went for the second and tipped it over too, to make it slide to the first one.

"Daddy?"

"Not now, honeybun!"

The display was very heavy and have it slide to the first felt like it took an eternity.

Right after it got to the door, an incredibly violent blow was given to the door. The walls shook. I jumped and Agate let out a scream before she started to cry. I went to her and stood before her, pointing the gun at the door which would soon give way. I felt hands grabbing my leg.

If I missed, the both of us would die.

After twenty unending minutes, a hole formed in the door and the wolf appeared, bellowing with anger.

Boom !

Bullseye. However, it was not enough and the wolf entered the room howling, mouth wide open. He walked towards us, overhanging above us with its supernatural size. He looked so gigantic and pitiless that it felt like the floor was shaking with every motion he made.

Boom !

I reloaded my weapon at full speed, stepping back despite the weight of my daughter who was still holding my leg, and pulled the trigger again.

Boom !

The bullets did not seem to be working. He continued walking. Agate was still screaming and held my leg tighter. The werewolf gave the vilest growl and rose his paw before throwing it at me. I dodged it in the nick of time before pointing my gun at him again.

Clic.

Unloaded. As I panicked I had forgotten to load the second cartridge.

I did not have time to realise what was happening that already the wolf's hand grabbed my neck and lifted me in the air. My rifle fell to the floor, Agate let go of my leg and crawled in the corner of the room crying. I was already suffocating and my sight was blurring, when suddenly, the monster slumped and loosened his grip on my neck. We fell to the floor.