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“Oh, boy. A triple homicide and the coffee machine is on the fritz; what a day,” he said as he put his coat on and picked up his bag. As he walked out of his office, he almost ran over Police Chief McDougan, however, he managed to knock him off his feet.

“Oh sorry, sir. I didn’t see you there. Are you okay?” he said as he helped the Chief back onto his feet.

“Oh, it’s quite alright. Just-just watch where you’re going next time. Alright?”

“Honey, its Michelle. On your way home, could you stop at the grocery store and pick up a few things for me?”

“A carton of milk, a pound of butter, and a loaf of bread will do. And this time, please don’t crush the bread, okay?”

As John walked out of the supermarket, he looked around for his car. John Kupo, being a police officer, had a knack for getting himself into trouble. He had just passed an alleyway on Third Street.

A scream was heard from the alley, and John was the only one close enough to make any real difference. He grabbed his duty pistol and ran to the alleyway, where he saw a woman, probably in her late thirties, and a large, hulking figure. The figure was holding the woman over its head and it looked like it was about to throw her into the traffic.

“Put the woman down, and then come out with your hands behind your head!” John yelled into the dark, dank alley.

All he got in response was a series of low moaning noises, and then he heard the woman screaming.

“Crap! I need to call for backup. But I can’t leave that lady,” John thought just as a couple walked by.

“What do you need me for?” The young man asked curiously, then turned and whispered something to his girlfriend.

“I want you to get on the Police band radio in my car and call in a 327. Got that?” John said.

“Right over there.” John pointed over to a car across the street from their current location, and then tossed him a set of car keys.

“You’ll need these.” As the man jogged toward the car, John pulled out a flashlight and turned it on with a soft ‘click’. Then they heard a loud scream, and in response, John ran into the alley with a pistol in one hand and a flashlight in the other. What he saw shocked him beyond comparison. A giant wolf-like creature stood before him, blood dripping from its finger-sized fangs. John was flabbergasted. He had never seen anything like this ever before. The behemoth lunged at him with claws outstretched, as if it wanted to slash John.

John fired his pistol. He fired five times, but the creature kept coming, barely phased by the multiple bullet wounds he had just inflicted upon it. John turned around and started running, but it suddenly dawned on him that this was a superior creature. It was faster than him, stronger than him, and larger than him.

John had to outsmart the giant. It was the only way that he could possibly survive this encounter, so as he ran to his car to start it, he grabbed his keys from the man. Once he got to his car, he opened the door and climbed in. As he fumbled to put the key in the ignition, the creature made the car tremble as it raced towards his current location. That’s when he dropped the keys.

“What the bloody hell?” he thought as he began his drive to the 13th Precinct Police Station, creature running right on his tail. John looked out the window, and then jumped as he noticed that the creature was keeping pace with the car quite easily at a steady jog. As soon as John regained his composure, he stepped down on the gas pedal and the car shot off, leaving behind a large cloud of white smoke. “Oh, great. I forgot to put more oil in the car,” John thought as he looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed that the car was billowing smoke from the exhaust pipe.

As soon as he got out of the car, the giant creature pounced on it, huge tail wagging like a dog after having fetched a ball and returned it to its owner, and proceeded to destroy it. John used this distraction to slip into the station.

Once inside, John ran straight for the Homicide Division office. Outside the door, he ran into the Homicide Division chief, and John lost it completely.

“Chief, you’ll never, ever believe what just happened to me. I was walking to my car, and I heard a scream coming from the alley, so I went to investigate, and what I saw scared me to death. I think I saw a werewolf! Call me crazy, but if you do, how do you explain my car? That-that thing ripped my car to shreds! Come with me and I’ll show you,” he told the Chief.

“Alright. But after we do this, you have to promise me you’ll go home and get some sleep. Deal?” the Chief said.

“It was—THAT!” John pointed to a hulking figure hurdling through the air at an extremely high speed. A loud ‘thud’ could be heard as John hit the ground. The wolf-like creature sat there, as if it were waiting for John to pet it. As John stared at it, it began to attempt to put his hand on top of its rather large head, accidentally scratching John in the process.

“Ouch!” John said as his hand recoiled in pain. Sensing this reaction, the creature pulled back and began to back away, snarling.

“Unngghhh…What did that thing just do to me?” John asked as he went to sit down on a park bench in front of the Police Station after the creature had left.

“I think it scratched you. Here let me take a look at your hand,” the Chief said as he tried to get a better look at John’s hand.

John looked around nervously and said, “I’m beginning to feel lightheaded. Whatever that thing did to me, it seems to be getting worse. I’m not feeling quite myself.” Then he passed out.

The Chief watched in horror as John underwent a horrifying transition from man to beast. His nose and mouth elongated so that his face looked more like a wolf’s than a man’s. His teeth grew and deformed so that he had canine fangs. His back rearranged and curved over slightly with a sickening ‘crack’. His legs morphed into doglike legs, and his feet were shaped so that if he tried to stand, he would have to stand on his toes. His hands grew and his fingernails elongated into claws. Fur grew all over his body. His entire body expanded and grew in size to the point where his t-shirt was tattered and ripped up and his blue jeans were torn to shreds.

“I think you’ve become a werewolf,” the Chief said, finally over the shock.

“That would be correct,” a mysterious woman in a trench coat said as she stepped into the light.

“You are a very strong individual. Most people would have lost control of their bodies by now. What is your name?”

“First you tell me yours,” John responded as he started sniff her, but then abruptly stopped.

“My name is Kari. I am known as a Hunter. I was sent here to kill the wolf that scratched you, but as I don’t know where he went, I will have to abandon my hunt. I want you to come with me,” the odd woman said.

“You are a very special breed of lycanthrope,” she called out behind her to John.

“Because you were inflicted during a blue moon. Not only that, but your mind is strong enough to stay in control and not let the wolf control you. Now, we are here. Your training will begin immediately,” Kari explained as they came to a rather small run-down shack.

“That is not important. Look around you. These are all lycanthropes that are similar to you in many ways, but all of them combined cannot compare to your true power. What we must do is teach you how to master that power, but first, we must start with the basics- how to transform. Please come with me.”

As they passed the training yard, all kinds of lycanthropes stopped whatever they had been doing, closed around, and stared at them, sniffing the newcomer.

“There is nothing to see here. Go about your training. Now!” Kari shouted. They quickly dispersed as Kari led John into the shack.

She led John down a hallway that ended with a stairway leading downward. About halfway down, John passed out and began to transform back.

“Oh no! He’s transforming back! Quickly, bet me a bed!” Kari said to a man at the bottom of the stairs as she suddenly transformed into a werebear, then picked John up and carried him the rest of the way down and put him on a bed.

“Oh, great. The one being that can save the world, and he can’t even handle a simple transformation,” she muttered to herself.

John awoke in his new surroundings, unsure of anything. All that he knew was that he had a splitting headache, and he didn’t have any idea where he was.

“Huh? What the—” he said, startled by what he saw next. A giant cat standing on two legs was looking straight at him!

“You’re finally awake! You’ve been asleep for two days now. There’s someone who wishes to see you,” she said as she picked up a watering can and started watering some plants.

John quickly got up and noticed that there was a pile of fresh, clean clothes his size next his bed. He changed and walked towards the creature.

“What? Is there something in my teeth? Oh—I completely forgot to introduce myself. I am Serina. I am what is known as a werecat. My employer is right this way.” Serina led him to a small office nearby. “She has been expecting you.”

John walked into the office. Kari was sitting behind a desk completely covered with papers and files.

“Ah, yes. John. You’re finally awake. I was beginning to get worried. Please sit down.” Kari then motioned toward a plush chair against the wall.

“Not really. The last thing I remember is coming from the Police Station. Then I woke up here,” John replied.

“John, I have something to tell you. You may not believe it at first, but it is the truth. You are a lycanthrope,” Kari explained.

“You are a lycanthrope; a werewolf. You have the strongest mind I have ever seen. In fact, I think you have what it takes to finally tip the balance of power between the lycanthropes and the vampires, with a little training, of course,” Kari told him.

“No, its not possible. I’m dreaming. Yeah, that’s it. I’ll wake up in my own bed, next to my wife any minute now. Werewolves don’t exist, they never have. What was I thinking?” John kept repeating to himself.

“Are you quite done? You’re in denial. It is true, werewolves and vampires do in fact exist,” Kari explained.

“Where are we? I’ve never seen a place such as this,” John said as he and Kari wandered around.

“This is a lycanthrope training facility. Come, I have some people I want you to meet,” Kari said. She led him into a room with a group of people, and then pointed to certain people.

“I believe you have already met Serina, my assistant,” she said as a strange child walked up to them.

“Now, this is Kit. Kit, I would like you to meet John. He’s the new recruit you saw me with yesterday,” she told Kit as he and Jack shook hands.

“Everyone is talking about a war. What war are you talking about?” John asked.

“The war that we are referring to is the war between the lycanthropes and the vampires. It has been waged for centuries, and unless we can do something to stop it, it will continue on for centuries more. You are that quick resolution to the war,” Kari explained.

“It is true. We want you to gain full control of your lycanthropic body in order to bring a quick end to the war,” Kit said.

“Haven’t you tried to find a peaceful solution? I mean, there has to be a non-violent way out of this,” John asked.

“If there were a peaceful solution to this war, don’t you think we would have tried it? I don’t want to fight either, but if we don’t fight, they will hunt us down and kill us all. We’re not fighting for selfish reasons, we’re fighting for self-preservation. You have to fight, it’s the only way,” Kit chimed in.

A few hours later, John was out on the training grounds with Kit, learning how to control his transformations.

“Now, just concentrate on the aspect of transformation. It won’t work if you concentrate on the end result. Watch me, then you try it yourself,” Kit told him. Kit looked concerned, then began to transform before John’s very eyes. After a transformation unlike anything John had ever seen before, Kit looked like a cross between a human and a fox. John just stared, chuckling; the fox-ears on the human head were amusing to him.

John concentrated as hard as he could on the thought of transforming- a task which seemed just barely out of reach for him. He fell over once, but got up once again and tried again.

“Come on, you can do this,” he kept telling himself. Suddenly, John felt strange, as if he were outside of his own body, then felt his body morph to include the best traits of both human and wolf.

As he finished his transformation, Kit said, “Great! You’re advancing more rapidly than I would have imagined. Now, we will focus on returning to your human form in order to hide. Normal humans must not know that we exist. Understand?”

“As long as they cannot tell anyone, you may tell loved ones what has transpired, but not until you have mastered both aspects of transformation. Now, back to the aspect of transforming to human form. You will want to concentrate on the human form, not the transformation itself, as you did when you turned into your wolf-form. Watch closely,” Kit said. John watched as he shrank and returned to the small, puny-looking teenager that he had started as.

“Now, try it for yourself.” John concentrated as hard as he could on becoming human again; he wanted to see his wife again. He then felt that same feeling that he was outside of his body, then looked at his hands and noticed that they were human hands, not claws.

“You have done very well for your first aware transformations. Now that you know how to do it, I expect you to practice transformations for at least an hour each day. Now, on to fighting.” He led John to a large room inside the shack.

“This is our self-defense training area. Your whole body is a weapon; remember that. Now I want you to transform and come straight at me,” he told John. John transformed, and then tried to take a step forward. He fell down; that’s when Kit realized something: he hadn’t taught John how to walk in his wolfen form.

“Oh, my. It would seem that I forgot to tell you how to move effectively in your lycanthropic form. Now, you will want to walk on your toes. Just keep the idea of tip-toes in mind, and you’ll be fine. Now, try to hit me,” Kit told him.

John ran at Kit as fast as he could, claws outstretched as though he were about to slash Kit. When John’s claws were almost at Kit’s torso, Kit put his elbow out. He caught John off guard, hitting him in the chest, but John quickly regained control as Kit was about to hit him over the head. He dodged the blow, and then delivered a swift, powerful punch to Kit’s stomach. Kit fell to the ground, writhing in agony.

“I was afraid this would happen. Are you alright?” John asked as he helped Kit to his feet.

“Maybe we should call it quits for today. I have learned to control my transformations, and you have learned to keep your guard up. I think we need to take some time off so that we can rest a little bit. Whaddya say?” John said with a smile on his face as he reverted back to his human state.

“Sure. I could use a break. But you need to work on your transformations later on,” Kit said in response.

Later, around noon, John noticed a tall, muscular woman wandering around, watching him.

“Huh, I wonder why I’m under surveillance,” he wondered. When he started to walk towards where she was standing, she suddenly ran off. He shrugged, then walked inside.

“What are you talking about? No one except for those lycanthropes that trained here knows where this facility is located,” Kari told him.

“What if a human found the place by accident? What do you do to them?” John asked with a serious tone in his voice.

“They are educated in the art of secrecy, and taught why normal people just aren’t ready to know that we exist. No harm comes to any human that finds any of our training facilities. I promise. I personally oversee all human educations,” Kari assured him.

After a lunch of chicken and rice, John went outside to train more. As he began to transform, he couldn’t get rid of the feeling that he was being watched. As he opened his eyes, he noticed a pair of eyes in the bushes. When he went to investigate, he found a young child, about ten or so.

“I was exploring, when I came across this place. Please don’t hurt me,” Jonas said.

“I need to speak with you,” John said as he burst into Kari’s office once more. “What is it?” she asked. John then produced Jonas and said, “Jonas, I’d like you to meet Kari. Kari, meet Jonas.”

“Oh, my. Another one? This is not good. This means that someone told others where to find this clearing,” Kari said worriedly, just as a gunshot rang out.

Everyone rushed outside to find the source of the noise. What they met with was totally unexpected.

“Well done, Jonas. You did your job perfectly, now leave the adults alone,” a familiar voice rang out. Then, the Chief stepped out into sight and put his pistol back in its holster as John put Jonas back on his feet.

“John, you were supposed to be my ‘normal’ friend! Now, I have to fight you? I really don’t want to, but I must,” he said with a frown on his face.

“The Chief is a vamp? I worked for this guy for two years, and I never suspected a thing. Amazing,” John said to Kari as he transformed and ran after the Chief.

The Chief stood there at the top of the hill, seemingly mesmerized by the sight of a giant wolfen creature running straight at him. Once John reached him, the Chief dodged what he thought was an attack from John. He then turned around and delivered an elbow to John’s face, which sent John flying to the ground.

“You can’t beat me. I am stronger than you could possibly imagine,” the Chief said as John got up and tried to slash the Chief. The Chief caught his forearm and twisted his arm back behind his head.

“But I have something you don’t: experience. Your family is mine. I will hunt them down, and turn them all. One by one, they will fall by my hand, until you have nothing left,” the Chief whispered in his ear with a chuckle.

“You will not lay a finger on my family as long as I am alive,” John said, teeth bared.

“It’ll be alright. We can get him. Don’t worry, you’ll have a chance to get him later,” Kari said as she pulled him up off the ground and wrapped her arm around his shoulder comfortingly.

“No, you don’t understand. This is personal. He threatened my family,” he said as he pushed her hand away.

“I have to become stronger, more adept, more accustomed to fighting in this body. I cannot risk it. He’s just too skilled,” John said as he reverted to his human form.

“It’ll be alright. We’ll protect them, I promise,” Kari said as they went back inside.

That night, John decided to visit his family. He walked outside, then transformed and ran off to his wife and son. Once he arrived at the front door, he quickly changed back to his human form, then walked inside.

“John! What happened to you? You look like you’ve been through hell and back. Sit down and I’ll get you something to drink,” Michelle said.

“Look, I don’t have much time, but you won’t believe what happened to me. I actually had a run-in with a real live werewolf! It scratched me on the hand,” John said excitedly.

“You must’ve hit your head harder than I thought,” she said. “No, it’s true. Everything I’m saying is true. I really am a werewolf. Come with me and I’ll prove it,” he said.

They walked into the bedroom in the back, where John proceeded to close all the blinds. He then stood with his feet apart as he concentrated. He then closed his eyes and the transformation took place once more. There he stood in his wolfen form, as his wife looked on in horror.

“Oh, my god,” she said as she cupped her hand over her mouth, “What happened to you?”

“It’s just like I told you. I ran into a werewolf a few nights ago. I got scratched on the hand, and for the time being, I’m living in a training facility. I want you to stay with me,” he said as he transformed back.

“There’s something you’re not telling me. What is it? You know I’m going to find out eventually, so just tell me now,” Michelle said with a look of concern.

“Okay, there have been some threats on you and Jack, and I want to make sure you’re safe while I’m away training. Also, there is some stuff you and Jack need to learn about this situation. Now, get Jack and we’ll be on our way,” John said cautiously.

“Ready to go?” John asked as he finished stuffing clothes into a backpack and put the straps over his shoulders.

“Yeah, I think that’s everything that we’ll need,” Michelle said as she finished putting a suitcase in the Lexus in the front of the house.

“There’ll be a part where we will have to walk, so bring comfortable shoes,” he said as they all piled into the car.

“But what do you think it’ll do to his mental health if we tell him that some monsters are real? He just barely got over that ‘monster under the bed’ phase, remember?” she replied.

“He’s gonna find out eventually; this place is crawling with all sorts of lycanthropes. I just think it would be better if I told him myself, that’s all. We’re here. Let’s stash the car here and go; they’ve probably noticed that I’m gone,” John said. They all got out of the car, unloaded it, and hid it in an alleyway.

John said to Jack, “I have something to tell you. Remember when I said that monsters didn’t exist?” Jack nodded his head.

“Well, apparently I was wrong. Watch.” He then transformed. Jack began crying, then ran behinds his mother’s legs.

“Yes, I’m real. Now, we don’t have any more time to lose. Let’s get going.”

John picked up the backpack, put it on, then picked up the suitcase and said, “I’ll carry all the bags. We’ll be able to cover more ground this way; and besides, it’ll be great weight training for me,” he said with a smile.

“This way.” They all then walked the same path that John took just two days earlier.

As the Kupos arrived at the facility, the sun was already beginning to rise. “We’re almost there,” John said, panting and gasping for breath.

“There you are. We have been looking all over for you,” a familiar voice rang out. John dropped the suitcase and backpack that he had been carrying and turned around. He saw Kari, and opened his mouth to say something, and passed out.

“Oh, great. I was afraid this would happen,” she said as she went over to pick him up. That’s when she noticed Michelle and John.

“I was about to ask you the same question. I am Michelle Kupo, and I’m John’s wife, and this is our son, Jack. Now, who are you?” Michelle said.

“I am Kari, one of John’s instructors. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get him inside. Please, come with me,” Kari said.

As they walked downstairs, Michelle asked, “So, is this really where my husband’s been for the past three days?”

“Yes. However, until yesterday, he was asleep, recovering his energies from his transformation. This is what happens when a lycanthrope stays transformed for too long; they fall into a deep sleep, usually for a day or two,” Kari said.

“Really,” Michelle said as Kari laid John down on one of the beds. She then changed back to her normal form and walked over to a dresser, and pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants and changed. Then she walked back over to Michelle and said, “I was afraid he would do something like this.”

“Like what?” “He brought you here. That means both of you need to be educated in lycanthropy. This will not be easy.”

John woke up early the next morning, got dressed, and then slipped outside to begin his training routine. As he got into position to transform, he noticed that strange woman again. He ignored her until she approached him.

“Hello, there. I am Vid. Who are you? I haven’t seen you here before yesterday,” the mysterious lady said.

“I am John, and don’t even think about it. I’m married,” he responded as he tried to concentrate.

“Oh, well then, how long have you been a werewolf?” she asked, apparently trying to make small talk.

“Oh, I’m surprised; most wolf lycanthropes can’t control their transformations until at least their third of fourth week. You’re very special,” she said with amusement as he transformed.

John turned to her and said, “I am very strong-willed. Now, who are you?” “My name is Dander, but everyone calls me Vid. Don’t ask me; it’s just a nickname they gave me,” she said, giggling.

“Here, let me show you how you can make your shifts faster and go more smoothly. Do it like this,” Vid said as she transformed faster and with more force than John had previously seen, knocking him to his feet.

“What the hell did you just do and what the hell is a ‘shift’?” John asked as he got up.

“A ‘shift’ is a slang term for the transformation from human to animal form, and back to human again. And I simply have learned to use what I call my ‘hyper mode’, a much quicker form of shift, but there is a downside: it is usually temporary, unless you can manage to control the mind of your animal form for longer than you normally can,” Vid explained.

“So, how can I learn to do this? I mean, it can’t be that difficult, can it?” John said with a gleam in his eye.

“It took me years to just figure out how to access my hyper mode. Years of diligent meditation. It will probably take you a while, too. However, if I help you, it might take significantly less time,” Vid surmised as she and John walked around the compound.

“Would you like to get some breakfast?” John asked as his stomach began to rumble.

“Just be wary of my wife,” John said as they walked inside. John heard Michelle’s voice from downstairs as they walked down the hall. “That’s my wife. Hold on a minute,” Jon said as he walked downstairs.

“What’s wrong? You sound panicked,” John said as Michelle came into his sight.

“It-it’s Jack! I can’t find him anywhere! Oh, John, what do we do?” Michelle said, voice quivering like a scared child.

“We’ll find him; he can’t have gone far. I know, give me something he wore just recently,” John said as he shifted. Michelle then handed him a t-shirt that Jack had been wearing the previous night. John sniffed it, then began sniffing the air. He ran to a closet, opened it, and found a secret staircase leading down.

“What? I never knew that was even there,” Kari said as she peered down the staircase.

“That’s because we elected not to tell you just yet,” Vid said as she stepped off of the staircase. “Those catacombs are the reason why this base is so well guarded. By the way, John here has an incredibly powerful gift. I hope you are training him to realize his full potential.” Kari turned around and the look on her face turned to one of shock.

“Vid! You’re still alive? I thought the vamps finished you off in that cellar,” Kari said, in shock.

“I survived, and I’m back, stronger than ever,” Vid said as she and Kari hugged.

“Vid- I mean Dander here is my sister. I thought she was killed years ago when a vampire attacked our home,” Kari explained to the other people in the room.

“Let’s go. John, you cover the front, and I’ll take the rear,” Vid said as they prepared to go down the stairs. As they walked cautiously down the staircase, John noticed something glowing off in the distance.

“But I can see where I’m going; there’s nothing in my wa—” John was abruptly cut off by a ‘thud’ as he fell over and slid back to his human form.

“Oh, great. Now we have to rescue two people,” Kari said cynically as she cautiously approached John’s hunched over body. As she bent down to pick his lifeless body up, John’s eyes suddenly opened.

John woke up as Kari lifted him up to pull him out of the catacombs, when he suddenly roared to life and broke free from Kari’s grip, rage in his eyes. He slashed at Kari, but she dodged and countered with an uppercut to the jaw.

“Oh, my God! He’s accessed his hyper mode!” Vid said, her eyes filled with realization and fear.

As John recovered, Kari yelled to everyone else, “Just go on ahead without me! I can take care of myself!” John then turned toward the group.

Kari called to him, “Hey! I’m the one you want! Leave them alone!” as she punched the back of John’s head lightly. He turned around and landed a very forceful right hook to her stomach, knocking her to her knees.

As she sat there on all fours, coughing up blood, she thought to herself, “Come on, I know I still have some fight left in me. Get up; GET UP! Get up and FIGHT!” John suddenly began to breathe heavily, then fell over. Kari got up, and, as she held her stomach, she walked over to John and checked for a pulse as his body reverted back to its normal state.

“He’s just barely alive, and I don’t think I have the energy to get him upstairs. Wait- if I can just get him to the stairs, I can get some help,” Kari said as she dragged John’s body to the staircase.

“Hey! Is there anyone up there?” Kari yelled at the top of her lungs. Her response was a loud shuffling noise, then a “Yes! Someone’s here! What’s wrong?”

“I wish I could, but I’ve been engaged in battle and wounded myself!” Kari called back.

“Okay, I’m coming down, then!” the voice called out, closer this time, sounding more feminine. Down the stairs came a young woman, about 25. Kari stared at this newcomer. She had obviously never seen her before.

“That’s because I’m actually a cross-breed; but don’t worry, I’m on your side,” the mysterious girl said, smiling. “My name is Kayla.” Kari stared in surprise as Kayla picked John up and slung him over her shoulder.

“I’m going to get him upstairs, then I’m going to come back down and help you,” Kayla told Kari, trying to sound reassuring as she started up the stairs.

As Kari was at the top of the stairs, John came to and groaned. “What happened?” he said, dazed and confused.

Kayla laid John down on a bed, then ran back through the door to rescue Kari, who happened to be halfway up the staircase by this time.

“Please, let me help you,” Kayla said as she picked Kari’s arm up and put around her neck to give support.

“So, you’re a cross-breed,” Kari said as they slowly moved up the staircase, “I’ve heard of them before, but I thought they were just a myth. Is what they say about cross-breeds true? I mean, I’ve heard so much.”

Kayla looked at Kari, then said, “Some of it is, some isn’t. I mean, it is true that we have incredible strength, but it isn’t true that we have to drink blood like the vamps do. Other rumors that I haven’t heard I can’t dispel for you, but there are quite a few that I can.”

“Okay that helps a bit. Thanks,” Kari replied. They reached the top of the stairs, where Kari removed her arm from Kayla’s shoulder and limped over to her office and picked up a first aid kit, then walked over to a sink.

“We have to get him to a hospital. If we don’t, he might die. I’m afraid it’s the only way,” she said as she tried to tend to her own wounds. She winced in pain as she poured hydrogen peroxide over a nasty bite wound, then gingerly patted it dry with a piece of gauze.

“We don’t have any time to waste. Let’s get going,” Kayla said as she opened a crate and pulled out a shotgun. Then she picked up John and slung him over her shoulder and they were off.

“Unnghh…Where are we?” he said as he rubbed his head with his good arm. “Wait, I recognize this place; this is where I ditched our car.” The two women just looked at each other, then Kari asked, “Where is your car?”

“Over there,” John said as he pointed toward the ditch where he had previously stashed the Lexus.

Meanwhile, in the catacombs, a footstep was heard as a massive figure moved swiftly as it covered a large area of space in little time.

“Let me go!” a child was heard saying in a loud voice, then was abruptly cut off.

“Good, about time I shut him up. That kid was getting on my nerves,” the figure said as he moved about. Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard as the lycanthrope search party moved closer to their position. They ducked into a dark, dank tunnel and waited.

“I think I heard someone up ahead of us,” Vid said to the others as she moved in to investigate.

“I don’t see anything, guys. I wonder if he went the other way,” one of the people in the group said.

“No, he went this way. I can smell him,” Vid said. Just then, they all heard a loud scream.

Jack bit the unknown vampire’s hand, and dropped to the ground. He then got up and ran to where he had previously heard footsteps. When he got about halfway there, the unknown vampire picked him up off the ground by the back of his shirt.

“John Kupo, you have caused a great deal of trouble. I just hope McDougan knows what he’s doing,” the vampire muttered to the darkness. That’s when Jack tried to escape again, but his attempts were in vain. He tried to kick his captor, but he couldn’t get enough force to do any damage, so he tried to bite the hand again.

“Oh, no you don’t!” the vampire said as he moved his hand out of the way. “That worked once. It won’t work again.” Then the captor pulled out an unmarked aerosol can and sprayed it in Jack’s face, and he fell unconscious. The vampire then threw Jack over his shoulder and took off running.

John wasn’t faring too well, either. Kayla and Kari were trying to get him to a hospital as fast as they could, but it seemed that they just weren’t fast enough. John felt himself slipping into a deep sleep…He tried to fight it, but it was just too powerful.

“Huh!” John shot up out of bed. He had no idea where he was, and he just wanted to find his son. A nurse walked in and, noticing he was awake, called out for the doctor.

“Doctor! He’s awake!” she called out the door. A tall, slender man walked into the room.

“I am Detective John Kupo, Blob City Police Department, Homicide department, 13th Precinct. Any more questions, or can I leave?” John said almost automatically.

The doctor just stared at him for a minute, then said, “No, you may not leave yet. Why do you want to leave so soon?”

“Because my son is in grave danger and I’m the only one who can do anything about it. That’s why,” John said, anger evident in his voice.

The doctor recoiled and said, “You’re not going anywhere until your wounds heal. Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it. But I’ll fight you to the end on this matter. We’re talking about a child’s life here. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?” John had the look of a desperate parent on his face.

“I’m sorry, but if I let you go now, it’d be basically trading one life for another. You do understand, don’t you?” was his response. John suddenly became enraged and shifted without warning, as though he had lost control.

“Holy shit!” the doctor said as he ran as fast as he could toward the door. As he tried to open it, the door flew open, and Kari and Kayla were on the other end!

“Calm down!” Kari screamed as she took off her sling and shifted, “You must get out of here!” she said to the doctor.

Kayla pulled him out of the way just as John charged toward where the doctor had been sprawled on the ground.

“Calm down. No one’s going to hurt you here. It’s me, Kari. Don’t you remember me?” Kari said, trying to calm John down without much success.

“Quickly, do you have any tranquilizers?” Kayla asked, being the kind of person to think on her feet.

“You go get some and bring it back here. I’ll take care of the rest,” Kayla said as she shifted into a giant wolf-like creature with wings. A demonic aura could be seen surrounding her body as she moved toward John. Kari took one look at her, and just stood there, astonished.

That is, until John sucker-punched her in the jaw. She flew across the room and slammed into the wall with enough force to knock a huge hole in the wall and shifted back.

“Calm down! I really don’t want to do this, but it seems you give me no choice,” Kayla said as she got into a fighting stance and held her right hand at about eye-level, two fingers extended. Kari came to just then.

“What the−” Kari was interrupted by the sound of wood splintering as a group of men with guns and body armor broke the door down.

“Everybody freeze! Keep your hands where we can see them! Surrender and you will not be harmed!” one of them shouted into a megaphone.

“Over my dead body!” Kari got up, shifted, and then charged and attacked one of the men. John took this opportunity to charge the rest of the men, knocking several of them back into the hallway.

“Thank you, John,” Kari said as she threw the remaining soldier out the door.

“Don’t mention it,” he said in response as the soldiers regrouped and charged again.

“Move!” Kayla shouted as she prepared to throw her energy ball. John and Kari dived to the ground just as Kayla’s little ball shot between them through the door and made contact with one of the men, creating a giant explosion. More men just came to fill the gaps.

“It’s no good! Every time we kill one, another comes and takes his place! There’s just too many!” Kari said. They were fighting a losing battle.

Just then, a lone figure walked down the hall and stopped just in front of the soldiers.

“Leave them alone!” he said. Several men turned around to look at this newcomer. He was wearing camouflage pants, combat boots, a black t-shirt, and a dark-colored vest.

Those who saw him began to whisper amongst themselves. This was indeed a strange predicament. They had no idea who this guy was, or what he could do, but on the other hand, they had to bring the lycanthropes in.

“I won’t ask again,” he said as he readied himself for what would come next.

“Because if you don’t I’ll rip you to shreds,” was the response. The soldiers apparently thought this was funny; they broke out into laughter. The soldiers moved in closer.

“I warned you,” the man said as he suddenly shifted into a magnificent grey werewolf. His eyes burned with determination like no one had ever seen.

As the newcomer charged at the soldiers, John’s group took the opportunity to slip out into the hallway.

“Get out of here!” the wolf said as he attempted to hold off a deluge of soldiers from engulfing them.

“Just GO! If they get you we’re all doomed!” was the response. Both were adamant in their decisions.

John charged into the fray as one of the soldiers pulled out a handgun. Seeing this, Kari shifted and ran after him. Kayla threw up her arms, then decided to join them. She stood there, transfixed. Then, suddenly there was a flash of light, and a longsword appeared in her hand.

About a half hour later, dead bodies littered the floor, and there was blood everywhere. John, Kari, Kayla and the newcomer stood there. Kayla shifted, concentrated, and made a sheath for her new sword, then proceeded to sheathe it and clip it to her belt, then shifted back.

“That was fun! So, what’s your name?” John asked as he tried to catch his breath. After all, he was curious to know more about this man.

“They call me Arkythe. I was born a werewolf,” the newcomer said, “Who are you?”

“I am John, this is Kari, and the one in the back is Kayla. Nice to meet you, Arkythe,” John said enthusiastically.

“So, why did you save me?” Arkythe asked as the foursome walked down the hall.

“You helped us back there; I was trying to return the favor,” John said. Once they reached the front door, John tried to take lead of the group.

“I have to find my son. I think he may have been kidnapped,” he said, fearing the worst.

“It was most likely the vampires. Don’t worry; I know where they would have taken him if they did. We’ll get him back,” Arkythe said reassuringly. They walked out the door, and John saw something move again.

“What was that?” he asked, confused. He turned his head in the hopes of discerning what was moving around, then shrugged and continued on.

“Oh, nothing. I just thought I saw something move, that’s all. Nothing really important,” John said nonchalantly. Just then, a curious-looking creature jumped out from the bushes.

John walked cautiously up to the creature and tried to take a closer look at it when it suddenly lunged at him. Seeing this, Kayla jumped into action, unsheathing her sword and bringing it down on its neck, severing the head from the body completely.

“Did you really have to do that?” Kari asked Kayla as they deposited the body near a dumpster. Suddenly, the body burst into flames that left nothing but ash behind.

“Now, back to the matter at hand,” Arkythe said seriously, “they would have taken your son to the holding center on the corner of 3rd and Main. It is there that we must strike.”

The two just looked at each other for a moment, and then Kari said, “Of course.”

“I’m behind you one-hundred percent on this,” Arkythe said. The four started on their way.

“Yeah, I know. But I have to do something,” John said with determination. It was clear: He would do anything to get his son back, and he was prepared to do so.

A little while later, John stood in front of the building on the corner of 3rd and Main, determination gleaming in his eyes.

“This can’t be the place, can it? I mean, it’s just a warehouse,” John said in disbelief.

“Believe it or not, this is it. I’ve been here many times, so I know the layout. Just stick close to me and everything will be fine,” Arkythe said as they walked inside.

“Wait a minute-you’ve been here before?” Kari asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

“I was captured twice, and on four separate occasions, rescued two lycanthropes and five humans,” Arkythe explained, “Now, this way.” He motioned for them to keep moving.

“Try not to draw attention to yourself. Shift only as a last resort; we’re on their territory, remember that.” They were walking straight into the belly of the beast, and they couldn’t shift unless it was to save their own lives. This is perfect. If we aren’t recognized, that sword of Kayla’s will get us caught for sure. John had a very bad feeling about this.

As they walked down the hall, John noticed a lot of people that he thought he knew. This gave him a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, because if he were discovered, they were most likely doomed.

One man stopped to ask Kayla where she got the sword, and when she replied, “I made it,” he continued on his way.

“That was the chief of Precinct Twelve!” John said after the man had left, “I used to work for that guy.”

“Sorry. I got carried away,” John said sheepishly as he met with the gazes of the others, “I’ll be quiet now.” They carried on, until something caught John’s eye: A rather large shred of clothing that looked suspiciously like a piece of Jack’s shirt.

“Hey, what’s that?” he asked as he walked over to investigate. What happened next surprised even Arkythe.

“What’s going on here?” A voice was heard behind them. The rest of the group turned around, and their eyes met with a pair of cold, gray eyes.

“Uh, I thought I saw something, and when I went over to investigate, I was encased in steel. Do you think you can help me out?” John told the truth very selectively.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help a group of lycanthropes such as yourselves escape.” John was shocked. How had she known that he was a werewolf?

“What makes you think he’s a werewolf?” Kari asked curiously. She wanted to know how a vampire such as this woman knew they were werewolves. After all, they hadn’t told anyone, and they most certainly hadn’t shifted.

“Well, first of all, his neck is clean. No bite marks. Second of all, he has the stench of werewolf on him. Come to think of it, so do you,” the odd woman said. Suddenly they were rushed by a rather large group of police officers wielding shotguns, assault rifles, etc.

“Great. How are we going to get out of this mess?” Kari said cynically as Kayla drew her sword.

“Everybody, shift!” Arkythe shouted as he shifted back into a werewolf. Kari and Kayla followed suit, then finally, John tried it. The cage bars snapped like toothpicks under the tremendous pressure he put on them as he attempted to escape.

“Oh, god. We’re doomed,” one of the soldiers commented as they were pitted against the Elites of the lycanthropes, plus a few members. John, Kari, Arkythe, and Kayla stood there, poised for battle.

“Get them!” someone shouted, and the slaughter began. After all, it wasn’t exactly fair to pit a hundred men against the Elites.

“What do you mean you feel sorry for them? These lycanthropes have plagued us for years,” another said.

“There’s too many! They just keep coming!” Kayla said anxiously as she sliced one man in half.

“Keep calm. There’s got to be a way out of this,” Kari said, determined to escape, or go down fighting. She looked around the room desperately in an attempt to find something that could help them. Then she saw it: A doorway leading to another room.

“I’ve got it! We’ll run,” she exclaimed as she punched another soldier in the face.

“What are you talking about? We can’t run from this kind of an army. It would be suicide,” John said skeptically as he threw a man into the air and hit him with a roundhouse kick, sending the man flying into a glass window.

Kari moved in closer to John and said quietly, “No, my intention was never to run from the battle; my plan was to draw them into a narrow hallway so that we could fight them one-on-one. What do you think?” John thought for a little while, opened his mouth to respond, and was promptly hit in the jaw with the butt of a gun, knocking him to the floor.

Seeing this, Kari lost her temper and began to pummel the shit out of the man, while John tried to get up.

“Kari, I think you got him,” he said as he tried to pull her off of the dead body, “If we pull off that plan of yours, what are the chances of it actually working?”

“Pretty good, if we all stick to the plan to the letter,” Kari responded as she prepared herself.

“Everyone! Follow us!” John shouted to Arkythe and Kayla as he took off running down the hall toward the cage that he had previously been caught in.

The large group of gun-toting police officers followed them as they ran down the hall, knowing it was a dead end. John turned and took out one of the men as he arrived at their location. They had them; now all they had to do was bring them back alive.

“Alright, what’s the plan now?” Kayla asked as she took up her sword once again.

“We fight.” John was already way ahead of them, having killed three men and effectively disarming two more.

“I can’t keep this up for much longer without a weapon,” John said between breaths.

“If you can keep them at bay for just a little bit longer, I can make you a sword,” Kayla said.

Kayla concentrated hard and suddenly a katana began to take shape in the air above her hands. A few minutes later, she tossed it to john, who unsheathed it and swung it at an unsuspecting officer, slicing him in two.

“I was in the top of my class in the melee weapons training at the Police Academy,” he said with a grin.

“Not exactly. I was trained in the use of sword-sized objects in the Academy. I bought a sword and trained with a friend at home.”

“Don’t move; we have you surrounded and cornered. Drop your weapons and put your hands on your heads,” one man called over a megaphone.

“And what are gonna do if we don’t?” John quipped sarcastically, “It’s not like you have the power to stop us.”

“Front line, move in about three feet” was heard over one of the radios in response to John’s comment.

John took this opportunity to get back into his fighting stance. As the men advanced, he stood still, like a statue. A ‘cha-chink’ sound was heard as the soldiers raised their assault rifles and aimed them at the foursome.

John stood there, transfixed on the soldiers, ready to attack whenever he got the opportunity. As one of them shifted his gun from his left hand to his right, he saw his opening. John thrust his sword straight through the man’s chest, killing him instantly, then kicked the man as he pulled his sword from the limp, lifeless body.

This obviously didn’t sit well with the other soldiers who had seen this slaughter, because they suddenly began to advance in greater numbers than John could keep up with and swarmed him.

“Help! I need help!” he called out to his companions as he was pulled downward by the swarm of hands.

“We have to help him!” Kayla shouted as she tried to make her way toward John. Kari put her hand on Kayla’s shoulder, indicating that it was pointless to try to help him.

“Rrrrrrrr…You’ll pay for this!” Kayla growled as she wiped the tears of realization from her eyes.

As the other soldiers followed suit, Kayla suddenly began to glow as her rage went unchecked, bridled only by her emotions. Then, a gigantic explosion of psychic energy cleared the immediate vicinity of all police officers, and Kayla emerged as the smoke began to clear, sword in hand. As she did so, several large rocks were thrust forth as though an invisible being had thrown them, hitting several people and knocking them all off their feet and through doors, walls, and anything else that they happened to be in front of.

Kayla continued her march toward the people-no, they weren’t even human in her eyes, with a mix of determination, anger, and sorrow glowing in her eyes as she suddenly began to glow again.

Seeing this, the men began to disperse, when suddenly a group of ten men was lifted off of their feet and thrown clear through a window.

“You cannot escape me now,” Kayla said angrily as she walked toward the group.

“What’s the matter? Scared? Well, you should be. I’m going to put you through the same agony that has befallen my friend back there. When I’m done, you’ll wish you were dead; then I’m going to kill you. This is why you never piss off a telekinetic,” Kayla ranted through tears of misery and sorrow. She stopped glowing as she directed her attention towards the nearest thing to her, which just so happened to be a person, about thirty years old. He was promptly torn limb from limb, then his remnants were turned to turned to ash just as Kari and Arkythe emerged from the corridor.

Kari ran up to Kayla and put her hand on Kayla’s shoulder and said, “It’ll be alright. Calm down. I’m sure John is just fine.”

“What do you mean, ‘you’re sure’? He was mutilated and overwhelmed back there. Besides, isn’t his body still back there?”

“Yes, I know, but we have to get Kayla’s emotions back under control. Otherwise John won’t be the only dead lycanthrope here.”

Kari walked back over to Kayla, put her arm around Kayla’s neck and lead her back to Arkythe.

“Are you sure? I mean, can you do it?” Kari asked concernedly. She was worried that Kayla might not be able to handle the death of her friend.

“Then, what are we waiting for?” Arkythe chimed in. He just wanted to get the hell out of there. But it would seem that until they got the child, that would be impossible. They didn’t even know where in the building they would find the kid.

“I think it’s this way,” Arkythe said as he sniffed around for clues, then pointed toward an empty hallway.

They turned in the direction from which they heard the scream and found a hallway.

Why? Why him? Why couldn’t I save him? Kayla thought to herself as she moved down the dimly-lit corridor. A tear streaked down her cheek as she landed just in front of a closed fire-door.

While they’re catching up, I’ll just take a little peek inside and see what’s in here.

The door creaked open as she peeked in. What she saw was met with shock and fear. As she closed the door, the door fell into place with a loud ‘thud.’

“Quickly! We need to go that way, now!” Kayla said in a worried and excited voice as she darted down the hall as fast as her legs could carry her. The door could be heard crashing open behind them.

“Why didn’t you tell us we were about to be chased by a horde of angry vampires?” Arkythe said as he took off running.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly like I knew it was going to happen or anything, it just suddenly happened. I opened a door I really shouldn’t have, and they were right there,” Kayla told him. She truly hadn’t intended for anything like this to happen.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the base, a hulking animal-like form could be seen skulking around. Just then, the door to Jack’s cell broke open.

Things did not look good for Arkythe, Kari, and Kayla. They had somehow managed to lose the ‘Vampire Brigade’, but Arkythe didn’t know for how long they could stay hidden. And if the trio of lycanthropes got into another fight, he knew that even with Kayla’s psychic energies directed at the troops in the form of anger, there would be no way possible to make it out alive without John. So they were stuck.

Back at Jack’s cell, a familiar walking by noticed that the door had been ripped off of its hinges and had been thrown through a wall. So he hit the alarm button.

Jack was on the shoulders of the animal creature that had broken into his cell and they were making very good time toward the door when the animal-creature stopped.

“Brace yourselves. This is not going to end well. If we’re to go down, we’re going down fighting.”

Just then, an unknown werewolf broke through the wall and began to throw vampires around like toys.

“Who is that?” Kayla asked. Then they got a good look at his face. It was John!

“This is impossible! John is alive?!” Kayla suddenly lost control of her psychic powers and the newly reformed quartet of lycanthropes was surrounded by a strange red light and everyone looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, but everyone got the general idea when they saw Kayla floating about three feet above the floor. She dropped to her feet, and all of the vampires fell to the ground, most of them dead. Those that weren’t dead writhed in agony as they slowly bled to death.

“You’re alive? How’s that possible?” Kari asked as she looked John over.

“Apparently, when I was pulled under by those soldiers, Kayla’s emotions peaked, and I was teleported at random to another area of the base. Oh, yeah. I found Jack, too. Hey, come on out!” he called out to Jack. Jack came out of the vent and ran over to his father. Then he caught sight of Kayla.

“Aaah!” Jack screamed as he ran behind his father. Kayla didn’t look too surprised. After all, she was a giant glowing werewolf with wings.

“I take it this happens often,” John remarked with a grin just before he knelt in front of his son to explain everything that happened.

“Jack, I want you to meet my friend Kayla. She won’t hurt you. I promise.”

“Well, now that we have what we came here for, what do you say we jet?” John said, just before he heard something. His ears perked and turned toward the direction of the noise.

“Shhh. I heard something.” John slowly and cautiously moved toward the source. He pulled a piece of concrete out of the way and found a werefox, covered in blood and badly wounded. John dared not try to move him because half of his body was still pinned.

“Come on. I need help. There’s someone down here,” he called to the others.

“Don’t try to move. Everything will be fine,” John said as the fox came to and began to struggle as the night air touched his face.

“We have to leave, NOW,” Arkythe said just as three spotlights focused in on the four of them.

“Great. Now we’ve made contact with the locals. Just one or two people would have been acceptable, but you had to let the whole police force see us!” Arkythe was furious.

As Arkythe began to move toward the shadows, a man with a bullhorn shouted, “Stop where you are! Don’t move, and keep your hands where we can see them!”

“There’s a man under here! If we don’t do something, he’s going to die!” John called out, then shifted back to his human state.

As he struggled to stay conscious, John said, “Please trust me when I say these people are on your side. Police officer to officer.” This struck a chord with the officer holding the horn.

“That’s Detective Kupo, the missing Homicide detective! We’ve been looking for him.”

Just before John passed out, Arkythe grabbed him and ran into the shadows. A trail of gunfire followed just behind him, threatening to overtake him if he stood still for too long.

“Stay put. You need to recover your strength.” Arkythe laid John down on the concrete and dashed off to help Kari and Kayla.

Kayla moved back in an attempt to protect Jack, but if she tried to protect him for too long, she’d be putting herself in danger.

“Cover me!” Kari charged into the crowd, determined to take as many of them with her as possible.

As she assumed her fighting stance, Kayla’s grip on her sword tightened. Three men charged at her, so she dodged the first one and sliced his head off cleanly with a single blow. She did the same with the other two.

“Grim. I can’t tell you whether or not we can fight all these enemies off at once,” Kayla reported.

You need to get angry. We can use your strength to our advantage. Remember, they’re fighting lycanthropes!” Arkythe rallied the troops as much as he could, but it seemed that it wasn’t enough.

That is, until reinforcements came. A small band of werewolves came running down the streets at the officers, effectively surrounding them.

Just then, Kayla got shot in the rib by one of the men in blue. As she began to fall, John suddenly appeared and caught her.

“How is this possible? When I left you, you had no energy left to move, let alone shift,” Arkythe thought out loud.

“I dunno. I just felt full of energy, and suddenly found myself here. Oh, well, doesn’t matter. Who are the troops?”

“Well, they seem to be friendly. After all, they’re holding the police off,” John surmised just as an Animal Control van showed up.

“Oh, boy. This is getting hairy. We’d best find a way out of this situation soon,” John said.

“Greetings. You--” He pointed at John, “You are the one who is rumored to have the power to turn the tides in the war?”

“We could use some help. We are a rather weak pack, so we need all the assistance we can get.”

John looked at his comrades for a moment, then replied, “We’ll help you out, sure.”

He then shifted back to his human state, and the others asked, “Why did you just do that?”

John’s body was suddenly enveloped in a bright, white light as his hands grew to three times their normal size and sprouted fur. The sound of his clothes ripping could be heard as it echoed through the open air. His fingernails grew into large claws, larger than even his normal wolfen form. He ripped what little of his t-shirt remained from his chest just as it expanded to meet the needs of this new body. His legs looked very similar to what they would have normally looked like in his transformed state, only much bigger. His nose and mouth sprouted into a canine snout much larger than normal and his ears grew to three times his normal size. Large, purple energy bolts could be seen as they jumped from one portion of his body to another. John stood there, ready for battle.

“Kayla! I want you with me. Kari and Arkythe, I want you two to fight off the Animal Control people. Keep them off of our backs, and above all, be careful and stay together. We can’t afford to lose either of you.”

John walked over to where Jack was hiding, knelt down, and said, “Jack, I want you to go hide over there. You’ll be safer there. Okay?”

“Kayla! Now!” He and Kayla charged into battle, confident that they could win the skirmish.

Arkythe stared at John for a few seconds, watching him swipe at policemen, usually knocking them off their feet into others. Kayla slashed and swiped with her sword, cutting her opponents into tiny pieces. Suddenly, he leapt over the battlefield.

The Animal Control people were just getting into position when Arkythe landed on top the van, creating a large indentation in the center of the roof.

“You would be wise to know that I can rip you in two in a heartbeat, and I’m not afraid to do it. Just remember that.”

“Phew. That was annoying. Arkythe, please warn me next time you decide to do that.”

“Hey, relax! I’m only kidding!” Arkythe’s mood suddenly changed from that of a serious-minded fighter to that of a child playing with his cohorts, “I say we lock them up.”

Kari and Arkythe both grinned as they each picked up one of the men and threw them into the remains of the van.

“There we go. They won’t get out anytime soon,” Kari said after she finished breaking the lock so that the door couldn’t be opened, “Now, let’s go help John and Kari.”

Kari and Arkythe ran off into the fray. Just as they reached the outskirts of the battle, Arkythe saw John go down.

“Kari! Over here!” Arkythe called over to Kari as he jumped over all that stood between him and his friend.

As he tried to fight off the endless opponents, John’s outlook on the situation was looking bleak. He knew he was going to run out of energy soon and shift back to his human state unless they did something drastic. So John decided to pull off his ‘last resort’.

He suddenly went down, just like last time. Only, this time it was intentional. Kayla looked over, and saw this, and her emotions peaked. A blinding light surrounded her as the wind suddenly picked up. Her wings spread as she released her psychic powers upon the helpless humans. They were most certainly doomed. Many men were suddenly thrust against the walls of the various buildings that surrounded them.

As the survivors of the last attack recovered, Kayla suddenly began to float and transform. Her entire body glowed as her sword fell to the ground with a loud ‘clank’. Kayla’s wings grew in size as her claws began to morph into larger, more powerful hands with retractable claws. On top of her wings there grew rather large talons. Her feet pulsed with energy as her legs grew to five times their normal size. Kayla stood, completely transformed and recharged. As she flew toward the spot where her friend lay, her sword began to levitate and came to her hand, where she grasped it tightly. Kayla prepared to slash just as she noticed that John was alive. She dropped to her knees.

“Look at yourself. What happened?” John really was injured, but not so that he was in any danger.

“I don’t know. I saw you go down and suddenly I shifted again. It felt like the first time I shifted.”

“That’s how it felt when I shifted like this. Help me up.” Kari grasped John’s outstretched arm and pulled him to his feet.

“Now, let’s get back down to business. I’ll take right flank, you take left.”

“I’m fine. A little shaken up, but fine. Ready for one last go?” John was just itching to kill something. His wolf side was finally showing through, so he was a bit more lax and confident that he could beat these humans.

John and Arkythe rushed of into the heat of things like playful pups, ready to quash anything that got in their way.

John and Arkythe soon found themselves in the thick of the battle, fighting with such ferocity that John brutally and savagely butchered one man, and had to restrain himself so that Arkythe could get some of the fun.

“Stop right there and release those men.” John and Arkythe both stopped their punches in mid-swing and turned.

“And just who are you to tell us what to do?” John was infuriated by the nerve of this vampire. Telling him what to do, of all things.

“I am your superior, Detective.” Chief McDougan! He was still alive! John’s eyes narrowed in anger as he bared his teeth and growled. It didn’t matter. In a little while, that situation would be rectified and they would be on their way once again.

“It was me who gave the order. I know you were going to ask.” This was too much for John. He barreled towards McDougan as fast as he could when a gang of vampires threw themselves in the way.

This did not hinder John at all. He suddenly leapt over the squad of vampires and landed just in front of the Chief.

“You will die a slow and painful death for the suffering you have put my family through. On your death, I will use your ashes as litter for our cat.” John’s eyes burned with such anger that it struck fear into anyone who happened to gaze upon them as he picked the small, portly vampire up by the shirt.

“I would advise you to put me down very, very slowly. Remember that you are on our turf now,” Chief Don McDougan said calmly. He really had nothing to worry about. After all, John wasn’t stupid enough to kill him while surrounded by a gang of bloodthirsty vampires.

John began to lower the man to his feet slowly, but suddenly punched him up into the air and dropkicked him in through the front door of a building. The Chief rebounded with his feet off a wall and turned in midair to deliver a staggering flying kick to John’s chest, knocking him to the ground a few feet away.

As John got up and nursed a bloody nose and a bruised elbow, he said calmly, “Ow. That hurt.” He then rushed toward the Chief, and just as he was about to grapple him, the gang intervened again.

“Stay out of this,” Chief McDougan shooed them out of the way, “This is between him and me.” He looked at John and motioned menacingly for him to continue.

John rushed at him, and just as they were within range of each other, John leapt into the air using his powerful leg muscles and did a backflip, landing just behind the Chief, where he proceeded to trip him. Just as McDougan was about to hit the ground, John grabbed the collar of his shirt and used him as a battering ram to knock the others off their feet. The other members of the pack stood back and watched in amazement as this rookie wolf laid waste to one of the Leaders.

“Had enough?” John asked as he let go of the Chief, throwing him through another wall.

“What are you talking about? My team and I have completely destroyed your fighting force. What are you going to do? Destroy me yourself?” John asked between fits of laughter.

“I’ll do this!” McDougan shouted as he suddenly pulled a knife out of his left sleeve.

Just then, Kayla popped out of nowhere and shouted, “Here! Use this!” as she threw her sword at his feet. John scooped it up just in time to block the Chief’s knife attack from stabbing him in the chest, chopping the Chief’s hand off at the wrist.

“You little--” McDougan was interrupted by the sound of a hundred werewolves closing in at once.

“We won’t let you interfere. You will die now.” One of the remaining pack members spoke up.

The wolves and the remaining vampires prepared for battle just as a spire of rock suddenly shot up underneath one of the soldiers, spearing him and killing him instantly.

A lone figure came walking down the hill, almost completely engulfed in the consuming darkness.

“Hey! Who’s up there?” one of the wolves shouted up. The person just kept walking.

John took the opportunity to sucker punch his amazed opponent in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.

As the Chief got back on his feet, John got into his fighting stance once again. He was ready to face anything anyone could throw at him.

“Fight me. Fight me with all your strength, so I can defeat you at your best.” As Chief McDougan threw another punch aimed at John’s head, John suddenly grabbed the Chief’s forearm and flipped him over his shoulder. The Chief took hold of John’s fur and clung to it like a bad itch.

“Ahhh! LET GO OF ME!” John snarled as he suddenly sent a large shockwave from his body, sending the Chief flying through the air like a tin can. He landed hard on the concrete sidewalk, creating a large crater.