Chương 28: The Beast of Gévaudan

Crimson hauls plastic bags brimming with groceries into a shadowy parking garage where the lights barely reach. Yet after wandering the aisles for a short while, he suddenly freezes. Through a series of puzzled looks, the truth dawns: he has no clue where his car is parked.

"Crap." Rushing ahead, his eyes dart from one vehicle to the next. Then he halts, still utterly disoriented. He pivots and strides the opposite way, only to stop once more. Setting the bags down, he fishes out his mother's car keys. Raising them high, he presses the alarm button. As he strains to hear the chirp, a plastic bottle of milk slips free from one bag. Crimson lunges to snatch it, but it skids beneath a car.

"Dammit." He drops to his knees, stretching his arm under the vehicle and groping in the dark. Then something strange unfolds. The bottle glides back toward him. Milk erupts onto the concrete from holes punctured along its side. Crimson gapes at the bottle as it rolls to a standstill. Now visibly shaking, he climbs slowly to his feet, spins, and bolts, his sneakers slapping the asphalt as he casts a horrified look over his shoulder, catching a dark shape burst out from behind a parked car.

Charging on all fours, it barrels straight at him. Crimson whips around the next corner. Slipping into the gloom between the pillars, he freezes in place. When he peeks out, all he spots are rows of idle vehicles. The parking structure stays hushed, save for the frantic beat of his own heart. He glances down at his torso, painfully aware of the rhythmic pulse. Shutting his eyelids, he attempts to steady his breath. Yet his heartbeat refuses to calm down. Then a different sound reaches his ears...

A deep, feral snarl. A threatening growl that makes his lungs seize. The origin draws nearer, weaving through the cars, surging forward as-- Scarlet flashes burst from the darkness just ahead. Rounding another bend, he scans the area, a plan sparking in his mind. He vaults onto a car's hood, springing off it skyward. The vehicle's alarm erupts with a blare. He collides with another auto, bouncing off it into an SUV, whose siren joins the uproar.

Scarlet keeps striking vehicles, a chaos of honks and shrieking alarms flooding the lot and drowning out his frantic pulse. He squeezes between two cars, straining to hear. Now all he perceives are horns and sirens. The strategy is paying off. Until a buzz vibrates from inside his jacket. Just as Crimson pulls out his phone, an unseen force snatches him skyward, spins him around, and hurls him down onto the hard ground. It's Autzee, peering down at him with a look of sheer letdown.

"You're dead." A fuming Crimson trails behind Autzee as they move through the garage.

"What in the world was that all about?"

"I mentioned I'd be teaching you. I never specified when."

"You absolutely terrified me." Autzee pivots to face him and sniffs the air around him.

"Not yet, and not quickly enough. You were clever right up until your phone buzzed." Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"But that was... I mean... Can you just hold on? Please?" Autzee halts in his tracks.

"That incident the other night... Stiles's dad getting hurt. I was to blame. I ought to have been present to intervene." I'm going to need you to show me the ropes on this one.

"I am what I am because of how I was born. You got bitten. It takes a while to teach someone who's been bitten. I'm not even sure I can pull it off with you." That still wasn't enough to convince Crimson to back off.

"So what's my move?"

"Kick the distractions out of your life."" Autzee grabs him, snatching his phone from his coat pocket. He flips it around, revealing a missed call from Willow on the screen.

"That's exactly how I caught you. You're asking me to teach you? Then ditch her."

"Hold on, All because of her family?" Autzee raises the phone, ready to hurl it...

"Whoa, hold up, hold up..." But it's already over. Autzee launches the phone. Crimson winces, squeezing his eyes shut as he listens to the smash and crunch of plastic colliding with cement. He spins toward Autzee, fury blazing in his eyes.

"Feeling angry? That's your initial lesson. You wish to master this power? To learn the shift? Anger is the key. By reaching into a raw, beastly fury. Her presence makes that impossible. This is my sole method of instruction. Could you keep your distance from her until the moon wanes? You wish to survive? You wish to shield your companions? Answer me, yes or no?"

"Yes. If you can instruct me, I'll keep away from her."

Inside the Ash residence, Crimson and Willow collapse onto her bed, lost in a fervent embrace, their hands exploring with all the raw intensity of teenage longing. As her lips graze his neck, his hand creeps up beneath her shirt, his fingers slipping under the black strap of her bra.

"Take it off. Are you cool with that?" She insists, gripping his t-shirt.

"You're asking if I'm cool with undressing you?"

"A dumb question? Fine, you go first," she murmured, yet she didn't pause. She halts him, tugging his shirt upward. Barely breathing with excitement, Crimson helps him lift the shirt over his head. Her fingertips trace a delicate path down his chest, making him shiver. Following the contours of his stomach, she seizes his belt and pulls him back down to her, capturing his lips. Then, sliding atop him, she guides his hands up her lower back, beneath her shirt, to the clasp of her bra.

But he fumbles with it, struggling to unhook the clasp hidden under her shirt while she nibbles at his ear. And then his claws tear right through the soft fabric. Crimson stares at them, horrified. He yanks his hand away, bringing Willow's bra with it. But his fingers have returned to normal now. Then, pressing his lips to hers, he trails his now-human fingers over her skin and up her shirt when a knock echoes at the door. In a panic, Willow springs up and off the bed.

"Just a second." With swift motion, she yanks Crimson up, flinging his shirt straight at his face. She gestures for him to slip into the closet. As she closes the door on him...

"Willow?" With Crimson tucked away in the closet, Willow opens her door for Lily.

"What's happening?"

"Oh, nothing. Just tackling homework and firing off some emails." Willow settles back at her desk, fingers dancing across the keyboard.

"Sending a note to your boyfriend?"

"Nope. I'm reaching out to PETA about how my crazy father shot an innocent mountain lion right in the school lot." Hidden inside the closet, Crimson lets a faint grin creep across his face.

"And that couldn't possibly relate to being grounded and barred from seeing Crimson, quite the animal enthusiast, are we?" The clatter of keys halts. Willow swivels around.

"I'm not about to be that whiny teen who screams at her dad, I hate you, I wish you were gone, but I do hate him, and I do wish he were gone. I'm simply piecing together a history assignment. And honestly, I'd rather just be left alone right now." Within the wardrobe, Crimson quietly gives a nod of approval. Lily signals her agreement with a small nod. Gazing between the closet slats, Crimson watches Willow's screen as the search results appear. She had entered The Beast of Gévaudan into the search bar.

"What is this?" Willow inquires"An old tale from France that, surprisingly, involves your kin. Indeed, even your dull and unremarkable family carries a bit of fascinating heritage." Through the slats, Crimson spots a picture flashing on the display. A big, four-footed animal with an extended muzzle and incredibly sharp fangs. Lily leans over Willow's shoulder, both fixated on the monitor.

"Back in 1766, in the region of Lozere, La Bête claimed over a hundred lives... is this actually true?"

"Absolutely true. Enigmatic animal assaults. Much like a particular town called Lantern City. Nobody knows which creature it was. But it certainly wasn't a cougar. What does it resemble to you? Hidden in the wardrobe, Crimson remains perfectly motionless, awaiting the response. Anticipating and fearing what lies ahead...

"It resembles a wolf."