Tunnel 8

There is something eerily unsettling about an empty building that used to be alive. An office that once breathed with its occupants, now dusty and covered in old, half-burned papers. An abandoned school that once bled with the words of friends and enemies, now blinded by old, rotting boards on the windows. In his case, it was an empty train station, graffiti-stained walls telling tales of people that once were, laughs that were once uttered, breaths that were once breathed. He stared around himself, shivering with the cold, looking down the empty, dark tunnel and concentrating on breathing in and out, in and out, in harmony and unison with the gasps of the ghosts that echoed down the hall.

                Linus wrapped his arms around his legs, shivering, waiting. He let the cold of the steel rails seep through his clothes, welcoming the feeling of the old surround him. Old walls, old tracks, old air. It was a different world in here, a still, all-encompassing silence. This is what it felt like in your grave.

                A low, feral growl told him she had spotted him.

                She stalked forward out of the darkness of the tunnel, eying him hungrily. Her 6 foot 5 form was intimidating even to him, and he was large himself. But he didn’t have much against a four hundred pound werewolf.

                Her claws were curved wickedly and easily as long as his hand, her fangs longer. Her head was almost too large for her body, and she walked hunched over, her large ears swiveling back and forth. She was basically a terrifying, huge wolf that could stand on two legs and was fast. Really fast.

                “Hello, Lizzie.” He smiled to hide his trembling. She could smell fear. He had learned that the hard way.

                She snarled, pitching forward to all fours and shaking herself loosely, never once letting her eyes leave his face. He glared at her, trying to look as ferocious as possible. They were almost the same height and he had a good enough build to pull off what he was trying for. If he had been smaller he had no doubt that she would tear him apart in seconds. He uttered a low growl, holding her eyes in a challenge. It had taken a while for her wolf form to acknowledge him as alpha, but it made life a lot easier. She stalked back and forth a bit, then moved forward. He gave her a warning yip, pulling his gun up to aim at her chest. She snarled again, staring at him defiantly. This time was going to be a little harder.

                “Really, Lizzie, how many times are you going to try to get out tonight?” He sighed.

                His words sparked a reaction, and suddenly she bounded forward, teeth bared in a snarl. She could cover the distance in seconds he knew. He had also learned that the hard way. He fired the 9mm instinctively and it hit her square in the chest. It threw her backwards, her claws screeching on the steel beams of the tracks, and she let out a high yelp. She put her ears back and he continued to stare at her, growling quietly. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she looked down, and he let out a gasp of relief. He snarled again, more forceful this time. She shook her head but retreated, running quickly back down the tunnel.

                Linus fell down with a strangled gasp. He had done it a hundred times but it still terrified him. A giant killer animal charging you can do that. With shaking hands he checked his bullets. He only had three left. If dawn didn’t come quickly…

                He didn’t dare check his phone. The light would bring her back. He had lost his nice watch last month when she had gotten far far too close to him and he had to distract her. The silver hadn’t hurt her more than a pinch, but it was enough to make her tear the watch to pieces. Now he felt for it, realized it was gone, and groaned. He couldn’t stop her from leaving many more times.

                Suddenly, he heard a noise from down the tunnel. Not again…

                “Linus?”

                His entire body relaxed as he heard her sweet bluebird tones. She emerged from the tunnel, long, slender, her delicate body so much different from that of the monster wolf. She was shivering, her face frightened, and all he wanted was to go to her, to hold her. He stood up, shivering himself as the cold and exhaustion set in. She moved forward quickly, wrapping her arms around him, her breathing far too fast.

                “I’m sorry, dear,” she sobbed, “I know this isn’t what you wanted.”

                Her cries hurt his heart. He nuzzled her neck then pulled back so that she could see his grin. “Nah,” he chuckled, “it was a heck of a last honeymoon night. None of the boys back home could beat this.”

                She laughed and it echoed in his chest, making his smile broaden, his eyes fill with love. She hugged him tightly, desperately. “Thanks, Linus. You mean the world to me.”

                “Come on, Lizzie, let’s get out of here.” He urged her, pulling back. She nodded silently, then walked forward. She hesitated at the entrance and Linus was confused for a moment. Then he realized. She was waiting for him, the alpha, to go through. Not all of her wolf instincts had left her completely. He passed her quickly, pulling her under his arm, and they walked out together.

                He was right. It had been a heck of a night.

***

                It was a short ride back to town. Their honeymoon had started far away, but they had gradually been travelling back so that they would be within range of the train station. Linus hadn’t wanted to try to find a new place to hold her, especially since the train station was so perfect. There was only one exit that hadn’t been cemented in, and they had to remove several boards to even get inside. It made it easy to contain her. Lizzie hadn’t been very happy with it, but she knew that they had to come back. It had been bad timing, but they hadn’t wanted to wait to get married any longer. There was always a chance of Linus not being able to stop the werewolf, and they wanted to say their vows before…anything happened. It wasn’t anything they had ever dared say aloud, but they both knew the other thought of it often.

                But that had all changed with the wedding. It had been the happiest day of Linus’s life. He loved her, no matter what, it didn’t matter what she was. She had cried and he had come close. Even with mascara smearing under her eyes and a red nose, she was still the most beautiful girl in the world. They were married on Wednesday. The next Tuesday was the day of the full moon. The honeymoon was officially over now. As soon as dawn came and the wolf left, they went home.

                Their shabby little apartment definitely wasn’t much, but it was their home, theirs and no one else’s. Linus put some eggs on, and Lizzie collapsed at the table.

                “You all right?” He asked casually, trying to hide his concern.

                “Same as always.” She offered a weak smile, “I’m exhausted, but the adrenaline is still running.” She was silent for a moment. He knew her too well to ignore the fact that she was keeping something from him.

                “Honey, what’s wrong?” This time he turned and looked at her. She immediately looked away, another response from the wolf.

                “There was somebody there, Linus.”

                He dropped the spatula without meaning to. No wonder she had been so upset in the tunnel. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to collect himself and ignore the memories of last time this had happened from rising in his mind. He had never actually cleaned up the body as it distracted the wolf, but he had seen it. He had seen what was left of it. He had never thought that there was that much blood in a person’s body. He had retched there and it had mixed with the blood, creating something of a murky brown color. He remembered thinking that it was the two vilest things in the world combined.

                He pushed these thoughts away, looking up at her. “Where?” It came out sounding flat, emotionless.

                She shook her head. “That’s the thing. He…” she looked up at him, and for the first time he saw the worry in her eyes. “He got away.”

                Linus started, his mouth falling open. “What?”

                Tears started to pool in her eyes again. “He…I… the wolf smelled him. It saw him and started to chase him. He didn’t run at first. I think-” she hesitated, “I think he had a camera.”

                Linus bit the inside of his cheek, the pain bringing him back in control. He had to be strong for Lizzie. He couldn’t show how worried he was or Lizzie might get upset. The wolf generally only came out at full moons, but there had been one time, when she was furious, terrified, crying, screaming… It had been the most terrifying night of his life. He still had no idea how he contained the wolf. That had been when they were sharing an apartment together as friends because they worked at the same building. He and Lizzie had been friends for as long as he could remember. He had known about the wolf for as long as he could remember. And when Lizzie’s parents died… He had been more than willing to let her into his apartment. He had already been in love with her then. She took a little longer, as she was scared. When she realized he could handle the wolf, she fell in love with him too.

                Linus shook his head slightly. He was avoiding the real problem here. Lizzie. Camera. “How did he get away?” He asked after a moment.

                “He ran. The wolf almost had him but he went around a corner and was just gone. I-the wolf I mean- could smell him, but it was like he had evaporated. But…” she swallowed, “I think he took my picture. The wolf heard the click. I think it might have flashed. You know the wolf can’t see as well.” She realized she was babbling and her voice trailed off. She was watching Linus closely. He was sure it was his paranoia acting up, but he could have sworn it was the wolf’s eyes for a minute. Predator eyes.

                “There’s nothing we can do about it.” he said quietly, “we’ll just have to wait and see.”

                “Linus, the wolf can-”

                “No.” His voice was firm, aggressive. He was speaking as much to the wolf as he was to her, as much as an alpha as he was as a husband. “We are not going to let the wolf out, Lizzie. I don’t care if it could find him in seconds. I don’t care if it could get me a million dollars. I don’t care if it could save my life. The wolf will not leave that train station.”

                She glared at him. “What if it saves my life?”

                His breath caught in his throat. It was a question he had avoided in the past. The question was as dangerous to him as the wolf. If it would save Lizzie… could he let the wolf loose on the city? It would only be for one night, just until dawn. How many could she kill in that time? Was there a chance that the wolf would be frightened by the crowds of people and hide in some alleyway? Not likely. More likely it would see its chance at a meal. If it did attack, no doubt the police would be called in. He doubted that they had silver bullets, but they could capture the beast eventually, and when Lizzie changed back… No, there were too many chances.

                Lizzie was still watching him, waiting. He shook his head slightly. “I hope I never have to worry about that, Liz.”

                She turned away. “You’re right. Let’s concentrate on what the problem is. A man took my picture. He left the tunnels in some other way.” Her eyes suddenly got brighter. “There’s another way out.”

                Linus felt uneasy. Lizzie was acting very strangely. He hoped it was the wolf still wearing off, but it had seemed to him more and more lately like the wolf was always there, just under the surface.

                “Lizzie,” His voice came out sharper than he had meant it to, and she jumped a little, looking up at him with her big brown eyes, hurt. He took a deep breath, calming himself. It had been a stressful night, and he was not himself. He had to get in control. He looked at her in apology and lowered his voice. “Do you think that you could take me there? To the last spot you saw him?”

                Lizzie hesitated. He knew how much she hated to go in the tunnels when she wasn’t a wolf, but she nodded. “It’s farther in than I usually go, that might be part of it. It’s closer to the other stations, near Park Street I think.”  

                Linus nodded, turning away. “We’ll go look after work today.” He didn’t look to see if she agreed or not.

***

                Lizzie was looking back and forth worriedly, and it made Linus uncomfortable. He walked behind her, silently observing the quiet grace in the way her long limbs swayed as she walked. She really was beautiful. He felt a stirring in his chest, the need to protect her. Man, he was so darn sentimental. They could make a movie about him. The mighty, kind-hearted Linus, werewolf-container. It didn’t sound that impressive. Then again, when you share a name with a comic book character that sucks his thumb and believes in flying pumpkins, it’s hard for people to take you seriously.

                “Right up here.” Lizzie said. “Tunnel 8, I think.” Her attitude had been somber when they entered the train station, but now she seemed cheerful. She even gave him a quick peck on the cheek before turning and pointing down a lighter tunnel. Sounds echoed around it and a bus rattled overhead. He realized why the werewolf had avoided the place. The bus station must have been right above them, and the wolf hated the sound of machinery. No wonder it had never ventured this far. Besides, it knew the way out was through him, so it mostly stayed near, hoping to catch him off guard. He shuddered at the thought.

                Tunnel 8 didn’t seem all that different from the rest of the station other than the light. It was much closer to the surface and light penetrated the thick steel in a way that shouldn’t have been possible. There had to be someplace it was coming from. The wolf wouldn’t have noticed the difference in the night, but Lizzie was swinging her head back and forth now, searching for the source. His eyes had found it in moments and were fixated on it, but she was shorter. He watched as her gaze traveled up the gray walls and to the ceiling.

                The light sliced the metal around the sewer opening like a wicked grin. Lizzie smiled a little. “There it is! Do you see it?”

                “Yes.” Linus’s voice was grimmer. “We need to cover it before.” But how?  It would be hard to get a ladder tall enough to reach the ceiling, harder still to find some way to cover the hole. That wasn’t really an option. The only thing he could think of was-

                “We have to block off the tunnel.”

                Lizzie started a bit and looked at him in surprise. “Block off the tunnel? Sweetie, that would take weeks!”

                Linus looked around in grim determination. “We have four. We have to block it. The man who saw you couldn’t get back in then, and the wolf couldn’t get out. It’s the only option.”

                Lizzie looked uncertain for a moment, then nodded. “You’re right. We should start right now. What are we going to use?”

                “Rocks. The tunnel caved in down Tunnel  4 remember? There are a bunch of big stones we can use, slabs of concrete, whatever. We’ll get the wheelbarrow and…No.” He corrected himself, “I’ll get the wheelbarrow and move the debris. You will go home and get some sleep. You have to be ready for work tomorrow and I don’t want you sleep deprived.”

                “But I could help!” Lizzie protested. “I am stronger than I look, you know that, Linus. I could help and you will need lots of this if you want this done by the next full moon!”

                “No.” Linus said firmly. “Go home and rest. Maybe if it gets too bad I will let you help, but for now let me see if I can just do it.”

                “Fine.” Lizzie said glumly. “I will go sleep. But you better be to work on time, and you can’t be grumpy.”

                Linus grinned. “I, dear Wife, am never grumpy.” She snorted. “Now go on. I have to get started.”

***

                Linus had never felt so uncertain and scared in his entire life. This was even worse than the first time he had watched the wolf alone. He had finished the blockade just earlier that day, and he had no idea if it would hold against Lizzie’s strength. He thought for the millionth time that perhaps he should go and make sure, but he couldn’t leave the opening. Besides, the wolf would likely hunt him, corner him, and kill him. But what if she had made it through the wall? She would be up terrorizing the city right now. And he, the only one who could control her and was responsible for her, would be sitting down in a train station, waiting for her to come back. He wouldn’t even hear the screams if someone just outside was being torn apart. Like that body in the tunnels. He had heard the screams on that night. They echoed down the darkened tracks back to him, each more horrible, more terrified, more pained than the last. He couldn’t leave though. The wolf couldn’t escape. He could have saved that man, he was certain of it. The wolf would have let him have the kill as alpha, even if he had to shoot her several times beforehand. He could have saved him, but then the wolf could have escaped. Or would she? He couldn’t take that risk. So he had done nothing but sat listening to the screams intensify. The wolf hadn’t killed him at first. It had played with him for a long time, a cat-like quality that Linus wouldn’t have expected. Several times he had stood up, ready to run down the tunnels, to respond to those pleading cries. But he hadn’t. He hadn’t.

                He was making himself more jumpy. He groped around on the dark floor, looking for his comfort. He found it in a small leather canvas bag that he scooped up and clutched to his chest. He had brought it with him every time, even though he told Lizzie he would never need it. Now he opened it, running his hand over the cool metal of the gun barrel.

                It had seemed ironic to him at first, that the family of werewolves had the only weapon that could kill them, passed down from generation to generation. The first time Lizzie had given it to him he had refused to take it. He could never kill her he knew. He could contain the wolf. He wouldn’t need it. He had used all of these arguments on her, but she was insistent.  She shoved the gun into his chest and demanded that he take it. He had finally given in, but inside he was relieved. As much as he told himself he wouldn’t need it, he wanted that gun.

                Now he pulled it out, checking the cylinder. The two bullets were dull, tarnished, ancient, but they would serve their purpose. One to kill, one for just in case. The coldness of the thought shocked him and made him shudder. This was Lizzie he was talking about. No, it was the wolf with Lizzie trapped somewhere inside of it.  But killing one meant killing the other, and he couldn’t kill his Lizzie. He didn’t know what he would do without her. He loved her too much to live without her.

                The only problem was that she knew that.

                Stop it!  He snapped at himself, disgusted with his thoughts. How could he be so crude, so stupid and untrusting? It was the stress of the night that was getting to him.

                Which brought him back to his original problem. He had only seen the wolf once that night, and it had already been at least three hours. He was tempted to light up his phone so she would come, but he was afraid. And why shouldn’t he be? The wolf was an enormous killing machine, and inside that machine was his true love. If she got the better of him… he would either get eaten or have to kill her with the silver bullet. Either way he lost. He would rather not risk it. But what if-

                “Linus?”

                He started in surprise and horror, scrambling backwards and waving the gun wildly. A light from a phone flashed on in front of him. Lizzie stood there, the wolf gone, shivering and squinting at him. She turned the light onto him and he cried out at the sudden brightness, shielding his eyes with one hand. The other still held the gun aimed on her chest.

                “Lizzie?” He asked, slowly lowering his hand. “What…How?”

                “I don’t know.” She said, her voice low in almost a growl. “What time is it?”

                He carefully pulled out his phone, checking the time. He flinched as the bright light pulled up, assaulting his eyes. “Two in the morning.” He had been there a lot longer than he had thought.

                She frowned. “I must have worn myself out. This has never happened before.”

                Linus nodded, watching her closely. “The earliest you have ever been is four.”

                “4:30.” She corrected. She was standing hunched over, licking her lips with every word. She was still mostly wolf. A wolf locked in a human body for once instead of the other way around. Her eyes were darting back and forth between him and the exit, but then they settled on the gun. Her breath came out in a sharp hiss and her eyes narrowed.

                “What are you doing?” She snarled, a real snarl, like an animal. It frightened Linus to know that Lizzie could even speak like that. It was wrong. Everything was wrong. Why was she so angry?

                Then he realized his mistake. He was still holding the old revolver. The one with the silver bullet inside. And it was still pointing directly at her heart.

                He lowered it. “I’m sorry.” He murmured, unsure of what to say. “I... I brought it along just in case-”

                “Just in case you had to kill me?” Her voice was so full of anger, so full of hatred, that it shocked him. He looked up at her sharply and realized. It was the wolf speaking, not her. Or, at least, not all her. And the wolf hated him. The wolf hated its alpha. It wanted to tear him apart, to sink its fangs into his pumping heart, to see the fear in his eyes. Right now, the wolf was watching him.

                Linus straightened up to his full height, five inches taller than her in her human form. He spoke low, a rumble in his chest like a warning growl. “I will speak to Lizzie, not the wolf. When it leaves, I will tell you.”

                “I am Lizzie!” Her voice was raising, the venom in it as forceful as a slap in the face. “We are the same person! The wolf is me and I am it! You can’t change that! You think that the wolf is some cute little demon that only comes out at the full moon. I am the wolf, Linus! I am the wolf!”

                Her breath was coming in rapid gasps and she was shaking in fury. She was going to change. He put the revolver down and slowly bent to pick up the other gun. Her eyes rolled back into the back of her head and her body lurched forward, pitching onto her hands and knees. She heaved, retching up what little food she had had the night before. Linus watched this with a sick, pitying fascination. Finally she stood, still trembling all over, and he could see the wolf leaving her. Her eyes widened from slits, and her entire body relaxed. She looked at him and her eyes filled with tears.

                “I can’t.” She whispered. “I can’t change.” With these words he saw the last of the wolf go. She stood there alone, his Lizzie, her arms wrapped around herself, shivering. For the first time, he noticed that her hands were covered with blood. She looked up at him. The wolf was gone.

                The next day he left work and went back. He hurried down the dark tunnels, unsure exactly of how he was remembering where to run. A few more turns, however, and the faded paint stating Tunnel 8 in bold letters was on the wall in front of him, and a few feet ahead of that was his blockade. And all across the bottom fourteen feet of the seventeen foot high wall were long white claw marks. Flecks of blood were splattered at random intervals from when the wolf’s claws began to bleed. The stones at the bottom showed where she had scrambled against the wall, trying in vain to escape, while the higher were long trails down to the ground, like she had latched on and tried to cling to the rock face while sliding to the bottom, like nails on a giant stone chalkboard.

                Linus stared at it, horror rising in his throat. He was dimly aware of his body shaking, his knees scraping the cold cement of the floor as he pitched forward. He was so tired. He couldn’t live like this, watching the wolf, trying to control Lizzie, creating obstacles to contain her. His future stretched before him in his mind, bleak, black. There was no Lizzie. There was only the wolf. The wolf hid in every corner of his mind, snapping into every thought, its teeth glaring crookedly into a demonic smile as it tortured him. He wrapped his arms around his knees and sobbed like a child. He couldn’t do it anymore. Please, God, he couldn’t do it anymore.

                He sat huddled there for twenty minutes. He had become very aware of time in the tunnel. Every full moon was a night full of counting seconds, minutes, hours in prayerful desperation. It was a different world in the tunnels, and he had learned its time.

                Finally he uncurled himself. He had to go back to work. Lizzie would notice he had left if he took much longer. It would be close to lunch break, and that was usually when he would see her. He thought of the wolf and shuddered. It was there. He could see it in her eyes now, ever present, just beneath the surface. He was in love with her. He was in love with a monster. When she killed him, he would know exactly the consequences of love. When Lizzie tore him to pieces, played with him, snapped her jaws around his throat, shredded his stomach open with her claws, then he would see the rewards of his love.

                He fought the urge to retch onto the tracks, down in the pits where no one would see, no one would ever know. The tracks gleamed up from the pit beneath him, eyes twinkling in silent malicious laughter. He tried to contain the quiet sob that tore from his throat but it escaped. The tracks simply laughed.

                He had to get out of there. Where was he? Tunnel 8. He stood, turning wildly. He saw the white words gleaming on the wall before him like a brilliant beacon. He stumbled towards them, away from Tunnel 8, away from the blood, from the blockade.

                He ran all the way back to the wolf.

***

                “I need more, Gary.” The editor looked up at him, attempting to keep his face unimpressed, but Gary saw the excitement behind his eyes. He knew that this story could be huge. It would lift their newspaper from muckraker status to a ligament, respectable establishment. That is, if the public believed it.

                Gary leaned across the desk, splaying his hands wide. The editor lifted an eyebrow at his stance and did not back down. “Okay so the pictures turned out blurry, but you know that the story is solid!”

                “A story about a mythical animal living in the abandoned subway stations under the lousy side of town is not solid!” The editor snapped, “Not without proof.”

                “I have proof!” Gary said furiously, tapping the dark photographs in front of him.

                “No,” The editor corrected him calmly, “you don’t. You can’t even tell what these are. They look like a big hairy shape that could be a kid in an ape costume.”

                “Well it didn’t exactly say cheese.” Gary said sarcastically. “It’s kind of hard to hold completely still when a werewolf is charging you. The thing was " fast.”

                The editor was unimpressed. He calmly reached forward and pushed Gary’s hands off of his desk, frowning at the sweaty handprints still evident on the wood. “Gary. You got a cute little wife at home right?”

Gary started and stared at him. The editor continued. “Your kid. What’s his name? Allen, Abraham-”

“Aaron.” Gary glared at him. The editor smiled.

“They won’t be too happy when you come home without any paycheck will they?”

Gary swallowed, understanding the thinly veiled threat in an instant. “No sir.”

The editor glared at him. “You want to keep your job? Sell a story. You want to sell a story?” The editor locked eyes with him. “Get me some real pictures.”

***

                Smell. Smell. It could smell him. She could smell his blood, warm, pumping fast. She could hear his heartbeat and quickened breathing with senses that no human could understand. He was there, right across from her, through the wall. The wall held her back, but not for long. The wall could be broken. Everything could be broken by her. She was strength. She was horror. She could not be contained. And then the blood. The blood…

                Suddenly she heard a sound. It was coming from the way out. It was coming from freedom. Alpha was there, but Alpha was weak. She was stronger. She was the strongest. She was Alpha. She felt the man’s blood there, behind that wall, but there was more. There was more from Freedom. There were hearts there, beating. Whispers. She could hear them. There was prey. Alpha had prey. She had prey. She turned away from the wall. There was blood down there. Blood…

                Linus’s head jerked up. Had he been sleeping? No, please no, he couldn’t have been sleeping. He looked around. The wolf was nowhere in sight. He breathed a sigh of relief. The wolf would have killed him if it had caught him there. The wall must have kept it occupied. The wall had just saved his life. He silently thanked himself for building it.

                “Come on.”

                He froze. He had heard something. Something from behind him. He sat for several seconds in silent terror, unable to move, to breathe, to think.

                “Move the boards, guys, I can’t get through.”

                “Maybe if you weren’t so fat.” Another voice giggled, teasing, friendly. A girl’s voice. Linus felt his blood run cold.

                “Nah. It’s all muscle.”

                “I know.” The giggle came again, and with it a brilliant beam of light shot over his head.

                The light. The wolf.

                Linus leapt up, whirling around. There was a quick scream from the two girls, a horrified yelp from the three boys. He realized he was holding the gun still. He glanced over his shoulder. She hadn’t come yet. But she was on her way.

                In a panic, he pointed the gun wildly at them. The girl closest to him screamed again.

                “Shut up!” He whispered fiercely, desperately. “Shut up now!” They must have heard the absolute terror in his voice, because they fell silent in an instant, staring back and forth between his face and the gun.

                “You-” he glanced over his shoulder, suddenly aware of the clicking of nails on the cement echoing down the tunnels. She wasn’t creeping up. She was running. He stared at them wildly, horrified, unable to control his terror. His words came out in a scream. “You have to go! Right now!” The girls were both crying, their sobs matching his own. “GO!” He shrieked.

                Suddenly the world erupted. At the same time, it froze.

                The screams from all of them rang through the echoing corridors, amplified to thousands. They ran blindly, wildly, scrambling over themselves to the door. One of the boys fell down and the others trampled him in their wild terror. Linus whirled, the world in a rushing blur for a moment, then dominated by a massive wall of grey fur and dripping open fangs. He had time to fire one shot before she had slammed into him, sending him sprawling, her enormous form crushing him into the ground. Her hind legs pinned his knees to the ground and her back arched, giving him a full view of her retched face. Her snout was furrowed in a deep snarl, her lips pulled back into a wicked smile. Her eyes locked his, rejoicing. She had her prey. Her tongue ran across her stained fangs, both wet with her own blood. She uttered a deep, sonorous growl and pitched forward, her jaws opening wide to snap on his head.

                He threw up his only free arm, catching her in the corners of her mouth. He screamed as her fangs dug deep into his skin and her tongue lapped over it, drinking his blood. He felt the bone bend, then snap in two in an instant of blind white pain. He gave a strangled scream. It was over.

                The wall was broken. He had gotten through.

Suddenly the pressure was gone. The wolf was looking away from him, back down the tunnel, its ears perked. Its tongue hung out as its mouth dropped open, scenting the air. Its lips curled back into a hungry smile and its eyes lit up with the excitement of a puppy being presented with a new chew toy. It stood, not giving him a second glance, and loped away down the tunnels.

Linus gave a sob of relief, cradling his mangled arm against his chest. Straining with effort, he sat up, biting his lip to stop the cry of pain that rose in his throat. The wolf might come back if she heard him. He reached to where the gun had fallen to the ground by his side and clutched it in his good hand, pointing it down the tunnel. His hands were shaking so badly that he knew he wouldn’t be able to hit the wolf if he tried, especially with his one arm destroyed. It was a miracle he was alive. Why had the wolf stopped? What had made it leave?

Suddenly a strangled scream echoed down the tunnels, and he had his answer.

               

                 It wouldn’t kill him quickly. It likely hadn’t even attacked yet. This was a stark contrast to the attack on Linus. This wasn’t the wolf challenging the Alpha. This was its prey. This was her kill, and she was going to enjoy it.

                Linus fought the bile rising in his throat as another shriek tore through the air. He sat shivering on the stone floor, cradling his arm, listening to the sounds of tortured death with a sense of horrified powerlessness. His mind tore him through a vivid flashback of a very similar time, six months ago, when he had listened to something equally terrifying with equal amounts of resignation. And another time. He fought the memory with every ounce of strength left in his body, but the image of that face, his mother’s kind face, locked in an expression of utter horror in its last moments, surfaced for a heart-stopping instant. He couldn’t stop it. He hadn’t stopped it. He had looked on with the same cold, absent helplessness. If he couldn’t help her, how could he help this stranger? This was defeat. He could only hope that the werewolf would be occupied with the fool that had snuck inside long enough to let Linus escape alive. 

                “No, no!” Linus heard him scream, his voice barely making tangible words through his animal-like terror. For the first time, he could tell the voice was a man’s. “Please! No, no, get away! Bad dog!”

                It was almost comical. Linus felt a hysterical giggle tear through his throat. He swallowed, trying to hold it down, trying to control himself. It came out strangled, and he was shocked by the level of dementia contained in that one small noise. He had to calm down. He had to get back in control.

                But Lizzie was going to tear the poor man to pieces. She was going to shred him like she had the others, and he would listen to his screams like he had the others.  Please, God, he couldn’t listen to another one’s screams. He couldn’t stay. He couldn’t leave. He couldn’t save him.

                He couldn’t let him die.

                He stood, grunting in pain as his arm swung. He held the gun fast against his chest, staring with determination down the tunnel. Tunnel 8.

                He took a step forward and something connected with his foot, scuttled across the floor with his kick. The satchel. He stared at it. The lid had fallen open and the revolver was peeking out from the top, cold steel glinting. He stumbled forward, falling to his knees beside the satchel. The dull revolver winked up at him in the darkness. The 9mm fell to the floor with a clattering that seemed to shout throughout the station. With a trembling hand, he picked up the revolver. Cold. It was cold. He was cold now.

                The wolf had to die.

                It seemed only seconds before he saw the ominous white letters of Tunnel 8 gleaming ahead of him. Tunnel 8 was where he would meet her. Tunnel 8 was his destiny. Tunnel 8 was his doom. He seemed to have only heard one scream before he had reached it, shaking hand outstretching to point the revolver ahead of him. She was there. He could sense her presence in the air, a slight tension that sent tingling chills down his spine. She was there, and she was watching him. She was alpha now, and she knew it. Even his biting bullets couldn’t subdue her now. It was her prey, her kill, and she would take it. She would take it and she would kill him, kill the beta. He shuddered and glanced around. He had to find her, but he trembled with the thought of meeting her eyes.

                The screams had quieted, sending the tunnels into a heavy silence that weighed down on his shoulders and mind. He stood under the white gleam of Tunnel 8 and hoped and prayed like he never had before. He prayed that he would be able to kill the wolf before it killed him. He prayed that he could save the man that was likely already dead. He prayed that the wolf wouldn’t escape to find those kids. He prayed to end this misery now, this instant, today. He prayed for the end and stared into the darkness of the tunnel, waiting for the wolf to show itself.

                A low moan crept up from below him and it occurred to him too late that he had been looking in the wrong place.

                The demon leapt up from the pit below him, a menacing black of fur and snarling hatred. It took him a moment to realize two things: the snarling was coming from his throat, and it was still intact, meaning the wolf hadn’t attacked. It stood over him, hulking, five feet away, rancid breath hitting his face even from that distance. Her lips were pulled back in a smile that shouldn’t have been possible for an animal, but this monster wasn’t animal. It was devil, horror in a form. Its matted fur and dripping fangs only added to the image of Lucifer personified. It was holding a man in its lanky, blood-dripping arms. He was in his twenties, good-looking, and a camera was hanging around his neck. His eyes were open wide, staring at nothing, his breathing shallow and rattling in his chest. His leg was hanging towards the ground at an awkward angle, the pants a different color than the other limb, droplets falling with a sickening drip drip from the cuff. The wolf grinned at him, lifting a wickedly curved claw to the man’s heaving throat.

Linus stared at her and swallowed, feeling the bile rising in his throat, along with something else. Hatred. He loathed the wolf, that despicable destroyer that mutilated his life until he didn’t know what he was anymore, didn’t want to be anymore. She had ruined him, she had maimed him, traumatized him, and he would have his revenge. This was it. This was the end. If his life ended now, it would be unequaled bliss, but he would take the Devil with him and he would never let it crawl its way up from Purgatory again.

With suddenly steady hands he lifted the revolver.

The wolf seemed as surprised as Linus at the abrupt explosion of sound and light. Its body jerked backwards, the man falling to the ground in a mangled heap. A jet black stream of blood pooled up from its chest. The screech of pain it uttered was as human as it was animal, and in a stunning, horrified instant Linus realized what he had done. The wolf shriveled and shrunk before him like a dark flower wilting, fading into white. Her ears rolled down, dwindling back into tiny blossoms. The fur fell away from her soft, delicate body, her pale, trembling hands coming up to cup themselves against the gaping hole in her chest, a startling contrast of red on white.

“Linus.” Lizzie’s voice was shaking, frightened, horrified.

“Lizzie!” It came out as a strangled sob as he rushed to her side to catch her as she fell. She gasped and her blood was all over his hands, it was all over his hands, her blood was all over his hands. Tears pulsed down his cheeks, burning, cold, aching in his throat. “Lizzie.” He sobbed again, the word a desperate hiccup of utter despair. She looked up at him and her face twisted into an expression he had hoped to never see on her face.

“You shot me.” He couldn’t respond. He only stared at her in misery, horror. Her face twitched as if into a snarl and her eyes held his in a look that tore his heart in half. “I hate you.”

He flinched. The wolf. It was the wolf talking. He could see it in her eyes, the gleaming yellow, in the way the words snarled across her lips. Her expression glazed over for a moment and his breath caught in his throat. Then she looked up at him with eyes that were entirely her own.

“I hate you, Linus.”

They were the last gurgling words she would speak. Her body gave a last struggling shudder, and she didn’t breathe again.

He staggered to his feet and dropped her body, warm, blood still pumping from her chest even after her last sign of life. Tunnel 8 stared at him, the white of it suddenly blinding, as painful to his eyes as the fire from the gun had been. Tunnel 8 watched him. Tunnel 8 had seen what he had done.    

A moment later Tunnel 8 lit up again with the revolver’s scream of agony and desperation. The last bullet had served its purpose. Just in case.

Minutes later, police followed by four trembling teenagers would arrive on the scene, seeing first the beacon of Tunnel 8 splattered and marred by red, telling blood. The next sight to meet their eyes would be the body of a young man, ancient revolver still clutched in a cold, pale hand and leaning against the remains of his temple. A young girl, her body soaked and dyed in her own blood, stretched out on the floor behind him. They would see a reporter, camera swinging in a broken mess from the bottom of his neck, lying in a twisted heap upon the cement, barely breathing. Confused and uncertain of the mystery, they would eventually call it an attempted murder, a murder, and a suicide.

But that was in minutes.  Now Tunnel 8 lay still, draped in the silence that all abandoned buildings moan with. It sagged, weighed down with the stories of ones that used to be alive. There is something eerily unsettling about an empty building that used to be alive. An office that once breathed with its occupants, now dusty and covered in old, half-burned papers. An abandoned school that once bled with the words of friends and enemies, now blinded by old, rotting boards on the windows.

In his case, it was an empty train station, graffiti-stained walls telling tales of people that once were, laughs that were once uttered, breaths that were once breathed. Love that was felt and then lost. Words that were once white, now flecked with red. Tunnel 8 rang with the truth of the abandoned. Tunnel 8 saw it. Tunnel 8 bled with it.

Tunnel 8 was abandoned.

 

Reviews

[Sebastian Romero]

Great story! I loved the beginning and the dialogues and everything! I'll surely read more! This was great

[Michael (Letters and Li..]

Aarea... This was by far one of the best things I've read in a long time! It's filled with such tension and build and suspense. My heart started pounding as I read it. I actually couldn't stop even if I wanted to. Thats how good it was. You're beyond talented. I always loved werewolf stories but this one was in a league all of its own. Just brilliant.

[Aarea]

Thank you so much for your kind review! :)

[MaxtheWolf]

I thought I was over werewolf stories, but this one captured my attention! I think because of the very human elements to it and the beautiful descriptors you have, even for ugly places and the way you capture the feel of the places. I wish I had more of a critique to give you like you did me, but I don't! Great job!

[Aarea]

Haha you're fine. Thanks for the review! :)

[Evil Duncan]

This is good. I'm a bit of a sucker for a werewolf story, but this really is very good. I particularly liked your use of language in the piece, there were some really evocative images and some nice touches like the reference to the Peanuts comic! But I also thought it was a very 'tight' story, it was exactly as long as it needed to be, all muscle, not a scrap of fat and you weren't afraid to leave a few things to the imagination of the reader. Seriously, a really well told story!

[Aarea]

Thank you so much for your positive review! I had to write this in a hurry for a contest so I was worried about how tight it would be. Thank you again. :)