Granny Wolfe’s Cabin
Thursday, October 13th, 2022 - 10:08 a.m.

Agent Nicholas Hunter sighed and grumbled to himself as he stopped his non-descript SUV and took in the scene before him. Three police cars and local cops were all over the place and contaminating his crime scene. This was something that he had been hoping to avoid.

For the past three months, he had been tracking a rogue Werewolf across four states. Even as a regular human, that man was a killer, pure and simple, and once he had been bitten and infected with the curse, bringing him in alive had been taken off the table. Nick had finally caught up with him and put him out of everyone’s misery on Monday night, the last night of the full moon. He had been ready to leave the area and move on to his next case but, out of habit, he had checked with the local hospitals about any recent animal attacks to cover all of his bases before leaving the area.

That was when he found out that the ironically named Mrs. Wolfe had been attacked and bitten by a wild animal, which reports indicated was likely a wolf, on the night before he had ended the beast. So now, he was here to check it out and ensure that the beast hadn’t spread its curse.

He was hoping to be done with this whole Werewolf situation and start tracking that recently awakened Witch in Pennsylvania before she became a danger, but as far as danger to the public went, Werewolves were a lot higher on the scale than rookie Witches, who could at least be properly trained. The presence of the local police was not a good sign. Agent Hunter let slip a weary sigh as he brought his vehicle to a stop, then he stepped outside to find the officer in charge of this shit show.

It wasn’t hard to find the man directing traffic and the agent approached and displayed his badge. “Agent Hunter,” he offered by way of introduction before adding, “I’m going to need you to tell me everything.”

The officer narrowed his eyes, frowning at the agent in the dark suit before sighing in resignation. “An officer was sent here yesterday regarding a missing person report. Phoebe Hood is a 19-year-old freshman at North Central Michigan College. Her roommate said that she was here visiting her grandmother, Helen Wolfe, but never returned home or called and that it is not like her. Her car is here, but there is no sign of her, and her grandmother’s vehicle was found this morning in the bus station parking lot.”

“And what about the grandmother?” Agent Hunter asked in concern.

“Dead,” the officer replied. “There was no response when we knocked on the door and we were searching for Miss Hood and Mrs. Wolfe in the woods when we found a shallow grave, it was dug recently. Looks like a single stab wound to the chest and her clothes were torn to shreds, I was about to call the coroner’s office to come pick up the body and do an autopsy.”

Unsure if this was good news or bad news, Agent Hunter simply ordered, “Show me.”

Even at first glance, the body confirmed his suspicions. Her clothes hadn’t been entirely shredded; his practiced eye could tell that they had burst at the seams first. Closer inspection showed that the knife wound showed signs of burns. If Agent Hunter were a betting man, he would have put everything on one theory. The grandmother had been turned and attacked the girl, and she somehow had enough presence of mind to defend herself with a silver weapon.

Most agents would think of Werewolves, or the Arcane in general, as stories to frighten children, Agent Hunter was well aware of his reputation in the bureau. Many thought that he was a madman, some jokingly called him Agent Mulder due to the strange nature of most of his cases, but only the Director himself knew the truth. The Arcane were real and they could be dangerous, and Hunter’s family had been hunting down dangerous Arcane for centuries. They were Huntsmen, born and raised to fight the things that go bump in the night, and the Director knew that and gave him the leeway and authority that he needed to do it for the Agency.

It all seemed to add up from what he saw as he looked through the cabin. One of the bedroom doors had exploded outward and while the place had been cleaned, there were small things that had been missed or that looked out of place. The scenario in his mind solidified with every small clue that he saw. The girl had defended herself and when the body reverted upon death, she probably panicked and thought that she would be accused of murder. So she ran, trying to leave as little evidence as she could behind.

She was smart and cautious, and he felt bad for her, but he would still need to find her. He still didn’t know whether she had been bitten when she defended herself, and if she had been, he would have to find out whether she was a danger or one of the few who could learn to control their curse. Yes, he needed to find her, but there was no sense in traumatizing her more by having the police search for her. They would only get in the way and endanger everyone involved if they got trigger-happy.

Once again, he found Officer Dalton, the man in charge, and told him with no preamble, “I’ll be taking over this case. Thank you for your hard work, but this is now an FBI matter.”

He could see the protest in Dalton’s eyes before he could even voice it. He thought that he had a career-building murder case here. “You can’t do this! I…”

“My orders come from the Director himself,” Agent Hunter insisted. Then he told a few half-truths to grease the wheels. “I know what you’re thinking here, but the girl is innocent, she’s just a missing person, probably running from the monster that really did this. That stab wound, your coroner will find traces of silver and burn marks in the wound. It is the calling card of a murderer that I’ve been after for months. That’s all you’re getting from me though; the rest is classified and this is my investigation now.”

He was going to have to bring in a team to handle the clean-up here and then start searching for the girl. He would talk to the roommate himself to try to smooth things over and get a recent photo and any details that she might not have given to the police. He was going to be days behind her, probably longer since he would have to figure out where she ran to.

Going up north and crossing into Canada was always an option, but so was going south and then west. There was also the chance that she would cross into Canada through Detroit, or maybe find a place to hide there until she figured the heat was off. There were plenty of abandoned buildings there, and a large population of Arcane hiding from the normies there, just as she would probably try to.

So many places to search and the clock was ticking until the next full moon. He would have to hope that if she had been bitten, she would realize the possible danger and take precautions for the next full moon and that she wouldn’t run into anything that would set her off before he could find her. This Phoebe girl had better be as smart and coolheaded as he hoped she was.

Detroit, Michigan
Friday, October 14th, 2022 - 7:57 p.m.

“Fuck! I must be the stupidest person alive!” I hissed angrily as I looked around the dark alley and the six men surrounding us. I had been checking my burner phone for a more permanent and comfortable place to stay when one of the jerks snatched it right from my hands and ran off. Like an idiot, I had chased him trying to get it back, and now here we are.

“Oh, cheer up, Red. You’re not stupid, just a little naïve. Honestly, it’s kind of cute,” Goldie offered cheerfully from beside me. “Besides, you saved me from having to get takeout later. Who knew I could get food delivery in this neighborhood, and the portions look pretty good too. I can’t say much for the quality though, going by the look of them, not to mention the smell.” The Vampire wrinkled her nose cutely while our ambushers watched us converse as if they thought that we were crazy.

“Would you bitches just shut up?!” the apparent leader snapped. “I said to hand over your valuables and keep your fucking hands where we can see ‘em!”

“I thought we was gonna have some fun with ‘em, Eddie. Biker babes are hot, and that other one will probably beg for it with the way she’s dressed,” one of his buddies said.

The comment about her clothes only served to piss Goldie off, or maybe it was something else. “Hey, Assholes, nobody is getting handsy with Red but me, she’s mine!” Yup, it was definitely something else. Was it wrong that her saying that I was hers really turned me on? Fuck, between that and her gripping me possessively around the waist, I was so fucking wet right now. She knew it too, going by that smirk on her face as she smelled the air.

“Damn, you are so fucking hot right now,” I muttered under my breath as the jerks stopped waiting for us to cooperate nicely and closed in. Apparently, I wasn’t quiet enough because Goldie turned to waggle her eyebrows playfully and grin at me, causing me to turn, well, red. I really needed to decide whether to pursue this attraction for her. Wait, danger, right.

Our attackers were still cautiously closing in, knives in hand, when Goldie removed her arm from around my waist and moved almost too quickly for me to see. One moment she was holding me, and the next, she was breaking a man’s arm, picking him up as if he weighed nothing, and using him as a battering ram to slam two of his companions into the brick wall to my left. They had all barely fallen to the ground groaning when she kicked their leader to the sound of breaking bones and sent him flying down the alley to crash into the dead-end wall.

Her next victim barely had time to widen his eyes in response to her chaos before she slammed him into the wall beside the majority of his fallen friends, bit into his throat, and started draining him like a juice box. The last man standing seemed paralyzed in fear; his hands white-knuckled as they gripped his knife in one hand and my phone in the other. He couldn’t even seem to breathe, and he had even emptied his bladder, and honestly, I couldn’t really blame him. Goldie had taken down his friends before any of them even realized what was happening, and she was giving off this terrifying aura that was even shaking me up a bit.

It was like concentrated fear; the presence of a predator so mind-numbingly terrifying that you just know is going to tear you apart if you so much as breathe. She was on my side and the aura still felt oppressive. I wasn’t frozen and I hadn’t soiled myself or stopped breathing, so that was good. I couldn’t be sure if it was because she saw me as an ally though, or maybe she was right after all, and my resistance was some sort of Werewolf thing since they’re predators too. I quickly shut down that line of thought though, as it caused a fear in me that Goldie’s terrifying aura could not.

I took a deep breath as Goldie fed, not wanting to watch, and snatched my phone from the last man’s hand. I was checking it over to make sure that it hadn’t been damaged when Goldie dropped her captive to the ground. “Done already?” I asked, as casually as I could manage while swallowing the tightness in my throat.

The Vampire shook her head. “No, I don’t want to drain any of them dry and kill them. I would rather they all live and suffer for a bit.” She casually approached the one who was somehow still standing and quaking in fear, blood all over her face from her first victims. “When you and your buddies wake up, go to the hospital and get those injuries looked after. And if you ever prey on the innocent again, I will find you and what I do to you then will make you wish that I killed you this time.” With her warning given, she sank her fangs into his neck.

Once Goldie had finished her dinner and cleaned up, she insisted that we find a place for me to eat next. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to eat after witnessing that, but my stomach seemed to agree with Goldie and protested loudly. I hadn’t eaten since having a cheap breakfast deal and coffee at a rundown diner that morning since I was trying to make our money last. As sick to my stomach as the thought made me, I was craving a burger in the worst way, and I wanted it rare.

I tried not to think about what that might mean as I ate my dinner at a nearby fast food place. Instead, with a mouth full of cheeseburger, I asked, “Goldie, what the hell was that back there?”

The hot blonde Vampire blinked in confusion as she looked up from abusing the local Wi-Fi with the phone, “What was what, Red?”

“That… aura,” I replied after a pause to finish a mouthful of burger and attempt to find the right word. “That dude was frozen in fear, and it was like you were pumping out this aura of pure terror.”

She sighed and shrugged, her eyes staying on the phone, though I thought that her voice quavered a little as she replied, “Honestly, I have no idea. Nothing like that has ever happened before when I fed, but I could sorta sense that he was paralyzed with fear. I tried to hide it with flirting, but I was just so… worried that those guys might hurt you before I could take them down. The thought made me mad, and I was having trouble holding it back. I… like you, and since we met, I’ve been so damn attracted to you.”

It was strange seeing Goldie hesitant and uncertain; she usually exuded so much confidence. I tried to lighten the mood with a bit of playful sarcasm. “Really? You hide it so well.”

That got a snort of amusement and a giggle out of her. “Okay, yeah, so I kinda make it obvious with all the flirting. I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve, and… you’re the first one to make me feel this way since my… accident. I just don’t see any point in wasting time if we both like each other.”

“I like that about you,” I admitted in a whisper, “it’s just… I had never been in a relationship before I met you, never even really got to first base. Like, I’ve known I was gay since puberty hit, but I never found anyone that I could feel confident in pursuing something with, so I didn’t bother. You’re the first person that I’ve really felt attracted to and felt comfortable with, but there’s been this whole thing with my Granny being a werewolf, having to kill her, and I might be one now too. It’s been a lot, my feelings have been all over the place, and I’m worried it might fuck things up.”

“If you spend all your time worrying instead of living, you’re going to miss out on a lot and it’s probably going to become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Goldie told me seriously. Then she leaned over the table, cupped my face in her hands, and kissed me passionately. It was several minutes before our lips parted, and my heart was racing as she added, “Live in the moment, you never know when your time might be up. Now think, right now, in this moment. What do you want?”

My heart was pounding in my chest, my knees felt weak, and I could barely breathe, let alone think. I reacted instead, reaching out to pull her back toward me and kissed her back. Once we had parted once again, we were both quiet as I hurriedly finished my meal and then we made our way back to our current shelter with Goldie holding my hand. Her hand was cold, but even without physical warmth it made me feel secure and my heart lighter than it had been since before the night I was forced to kill my grandmother.

We had found the abandoned church last night, and my Ducati and our other meager belongings were safely in a long-forgotten cellar along with a sleeping bag to keep us off the cold floor. The cellar doors were rusted but still sturdy and it took Goldie’s Vampire strength to even open them, though for safety she had found some rebar and bent it to keep the doors sealed when we were away or sleeping.

Goldie had found it terribly funny for a Vampire and a possible Werewolf to take shelter in a church, of all places, and even more so with us both being lesbians. I didn’t really care beyond the fact that we could keep it secure until we found something better. Right now though, I just wanted to get inside and my heart and breath both quickened in excitement and expectation as the beautiful Vampire unbent the piece of rebar holding the cellar doors closed and heaved them open.