Worlds Collide

The strong scent of blood and death that followed two men crossing the street drew Rune’s attention. She waited for them to pass through a set of buildings and out of view, before stepping into the doorway of a closed shop. She crouched down on all fours and breathed slowly. The blood rushed through her body, the sound roaring in her ears.

Her long mahogany fingers widened into paws as they disappeared beneath long strands of red fur. The clothes and school bag simply melded into the body of the wolf as if they’d never existed at all. The change wasn’t painful, but the deep sensation of it affected her every nerve with a heavy vibration. As a child, assuming the primal form required a great deal of focus to call upon the animal and concentration to maintain that shape. Now, it was as natural as breathing.

She followed the scent of the two men, her wolf feet padding across the alleyway. Her prey talked quietly, unaware that they had become the hunted.

“How much further, Jimmy?” The smaller, brown haired man with the bulbous nose simpered. The way he bent his head and shoulders around the other man was a sure cue to the taller man’s position of dominance. “I’m hungry.”

“Pete, stop calling me Jimmy.” He tossed his hair and lifted his chin proudly. “It’s Jumala now. You know Lord Cu Uladh gave it to me at the last moon gathering. You were there, you moron.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.” Pete snickered in a nasal way; the wet sound of his laughter turned Rune’s stomach. “So, how much further, Jumala?”

“We’ll get there when we get there.” Jumala glanced back, and Rune slipped behind a dumpster. Apparently satisfied they were alone, he turned his gaze forward and straightened the upturned collar of his tan coat. “Now try not to say anything stupid or embarrassing once we get there. Galan and Farrell throw the best parties, and I’m not gonna be blacklisted cause you can’t use your head.”

“Okay, Jimmy.” Pete grinned up at his companion who only grumbled and shook his head in response.

She dodged a sea of white and red as students moved in mass down Johnson Street from the direction of Camp Randell Stadium. Badger game days were always chaotic, but evening games were rare and exceptionally rowdy. The humans regarded the red wolf as one might a stray, either with mild interest, or revulsion and nervousness. They were completely unaware of the other predators that pushed through their midst’s, but Rune knew the true nature of the parasites. The two vampires turned down Broom Street to avoid the chattering crowds, Rune in careful pursuit.

This was not how she’d planned to spend her evening. She’d looked forward all day to heading home to start the modifications on the nineteen seventy Barracuda she was restoring. When Rune eventually finished veterinary school, working with exotic animals at a zoo or a wildlife preserve would be her job. Rebuilding old cars and motorcycles was her passion.

However, her duties to protect her pack’s territory came first so Rune followed the men for nearly fifteen minutes before they stopped at red brick duplex. The place was devoid of light and movement, but Rune got a strong scent of blood from the area. Past the old building, music blared, and the men turned down the walkway toward the sound. Rune followed cautiously at a distance. She hadn’t scheduled crashing a vamp party into her evening plans, but she was always up for cleaning the parasites out of her pack’s territory.

At the back of the property was a two-story garage. On the second floor, lights and music crept out into the night, disturbing the stillness of the neighborhood. The two vampires Rune was trailing knocked at the side door of the garage. The door opened, and Jumala leaned forward to whisper something to the dark skinned man on the other side of the door. Even with her sensitive hearing, Rune couldn’t catch a word of it.

Pete and Jumala disappeared inside, and she looked around for a way to see into the upper floor. There were no trees nearby, and the neighboring building’s wooden balcony was on the wrong side to get a good angle from. The roof of the garage seemed the best option, but she’d have to shift back to be able to reach it.

Once Rune had resumed a form that allotted her fingers to grasp for climbing, she tossed her gym bag behind the building and out of the way. Rune tucked her black shirt into the waist of her BDUs and walked quietly around the garage. When she reached the west side of the structure, she laughed. There at its base, partially covered by the overgrown grass, was a wooden ladder. A few rungs were damaged, but most of it still looked useable. She whispered a prayer of thanks to the goddess Tyche for the lucky find and gently pulled at the plants that surrounded it until the ladder was freed.

As soon as she was in place on the garage roof, Rune let go of the ladder and watched it fall back to the grass with a low thud. She wouldn’t need it to get down and didn’t want to draw attention to her presence on the roof. Rune hung her torso over the gable of the garage and peered into the window below.

One man walked across the room beyond the glass, his armed wrapped around a busty blonde woman. Past him, Rune could pick out five more women and another ten men moving about the flat. They all looked normal enough, but that was the trouble with vampires; as long as they fed well, the leeches looked just like everyone else. It was their scent; a rancid mixture of sweat and old blood, that made them stand out to a hunter like herself. Vampires didn’t sweat because they had no need to; neither heat nor cold affected them in any but the rarest of cases. The sweat she smelled was from the humans they feasted upon.

Laughter from the back of the room caught her attention. A group of four vampires were gathered in a corner of the room, and as one knelt down. Rune could just pick out the sound of a woman’s voice above the din of the music. A vampire roared with amusement, taking a step forward and Rune recognized his laughter as what has first drawn her attention. That was when Rune heard the woman scream.

She grabbed the edge of the gable and lowered herself, dangling by her arms. There was barely enough time to shift before she swung back and crashed through the window. Rune landed on the carpeted floor, her bent legs spread in a combat stance. She had not taken the form of a wolf this time. The eyes of many of the vampires widened with fear to suddenly find a werewolf in their midst.

Pandemonium raged as the smarter of the vampires scattered for the door. The bouncer took a step back, and the crowd scrambled past him, stampeding down the stairs. He glanced at Rune, the group in the corner, and back again. She braced herself for the charge that never came as he swore under his breath and dashed out the door. Smart man. She grinned and turned back to those remaining.

The vampires fanned out from the corner, and Rune could just glimpse the three people on the floor. One man’s body stretched out on a wide strip of wood flooring just beyond the carpet, while his two female companions hugged each other and shivered, eyes closed.

“You know, Farrell, I’ve always wondered what shifter tasted like.” The man ran a hand over his shaven head and licked his lips hungrily. “You boys help me bag this one, and we can all have a treat.”

The vampires Rune knew as Pete and Jumala glanced nervously at each other, but didn’t move forward. Rune snarled at the bald man, her eyes narrowing malevolently. “You’ll never live to find out, parasite.”

 

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