Blood on the Blood Moon

The sounds of the “windy city” always feel good in my ears. The autumn wind blows through my hair as I approach the club. I glance down the street and into the sky, the moon is rising, full and with a very distinct red color.  A wonderful night for a blood moon.  The lights on the sign are bright and colorful, as they spell the name ‘Excalibur’, which is a great place to go on a Friday night.  Who would have thought that the scum of the underworld would come here to spend a night out?  Well it’ll be the last mistake they’ll ever make.  

As I approach the door, one of the bouncers moves to see if I’m armed.  I stare him down, letting my lycan flow through my eyes. He backs away, fear in his eyes.  It has always amazed me at how simple it is for a wolfen to move around with ease.  I entered the bar. Lights and music fill my eyes and ears almost immediately.  Only a few steps in and already I’m surrounded by people involved in a ritual dance of glee.  I see the bar and move to get a drink and a better view of the room. 

“What’ll ya have lad!” the bartender yells over the music.

“Scotch on the rocks, my friend,” I yell back. “But only a couple of rocks.”

“Whatever.” the man says. “Enjoy yourself  me boy!  The night is young and the girls are beautiful.  Ha! Ha!”

 He appears to be in very high spirits.  Of course it’s a full house and everybody is drinking, so I can see why he would be happy.

A minute later and I have my drink.  I turn around and view the spectacle of youth on the floor.  The club is divided into three levels:  The third floor I can’t see, the second floor is a large balcony/terrace floor above me, and in front of me is the dance floor.  Around the dance floor are several booths of all shapes and sizes.  I start sniffing the air. The odor of sweat, perfumes and bodily fluids mix with stale beer, liquor and smoke machines take front seat, but I push through that to get to the scent I’m hunting for. Since bars are smoke-free areas, it makes it even easier to track my target. My nose takes my eyes to the both directly across from me. It seems to be the VIP section. As I glance at each of the occupants, my eyes focus on the middle booth and the two on either side of it. I focus my hunting sense there  It’s them, the ones I’ve come for. The scent I picked up is unmistakable.

There are at least ten of them, all wearing nice suits, cleaned to perfection. Some custom make, others smell of blood and gunpowder.  The smell of hair gel and other products accent their makeup.  It’s an interesting group.  Most of them are Italian, and Sicilian, but there are a few Asians and African-Americans also.  I feel my hand instinctively move inside my jacket to one of the two 44 magnums, holstered under each arm.  Most of these guys I have spent years trying to hunt them down. But every time I came close, something gets in the way.  I hate mob scum like this.  This night will be the night when all the lives they have ruined or destroyed will be avenged. 

I can feel my nails turning to claws and my canines begin to move into place. Nature of the beast inside me trying to take over.  I close my eyes and take a sip of my drink, trying to calm down enough to pull back my animal urges. I’m in and close and I don’t need to make myself noticeable. I take a deep breath and take in all the immediate scents. I smell her walking up before she even gets the words out.

“Hi there stranger,” a female voice says to my right. “How are you this evening?”

I turned to see a young woman, smiling and looking right at me.  She’s cute.  Not like some of the normal trashy women that I’ve seen in other clubs.  Not a lot of makeup on her face, relying on her natural beauty to attract attention.  And boy did she ever!

“I’m feeling just fine now, especially with the present scenery.”  I reply to her with a smile.   “What’s your name?” I ask.

She moves to sit down on the stool next to mine. “My name is Janet.  I came here with some friends to get a drink and have some fun.” She points out a group of girls at a back table near some of the booths.  “Then I saw you and thought, maybe you might be interested in joining me.”

I give her a smile before I speak. “Well, I would love to, but I am kind of here on....business.”  I say in a low voice. 

 I can see, from the look in her eyes that she is feeling hurt, but before she can  answer I speak up in a more sincere tone. 

“But I would be most honored if you will permit me a dance at the next song,”

  That did lighten her spirit and just then a slow and softer dance song begins to play.  The floor clears a bit, except for couples on the floor.  I hold out my hand, palm up, and she places her hand in mine. I gently lead her out onto the dance floor and turned to face her. As her hands move to encircle my waist,  I gently raise her hands to my neck, fearful that she may feel my guns and become frightened.  I, in turn, place my hands around her waist and to the small of her back.  Slowly we move, at first just side to side, but we steadily begin to turn circles and move around the floor.  I stared into her eyes and she becomes lost; I try to make her feel like she is floating and in a moment she closes her eyes and lays her head against my chest.  

    I take in all the scents of her, each one distinct and fresh. The chanel perfume, liz claiborne dress, her avon makeup and lipstick. I track the scent of her shampoo and the dried sweat from getting prepared for the night. The lingering effects of her pet dog, female, shiba Inu mixed with rat terrier.  I also pick up traces of ink and paper from what could be school papers or just business materials. I finally pick up the scents that are always a nice compliment, the hormones.  Boy, sometimes there are just no words to describe when you know that a woman wants you, but WOW! 

Suddenly, the hunger hits me.  I feel my senses rise and my fangs beckon to be released. My claws begin to grow.  I look down at Janet. I could see myself just letting go and taking her right on that dance floor.  I need to keep the beast under control. 

‘NO!’ I say in my head. ‘You will not take this young woman's life.’   

I look over to see if my quarry is still in their booths.  They are, enjoying their evening, oblivious to the danger that awaits them.  Now is the time to move, when they least expect it.  But first, I have to make sure Janet will be safe and not in the way. .  She’s smiling at me but notices that I’ve glanced away from her. Before she could say anything, I spoke up:

“Janet, you have to leave.”

She looked at me in a frightened manner.  

“Why?” she asks.  “Did I do something wrong?”

I look into her eyes, smile, and kiss her on the forehead.

“No, I just can’t have you in here when everything happens.”

She looked confused and nervous so I looked deep into her eyes and say:

“Go over to your friends, tell them you aren't feeling well and  have them get their things together and leave the building as fast as possible.”

She blinks and looks into my eyes. “Something bad is about to happen here Janet,” I say softly to her. “Something involving some very bad people. I don’t want you or your friends caught in the crossfire.”
  She freezes, but comes out of it almost immediately. “What is your name? Will I see you again?” She says in a soft voice.

I smile again. I move my body up against hers, feeling her breasts move up against my chest and I put my lips right next to her ear. “My name is James Logan,” I give her neck a kiss, tasting her skin on my lips and pull around to kiss her gently on the lips. “And you might see me again.”

She moans deeply. Her eyes flutter and she shivers in my hands. The smile on her face is simple and sweet, then vanishes. She nods and walks away.  From the dance floor, I watch as she moves off toward her friends.  

‘She can’t be more than 33 years old.’  I say to myself. 

I, on the other hand, look like I am 35, but I am much older than that.  About twenty years older, but that doesn’t matter right now.  Janet has reached her friends now and is telling them they need to leave.  I’ve already turned around and walk toward the booths.  The men haven’t seen me moving toward them yet, which is their own carelessness at work. Most criminals in their positions aren’t concerned with a hit going on inside a club like this. Their guard is down and they are wide open.  The hunger continues to grow.  My fangs are moving again, this time I don’t stop them, my claws start to inch through my skin.  The slow music ends, and the sounds of rift guitars and Smashing Pumpkins filled my ears and senses.  

I keep my eyes focused on the man in the middle, center booth of the three.  Anthony Dracous. He is second in charge of one of the larger crime syndicates in Chicago.  He will definitely be meeting his maker this night.  As I walk up the steps and approach the booths, the three men sitting in the third booth get up and move to intercept me.  The lead man moves to grab me by the shoulder, but before he can get a hold on me, I grab him, lift him by his shirt, and throw him against one of the two who have accompanied him.

The third man moves forward, starting to pull a knife.  I grab the knife hand, twist his arm around his neck and make him slit his own throat.  As he gasps for life, I lean over and take my fill of his precious blood, then let him drop to the floor.  The two others get up and back off towards their boss. None of the bystanding youths have noticed anything. They are more involved in dancing and having a good time.

By now Dracous has noticed what is happening to his boys and orders his men to take me down.  This time the men go for their guns.   But before they are able to pull their weapons, I bare my fangs and growls at the whole group.  

“Do you really think your weapons will have any effect on me Dracous?” I say to their leader, showing my fangs as I talk.  “You don’t know  much about werewolves do you.”

I glance at the whole group, two or three of the men turn white and almost fainted, others just move to guard Dracous.  Then one of them actually pulls his gun out. 

Big mistake.

Before the one man can even clear the gun from his jacket, I have both of mine out and blast two bullets into his chest.  He is knocked back by the force and then collapses in his seat.  There are screams in the background as people realize that there is a shootout going on.  

Dracous’ other men start pulling guns and ducking for cover.  Dracous, himself, slides under his table and knocks it over for cover.  I jump back and begin firing at the men that are not under cover.  I nail one man in the head and another in the chest, two more down, leaving six men including Dracous.  The customers are fleeing the club by this time. I have to be quick and accurate so that my bullets find their marks and no strays can hit innocent blood. I’m here for the bad blood. 

I leap to the left as one of the six guys jumps up and unload a couple of rounds at me. I can feel my body starting to change. Legs growing in size, arms pulling my shirt tighter.  I land, roll, jump up and shoot the guy in his neck and then get a shot at one of the others that’s behind him.  He was trying to get the drop on me, but I was faster.  He got a lucky shot off and hit me in the arm.  Not bad.  But I can handle bullets; he can’t.  I shoot him square in the head and he slumps over the table and crashes to the floor.  Two more start to run across the floor to get out of the club.

Bad move.  I jump up and put several bullets in their backs.  My eyes darted around the room.  That leaves two, Dracous and his last living man.  

But before I can find them, I hear running behind me.  I glance behind me to see several bouncers running up at me.  I quickly holster my guns and turn to face them.  There are five of them.  Nothing I can’t handle.  They surround me from four sides.  I have to make this fast so Dracous won’t get away. These are just guys doing their job, not bad guys. I have to minimize the damage if I can. Easiest thing to do is scare them. 

I don’t hold back the beast anymore. I let the change flow over me. I let out a loud guttural roar and the pain hits me. I feel my bones cracking, feel my muscles stretching and growing. The bones and cartilage in my face break and snap as they grow into a snout. My entire body is screaming. Every sensation and feeling is pain. I cry out again but it comes out in a low howling. When my eyes open I’m staring down at a pail and frightened man.

 He falls on his back. His eyes are wide, lips quivering and a rather unpleasant smell coming from him.  He’done.  I look up to see the other four running away, yelling and screaming. I swing around to look for the last of Dracous men.

He’s waiting to my left, standing about 6ft away, with his gun pointed straight at my head.  I’ve been in this kind of situation.   I stare at the man. I see the fear in his eyes.  He is white as a sheet and he’s having trouble keeping his hands steady.  I take a step towards him. He shoots at me but misses.  I take five steps and knocked the gun out of his hands.  

He stares at me; I assume by the look on his face he’s trying to figure out why he’s still breathing. I can smell the urine about to release. What the heck, might as well leave one to tell the tale.  

“Run.” I say in a low growling voice, giving him a menacing stare. “Run and tell all your bosses that death is coming for them.”

The man just stood there.

“I said RUN!” I shouted, which comes out like a massive bark. The man sprints for the door, pissing himself as he crosses the floor.

I look around for Dracous, but he isn’t in sight.  Then I hear something on the steps.  I look up and Dracous is making a run for the next floor.  I run over to the nearest table, jump on it and  leap up to the second floor, right in front of Dracous.  He looks up, sees me and unloads his gun into my gut. 

It hurts, but pain and I are old acquaintances. The bullets can’t break all the way through the muscles, plus I’ve been shot enough that the skin and muscles on my abdomen have doubled in size from regular wounds and healing.  I take the hits and lunge forward, grabbing his gun and his hand in my grip. I squeeze enough that the pressure against the gun breaks the bones in his hand. He screams out and I throw a little growl in. 

  Dracous tries to pull away. I lift him by his broken hand, and fling him back. He flops down and drops his gun. He grabs his hand and tries to turn and scurry away like a rat. I growl, run over, grab Dracous by his jacket and fling  him back against the opposite wall.  

“OOH Shit on Me!”  He yells as he flies across the room.  He hits the wall hard and slumps to the floor with a grunt of pain.  I walk over, pick him up off the floor by his shirt and bare my fangs in wolf growl. Blood starts to trickle down his face.   

“It’s payday Anthony,” I say growling and smiling.  “You owe a lot of people for the pain and suffering you’ve caused.  And I’ve come to collect.”

The fear in Dracous’ eyes would have driven a normal man insane.  

“Wait!  We can make a deal!”  He cries, tears mixing with the blood on his face.  “I’ll pay you a fortune, just let me live!”

I just keep on smiling as he squirms like the worm he is.  

“Sorry Dracous, time to move on.  But don’t worry, you won’t be alone for long.”

I bare my fangs. His face goes white and he’s about to scream. I place my other hand over his face and mouth. His unbroken hand grabs at me and he’s kicking frantically. I put just enough pressure on his face to break his nose and cut off his airways. I feel him gasping for breath, but all he gets is the blood from his nose and the skin of my palm. My claws digging into his skull and my hand keeps his jaw from opening.  After a moment he arms go limp and his back stiffens.  When I finish, I let his body fall to the ground.  “Blood for the Blood Moon.”  I say to myself.   

The music starts to wrap up and I then notice the flashing colored lights out the window.  “Time for to leave,” I say to no one.   

I move over to one of the windows and look down to see that it’s two stories above the alley.  I grab a chair and it thrown into the glass. The window busts open and I hear glass clatter down into the alley.  I take a few steps back and jump out the window.   My claws  jam into the stone of the building across the alley and begin to climb. I reach the roof and start running. I leap over the roofs and grab onto the sides and climb the next building. Rinse and repeat. Have to make distance so no one sees me. I reach where the “EL” train tracks pass a building. I’m already going at a good clip, so I leap. Just as the train is passing and land, gripping with my claws.  The adrenaline is pumping and I cut loose with a full howl. The sound echos off the buildings but is partially drowned out by the train against the walls of the city buildings.