Silver Stake (The Werewolf Hunter Chronicles Book 1) (3 page)

Under the steeple
of a half-ruined church, dozens of altars were alight with flickering candles, glinting off the bells above and highlighting the stained glass images of the crucifixion.  The room was filled with the soft sound of voices chanting.  A man clad in a black cloak approached the largest of the altars, where lay the skull with a cranial chamber fit for a man, but the shape of the jaw and nose looked as though they were from a wild animal.  Under the skull there was placed a pile of bleached bones.  The man knelt before them, head bowed, and stayed in this position, not speaking, as the chanters continued…

“The Lord Alpha must return.  The Lord Alpha must return.  The Lord Alpha must return,” the voices murmured, over and over and over.  “The Lord Alpha must return and give us our rightful place in this world.” 

At the largest altar the cloaked man raised his head and threw back his hood.  His eyes were wide, covered in the white sheen of deep trance.  As the chanters watched his muzzle grew, deep brown fur covered his exposed skin and fangs sprouted from his jaw.  He raised his left hand, still human shaped, but covered with the fur of a wolf, and possessed of long, curved claws, and held it above the bones.  His right hand rose too, and held in this was a ceremonial blade, deep black, embedded in an intricately carved ivory handle, showing pictures of the intermediate forms between human and wolf.

“The Lord Alpha must return.  The Lord Alpha must return.  The Lord Alpha must return,” the men called.

The wolf at the front brought the blade down upon his wrist, and slowly drew it across, spilling blood on the bones.  For twenty minutes he stood there, blood dripping, in silence.  Suddenly his eyes flared a golden yellow as the trance was broken.  He turned to face the others.  “It is done.  Now we must wait.”

∞

Maya picked up a shiny black dress from the pile she’d just pulled out of one of the boxes in her room.  She slipped it over her head and looked in the long mirror on her wall.

“Oh god,” she said to herself, “way too serious.”  She quickly discarded that and tried on a second dress.  “Ugh, and now I look like I’m off to a posh dinner.”  She put it down and sighed.  “What on earth am I going to wear?” she murmured.  And why did she suddenly care?

“Hi lovely,” her dad said, stepping into her doorway.

“Hi dad,” said Maya, glancing up before returning her focus to her dress selection process.

“Have you got plans?”

“Yes, although you won’t believe it, but I actually said I’d meet some people from college tonight.”

“That’s
good
, I knew this would be a good place to come.  I have a feeling it will work out for us here.”

“Well, I—” she said, but her dad looked so chipper she couldn’t bring herself to mention Cole,
or
the bodies.  Later, she told herself.  I’ll tell him tomorrow.  Tonight I want one night of fun, before all hell breaks loose and we have to figure out what to do.

“I know, it’s still early days, but just remember how much we love you, and that we’re always here for you to talk about anything with.”

“Thank you dad,” Maya said.  “I will, I promise.”  Tomorrow, she thought. 
Tomorrow
.

Her dad grinned.  “Although I’m sure the werewolves won’t have followed us, promise me that you’ll take care of yourself out there?  Stay vigilant?”

“Of course!  And if anything happens at home, if you’re in any danger, you’ll call me straight away, won’t you?” Maya said.

Her dad laughed.  “It’s you I’m worried about.  We’ll be fine.”

“But you do promise?”

“Yes.  Now just make sure you have fun, but not too much…”

“I know, I know.  Now leave me to it!”

∞

Maya finally found Calypso’s.  It had taken a ten minute bus journey and then some sketchy following of Kate’s hand-drawn map, but she had worked it out in the end.  Down a narrow cobbled street, the club had four tall arching windows at its front, and a large rectangular door at the far end.  The street was full of little shops and cafes, but the club was the only thing open at this hour.  Approaching the place Maya didn’t feel safe, thoughts of the bodies in the morgue kept penetrating her thoughts, unwilling intrusions that she’d happily block out.  Outside teens were smoking and talking, and music thudded through the walls. Maya looked down at her outfit and sighed.  She’d soon given up on the dress idea, and had gone for blue jeans with a simple white t-shirt.  Over the top she was wearing a leather jacket, in which she had a silver stake tucked.  People were milling around the club entrance, but there didn’t appear to be a queue, so Maya walked right on in.

Inside Calypso it wasn’t much lighter than outside.  It was crowded and a rock band played on the stage.  Maya couldn’t really see them as there were so many people dancing, although the stage was illuminated with blue and red spot lights and she could just about see the top of the lead singers head.  She stood about half dancing, half looking out for Kate, just getting used to being out.  She was out.  At night.  Not fighting.  A slow smile spread across her face.  She spotted Isabelle, the girl from biology.  Maya was surprised to see her, after Isabelle’s earlier scorn for the local clubs, but regardless of this she decided she’d go and say ‘hey’, but then she spotted a familiar main of long wavy hair on an innocent face, standing at the bar.

“Hey,” Maya said, going to stand beside her.

“Hi,” said Kate, sounding surprised.  “I wasn’t sure if you’d make it.”  Kate was wearing a vintage flowery dress that reminded Maya of one she’d worn to a wedding when she was eight.  She was eating a packet of crisps and sipping at a lemonade.

“Are the others here, too?” Maya asked.

“No,” said Kate, shaking her head, “Just me.  The others are late, or dancing.  I haven’t seen them.”

Maya pulled up a bar stool and sat down.  “How long have you and Ollie been going out?”

Kate grinned.  “Two weeks.”

“Oh, wow, I thought you guys seemed really comfortable with each other, like maybe you’d been together for years.” 

“Well, we have been friends for, like, ever, and he’s had a crush on me for quite some years…”

While Kate talked Maya managed to convey to the bartender the drink she’d like.

“… I thought it was about time I gave him a chance.”

“Oh really?  How’s that working out?”

“Good, I think, he’s really nice, but…  Oh, there he is,” she said, looking over Maya’s shoulder and waving.

∞

Leaning against an old oak support, was Isabelle, stirring her drink with a straw.  She had chosen a tight fitting stripy red and black dress and had her hair down for the night.  She was talking to two of her friends who were sitting at a table.

“Pete said he’d take me to the Students Union on Friday night.  I can’t wait to meet all the older boys, the lot in here, too many from college.  I can’t believe—”

“Isabelle!” Lewis called.

“Ugh,” Isabelle muttered, not bothering to lower her voice.

“Isabelle, you are looking gorgeous this evening,” Lewis said, reaching her side and giving her a mischievous grin.

“Thank you Lewis, now please leave my friends and I to chat.”

Lewis laughed.  “Later I will, but how about I buy you a drink first?” he said, doing his best to smoulder at her.

“I’m set,” she shot.

“Well, how about a dance then?”

“I think not.”  Isabelle gave him a scathing smile and turned her back on him.  “Let’s get out of here,” she said to her friends.

“OK, then, I’ll just find someone else to hang with,” said Lewis, trying to re-compose himself.  Then he noticed Maya at the bar with his friends.  He wondered if she’d be any less likely to reject him.  Well, he decided, it was certainly worth a try.

∞

“Kate!  Maya!  How are my favourite ladies?” Ollie said, smiling.  He’d turned up wearing the same clothes as earlier.  At his side was a boy Maya thought was Will.  He was good looking, taller than the others, with dark hair and intense dark eyes.  He was also wearing a leather jacket, accompanied by black jeans and shirt.  Maya decided he definitely had that broody look going down.

“Ollie,” Kate said, giving him an indulgent smile.  “Lewis not here?”

“He’s, err, I think we may have lost him to Isabelle.”

“Isabelle, huh?” Kate said.

Will nudged Ollie’s side.  “Or maybe not,” he said, as Lewis bounded up to them.  Maya thought it was the first time she’d heard Will speak, and was surprised he didn’t have the same Liverpudlian accent as the others, but she couldn’t work out where he was from.

Lewis slung his arm around Will’s shoulders.  “Brother,” he said.  “Kate, Maya,” he nodded.  To Maya he threw in a wink.  “Would you care to dance?” he said.

“I, umm, I’ve got a drink,” Maya said, looking at Kate and raising her eyebrows.

Kate giggled and looked apologetic as Lewis came up to Maya’s side.  Maya turned to face him.  He was holding out his hand to her.

“My beautiful lady, do me thy honour—”

“All right, all right.  One dance, OK?” Maya said, and rolled her eyes at him.

As she went off toward the dance floor Lewis placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her toward the front of the band.  The music was easy to dance to, not anything she recognised, but fun and quite heavy.  She jumped around wildly for a moment, but then was put off by how close Lewis was dancing to her.  He placed his hands on her waist from behind and drew her to him.  She quickly moved away.  “I’m not … umm, I’ll see you in a bit, all right?”  He looked crestfallen, but as she moved away she could see him already checking where he should try his affections next.

Maya found her way back to Kate and Ollie, and she stood next to Will.  “Brother?” she asked.

He smiled, which made him look very cute.  “Not real brothers, we’ve just known each other since we were kids.  We all have.”

Kate looked away from Ollie.  “You escaped Lewis quickly,” she said, teasingly.

“He couldn’t keep his hands to himself,” Maya said, and looked back to see if she could still see him dancing.  She spotted him straight away, with a wide grin splashed across his face, dancing with a sexy girl with a black bob.  The girl had a short vest on, exposing a tattoo on her lower back.  The tattoo of a wolf. 

Right then Maya’s dormant werewolf sense tingled.

“Oh bugger.  I’ll be right back guys,” she said, and walked back toward Lewis, but as soon as she was back on the dance floor, she couldn’t see him.

Maya searched for Lewis, but the music was still loud and people were everywhere.  She couldn’t see him at all.  She took the closest passageway out of there—towards the ladies room, and as she went she pulled the silver stake out of her jacket.  The last thing she wanted was to come up against a werewolf unprepared.  It was dark and she could hear distant laughter, and music from the band vibrated through the walls.  She looked around for Lewis as she passed a wall plastered with flyers for upcoming events.  She spotted a door and opened it, but it led no-where.  Where could that werewolf have taken Lewis?  There weren’t any other exits close to where they were.  How did they elude her so quickly? 

She spotted another door ahead that said ‘No Entry’, and approached it slowly.  As she pushed, the door swung open slowly, revealing a store cupboard.  She stamped her foot in frustration.

“Where could they have gone?” she muttered.

Maya turned at a run, heading back into the club, but as the door swung open she ran at full pelt into Isabelle, whose friends just managed to grab her in time to stop her falling on her arse.  Damn!

The three of them gasped and looked horrified.

Maya winced.  “Isabelle!  Oh God, I’m so, so sorry.”

And, true to her expectations, Isabelle’s expression turned to disgust.  “You idiot,” she said, straightening her clothes.  “Who do you think you are, tearing around like that?!  And what on earth is that in your hand?”

“Have any of you seen Lewis out here?” Maya said, ignoring her reference to the silver stake, which she slipped back into her jacket.

“Oh, is it him you’re looking for?  It wouldn’t surprise me if he was into some kind of kinky violent foreplay.  I haven’t seen him for a while.”

Maya turned and walked off.  She headed back into the main room and was at once in a crowd of people.  Kate came up to her as she was scanning for any sign of where Lewis might have gone.

“What’s wrong?” Kate said.

“I’m looking for Lewis, have you seen him?”

“No, not since he went to dance with you.  Why?  I thought you didn’t like him.”

“I don’t.  I mean, that’s not what I mean.  I know this is hard to believe, but I think he’s in danger.  I think someone’s going to hurt him.  Do you know where he might have gone?”

“No, I—”

“I’ve got to find him,” Maya said, walking past Kate and heading for the exit of Calypso’s.