The Wrath of Pan (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 2) (7 page)

Rosette and Gregory were scheduled to land later that evening, but I wanted to scout potential areas.  Liz and John had to go see Rod and I wanted no part of that.  I had John write down addresses of as many attacks sites as he could think.  Using public transportation and relying on the kindness of strangers, I was able to see three of them so far.

A night of solid sleep and letting my body heal itself was what the doctor ordered.  I felt pretty darn good as I adventured out into London.  On my journey, I’d gotten a glimpse at Big Ben, some giant Ferris wheel thing, and a really big river the locals called the Thames.

Currently, I was at the third spot, which was a bar.  Unlike the past two spots where the smell of the wolf barely registered, I’d finally gotten a good whiff of him.  The odd part was it was strangely familiar, like I’d caught this scent before.  I racked my brain, but couldn’t place it.

The area was pretty quiet since the bar wasn’t open yet, so I decided to do my inspector thing and snoop around.  I walked around to an alley that went behind the bar.  It didn’t take me too long to find the spot where the wolf killed the girl.  The smell of dried blood led me to a spot where the pavement was stained red.

I took my phone out and grabbed some pictures.  By now, the crime scene was compromised for any other clues, but maybe I could learn a bit more about this predator.  There was a ladder attached to the side of the building that would’ve been the perfect ambush spot.  The dumpsters here would’ve blocked out the view of anyone passing by, especially at night.

I followed the wolf scent a little further and it stopped at a sewer entry.  The perfect get-a-way and the sewer smell would overwhelm his own.  This guy was smart and covered his tracks well.  It also pissed me off greatly; guys like him are what make wolves so feared, even among the supernatural community.

There wasn’t anything else really to see.  The crime scene gave me a good idea of what our wolf liked and how he chose his spots.  Hopefully with this information, I could catch the bastard.  I took a few more pictures of the entry into the sewer and headed back out.

By the time I made it to the fourth attack spot, I realized this would be my last stop.  It was getting a little late in the afternoon and Liz wanted me to be back in time to go with them to get Gregory and Rosette.  Getting off the tram, the address was a dance club.

This time, as soon as I made my way over, I caught someone’s attention.  It was a younger girl, maybe twenty-one or twenty-two and she walked over to me.

“We aren’t open yet, but I think I got what you’re looking for.”

“Excuse me?”  I was confused.

She winked at me.  Up close, she was obviously trying to go for that vampire look, Goth I think it’s called.  “All you Americans want one thing when you come across the pond…”

Ohhhhh, I caught on quick.  “As much as that offer sounds great, I’m actually here on business.”

The girl got closer and put her hand on my arm.  “I think you’re here for some pleasure too.”

“Excuse me, but I’m actually here investigating the death of that young girl from last week.”

At the mention of the girl’s death, her hand dropped off me and her eyes started tearing up.  “You’re here to look into Emily’s death?”

A name; I took out my pad and paper and wrote it down.  “Yeah, the local police asked me to come and check out the scene.  I’m an inspector over in the States.”

“I’ll tell you everything you need to know.  Emily was my friend and didn’t deserve to die like that.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I put my hand on her shoulder as an act as trust, “and it would be my pleasure to help bring some closure to this.”

She nodded and led me back to the dance club.  Unlocking the door, we walked in and found a table to sit at.  I let her take a minute or two to compose herself.  “As you know, it happened a week ago, right out back in the alley leading to the next street over.”

“What was Emily doing out there?”

“We were closing and so she took the extra ice out to dump into the street.  After about twenty minutes, one of the guys got worried and went out to check on her.  What he described was awful.”

I’ll save you the details.  Needless to say that most of Emily’s body had been ripped apart or torn, obvious that someone had tortured her before she died.

“This sounds crazy, but I think she was eaten.”

I already knew this information, but I wanted to know how she figured.  “That’s quite a thought.  If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get to that conclusion?”

“The last inspector blew me off because of my appearance and my age.  Said I didn’t know shit, but I do.  Rumors lately have surfaced about a werewolf in the streets.  I think he attacked all the girls who died.”

I guess I didn’t give her the reaction she expected.  “You believe me, don’t you?”

“I’ve heard stranger things in my line of work.  I’m not ready to jump to a supernatural explanation, not without proof anyway.”

She actually smiled, “Thank you for not blowing me off Inspector…”

“Oh right, Victor Inglewood.  What’s your name as well?”

“Marissa Crosby, but everyone just calls me Rissa.”

“Very good Rissa, I do appreciate your information.  Now, why don’t you stay here while I go inspect the scene.”

She got up, “No, I can go with you.  I can tell you where everything was.”

“Listen,” I tried to keep my tone sympathetic, “while that would be a huge help, I can’t put you into that sorta position, emotionally I mean.”

“I need to do this, to help you and for myself.”

The hard edge on her face told me I wouldn’t win this argument.  I silently wondered if this was a long lost relative of the Swansea clan.  “Alright, but if I think it’s becoming too much, I send you back.  Understand?”

She gave me a mock salute.  “You’re the man Mr. Inglewood.”

“Mr. Inglewood was my dad.  You can just call me Vic, everyone else does.”

With a smile on her face, she grabbed my hand and we walked passed the bar and out the back door.  Eerily similar to the last crime scene, we exited to an alley.  Again, this scene wasn’t as fresh as the third one, but it offered up a bunch of clues.  I took my phone out to get some pictures.

“Behind the trash was where Tommy discovered the body.  The street still has the marks on it.”

I walked around and sure enough, red tinged the pavement.  It looks like there was a bit of a struggle this time.  The distinct markings of a werewolf’s claws raked the wall beside the spot where the victim had died.  I took a few more pictures.

“Rissa, I know this might be tough, but was there anything else you remember seeing or even smelling that seemed off?”

She pointed to a spot across the way, another sewer exit.  “Stuck there was what looked like red fur?  The police dismissed it as a stray cat or something but I thought it was weird.”

Bingo!  “Why did you think it was weird?”

“I have two cats, I know what their hair looks like and this was long, like it’d come off a large dog or something.”

“Do you know where the fur is now?”

She shook her head.  “No I don’t.  The other weird thing was two nights after, we came back here to give Emily a little memorial and there were two or three teenagers hanging around.  You ever see that movie Children of the Corn?”

“I’ve heard of it.”

“They were some freaky kids, like I swear their eyes were glowing red at first.  Maybe it was just a trick of the lights, but Vic I know something is going on that’s not normal.”

It was time for me to go.  “Rissa, here is my card,” she took it and put it in her pocket, “if anything else strange happens or you feel like you’re in danger, call me okay?”

“Will you tell me what’s going on?”

I couldn’t right now, not like this.  “I can’t say for sure, but your instincts are right.  Something weird is happening and we all need to be on our toes, okay?”

She wrapped me up in a hug.  I gave her a pat on the back, worried that these wolf attacks were just the beginning of an even bigger mess coming our way.

Liz had my phone, looking over all the pictures.  While she was doing that, I was telling John what Rissa told me.  “To wrap it up, she knows something weird is going on and thinks her friend was eaten.”

“This is not a good sign.  Even with all the precautions we have taken, if the humans are putting it together…”

Liz handed the phone back to me.  “The crime scenes all have similar aspects, secluded with easy escapes.  It seems our wolf enjoys going into the sewers.”

“It covers the scent.  Even as good as I am, if we went down there, it’d be impossible to track the smell.”

“Could he have been tipped off that you would be coming?”

Both Liz and I looked at her brother.  “That would mean someone from your office would’ve been the inside man.”

“I know what the implications are Victor, but if our attacker is using the sewer to cover his scent, would it not make sense that he was protecting himself from you?”

It was time to drop the other shoe.  “The scent at the third scene I went to was familiar to me.  It’s on the tip on my tongue but I can’t put my finger on it.”

Liz looked surprised.  “You may know this Red?”

“I’ve been stuck in New Mexico for years, so I doubt it.  But I can’t say that’s impossible for sure.”

With this dark mood hanging over our heads, we arrived back at the airport.  This place wasn’t on the top of my lists to come back to.  John assured me we would be safe this time and that he had extra precautions in place.

“Pan will not use the same strategy twice.  We will be fine Victor, I promise.”

I trusted the guy, but that didn’t stop my from making sure Roscoe was loaded and ready.  As we were coming up to the terminal, Liz’s phone rang.  “It’s Gregory.”

While Liz handled the phone call, I leaned over to John, “So why does Pan hate you so much?  The guy acts like you spit in his cornflakes.”

“It is very complicated.  I made the mistake of trying to help a young boy in need and by the end of a very tumultuous century, his mind was gone.”

“Not to tell you guys how to do your jobs, but putting him on that island with the rest of his minions wasn’t the smartest idea.  I imagine all that did was add fuel to the fire.”

Liz hung up with Gregory.  “They are here and already have their luggage.  Let us not waste anymore time here and retrieve them.”

John navigated the airport like a champ and within minutes we saw the grinning face of Gregory.  Talk about looks being deceiving; this guy could pass for a twenty year old grunge rocker.  In actuality, he was over a thousand years old and one bad man.

I hopped out to help them put their luggage in the car.  “Gregory you old dog!  How the hell are ya?”

He reached out and shook my hand.  “Victor!  A pleasant surprise to see you as always.  I was most excited to hear you would be part of the welcoming committee.”

Rosette the witch looked at the two of us.  “If the two of ye are done having a man crush, can one of ye get my bags?”

I walked over and grabbed it,; it weighted a freaking ton.  “What the hell did you pack?”

“All the essentials, thank ye very much!”

Not wanting to stay out in the open any longer than I had to, I picked the damn thing up and put it in the trunk.  Gregory and Rosette joined Liz in the backseat.  As soon as all of us were loaded up, John stepped on it and we were off.

Rosette complained the entire drive back.  From being sent to another country against her will, to not flying first class, to now being stuck with three vampires and a werewolf.  I couldn’t take it anymore.  “Would you please just shut up?!  This ain’t peaches for us either.”

“Trying to keep me quiet are ye?  I expected more from the one marked by Oberon.”

“Excuse me?”  Poor Gregory, it just wasn’t in his DNA to not be nice.  “What is this marked by Oberon stuff?”

“Some nonsense this witch is trying to say I’m cursed with.”

She kicked the back of my seat.  “Nonsense do ye say?  Oh no, it’s more than that!  This wolf is destined to confront the shadows and end these times of darkness.”

Gregory looked half amused.  “We are still talking about Victor right?  Not some other wolf?”

“How many other wolves do ye know that can’t transform?”

“Umm, that would be none.”  He looked to me for help, but I provided only silence.

And with that, the witch began rambling on and on about this curse.  The Red that was cursed before me died a painful death at the hands of his pack.  They couldn’t stand the thought of a useless wolf and the Alpha killed him in cold blood.  In fact, all the wolves that had what I had died horrible deaths.  Talk about pleasant, Rosette really knew how to brighten the mood.

“On that happy note, I think we’re just about back to John’s place.”

“Is this where I meet the guy who wants to know about Death’s Scythe?”

“Not quite Miss O’Byrne,” John pulled into the driveway, “at this time we require your help with another problem.  It is a job only someone with certain talents can hope to be successful at.”

She got excited by that.  “Oh what is it?  Is there a crypt under the house that needs breaking into?  Old tomes ye need translating?”

“No, we need a young, beautiful, helpless looking girl to act as bait to draw out a feral werewolf.”  The way John put it was rather funny.

“Bait?!  Ye want me to be bait?  This is insulting and I flat out refuse!”

It was my turn.  “Listen Rosette, you’re in London.  Besides the people in this car, you’ve got no friends here, only people who want to use you or worse.  Think about what we talked about in Phoenix.  Keep helping us, and we’ll make sure you stay safe.”

“Is that a threat wolf?  What do ye mean by that?”

“Miss O’Byrne, on our flight over you told me about your fears with Pan and the mysterious individual Divas was talking to, right?”  She nodded at Gregory.  “We do not wish you ill, but what Victor says makes sense.  You help us, we will help you.”

She wasn’t happy, but relented.  “Fine, I’ll help ye, but first I want to know exactly what I’m getting into.”

I took my phone out and gave it to her.  “These are the pictures I took at the crime scenes I visited.  Our wolf has been attacking young women in remote areas with easy exits.  He’s been feeding on their flesh, which has turned him feral.”

“When ye say feral, what do ye mean?”

“A feral wolf starts to lose sense of who he is.  Werewolves have complete control over our thoughts, even in wolf form.  Once you dine on human flesh and allow yourself to succumb, the wolf inside begins to take over thoughts.  At some point if not stopped, this wolf will turn into a thoughtless killing monster.”

Shivers went down her spine.  “How do ye stop him?  Can it be reverted?”

“Nope, only death awaits this guy.  Besides, even if we could reverse it, he’s killed too many people.  Pack law states he must be killed for endangering our way of life.”

I don’t like killing.  I’ve had to numerous times in my career, both as the sheriff of Full Moon and in my current line of work.  A few times I’ve actually contemplated giving up this lifestyle and finding a nice place where no one could find me.  I’d live remotely near the water and no one for miles would even know who I was.

“Vic, are you paying attention?”

Liz’s voice was soft and her hand was on my shoulder.  Everyone else was out of the car.  “Sorry, just thinking about the case.”

“We are going to go inside and set up the plan.  It is either tonight or never as I doubt we can conceal the witch from Roderick any longer than we are already trying.”

I got out of the car and join the group.  “If we only got one shot, then let’s make it a good one.”