The weather in Blackland was seasonably warm and dry that April, a palette of tawny and green spread like a painting farther than the eye could see, the sounds and atmosphere of the land infused with the tones of hundreds of songbirds. This idyllic calm was of course deceptive, as it would all be shattered by one very unlucky person, who would destroy a good many other luckless individuals. The result will be remembered, reviled, reinvented and re-imagined as long as people have tongues to speak and fingers to type, but fewer than one hundred people know that the fate of the victims of the Blackland High School Massacre was sealed long before the unhallowed night of May 5th. The groundwork for the worst school massacre in U.S. history began a month before, when the doors of Blackland High School opened with seeming normality.

Jenny Ledbetter stepped into the dazzling Texas sun and looked down at the long spring shadows cast over the concrete. She half skipped down the stairs and onto the sidewalk, oblivious to her surroundings but completely absorbed in the gossip of her classmates.

“So, who are you taking to prom?” asked her friend Amanda.

“Dillon, I think,” Jenny responded.

“Damn it, Jenny, you cunt! I already asked him and he said 'maybe!'” Amanda laughed.

“That cocksucker,” snapped Jenny. “He's probably after a three way.”

“Hey, I'm willing if you are,” said Amanda.

“Me too,” said Tam Yu. “Dillon's hot enough I'd fuck him on broken glass if he wanted.”

The lighthearted insults and banter continued all the way to the bus as the friends planned and fantasized about the biggest school event that exists in the South. Jenny was a shoe in to be the prom queen of the class of '07, and though it was unfathomable that she would be without a potential king only a week out, she and her last boyfriend had recently broken up, leaving her with a good bit of ground to cover in a short span of time. Jenny was not that perturbed though. She was extremely self assured for an eighteen year old, and confident that she would have the situation remedied in time for the prom.

Corporal Dean Evans sat in his patrol car, just off of Denton Tap Road. It seemed like the best place to make contacts with traffic violators, plenty of people were speeding through Arredondo County trying to get to or from either Denton or Dallas-Fort Worth. At the moment he was browsing Facebook on his car's Panasonic laptop. He had his radar set to alert him if anyone exceeded the speed limit by too much. Evans liked his job but it could be damn boring sometimes. He sighed and looked out at the dusty expanse of scrubby conifers beyond the road. Fifteen more minutes, he decided. Fifteen more minutes, and then he was going 10-8.

The air conditioner hummed quietly in the office of Deputy Corporal Raymundo Alvarez as he packed his work up and prepared to leave Blackland High School for the day. Alvarez was the School Resource Officer, which meant he was the example of the Arredondo County Sheriff Department for the school faculty, students, and parents, as well as the first line of defense if disaster struck. It was an important community outreach job in any department, and though it was not Alvarez' first choice for a specialty, it was still a good fit for him, most of the time. He got along well enough with kids, but not with many adults. Outside of the school Alvarez was known to be the biggest jerk in the department. As arrogant as he was insulting and cold, Alvarez was nonetheless socially adjusted enough to get along with the civilians of the community, especially the teens he was charged with policing and protecting, which was more than could be said for some of his partners. Truth be told it was his wife who kept him in line. She was a school administrator, and as such the two kept their distance at work to avoid any conflicts of interest, but she nevertheless frequently reminded him to keep his patience and watch his language around both the kids and adults.

Alvarez slid his clipboard into his messenger bag and stood, arching his back to alleviate some of the stress from his duty belt, and brushed off his olive green uniform. He headed out the door, locking it behind himself. Outside the janitor nodded to him. Alvarez absentmindedly returned the gesture as he thought over what he had to do at the station. As he walked out the door and down the front steps he ran into his wife, Carol. “Ray,” she asked. “Will you be home in time for supper?”

“I'll be a little late,” he replied. “I've got some things to do at the station.”

“OK,” she responded, sounding disappointed. Alvarez immediately felt bad about putting his job first, but he had to get this paperwork finished and turned in today. He looked out at the amber orb surrendering to the horizon in the distance, a burning saucer of an egg served on a pale pink plate of sky. He descended into maudlin rumination as he gazed in the general direction of New Mexico. He'd neglected Carol for a long time. Too long. Any time was too long but now he realized he had to do something about it. Their anniversary was coming up, probably.

He had no idea when their anniversary was. He had to find out, though, and fast. For all he knew it could be tomorrow. Alvarez consoled himself lest he risk marital panic of some sort. Tomorrow he would just shut himself in his office and catch up on his work, giving him more time on his off days to do something nice for Carol. He would just sit down and do his work and not come out for anything except required rounds and the standard emergencies. Fights, drug busts, epileptic seizures, kids caught screwing in the closets, that sort of thing. And bathroom breaks. He had to come out for that. But otherwise it would be paperwork, a lot of unpleasant paperwork. He did not like the idea at all, but the alternative was worse. He hadn't expected to dread his Thursday. Alvarez sighed and climbed into his car.

“Shit.” Just because he policed himself around kids didn't mean the school was out of reach of Alvarez' foul mouth.

The Ledbetter residence was a two story, three bedroom house located on the edge of the suburbs, before the half dead yards gave way to the trees and grasslands of the Bluebonnet country. There were, in fact, several extensive stands of trees separating neighborhoods in this area, bastions which had somehow survived the genocidal “progress” of developers' bulldozers.

Jenny Ledbetter had decided to cut across the woods between the sidewalk and her house to save time. She had no reception here so she'd have to get back to her house if she wanted to text. She did not notice the Germanders or Beard Tongues growing in the patches of light that shafted their way through the canopy, but she did notice a sudden motion to her right. And that was when she saw it. A huge, muscular dog, covered in long, brown fur, stared at her with reddish, piercing eyes, eyes that betrayed an anger never seen in any animal. It snarled, exposing teeth to make any grizzly bear jealous. The canine was as large as Jenny, and probably weighed as much as a deer.

She met the animal's gaze for just a second, the longest second of her life, before backing slowly away. But the dog moved forward, inching towards her slightly. She backed again. It placed another paw forward. She backed. It trotted towards her, unafraid. Ledbetter turned and ran, smashing through vines, briars, and weeds. She tripped, stumbled, felt her ankle twist, but the animal was on her trail still, she heard it snapping branches and snarling at her back, just too far behind her to see.

Evans was driving through one of the local neighborhoods on his way back to the station. The day shift was almost over and he needed to eat, but he'd told some of the residents here he would check for speeders and stray animals. He was rolling through at ten miles an hour, watching the homes absentmindedly, when he saw something coming from the woods. A girl burst through the treeline and ran hellbent across the grass of a vacant lot. As Evans stared at this odd scene her pursuer showed itself.

The biggest dog, or wolf, or some kind of predator Evans had ever seen came roaring out of the forest, bearing down on the girl.

“What the fuck?” Evans shouted, slamming on his brakes. He grabbed his M4 and bolted out of the car as the dog pushed the girl to the ground, biting her arm and torso. Evans ran up to the dog, screaming and trying to distract it. The animal looked up at him for a second and the deputy let it have a volley of lead. Five rounds hit the wolf in the face, sending it yelping back, but it recovered quickly and snarled at the humans. As Evans held his rifle on it the animal lunged at him, biting his weapon. Evans let the rifle go, extracted his mace, and sprayed the whole bottle in the dog's face. It released the barrel, pawed madly at its snout, and ran like a dying turkey back into the woods, making an unearthly noise as it did so.

Evans picked his rifle up, and waited, pointing it into the woods. After a few seconds the crashing of the animal subsided, and he put his weapon down and checked on the girl. She was lying on the ground, crying, with blood pouring from her arm. “Hey,” said Evans. “Let me take a look at that.” He gingerly pulled her right hand away from her left arm and saw deep bite marks oozing blood. Evans immediately called it in as he ran back to his car. “105” he called.

“105, go ahead,” a woman's voice replied. Evans forced open his trunk with one hand.

“10-52, have EMS enroute to, uh, 1568 Bluebonnet Drive in reference to a dog mauling. Be advised animal shot, officer involved.” He pulled out his first aid bag and rushed back to the girl, who was now sitting up. Evans stayed on the radio, giving additional details about the injuries as he helped the victim. “What's your name?” He asked.

“Jenny,” she whimpered.

“OK, how old are you Jenny?”

“Eighteen,” she replied, still crying.

“Oh.” Evans thought she was younger. “Well, in that case I'm gonna need you to calm down and act like a grown woman.” Evans was not good with kids. He shoved a piece of gauze into her cuts, causing her to cry out.

“Keep pressure on that,” he ordered sharply, as he looked away, standing watch for the ambulance, and a potential return of the attacker. There was no way he was going home on time tonight, he bitterly thought to himself.

The next morning Ray Alvarez stopped by the station on his way to the school. He had some reports to drop off, and fights usually didn't start until lunch anyway. He checked his schedule and saw that he had an Explorers meeting at five that evening. “Shit,” he moaned. He'd be late again. Alvarez couldn't believe it was Thursday already.

Police Explorers were a component of the Boy Scouts, a group for 14-20 year olds. They met once a week, or on weekends, and participated in police training, ride alongs, and assisting deputies in tasks. They had a good bit of freedom in what they could do, with the exception of sworn duties. As the Explorers met at the school it fell to Alvarez to watch the little snots. He liked them for the most part but as far as the Corporal was concerned they were a bunch of ungrateful bastards with shitdick parents who didn't realize how nice of a unit they had. They were one of the best provided for Explorer posts in the country.

“Hey, Alvarez,” a voice called.

Ray looked up to see his superior, Sergeant Ralph Ketchum.

“Morning, sergeant,” replied Alvarez.

Ketchum handed him a piece of paper. “We've got a BOLO on a big ass dog that attacked one of the high school students last night.”

“Is she all right?”

“Last I heard. But I need you to follow up with her and get some more information on this thing. Evans says it was the biggest dog he's ever seen. Thinks it might even be a wolf.”

“I've taken shits smarter than Evans,” said Alvarez.

“So have I, but the girl agrees with him.”

“So the dog got away?”

“Yep,” replied Ketchum. “Evans shot it with his rifle, maced it and then it ran back into the woods. No sign of it since.”

“OK,” sighed Alvarez, looking over the report. “I'll talk to her.”

“Great,” said Ketchum. “Oh, and Ray: get some coffee. You seem tired.”

“I am,” replied the SRO. “Carol's up my ass about not paying enough attention again.”

“Really?” said Ketchum. “Well, don't worry about it. She'll get over it. Pam did.”

“She did?”

“Yeah, she barely even speaks to me anymore,” said Ketchum.

“That's... not very encouraging,” responded Alvarez.

“Well,” said Ketchum, “if you can be a good cop and a good husband then you're a better man than any of us here.”

Ketchum's words rang in Alvarez' ears all the way to the school, and stuck with him as he sat in his office, filling out forms in a zombie like fashion. At a quarter to nine Alvarez glanced at his watch and realized he had to give the 9th graders a presentation on the dangers of sexting. He grumbled and got up, putting on his duty belt as he did so. He'd talk to that Ledbetter girl at lunch.

When he entered the cafeteria he found her sitting with a redhead and an Asian girl. Jenny Ledbetter looked very pale. Alvarez took his tray over to her table and asked if he could sit down.

“Su-sure,” Ledbetter stammered, no doubt wondering if she was in trouble.

“Relax,” said Alvarez as he eased onto the bench. The girls looked like they were going to jump up and run at any second. “I need to ask you some questions about the attack.”

“OK,” said Ledbetter, without conviction. “But I already talked to the police and the doctors.”

“I know,” said Alvarez. “But my sergeant wanted to clear up some stuff.” He took out his note book and a pen. “What would you say this animal looked like? I've heard dog, coyote, wolf...”

“Definitely a wolf,” said Ledbetter.

“Hmm. So, big, right?”

“Yes, sir, like, the size of a deer almost, maybe even a bear.”

Alvarez nodded. “I see. And, uh, how's your arm after that?” He nodded at the thick bandage on her left forearm.

“It hurts a little, but I think it's getting better.”

“Was it a deep bite?”

“Yeah, uh, sir, it was almost to the bone the doctor said.”

“And it ran off after Corporal Evans maced it, is that right?”

“Yes, it ran into the woods. They came out with dogs after the ambulance got there, but they wouldn't go into the woods.”

Alvarez looked up from his notebook. “Wouldn't go into the woods? You mean like they lost the scent?”

“No, they just started whining and wouldn't go past the field.”

“Weird,” Alvarez muttered. “You were in the ER, ah, five hours, is that right?”

“That's right.”

“How did you feel after you got home? You look a little pale.”

“That's because she still hasn't asked Dillon out,” laughed the redhead.

“Amanda!” Ledbetter snapped.

“Who's Dillon?” asked Alvarez.

“Nobody. Never mind,” Ledbetter assured him. “I feel fine. The cut's getting better, and I've felt alright since last night. It was scary getting bitten, but that was all.”

“Did the doctor give you any shots, or test for diseases?”

“Yes,” responded Ledbetter, “he gave me a rabies shot, and a couple of other shots, and said to keep an eye on the cut.”

“O...K,” said Alvarez, scribbling in his notebook. “Well, I guess that's all I need for now. Get better soon, and good luck with Derek.” As he walked off he shot her a look that said he saw right through her bullshit. That Ledbetter girl isn't a very good liar, Alvarez thought. Or maybe it was his cop instincts. But he wouldn't press the issue now. Her friends would just make trouble. He picked up his tray and walked to the table where several of his Explorers were seated, trading insults with some bullies. Apparently Explorers was in the same tier as JROTC as far as school hierarchy went. Alvarez maturely counseled the bullies, advising them to “fuck off,” and then eating his lunch quietly, speaking only to answer questions the Explorers fielded while he thought about the response to Ledbetter's attack, and the strange behavior of the department's canines.

After lunch Alvarez went back to his office and completed another stack of paper work. When he finished he was certain he had carpal tunnel, but with the monotony out of the way he could take care of the Explorers meeting and head home early.

Around the same time Alvarez was headed to the JROTC classroom for the Explorers meeting.

Ledbetter was heading home as well. She had stayed late to catch up on homework she had missed in the hospital, and Yu, who had stayed to help Ledbetter, was walking along ahead of her. Ledbetter wasn't saying much. In fact she felt sick to her stomach, very sick, and she was worried she might throw up. She was watching for the bathroom doors, knowing she had to stop, when her vision began blurring, and her knees buckled, stopping her like a sudden brake. Yu didn't seem to notice. As Ledbetter raised a hand to ask her friend to stop her vision grayed out, sound washed away into a completely silent void, and the world tumbled around her, sending her into a noiseless, barely lucid abyss, permeated only with the overwhelming odor of blood.

Alvarez arrived at work the next morning with a cheerfulness he had not felt in months. He'd had about five hours alone with Carol the night before, not counting the parts where they were asleep, and he was feeling great. She wouldn't bitch at him for a while after last night. He unlocked his office and sat down to check his email and drink his coffee, but when he looked up he saw a bowling pin shaped blur beyond the frosted window of his door. It darted back and forth, apparently trying to see if anyone was in. Alvarez was getting up when the bowling pin let itself in. A pale head with a haircut that looked like it belonged to a five-year-old leaned past the door. “Excuse me, officer Alvarez, do you have a minute?”

Alvarez sighed. It was Richard Waddt, the school principal. For some reason he never understood that Alvarez was a deputy, or that he was a corporal. Alvarez sat back down. “Look, if this is about that incident in the cafeteria-”

“No, Mr Alvarez, it's not.”

“Is it the body armor incident, then?”

“No- wait, what body armor incident?”

“Never mind,” said Alvarez. What Waddt didn't know couldn't hurt either of them.

“Can you come to my office for a minute?” asked Waddt.

Alvarez obliged, shaking his head when Waddt was in front of him. That man was going to have an ulcer in a few years if he didn't stop worrying. Waddt led Alvarez to the IT office, where Carson Tadily, the head of information technology at Blackland High, sat, staring intently at a computer. Tadily turned to look at the pair and nodded briefly. “Mr Alvarez, we've found something very... troubling, on the security camera.”

Tadily fiddled with his mouse for a second, then said, “it's ready.” Alvarez leaned forward and watched as a student walked down one of the school's hallways. It appeared to be a female, who clutched a book bag as she moved. After a couple of seconds, a second girl walked up, moving normally. But as the three men watched, the second girl's motion changed. She started to twitch and stumble, then went into full blown convulsions, and all the while her body twisted and warped in impossible ways. Before their eyes the writhing humanoid shape stood up in the form of a large dog, standing on all fours and suddenly lunging onto the first student, pushing her to the ground, then biting through her neck and dragging her away.

Alvarez straightened up. “What the hell was that?” he demanded.

“I was hoping you'd have some idea,” said Waddt. “Mr Tadily has been analyzing the video all morning.”

“And? What have you found?”

“It looks legit as far as I can tell,” said Tadily.

“Well,” asked Alvarez. “What's next? I mean, this could be some senior prank or something.”

“We checked and... two students didn't come in today,” said Waddt.

“So?” shrugged Alvarez. “There are a lot of reasons that could happen.”

“At least ask around and see if anyone knows anything. Can you do that, please?” asked Waddt. “This is too weird.”

“OK,” Alvarez sighed. “I'll check around, and I'll talk to my sergeant about this.” Alvarez did feel uneasy about the video. There was something very uncanny about it all. Beyond the fact that it showed someone possibly being killed of course. But Alvarez lived in the 21st century. He'd seen what computers could do nowadays and he couldn't be sure what he saw was real; he was much more skeptical than Waddt could ever be. Alvarez decided the best thing to do was, first of all, to check out the crime scene. He recognized the hallway in the video from a poster on the wall, so he walked over to the area and scoped it out.

He looked at the camera, tried to get an idea of just what it covered and could see. He inspected the floor and the walls, looking for blood, marks, any sign of what had seemingly happened. There were some scuff marks in the wood, but that was far from a smoking gun. Nevertheless, he pulled out his department cell phone and called Ketchum.

“Seriously?” was the sergeant's reply when Alvarez explained the situation.

“I know it sounds stupid, probably just a prank or something,” replied Alvarez. “But Waddt's having a fit down here.”

“OK,” said Ketchum, “I'll talk to him.”

“All right, I'm going to check out the kids who didn't show up,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez went around the classrooms, asking who was absent. Most of the teachers had to check rosters to even tell who was in their class, let alone who wasn't. Eventually Alvarez found that two students who were supposed to be in calculus had not shown up for that class or for English Lit, and the names jumped out at the corporal immediately: Jenny Ledbetter, and Tam Yu.

Alvarez got his phone out and called ACSD dispatch, who informed him that Yu had been reported missing by her parents the previous night. Now was a fine time to learn that! Things fell through the cracks sometimes, all he could do now was press forward with the new information. He called Ketchum and asked him to come to the school to discuss his new findings.

Ketchum listened intently, consternated by the story and the discoveries. “So,” he began when Alvarez finished, “you said the parents reported the girl missing?”

“Yeah, patrol took a report last night.”

Ketchum nodded. “I'll call Davis, let's see what he wants to do.” The day shift lieutenant's position was currently vacant, so Ketchum called the patrol captain, Will Davis. Davis was, as usual, at his desk when his phone rang. The conversation was awkward, almost strained as Ketchum haltingly described the bizarre event. He tried to rationalize, tried to play down the supernatural aspect, but the fact remained, something unprecedented had occurred, and now it was painfully real as the cops faced the proposition that someone was dead.

Davis listened as raptly as Ketchum had, if more skeptically. He had not seen the footage, after all. Finally, he spoke. “Get me that footage down here,” he ordered. “I want to look at it. Oh, and Ralph, I don't think I have to say this, but keep it under wraps.”

“10-4, Captain,” said Ketchum. He turned to Alvarez. “Ray, do you have any blank CDs?” The two found some in the AV room, and took them to Tadily. They sealed the evidence in an envelope clearly labeled for such, and headed outside, weathering the stares and nervous whispers of students and staff who had already surmised the reason for their apparent investigation.

“So,” said Davis as he surveyed the footage in his office, “what the hell are we dealing with here?”

“IT guy at the school says he thinks it's genuine,” said Ketchum.

“What are his credentials?”

“He has a masters from UCLA,” said Alvarez.

Davis nodded. “All the same I want DPS to look at this. Get a copy sent to them, and interview that - what was her name?”

“Ledbetter.” Alvarez offered.

“Right. Alvarez, you track Ledbetter down and wring some answers out of her. Ralph, you take care of the video.”

“Yes, sir,” they replied almost in unison. Both strode out confidently, with resolve. Both men were trained investigators, with the detective's drive to understand, and to reach a solution. The strangest mystery of their careers had just fallen upon them, and neither would rest until it was solved.

Alvarez arrived back at the school and charged into Waddt's office. Ledbetter had missed two classes, but if she was in school, he was going to find her. “I need you to pull Ledbetter out of whatever class she's in, I need to talk to her.”

“I can't,” said the principal. “She didn't come in today.”

“Well, do you know where she is?”

“No, her parents said she never came home last night.”

“So she's missing,” Alvarez exclaimed in exasperation. “And you didn't think to report it?”

“I assumed she was playing hooky or something.”

“You assumed? You know what happens when you assume.” Alvarez groaned as he pulled out his Southern Linc.

Jenny Ledbetter opened her eyes to a ray of sun beating down on her body. As she took stock of her surroundings, she saw that she was in a thicket, lying in a clump of leaves. “What the hell?” she thought out loud. Sticks prodded her as she rolled to sit up. She looked down at herself. She was naked, covered in dirt, and ... blood? What was going on here?

She got to her knees and felt her stomach turn. She vomited, the hard, gut wrenching kind that left your diaphragm singing in pain. She collapsed to her knees, ran her hands through her hair, and came out with a mass of leaves and twigs. She looked down at her stomach contents and noticed something stranger than the blood. It disgusted her to look at it, made her want to puke anew, but Jenny's curiosity overcame her nausea, and she examined the putrid mass. It looked like bits of bone were mixed in with the blood. This was too weird.

Ledbetter struggled to her feet and stumbled haltingly through the woods, wincing with each step, as she was not accustomed to walking barefoot. Soon enough, the woods parted, revealing a pasture, and a highway beyond. Birds were singing in the trees behind her as she approached the road, and she wished they'd shut up. Ledbetter was in no mood for them today.

As soon as she saw a truck she waved it down. Naturally, it stopped. A nude girl by the highway wasn't a typical sight, after all. Ledbetter was well aware of her good looks, and she had no issue using her body to get attention, but today her nudity was simply another screw in the house of horror that was being constructed around her.

She asked the shocked man driving the pickup to take her by the hospital. She would rather deal with the staff seeing her in this condition than her parents, and besides, she definitely needed to see a doctor, throwing up blood wasn't normal. She pulled her knees up to her chin and sat in silence, not even bothering with the seatbelt.

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For his part, the driver wasn't sure what, if anything, to say. Finally, he offered up, “I can call the police when we get there.”

“N-no, you don't have to do that,” she stammered. “I was at a party last night. It got kind of wild, that's all.” She tried to force a laugh but couldn't. The idea of ever laughing again had become alien. Realizing the possible negative implications of her previous statement, she clarified, “I just want to make sure I didn't get any alcohol poisoning.” It was a lame explanation, and they both knew it, but the situation was too awkward to push. Ledbetter fell back into silence for the rest of the ride.

At the hospital the man gave her a dusty old flannel shirt from the back of his truck to wear and told her to keep it. Her “thank you” came out as a hoarse whisper. She trudged into the ER waiting room and avoided the stares by looking down at her scratched, dirty feet.

As soon as Jenny Ledbetter was inside, the driver of the pickup phoned the Arredondo County Sheriff Department and told them about the strange scene he had just been party to. The dispatcher assured him she would send out the first available deputy, and with that the Good Samaritan went on about his day, wondering what the story was behind that girl, his mind generating more and more terrifying and prurient tales, but never touching upon the true horror that was coming.

After Ledbetter checked in with the receptionist, she called her mother to come pick her up. The nurse who saw her was as skeptical of the girl's story as the truck driver had been, and she too called the sheriff. At the same time, the hospital couldn't force Ledbetter to stay, and in the end she left with her mother.

When the deputy arrived he took down Jenny Ledbetter's information, went by her house, and spoke to her and her mother. Jenny balked at the idea of a sexual assault. Her own hypothesis, she told the deputy, was that she was sleepwalking. The blood was, of course, from throwing up repeatedly. That wasn't normal, but the doctor had said she was healthy. Better than healthy, in fact. He said she had the best anatomical systems of any eighteen year old he'd seen. So, in short, everything was good. A little weird, but good. Jenny suggested staying home for a few days and her mother agreed. The deputy took all of this information down, wrote up an I/O report, and stated that if there was a suspect, Jenny Ledbetter did not wish to prosecute.

Back in his office, Alvarez was trading epithets with Ketchum over the phone.

“Listen, just put a BOLO out for her and have them hold her for you,” said Ketchum. “I'm on my way out the door right now; I'll ride around and look for her. You stay at the school for now and see if she turns up. When school lets out come and ride. We'll find the little bitch.”

Alvarez sighed and hung up.

“Anything the matter?”

He looked behind himself to see Carol, seemingly concerned.

“Yeah,” he replied. “A lot's the matter.” His tone and expression spoke volumes. It was clear to her that it was nothing he could or wanted to talk about. He simply turned and walked away. Alvarez wanted to escape the wave that had been drowning him. The tide of work and marital problems had been overwhelming him for the past six months. And now this! He hoped things wouldn't get worse even as he laughed at himself for such idiocy. Things always got worse.

Ketchum stopped halfway through his patrol to check and approve the shift I/O reports. That was when he saw the one by the deputy who responded to the Ledbetter residence. “Shit!” he exclaimed, turning his Crown Vic around in the dirt as he rushed to respond to the house. When he arrived, he got the same story his deputy had gotten. The Ledbetters did not wish to talk and would not let him in. Ketchum turned away angrily and called Alvarez with the news.

“So, what now?” the SRO asked at the conclusion.

“Now,” said Ketchum, “we get a search warrant.”

Judge Theophilus Reinquist leaned his massive frame back in his office chair as he ate a sandwich. He was watching the high school surveillance video with Alvarez and Ketchum, and both men were wondering if they should dissuade him from finishing his meal before Ledbetter's “reveal.”

When it happened Reinquist practically spit his food out, and wrenched back in the chair, coughing spasmodically. “What was that?”

“That was Jenny Ledbetter,” said Ketchum. “The student we came to see you about.” He briefly explained the bizarre situation before presenting Reinquist with a search warrant. It was one of the strangest and most difficult warrants Ketchum had ever written, and he hoped it would never see court.

“So, what's your plan?” Reinquist asked.

“Ledbetter won't say word one about what's going on. We need surveillance on her house to see whether this is real, or if it's some weird prank, or what. But something is definitely up, we haven't found a trace of that missing student.”

“OK,” said the judge. “Do what you have to do. But I want answers within the week. The parents of that missing girl are gonna be up all our asses.”

“We'll get you results, sir,” assured Ketchum.

They called Davis afterward to inform him of the updates. “I want eyes on that house tonight,” he ordered. “Just you and Alvarez. I don't want this spreading.”

That night Alvarez and Ketchum sat in the empty field behind the houses across from the Ledbetter residence, their forms concealed by ghillie suits. They had been at this for several hours, having walked in as soon as the sun went down and the lights went on in the house. It was tiring, monotonous work, but Alvarez enjoyed the break from his normal routine. He'd wanted into the special operations side of the job since he started, unfortunately they had never wanted him. Consequently any chance to execute special missions, even one as low speed as this, was welcome to Alvarez.

Ketchum, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to be home reading. He had gotten the desire to do this sort of thing out of his system years ago, not to mention spying on a teenage girl's bedroom, even through a grainy night vision scope, did not sit well with him. The family had finished dinner, and the light in Jenny's bedroom had finally come on. Now they would hopefully get something, but whether it was Jenny Ledbetter undressing, or turning into some Eldritch monster, Ketchum was equally uneasy.

Jenny Ledbetter was stepping out of the shower, her mind full of unpleasant questions. She still had no idea what had happened at the school, but she hoped it wouldn't happen again. The prom was in one day and she hadn't asked anyone out. She would look like an idiot if she didn't have a prom king to share her title.

“Aw, shit,” moaned Ketchum.

“What?”

“She just came out in a towel.”

“So, we look away for five minutes.”

“Alright, sure.” The two turned their eyes away from their scopes, grateful for the rest despite the frustrating situation.

Jenny went to the mirror as she pulled on a T-shirt. She had to look perfect on the day of. She looked close at her face, checking her eyelashes. She had always wished she had longer lashes, but by nature's perverse laws men tended to get the long lashes, leaving just one more thing women had to worry about in their makeup routine.

As she examined her lashes she blinked, felt a sudden jolt in her brain, started, and opened her eyes to find that they had turned red! She jumped back, mind reeling. What the hell? A sudden nausea overwhelmed her; she grabbed her dresser. It was all happening again. No! she thought. This couldn't happen. Not to her. But it was happening. What was happening, though? She felt her bones cracking and breaking, muscles spasming like an epileptic’s. She needed help. Jenny dropped to the floor and crawled for her phone. She tried to scream for her parents, but all that came out was a guttural moan, lower than anything she should have been able to muster. The world blacked out around her, her last vague sight was her hands elongating, stretching in unnatural dimensions.

Ketchum decided to glance back, hoping he didn't receive an eyeful. He blinked and reapplied himself to the scope. Something was moving in Jenny's room, but it wasn't her. It wasn't even human. As he stared, hand unconsciously inching for his gun, a canine form burst through the window, slid down the roof, and rushed across the dark street into the woods. “Fuck! Which way did it go?”

Alvarez fumbled with a compass. “Ah, west.”

“OK, let's BOLO it.” Ketchum turned on his radio.

“Attention all units, be on the lookout for a large canine, last seen heading west on Bluebonnet Lane. Any contact notify Unit 130.”

Evans barely noticed the dispatcher's transmission. He was too focused on his traffic stop. Evans had a new trainee, Deputy Juan Losa, and the two currently had an Altima stopped for doing 65 in a 45, not quite reckless driving, but a considerable speed. Losa was in his last training phase, and it was time for him to fly solo. “You got this one?” Evans asked.

“Yeah.”

“Alright,” said Evans. “I'll put us out.”

Losa stepped out and approached the car, where he ran through the requisite license, registration, proof of insurance, where are you going, OK, do you know how fast?

He turned to head back to the patrol car, and he almost ignored the movement off to his side before his training kicked in. A large dog was barreling across the prairie at them. “Hey, Evans!”

Evans glanced over and practically jumped out of his seat. Instead of leaping, however, he grabbed his rifle. This was the same bitch from before, he knew it. “Losa get that gun out!”

Losa got down on a knee beside the car and took aim as Evans aimed his rifle over the roof. The driver of the Altima looked back at them. “Go, go!” Losa shouted. “Get out of here!”

Evans was already firing. Losa took two shots then jumped back into the car and closed the door just as the dog slammed into the side. The whole Charger shook, and Evans floored the accelerator, quickly hitting seventy. The dog kept pace the whole time, and Evans pushed the car up to triple digits, desperately trying to escape. Finally, the animal fell back and ran out into the prairie, disappearing as quickly as it had shown itself.

Ketchum was racing down the pike, heading back to headquarters when the call went out.

“105 to 130.” Evans sounded out of breath.

“130”

“Switch to patrol.”

“Switching.” Ketchum turned the radio to the patrol channel, reserved for traffic between units.

“Hey, sarge, uh, we found that canine you're looking for.” Evans was trying to avoid cursing over the radio. “It attacked us on 39.”

“Copy, you guys hurt?”

“Negative. Shots were fired, though. I don't know if we hit it.”

“10-4. Where is it now?”

“Ran back into the woods, heading more or less north.”

“10-4,” repeated Ketchum. “We're heading out there now. And, uh, Evans don't put this out over dispatch.” They swept the area on foot for nearly an hour with flashlights and long guns, turning up no more than some tracks through the farm field bordering the road. Evans thought it odd that Ketchum didn't want more units. The four of them weren't enough, but Ketchum was clear that it was only to be them, and they were not to talk to anyone about what had happened.

Finally, tired, sore, and thoroughly pissed, Ketchum told Evans and Losa they could get 10-8, while he and Alvarez returned to their own vehicle.

“What now?” Alvarez asked.

“We need a pickup order for Ledbetter,” said Ketchum.

Jenny Ledbetter stumbled out of the woods into a field. She felt like she was going to faint. The sun was shining, but she didn't know what time it was. She was naked, as before, covered in dirt, as before, with blood in her mouth, her nose, and under her nails. She desperately needed help. Something was extremely wrong. Her parents would be worried sick. There was a fear in Jenny's stomach like she had never known, it was clawing its way up her throat, setting a lump that threatened to reduce her to quivering tears. She wanted to know what was happening to her. How could that idiot doctor say that she was healthy, that she was fine? She was a fucking mess. What the hell was going on? her mind rhetorically demanded of her. She stopped, buried her face in her hands, and took a breath.

She couldn't get a handle on what was going on. Not a thing. She felt her life tumbling down around her, but she swallowed hard, and started forward again. She wasn't strong enough for this, but she had no choice. She wanted her family, she wanted to know what she was dealing with. She put one foot in front of the other, ignored the pain, and walked. Soon enough she saw a road, and she followed it, not knowing if it headed toward town or away, but not caring. She was overwhelmed with the desire to escape the wilds, to get to civilization, to get to help. She put her feet on the white stripes, found the walking easier, and pressed forward into the sun. The light hit her eyes like some kind of switch, and she broke down. She forced herself on, one step at a time, sobbing.

On the previous night Ketchum had issued a questioning only lookout for Jenny Ledbetter. He would have preferred a warrant, so that they could keep her under observation, but what would the charge be? They could potentially charge her with murder, but they needed her under the lights first, to establish just what was going on.

Ketchum, sitting behind the computer at his headquarters desk, rubbed his eyes under his glasses. He wasn't going home anytime soon. The sun was up and it would be one long investigation now. They had to find they girl. He swore quietly to himself. That damn prom was tonight. He was having Alvarez hang out at the school, hoping she might show up there. He doubted it though. Jenny had problems, problems she most likely wasn't ignoring anymore. Whether she was aware of her lycanthropy or not, she was sick and she had to know it. He decided he'd go by the hospital himself, get ahead of this thing before it got out of control. Well, more out of control. He got up, stretched, and ran his hand through greasy hair. Summer was coming on and this was shaping up to be a bad one. He had no idea how bad it was going to get.

Jenny was still walking along the road, hands clasped around her breasts, cutting her feet on every stray rock, alternating between crying and cursing, when the patrol car rolled up beside her. It was the first vehicle to stop for her, the second she had seen all day. She blinked through the tears, barely able to read “SHERIFF ARREDONDO COUNTY” on the side.

The deputy threw a blanket around her, asked some perfunctory questions, and put her in the back of the Crown Vic. When he typed her information into the computer database, he saw Ketchum's lookout, and quickly closed the computer in case the girl was looking at the screen.

Alvarez unlocked his office, turned up the air conditioner, and collapsed into his chair. He felt like he was going to doze off, and he shook his head to ward the fatigue away. The kids were slowly arriving for the prom, and he needed to check every few minutes in case Jenny Ledbetter showed. He hoped she would get there soon if at all, so he could scoop her up, drive her to headquarters, and be done with this, investigation? Witch hunt? Whatever it was he was kidding himself. It wasn't over, nor would it be anytime soon. It was only beginning.

Ketchum arrived at the hospital and made some rounds through the ER. Ledbetter wasn't there, so he told the staff to call him if she showed up, then he headed back to his car. As he stepped outside, his phone rang. It was Todd Glysson, one of ACSD's detectives, letting him know that Jenny Ledbetter was in custody at headquarters.

“Great, keep her there until I can get back,” said the sergeant.

Glysson confirmed the order, hung up, and tracked down his partner, Billy Galloway, to get Ledbetter in an interrogation room and begin questioning her. Ketchum would want a base laid down when he got there, the detective thought.

The prom was starting in earnest, and Alvarez hung in the wings, watching intently. The mood was somewhat stilted by Tam Yu's disappearance, and the lack of the prom queen elect, which Alvarez was of course annoyed at. His phone began to vibrate, and he walked into the hall to take it, not wanting to contend with the teens' choice of music. By the time he answered the call he was halfway to his office, and he decided to go on back to it. “Alvarez.”

“Hey, it's Ketchum. We got her.”

Alvarez sighed in relief. “Great, where is she?”

“Headquarters. I'm on my way back right now.”

“I'll get down there.”

“Don't worry about it. Just hang out at the school for now and make sure the prom fights don't get out of hand. I'll take care of this. Let you know what to do after we finish interrogating her.”

“Understood.” He hung up, as goodbyes weren't customarily exchanged between them. As he approached his office he saw Carol looking in. “Working late?” he asked.

She jumped, and laughed as she saw him. “I've got some work to finish, I saw your door was open, so I wanted to look in on you.”

“I should've locked it.” Alvarez' shotgun and heavy armor was in his office, it wouldn't do for any of that to be stolen, still there was hardly anyone here tonight.

“When will you be home?” She asked.

“I wish I knew.”

“I'll leave you some dinner in the fridge.”

“All right. Carol, I...” he scratched his neck, wondering if he had the energy or composure to say what he'd been needing to for so long. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything the past few months.”

“You've been busy.”

“I know, but I'm sorry. After this, I don't know, I'll take some time off when school lets out. We'll go to Galveston or Big Bend or something.”

“I'd like that. What is it you're working on, anyway? You didn't come home at all last night.”

“I wish I could tell you.”

That perturbed her. Her husband wasn't one to talk about work, but not for any reasons of secrecy. Not until now. “OK.” She said it slowly, with reservation.

“I'll be home tonight,” he promised.

“Well until then...” she leaned forward and kissed him. In that moment everything Alvarez had seen, and done in the past week melted away, and he was floating, in freefall as much as if he'd jumped from a plane, and he was happy, for the first time in what felt like a thousand years he was on top of the world, released from the bondage of his job for a few fateful seconds. He closed his eyes and breathed hard.

“I'll see you tonight,” she said.

He nodded, leaned back against the wall, and smiled slightly, something he had not done in ages.

Jenny Ledbetter was, of course, not smiling. She was sitting in the interview box, staring down at the ill-fitting raid sweatshirt they had given her to wear. The room was as dingy and gray as she felt. She had no idea why she was here, she only suspected that she had done something horrible when she blacked out. She was about to descend back into tears when Glysson opened the door. Galloway followed with a notepad. The two sat down across from her began asking her various questions. Where do you live? Where were you last night? What were you doing?

“I don't feel well,” she finally said.

“We can get the medics for you if you want,” said Glysson.

Before she could answer Jenny snapped back in the chair like a woman possessed. A deputy outside caught the movement, caught the sight of something dragging the detectives down and ripping them to pieces. The deputy charged forward with his handgun out as the door buckled under the weight of... something. Something he had never seen. He was a big man, and he flung himself into the door, holding against whatever abomination was on the other side. Two more men heard the commotion and came running to bolster the first's efforts. The first deputy fired his Glock into the opening between the door and its jamb. “Someone get me a shotgun!” he yelled.

“Hold her in!” cried the third. It wasn't enough. The door gave way and the three were knocked to the floor. There was no time for them to get to their feet as the claws tore through them. Their body armor was useless against what amounted to an edged weapon, and they fell, gushing blood, slack jawed and eyes open as they were cut through like paper.

From there it was less a fight and more a massacre as the wolf careened around the building, tearing men and women to pieces, their screams reverberating across the brick walls. She rushed up the stairs with some difficulty until she made it to the dispatch room, where the three women on duty were completely unarmed. She destroyed the entire affair in a few seconds, smashed through the window, scraped for purchase on the outside wall, and finally dropped to the ground, and rushed down the road.

Amerist Langdon was still breathing, alive in the dispatch room for a few remaining minutes, and she pushed herself up onto her desk to watch the wolf run into the town. She grabbed her mic, hit the emergency tone, and issued the last BOLO of her life.

“Attention, attention all units, large canine, large canine heading west from headquarters, multiple officers down-”

“What the fuck was that?” Evans demanded. He and Losa were sitting by the town park, where the day had been, until now, winding down. Evans jerked the car back onto the road and headed in, just as the wolf shot across the street in front of them.

“Hell's bells!” Evans shouted. He took off after the animal, as Losa unlatched the shotgun and leaned out the window. He fired once, twice, three times. If he was hitting the wolf it was doing nothing. It slammed into the side of the car, threatening to knock Losa out. As he re-aimed she ran off at an angle, trailing through the yards of houses. Evans ground to a halt and turned the car around, one hand on the radio mic as he chased after the beast. “105 to all units, I've got eyes on the canine. Heading southwest, towards the high school.”

Alvarez was watching the kids dancing, his thoughts now far away from the supernatural events of the week. It would all resolve soon, he thought. If the dispatcher hadn't been near to shouting he never would have registered the transmission. But Alvarez heard it clear as day, and he locked on Evans' remark that the animal was headed his way. He bolted for his office. Only a few of the students noticed as he left, they were in their own blissful unawareness.

The remainder of ACSD's current shift was streaming towards the school, calls were being made to off duty units, medics and the special response team were preparing to converge on headquarters, and Ketchum was still on his way there, as he was unsure whether to head for HQ or the school at this point.

Alvarez skidded to a stop in his office, grabbed his hard armor vest and shotgun, and ran back towards the gym. He could already hear sirens outside. As he neared the gym he heard gunshots. Then, he heard screams. By the time he reached the prom a full-blown firefight was holding the kids in rapt attention. The music had been killed and it was simply a volley of guns and screams. There were no windows in the gym, only the sounds from outside revealed the horror. Alvarez didn't know if should get out there or hang back, so he just stood behind the door, shotgun ready.

Two rounds hit the gym wall with a loud klang. The bursts were getting more frenzied and condensing to a single point. Finally, the last magazine ran dry, or the last wielder died, and for a moment silence fell over the room. There was a loud bang at the door, then another, then another. It was forcing its way in, then doors began to warp under the blows. Alvarez braced behind them, ready to end Jenny Ledbetter, or the thing that had been Jenny, as soon as it came through. The doors were almost folded end on end now, brown furry claws could be seen pawing through the gaps, loud, hellish growls were sneaking in. The hinges bent. The doors banged and lurched until, with an echoing tear, they gave way, leaving the panting wolf eye to eye with Alvarez.

He tightened his finger on the trigger. If he remembered right, it took five pounds of force to release the firing pin on his Mossburg. He was down to half a pound at most. She lunged. He fired. The blast momentarily blinded him in the dark room. The noise was louder than any gunshot he had ever heard. He yelled something as he fired, but he didn't know what. He never would. She cut right through the blast as if it were nothing. Alvarez had seen men decapitated by buckshot at this range. The wolf's fur barely moved. He jumped back, tried to bring the gun up as he saw the claws descending. The massive paw caught him in the right shoulder and bicep. It tore through his vests like linen. He felt his skin peeling crossways, opening to the raw fat and nerves underneath. The sheer force of the blow spun him, doubled him over, and deposited him, face first, onto the hard basketball floor, where his body landed on his gun.

He pushed, tried to force himself up, but his whole right side was numb. It was paralyzed, pure dead weight. He was at the mercy of something that knew none, an alien monster immune to bullets. He was dead. He prayed, simply pleading, over and over. This was no time to be specific in his requests. Alvarez didn't care much if he lived or died, but there were fifty kids in here who had no defenses. He was their defense, and he was useless. He already felt a puddle of blood forming under him. And then he heard their screams.

The wolf went to work, ripping, tearing, biting, clawing, depositing viscera across the floor, slipping in the blood from her own handiwork, going for every moving thing. There were two exits, and everyone shot to one of them. Thirty people tried to jam their way out the broken doors at once. The doorway was thirty-six inches wide. It was what police referred to as a “fatal funnel,” and now it served exactly that purpose, bottle-necking the panicking class of '07, turning them into simple meat for a grinder. The wolf cut through them in seconds, separating them from the mass one or two at a time and going for the throat, the groin, the abdomen, the thighs. She ripped out a massive chunk or two and left them for the others. Not a single one of the wounds would have been survivable if it had happened to them on an operating table. The fate of the stricken was sealed as soon as tooth or claw made contact. The brutal spectacle was over within two minutes, and with her work complete in the gym, the wolf rushed out the second exit, tearing through the stragglers, sacking her way into the school proper.

Alvarez continued to lay, listening to the screams and pleas of the kids. His kids. They cried, for their parents, for friends. Or they simply cried. Alvarez cried too. Silent tears streamed down his face as he quietly begged for them to stop. Just die already so it can stop, he wailed in his mind. The sounds continued for several more minutes, until Alvarez could no longer stand it. He forced himself up. He could move his right side now, though only with great pain. But he couldn't listen to the dying any longer. He was a cop, and his school was under attack, and he was going to kill this attacker or die in the effort. He cried out as he lifted himself up, using the shotgun like a crutch. He panted hard as he got to his feet. He surveyed his wounds. The slashes were deep, straight to the bone. Blood was oozing from his arm. That wasn't a good sign, but it wasn't the worst either. Oozing blood meant that the brachial artery had not been hit. He had a chance. His injury was some kind of fluke, minor compared to what he was seeing around him.

He tore a piece of his shirt off and tied it around his arm at the socket joint as a crude tourniquet. Then he stumbled forward, toward the hall, slipping twice in blood that was now a sea over the floor, and tripping over a set of intestines. The boy they belonged to didn't seem to notice. Alvarez carefully negotiated the pile of bodies at the doorway. He noted Andy Sacchet was dead already, mouth frozen wide open, eyes staring up at the ceiling, or at him. He had to focus. Focus, he told himself. This was a fool's errand. He was dead, and he had failed in his mission already. His job wasn't to merely take life, it was to preserve it. You were supposed to take life in order to preserve innocent life. At this point he was no good to the innocent. He was simply trying to even the score, and possibly protect some fellow cops. What else could he do? If it was possible to kill this thing he had to do it now.

As he limped down the hallway that formed the main corridor of the school he stopped at each door, and tested it, hoping one would be unlocked so he could duck inside for concealment if he saw the thing coming at him. The second door he came upon stood open, and he cautiously peered around it. He was delirious enough that he did not initially realize it was Carol's office, but when he saw the crumpled desk, and the mangled legs stretching from behind it, he knew immediately knew what it meant.

Alvarez sucked in a cry, holding back the hellish despair for fear of alerting the animal. He inched forward, terrified to look at what the rest of Carol must be, but holding on to a ludicrous plea that she could still live. He looked tentatively around and over the edge of the desk, past the claw marks that seared through the wooden top. With one glance at his wife's remains something inside Raymundo Alvarez broke, a catastrophic torsion of emotion that he physically felt. It bent him over, forced him to grab the desk for support, and in that moment Alvarez knew no emotions besides despair and hate, both in equal measure. He shook with the intense sensations, his body a lightning rod of mental energy that drove a renewed vigor into him. He hobbled back out, wiped bitter tears from his vision, and set himself back to the revenge mission with an expression that might have killed the wolf outright had she seen it.

He reached a junction in the hallway and was already stymied as he looked at the intersection. This was at least a two-man job. He decided to peer carefully around one corner, then immediately transition to the other. The only good thing about this target was that she didn't shoot back. But she could move almost as fast as a bullet and would more than likely take advantage of his blind spots. He saw the hallway to be clear and advanced forward.

“Psst!”

Where did that come from?

“Psst. Ray. Ray!” It was a harsh whisper.

He glanced to his left, then right, then to the janitor's closet, where he saw Evans peering around the cracked door. Alvarez sailed in, and pulled the door shut as quietly as he could. Evans activated his rifle flashlight and illuminated Losa and Corporal Hernando Corval. The three were panting like dogs in the cramped closet. “All right,” said Evans, “what do we do here?”

“We move,” said Alvarez. “ALERRT formation, direct to threat. Are we good on ammo?”

“Yeah, we haven't shot yet.”

“OK.”

Evans looked at Alvarez' arm. “Are you good Ray?”

“Yeah, yeah I can make it.”

“All right, let's kill this motherfucker.”

“On three, we move,” Alvarez ordered. “One, two, three.” They burst through the door, got in formation, and marched through the hallway as the screams of the remaining victims rang through the building. As they reached a corner they stopped to reconnoiter a hallway.

Alvarez scanned to his right. “Move,” he ordered.

They reformed and took off, and Evans caught something out of the corner of his eye. He held back an urge to yell something obscene and moved into an alcove, with Losa and Corval following.

Alvarez continued forward, oblivious, until he realized no one's hand was on his shoulder. He looked around to see the wolf standing in front of him. “Fuck.”

She jumped, slamming into him and knocking him on his back, hard enough to knock the wind out. He raised his gun up to stop the claws, which were now inches from his face. The other three ran forward, yelling and trying to get the animal off of Alvarez without shooting him. Evans kicked it in the throat, sending it yelping away. They pulled Alvarez up and ran after the wolf as it darted through the hallway. Sirens were converging outside the school.

Evans got on the radio. “105 have responding units establish a perimeter. We've got him on the run.”

The wolf skidded around the corner, the men stopped again to watch where she had gone, then they cut loose, firing at the retreating form, filling the hallway with dust and spall.

“Reloading!” Evans shouted.

Alvarez struggled to push more shells in his shotgun magazine with one hand. There was no formation now. They were simply running, and winging the corners, each man cursing a blue streak. Alvarez felt himself getting dizzy, his vision was greying out at the corners. His arm was throbbing, and the pain was becoming impossible to ignore. He bit down on his lower lip, and fought the desire to rip himself out of his own body to combat the wild anguish driving through him. He pushed forward, operating only on training and raw instinct.

They rounded another corner, and the wolf that had been Jenny ducked into a classroom. The four ground to a halt outside the door and debated their next move.

Evans glanced in. “Shit! The window's open. We've gotta get in there or that bitch is getting outside.”

“OK,” panted Alvarez. He took his own look at the situation. The wolf was pacing, going in ever expanding circles toward the lockers in the back of the room. “If we fan out we can all fire at once.”

“Sounds good,” said Evans. The other two nodded agreement. Evans counted. “One, two, three.”

They whisked in and spread out, all firing in unison. The wolf flinched but stood her ground. One of the shots must have found an important spot, because the wolf suddenly let out a scream from hell and backed up. Evans almost let go of his rifle to put his hands over his ears, but instead he channeled the fear and disgust into rage and brought the rifle up again, firing wildly on automatic. Then, just like that, they were all dry, dropping magazines to the floor on instinct, and suddenly realizing their predicament. The wolf took the cue and charged. Evans backed up, knocking chairs and desks out of the way, bounding over the teacher's own desk, and taking cover as the wolf pushed it against the wall. Alvarez was almost useless now, his right arm was gone, numb, and refusing to move. Losa fumbled with his shotgun, being less trained than the senior officers. Corval quickly loaded his Glock and fired into the wolf, missing most of his shots, but giving Evans the opening he needed to return his rifle to battery. He sprung up, shot a half dozen rounds into the animal, and sent her skitting away. She leapt through the open window with ease, running like mad away from the school. Evans raced to the window himself, only to be driven back by stray shots from perimeter officers, who fired first towards the school, then away as the wolf shot through the strung out line of vehicles, dogs, and armed men and women.

Evans pounded the cinder block wall in fury. His throat hurt too much to yell or curse anymore. Everything around him came back into focus, flowing in like the sweat he now realized he was drenched in. He became aware of a mind-numbing thirst like nothing he had ever experienced before. His limbs threatened to give out and drop him to the floor. His entire body shook and shivered despite the dry heat permeating the open room. The only sound in the building was panting from the four men. The sirens were over, as everyone in the department still alive waited outside now, rapt and terrified. Evans had no idea why no one else seemed to have entered, but it didn't matter now. The radio was quiet for some reason. Perhaps they were waiting for him to give an update. But he didn't feel like it. He didn't feel like facing anyone in this department ever again. Alvarez looked terrible. He was corpse gray and wavering on his feet, the shotgun held loosely and dangerously towards his boots.

Evans looked at Losa and Corval. “Come on,” he finally said in a creaky voice. “Let's get the hell out of here.”

Their ringing ears could barely interpret the words. Alvarez and Losa could feel something oozing from their own tympanae, and their heads rang while they choked on the lingering dust. Alvarez had never wanted to escape a place so fast in his life, but his body no longer obeyed commands in the simple, automatic way he was accustomed to. It lumbered and tripped along, numb and languid, like a dying computer.

They trudged down the halls and found their way to the front entrance, where they forced the heavy metal doors open and were met by a dazzling convergence of red and blue lights. Police and fire agencies from around the area had the school surrounded. The group stumbled towards this assembly, looking for someone with water. Davis and Ketchum approached them. “Alvarez. What happened?” asked Davis.

Alvarez pushed past him, wordless, as did the others. “Alvarez,” pressed the captain. “Alvarez. What the hell happened in there? Alvarez?”

Alvarez stared at him for a brief second, then turned away to stare at nothing as a blanket of warmth and tranquility overtook him. He did not marvel at the placidity of it, it was the most natural thing he had ever felt. His wife, the kids, and his coworkers were no longer important, and yet he was with them as one, lost in the most absolute sensation of true nothingness that could be experienced, though it was impossible to truly touch or fathom. He toppled forward, and he felt himself tumbling, falling through blackness. The sounds around him melted into a whoosh of releasing pressure and pain.

Everything working against his body was gone now, replaced by that comforting emptiness. He felt himself tumbling again, end over end, into a darkness devoid of feeling or sensation. The sound was gone now, everything was gone, and for the first time in his life, here at the end, Alvarez knew true peace.