At the rendezvous point we were met by the Doc, and an armored transport with Rolland at the wheels. He greeted us and told me that the others have been safely returned to camp, including Jameson and Bradley. I nodded and hopped into the passenger seat as Dr. Benton rode in the back with the scientist to treat for any injuries.
“It was crazy, but the mission was a success Boss.”
“….”
“You okay Boss?”
“Rolland, have you heard something about a temple?”
“Temple? Like were monks go to pray and shit?”
I thought so. Rolland hadn’t a clue on what I was talking about. He could be lying and acting like he didn’t know anything. But then again Rolland acting was like a fish trying to breathe on land. I kept my eyes on the road as Rolland looked puzzled at my question.
“If you want religion Boss, I can take you to my church.”
“I didn’t know you were religious.”
“I ain’t, but it makes my nerves calm down after something like today. You know what I mean Boss?”
“Yeah… as a matter of fact I do. It’s why I keep myself out of churches.”
Rolland was now looking more confused, I didn’t say anything after that and just kept my eyes on ahead. Rolland didn’t persist the question and just kept quiet the entire wat back. Like I said before, I never really regained my faith in God after Sarah. The church was a fuel for my rage and anger that I didn’t need especially after something like today. If God wanted me back, he’d shown me already.
When we were behind the gates of the newly fortified camp, the scientists let out a sigh of relief. I wouldn’t blame them. Dr. Benton led them to the make-shift medical tent setup outside and I walked over to the command tent to meet Bradley. He had returned only for half a day and things already looked like they were going under way. Got to hand it to him on these things. He was a natural leader type. As I walked in, I saw Bradley working on a pile of papers behind his temporary desk. He looked up to see me walk in and took a seat back. He had an unusual smile that I had never seen from him, not personally anyway.
“Well, Jack. I never thought I’d say this but for once I am glad you did what you did.”
“And I never thought I’d hear that from you.”
Bradley gave a small grin. Now that I wouldn’t get use to. I could see Bradley was under a dilemma while standing before me. The only time he ever puts on that face is when he couldn’t decide on whether to disclose information.
“Something you want to say to me?”
“Jack…”
“What?”
“Nothing… Good work. As promised you can do what ever strategic planning you want. Just keep the boom boom to a minimum.”
Bradley clearly wasn’t ready to entrust me with whatever he was about to say. Instead, he gave me the freedom of action and a bland joke. Looks like I’ll have to find out the hard way. I decided to keep an eye on Bradley. Something told me that he was going to lead me to the answer I was looking for. So that night, after I blew off a celebration drink down at the temporary pub with a more than usually enthusiastic Beth, Rolland and Jameson, I decided to go on a stakeout mission. But on Bradley’s office. I casually walked to my room after telling Beth to enjoy the celebration. Luckily, the barracks complex was still standing with my room still in one piece. Restoration construction was on the way but it was mostly to the 2 other floors above and the basement. After entering my room I pulled away my bed to find a sizable hole in the wall, just enough for me to crawl out of. It happened during the attack, but a large slab of building debris fell in front of it, covering the hole from the naked eye. It was perfect for me to sneak out of my room without being caught. The entire camp was on lock-down and surveillance was on max. No need to gain suspicion.
I made myself to a secluded part of the camp with a nice open view of Bradley’s office. He usually stayed late into the night working on papers. As I looked over to a window of his office, I found it to be lit. As I thought. But under current circumstances, I wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed up all through the night. And it seemed like it. Way into the night and past midnight, Bradley’s office was lit and he never came out of his office. I was starting to think he left already and forgot to turn off his light. But I was relieved to see him at the window lighting up a cigarette. After that, I didn’t see him again. Looks like tonight was a bust. I looked up at the sky to find an almost round moon. It’ll be a full moon in 2days time. I was crouched low behind some plantation and building rubble, it reminded me of my days wandering the mountains and hunting Skinwalkers.
“hmmmph”
I grunted silently. Couldn’t help myself when thinking about those days and comparing them with what I have today. My current situation and how I got to be where I am. I shook my head in distaste and wondering how long would I keep this up. But every time I thought of walking away I would think of Beth. I’ve grown too attached to her probably. Distancing myself from her was more burdensome than I anticipated, and I was soon relenting to her continuous knocks of attention. I’ve become soft. As I was thinking to myself, I unconsciously looked around me and then… I froze. I was frozen stiff and couldn’t move. Was I shocked or was I dumbfounded. I didn’t know. But I fixed my sight far into the corner of the camp. A small patch of forestry that had made it into the camp walls. Behind the plantation I saw them. Two glowing red eyes. I couldn’t believe it. A skinwalker, I was sure of it. Why now? I’ve been at this camp for months and took time scouting and searching the area for signs of skinwalkers. I never found any. So, where did this one appear from? Skinwalkers never venture too far from their nest and they always have others close by.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
I didn’t move. I stared at it for some time. Then the red glowing eyes disappeared into the dark. I didn’t stop to think, I moved quickly and silently towards the area the glowing eyes were. When I got there it was obvious that the skinwalker had already gone. I looked around the area to find treads, imprints of a shoe. It was masquerading as a human. Probably got in during the chaos and stayed hidden. I could see other hints that the creature was here numerous times and was hiding. It was surveying the area or on a stakeout. What ever it was doing, it was waiting for something. I reached back and pulled out my knife, the most effective weapon against a skinwalker. I was back to my hunting tactics. Everything I did and experienced, suddenly came back to me and refreshed my memory. Skills and tactics flooded my mind and to be honest I felt alive. Strange to think so, but I felt revitalized as newfound anger and firing rage coursed through my veins. I took no time to head into the woods, following the tracks that are usually hidden to virgin eyes. Heading deep into the woods I was sure to be stealthy and silent. I smeared mud and dirt on me to cover my scent. It wasn’t long before I found the nest. A gathering of wood and mud that resembles a toppled bird’s nest. Surprised that it was this close to the camp. I looked around to make sure everything was in check. The skinwalker hadn’t returned to its nest so I decided to plant a few things and take a look inside.
I setup simple alert traps to get a few moves ahead of an unexpected ambush. And then I slowly entered the nest. Damp and dark it was reeking with the disgusting smell of rot. Its been feeding on animals mainly, no sign of human remains. But, I know that it had human flesh before as the apparent human disguise made blatantly obvious. No signs of others… strange. It was an adult form but not an Alpha. That means it should have others around it… they never dwell alone. Something was off about this nest. It feel and smells like a skinwalker nest but it lacks elements. No dead corpse no rotting flesh and all the animal bones are too clean to be from a hunt.
“No teeth marks….”
I muttered to myself after examining the animal bones. They were too clean, as if they were surgically removed. Everything just screamed wrong. But before I could investigate any further I was interrupted by a voice from behind me.
“Looking for me?”
How did I miss it approaching me? Was I out of the game too long? I quickly turned around tacking steps back to gain distance. Turning around with my knife ready to attack, I came face to face with two glowing red eyes staring directly at me. A figure of a person standing in front of the nest entrance. A skinny and pale figure that was grinning at me. A disgusting sight. I was careful to measure the distance between us, as they are very quick to pounce. It looked at me with a look of curiosity. Mischievous, twisted and sick, its nightmarish grin felt like a taunt of a sadistic nature. Its blood red eyes glowing in the dark as it kept its stare.
“If it isn’t the famous Jack Stein…, you are a bit of a celebrity between our kind.”
“….”
Its soft and gentle mannered speech was more terrifying than its appearance. It sounded too much like a human. Even I was getting confused. But I could still hear one thing that kept me from falling. That annoying clicking sound. They can’t hide it. It’s like a tic to their kind. They can’t help it. The only time I’ve seen them not have that click was with the Alpha that had the greenish blue tinted silver eyes. It was near ascension as it said. Becoming a doppelganger would rid them of this tic. But I could see that this one still had it and that meant that it was not on the path yet. What ever it was, this skinwalker was unable to reach the ascension phase. Better rid this world of it before it figures something out.
“Not much of a talker I see.”
I didn’t reply. I had enough of these creatures trying to strike up a conversation as if it had some kind of meaning. I Slowly drew out my silver blade and axe. It’s demeanor didn’t change much, though it did show more caution.
“Ah…. The infamous silver blade. Its even scarier up close in person.”
Disgusting. Even now it was trying to mimic human speech and patterns. The bland taunts and smirks. Pathetic. What was it trying to accomplish… if there even was a goal to achieve in the first place. To me, it was just mimicking human behavior. No need to react to it. As my thoughts gathered towards a single conclusion, I took a step towards the skinwalker. To my surprise it took a step back.
“Now, now Jack. Don’t be hasty. I just came t to talk.”
“Talk?”
I was lost for words. Talk? What was this vile creature trying to get at? Talk? It took me only a few seconds to decide that I would ignore the rants of a beast that is mimicking an echo of its latest victims. I lowered my body, ready to dash at the creature and slice it in half.
“Jack I just came to talk to you about the temple.”
Temple? What was this creature talking about? Is it talking about the dark temple? The one all the creatures were after, the one that led the Lycans to rage an all out war against us and even had the vampires cross boarders knowing it was a violation of a treaty that held up for centuries? I looked at the skinwalker as I raised my lowered body. It looked at me with a thin smile, it even looked relieved.
“Talk.”
“I guess now that you got your priests out safely, you’ll be moving the temple location.”
“…”
“No need to get defensive Jack. I know all about your precious temple and the ark.”
The… ark? What is this creature talking about? Temples and arks… priests? I kept quiet and just listened to the skinwalker ramble on about the temple and how it can help us get what we need for ‘the ritual’. It clearly had extensive information on what it was talking about and it really thought I was involved in this next level Indiana Jones bullshit.
“So you see Jack, we can work together on this. I can secure the things you need for the ritual and in return….”
“Let me guess… help you ascend?”
“Ah, finally. I see you catch on very fast Jack.”
I opened my bit of information to the skinwalker. If I didn’t, it would have gotten suspicious and shut its mouth. I slowly crossed my arms in a display of uninterest. The creature was desperate enough to approach me of all people. So I tried and pushed it a bit further.
“I see your disapproval. But think about it Jack. Your camp is dysfunctional and though the Lycans have taken a blow, you know all too well that they’ll be back and even more desperate than before.”
I stayed unhinged at the assessment of our current situation being laid out by the skinwalker. None of this was new information to me nor to the camp. But nevertheless, it was somewhat impressive that this being that starts off as a mere beast that follows on instinct, could understand such complex relationships and situations such as the one we were currently in. I stayed cross armed and staring towards the skinwalker as it continued its pitch.
“Also, now that the blood suckers have caught wind of what the Lycans were doing, they’ll try to get in on the action too. Every eyes are on this camp right now Jack. You don’t have the capacity nor time to prepare for what is to come.”
“What do you want.”
I casually retorted, showing the skinwalker that I had heard enough of what he was talking about. But even then, it was very calm and steady. I didn’t like it one bit.
“Help me ascend with the powers of the temple and I will give you the information you need to securing the key ingredient.”
I uncrossed my arms and looked at the skinwalker as it stared back at me with mischievous smile that didn’t sit well with me. While I was trying to decide what to do the skinwalker urged me once again.
“Well Jack? Do we have a deal?”
I looked into its eyes, glowing red under the pale moonlight of the night. I shook my head and smirked. The skinwalker gave a small grin as I did so. But then I looked at it with a straight face and burning eyes.
“No deal.”
My shallow reply hit hard I guess. For some reason, it thought it had a chance with me. God knows why it thought I would help it achieve its goal of ascension, but it was wrong to assume so. I’d rather kill it and die even if the fate of the world depended on it. I pulled out my axe and knife as it took seconds to come around. Seconds was all I needed to gain the upper hand in this fight. I dashed up to the skinwalker while swinging my axe in full force.
“JACK!!”
It shouted my name in a futile effort to stall time, as my axe swung cutting through the air and landed into its neck. The axe hacked deep into the skinwalker with the momentum it gained from the dash and swing. The skinwalker screamed as it started to revert back to its pale and vile form. Long knife like claws appeared as it swung at me. But I was already up against it toe to toe, giving it no space to swing an attack. Instead it plunged its claws inward towards my back, but I was faster. I had already pulled out my Alpha Blade and had stabbed the skinwalker in its heart. The blade cut through its hard rib casing and dug into its heart. Within seconds the skinwalker fell to its death. I rolled it over to cut open its ribcage and carve out the silver bone piece. But when I did I was taken back. As it died the skinwalker form actually changed again to a more human like form. It even looked like a hybrid between human and skinwalker. Clumps of brown hair and human like jaws and eyes. God damn it. This skinwalker was almost at its ascension state. It was hiding its true form from me, making me think it was still a long way away from ascension. Bastard.
I cut open its chest and pulled out the silver bone piece and then was about to leave the scene when my eyes locked onto a shining silver amulet that was hanging around its neck. I knelt down to retrieve it for closer observation. It was a small silver cross like amulet that had some kind of writing on the back. What ever it was, it was unusual. I took the amulet and set fire to the corpse and the nest all together before I left. One can never be too careful. But now I was more concerned with the temple. It seemed every demonic entity was after the location. The Lycans, Vampires and now even Skinwalkers. And the one who has answers to my questions is still in his office looking through papers.