*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧—chapter twenty-six: shot through the heart

August 23, 2021
North Kill
Upstate New York, New York

LEAVING THE HOUSE THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR WAS THE WEIRDEST THING CASSIDY HAS EVER DONE. No one in his house has ever entered or exited the house through the front door. Usually they go through a side door or a back door, and then walk around to get to the front. The front door or the garage was never used to leave or enter. But considering the current circumstances, leaving through the front was the fastest option.

It was nearing three-forty in the morning. Moonlight was still filtering through the trees surrounding Hackett House, the full moon shining brightly above. The trio enters the front porch and heads down the steps, walking along the concrete walkway until they reached the driveway. Both Travis' police car and Chris' van were parked on the driveway. Not that either of the vehicles' location mattered.

When they reach the car, Ryan and Cassidy get in first. Cassidy gets in before Ryan, sliding across the seats until he's by the left passenger side door. Ryan gets in next and pulls the car door closed. The two of them then take the shotguns from off around their shoulders. Ryan sets his on the floor at his feet and Cassidy sets his in his lap.

Travis puts the key into the ignition and starts up the car, pulling out of the driveway and starting to head down the road that was just beyond the house.

Cassidy turns toward the window, looking out at the dark forest as moonlight filtered through the trees. It was as peaceful as it could get right now. They were leaving the threats behind, not for long though. But that's what Cassidy was worried about. The others were still in danger while werewolf versions of Caleb, Gabriel, Silas, and Nick still roamed around the camp area. Dylan had already been attacked earlier in the night but Ryan had amputated his arm. As for the other counselors and even his girlfriend, Cassidy had no idea if any of them were safe or unharmed.

He turns away from the window and sits up in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. The car ride was going to be quiet, he could already tell. The silence lay heavy in the air, and Cassidy felt as if he was being suffocated by it. It was hanging over them like a thick grey rain cloud. Neither he nor Ryan nor Travis really wanted to talk about anything right now.

Cassidy's right leg starts to bounce, his foot tapping the floor in a rhythm of disquiet. He doesn't know why he's feeling this way. Why he's so nervous. All they're doing is going to Mary's house so they could explain the entire situation to her and receive her help.

But what if she refused?

What if she denies their request and they were forced to do this on their own? The three of them already had a high chance of dying. They had no idea what they were up against; Fenris Driscoll was unpredictable. It didn't matter if you were alone or in a group, Fenris would slaughter everyone in a heartbeat. He kills and kills and kills until the ground he killed on is painted red, blood flowing in rivers of crimson.

These thoughts are what was making him anxious. He doesn't want anything to happen to any of them. He just wants Fenris dead. He wants to shove silver down that bastard's throat and make him suffer. But Cassidy might die in the process. Fenris could rip his throat out or feast on his heart like he did to the Martins. Fenris could rip his head off from his body. Fenris could split his body into two. Cassidy doesn't want to die. But the thoughts wouldn't stop. They were invading his mind like a incurable disease that your body couldn't fight off.

His chest aches, burning like hot embers of a flame as his breathing and heartbeat quickens. His chest and throat tighten, restricting the airflow and now he's struggling to breathe. His body feels light, like a singular butterfly had exploded into a swarm and was flying all around his insides. And it wasn't helping that he was feeling nauseous, too.

He needs the car to stop immediately.

He needs fresh air and he needs to get out of this damn car.

He needs a lot of things. And being in this car was not one of them.

"Cass," Travis' concern-filled voice reaches his ears. He was looking at Cassidy through the rearview mirror, noticing the boy's panicked state. "Do you need me to pull over?"

Cassidy watches him from the mirror but doesn't respond, too focused on the thoughts in his own head to even notice his father said something to him. He was feeling dizzy all of a sudden. He tries to relax, to see if that would help, but that only makes it worse. He squeezes his eyes shut and unknowingly starts tapping his fingers against the door.

There's a sudden warm feeling traveling through his other hand and he opens his eyes and looks over to see that Ryan was holding his hand and rubbing his thumb over the back of it to help him calm down. Normally, this would be the solution, but right now, it was not helping at all. Cassidy yanks his hand away and grabs the bars of the headrest in front of him, his knuckles turning white as he grips it tightly, and he rests his forehead against the back of the driver's seat, squeezing his eyes shut again.

Ryan frowns, not knowing what to do to help. So, he looks at Travis, and he can see the worry etched on the man's face. "Pull over," the Erzahler boy instructs.

The request was fulfilled as the car slowly drifts to the right, pulling off of the road and stopping in the grass. Travis puts the car in park and turns around in his seat to look at Cassidy.

"You okay?" he asks worriedly.

Cassidy reopens his eyes again and pulls away from the seat, looking at Travis. "I don't... I don't know..." he answers quietly, shaking his head. "I need to get outta the car, I can't fuckin' breathe..."

Travis reaches for the unlock button on the door and presses it. The locks click on all the doors as they unlock, and Cassidy grabs the door handle, pushing the door open.

He climbs out of the car and staggers to his feet. He can feel the bile rising in his throat and he walks around to the other side of the car until he's standing in the grass and retches until he vomits. He wipes his mouth with his hand and then grimaces in disgust.

The sound of the car doors opening gains his attention and turns back around to face the car, seeing Ryan and Travis get out.

Ryan walks over to him and stays by his side, rubbing his back comfortingly. Travis reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, dialing a number.

Cassidy calms a bit, leaning against the car as Ryan rubs his back. He turns his head to see what Travis was doing, only to see the sheriff put the phone up to his ear once the call picks up.

"Morning, Mary," Travis says into the phone. "Sorry if I woke you up."

✧ ✧ ✧

"Your family was never enough to cure my hunger pangs. One day, you'll be next, little lamb..."

Mary jolts awake, a frightened gasp leaving her lips as she sits upright in the bed. His voice, she could still head it. Twenty-one years later and it was the same one that invaded her dreams and twisted them into a nightmare every night. She exhales a shaky breath, placing a hand on her chest to help calm herself. Hazel eyes flick around room illuminated by the moonlight, though it was still mostly dark.

Nothing was here. No one was here with her. She was okay. She was safe here, not there.

That gruesome day had made her change her mind about the small town of North Kill, New York, and just North Kill County in general. Though most incidents reportedly happened in the town and not the overall county. But both still made her uneasy. That was why she moved to the outskirts of the town.

She looks over at the clock on her nightstand. The time read four-o-five in the morning. Such an unusual time to wake, yet, she noticed that waking up around this time was a normal occurrence for her. But tonight... tonight she shouldn't have been asleep. By moonrise of last night leading into the early morning hours of this morning was a full moon night. A full moon where she should be searching all of North Kill for Fenris Driscoll.

She reaches over toward the nightstand, groping around for her phone, only for her fingers to brush against a card-like object. Furrowing her brows it confusion, she uses her free hand to pick up her phone and shines the flashlight at the card. It was a tarot card, something she's never seen before but knew about. She's been interested in the cards for a few years now but never had the chance to buy a deck. As for this card, she wondered how it got here.

She flips the card over in her hand, knowing that this would be how she found out the meaning of the card. Mary didn't know exactly how it worked. But she's had some prior knowledge.

TAROT CARD FOUND
15 OF ??
THE WORLD

She's sat at a desk, staring at a computer monitor. She's watching something on the screen, and it has a bird's-eye view of the area. The lens of said thing zooms in as it starts to fly lower, and it does a quick scan, the thermal imaging device attached to it activating, an array of colors showing a silhouette of something that looked like a humanoid wolf. Then, the screen fizzles out and it suddenly goes black.

"Hm," Mary hums as she slips the card into her phone case and turns off her flashlight.

She had no idea what the card meant.

She gets out of bed, sock-covered feet touching the floor, and starts to make her way across the room. As she was about to reach the door, her phone starts ringing. She groans and takes a look at the mobile device, reading the contact name on the screen.

Sheriff Dickwad.

She sighs, answering the call and putting the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Morning, Mary. Sorry if I woke you up."

"I woke up long before you called me," she mutters, going back over to the bed to sit down. "What the hell do you want?"

"Remember how I told you that in extremely stressful situations, Cass' anxiety and stress levels get worse due to his lycanthropy?"

"Uh, yes...? What happened? Did he have another panic attack? Is he all right?" she asks.

"He's fine now that he's not in my car anymore and his friend Ryan helped him calm down a bit," he answers. "We're headed to your house. We should be there in a few minutes."

"Is that all you called me for? Travis, you can't come over here. It's not safe for any of you to be traveling at this time. Why can't you just be the good sheriff you are and head back over to the quarry to make sure the rest of those kids are safe? Or just go home, maybe?"

"Nowhere is safe, Mary. I got no other option. And we need your help. Cass read your journal a few hours ago. He knows about the cure. He wants to help. He wants kill Fenris and cure Silas. Please, we just need your help to figure out where Fenris is. It's all I'm asking of you. Kaylee and my parents are dead. Chris and Bobby are scared for what the outcome of the night will be, 'specially Chris. He's worried for these kids. Caleb and Gabe are still wandering around out there as werewolves. And Cass is stressed. I don't know what else to do, Mary."

Mary sighs, glancing around her room. "Fine. Okay. Get here as soon as possible."

"We'll be there as soon as we can," Travis says. "Oh, and one more thing," he adds. "If Ray's there, tell him to wake the fuck up and get ready. We're gonna need his help too."

"Got it," Mary replies and then hangs up. She slips her phone into the back right pocket of her jeans and then gets up from the bed and leaves the room. Shutting the door behind her, she enters the hallway. She takes a left to the stairs that lead up to the attic, and once she reaches the landing, she opens the door.

When she enters the room, she kicks the door closed with her foot and breathes out a sigh of relief. This room was her spot whenever she wasn't doing anything of her regular routine. It was what she called the Research Room. There was an office desk in one corner with a stack of papers thrown down onto it and a bunch of pens and pencils scattered. A computer monitor was also on the desk. On one of the walls was a bulletin board with a map of North Kill, thumbtacks and yarn were pinned and draped across it, stuck to sketches and drawings and actual photos marked with red marker ink. Labels were attached here and there, marking frequented locations of someone. Another wall had a bookshelf stacked with several journals full of information, some of them were annotated, some of them weren't. She could see the folded papers and sticky notes sticking out from the pages.

She goes over to the computer and sits down in the office chair, watching the screen and taking note of what she could see. She had programmed a drone a few years ago to track Fenris Driscoll, and send some of that information back here to the house, so that she could use it for... further research purposes.

Currently, nothing interesting or suspicious was happening on the screen. She furrows her brows and huffs, leaning back in the office chair as she glares at the screen. "Where is that son of a bitch?" she mutters, reaching for the keyboard to type something, which then prompts the drone to start a new task.

SCANNING . . . .

TASK COMPLETED.

THREAT HAS BEEN LOCATED.

A set of coordinates appears on the screen and she writes them down on a piece of paper. Setting the pen down, she folds up the paper and puts it into her pocket. When she looks back up at the screen, it starts to glitch out and she could faintly see silhouette of a humanoid werewolf standing in front of the drone that was now fallen and damaged on the ground. A few words appear on the screen, stating errors and necessary tasks needed to fix it.

ERROR.

INTERNAL SYSTEMS MALFUNCTIONING.

REBOOT REQUIRED.

Would you like to start a reboot now?

YES    |    NO

Taking her phone out of her back pocket, she turns it on and goes to an app that was connected to the drone. She presses the button to restart it but nothing happens.

INTERNAL SYSTEMS CRITICALLY DAMAGED. CANNOT REBOOT.

A prompt appears on the screen next. Mary sighs, reaching for the computer mouse.

Allow Forced Shut Down? (WARNING: THIS WILL CAUSE A PERMANENT SHUT DOWN AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS IMPORTANT FILES.)

YES    |    NO

SHUTTING DOWN.

Mary sighs in defeat once the screen goes blank, shaking her head as she turns off the monitor and the PC. There was no point in it now. The drone was destroyed by Fenris.

She opens up a drawer in the desk and takes out a vial filled with a purplish-grey liquid, an eye dropper, and an empty syringe. Before she put them in her pockets, she puts a cap on the syringe needle. Then, she puts the three items in her pockets and gets up from the chair.

She leaves the room and closes the door behind her. She then heads back down the hall and descends the stairs.

The steps creak under her feet as she walks. She reaches the last step, but just as she was about to step down from it, she hears footsteps from behind her and a sleepy voice calls out to her.

"Where are you going this early, Mary?"

She looks up at the top of the stairs to see Raymond Brandt, son of the old sheriff, current deputy of North Kill, the man that practically raised her for the past nineteen years, friend of Travis.

"Morning, Ray. You're just the man I was looking for," she says, smiling at him. "Travis is gonna be here soon. He has Cass with him, and, uh, Cass' friend Ryan," she informs him, stepping down from the last step of the stairs. "I'm going with them when they get here. They were already on their way, anyway. And Travis told me that you gotta wake up and get ready. He wants you to come with us."

"You know that Travis still doesn't want you doing all this, Mary. All of that werewolf hunting shit. He and his family's got it all under control. I don't need to get caught up in this shit either," Raymond says, leaning against the wall. He rubs tiredly at his eyes and a yawn passes his lips before he starts speaking again. "I already sort of was when Hank died in the fire."

"Nothing is under control, Ray," Mary snaps. "Stop making this situation less severe than what it is. This whole werewolf thing only started because of Fenris. People have died in the past sixth-eight years, and this was all over the news since. Fenris is still out there and he's not giving up on anything. At this rate, he'll kill off the whole county." She takes a moment of staying silent to make sure Raymond fully understood why it was so important. But it didn't look like he was going to change his mind anytime soon, so she starts again, "And you need to come with. I don't care what you say or what you want, but what Travis says goes."

"I still don't think you should go out there, Mary. And I can't just go out there and act like I know what I'm doing, 'cause I don't. I've never encountered a werewolf before. You guys don't need me there," Raymond heads down the stairs, coming to stand in front of her. "What you've done here is enough, isn't it? I mean, all that research, the goddamn bulletin board in the... in the Research Room..." he grits his teeth as he says that, annoyed with the fact that she even called that room that name. "And your computer, just... all of it... Don't you think you're doing too much?"

"I'm not a child anymore, Ray. I'm a grown woman," Mary replies, crossing her arms. "I don't need to be told what to do."

"I'm just trying to help you."

"Yeah, well, so, was Travis, like, four to five months ago when he locked me in a jail cell and then moved me to the basement of his house. That was so much fun..." Mary mutters, and she watches as Raymond shakes his head as he walks back up the stairs and goes back into his room. She rolls her eyes and walks into the foyer. Opening up a drawer in the white-painted wooden table sitting against the wall, she takes out her handgun. Loaded with silver bullets, she would need it to help kill Fenris Driscoll.

A sudden knock on the door follows and she turns her attention away from the drawer to look at the door.

She slips the handgun into the holster on her belt as she walks toward the door. "Who is it?" she questions.

"It's the guy who locked you up in jail for a month," comes Travis' reply.

"Go away, Travis," Mary snaps, pressing her back against the door. "I'm not letting you in."

"You told me I could come here—" He exhales through his nose. "Mary, you know how urgent this is. No more time can be wasted."

"Still not letting you in." She pauses for a moment, a smirk upturning the corner of her lips. "Unless..."

"Unless?"

"Unless you tell me the password?"

"I am not doing this again, Mary," Travis replies, starting to get annoyed. "You make me do this every fuckin' time I come here."

"Because it's funny hearing you get frustrated," Mary admits, grinning, though he can't see it, but he can definitely hear it.

"No, it's not. That's bullshit. Now can you open the damn door?"

"Uh, no? Tell me the password first, stupid."

"Mary..."

"The password, Travis."

"Come on, I don't wanna do this..."

"I need you to tell me the password."

He groans in annoyance and frustration. "This isn't fair."

"'This isn't fair.'" She mocks him. "Shut up. Nothing's ever fair with you, you hypocrite," she's grinning again as she speaks. "What's the password, Travis?"

"Mary, I'm not doing this today."

"Travis, we went over this: you can't come into my house until you tell me that password. So, what's the fucking password?"

Travis sighs, lips pressed to a thin line as he stares at the door. "... Sheriff Dickwad."

"Finally. Jesus Christ..." Mary unlocks the ten locks on the door before reaching for the door handle and turning it, pulling the door open. She grimaces upon seeing the dried blood on Travis, Cassidy, and Ryan. "You boys need showers."

"There's no time for that," Travis says pushing past her and entering the house. "Is Ray here?"

"Yeah, but he's not coming with us. He wants to stay home. He's tired, Travis," Mary turns to face him, frowning.

"He thinks he needs to wake up at four-thirty every morning, and that's his problem," Travis says, rolling his eyes. "Look, really, I just need him up in like an hour. Because by dawn I need him talking to these kids about what happened."

"You want Ray to interrogate the kids...?" Mary raises an eyebrow as she stares at him. "You know he's not gonna want to, Travis. He's been playing this shit off for the past six years as a coping mechanism after the fire, after Hank died... Ray's getting tired of putting on a 'mister bad cop' facade. He's getting tired of all of it, actually. He just wants everyone to know the truth about all the shit that's been going on since 1953, but you're just out here spreading lies to cover it all up. And you're fucking acting like you don't have other policemen that could interrogate them for you."

"Ray's the only one out of all of 'em that understands what's happening. The others are gonna want them arrested or somethin'," Travis replies, averting her gaze. "They're probably gonna want to arrest Cass, too, and I can't let them do that."

"Look, that doesn't matter right now. We got other things to worry 'bout," Cassidy cuts in, glancing between both of them, before looking at Mary. "You need to come with us to kill Fenris."

"Last time I checked," Mary starts, looking at him as she points a thumb at Travis, "your father banned me from going to kill that son of a bitch."

"Need I remind you that you were banned from going alone," Travis interrupts. "Going out there on your own is a suicide mission. Unless you wanted to get yourself killed?"

"I would've been fine," Mary states, crossing her arms as she glares at him.

"You don't know that. That motherfucker is unpredictable," Travis says as he looks around the foyer for a moment. He stops when he sees Mary reach for something in her jacket pocket. "What's that you got there, Mary?"

She holds up the vial and shows it to them. "You would've been wasting your time trying to get some of this shit, so I got some of it myself. And I have an eyedropper and a syringe."

"I would assume that what's in that vial is powdered silver, Wolfsbane, and water," Cassidy says, looking at the vial.

"Yup."

"How did you get Wolfsbane?" Ryan asks, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"I bought some off Amazon and found a way to grow some without it dying. There's no other way I could've gotten it since it's in the mountains. I mean, Wikipedia even says that it's 'chiefly native to the mountainous parts of the Northern Hemisphere—'"

"You bought Wolfsbane off of Amazon, and you just quoted a Wikipedia article? What the hell, Mary..." Travis says, but Mary ignores him.

"'—in North America, Europe, and Asia...'" Ryan finishes, the ghost of a grin appearing on his face.

"Not only did you two just quote a Wiki article," Cassidy starts to say, looking at both his aunt and his best friend in surprise while Travis just stares at him because he literally just said something about Mary quoting a Wiki article but Cassidy had ignored him, "but I can't believe you've actually Googled that before, what the fuck."

"I used to have a Harry Potter phase when I was younger, 'cause of my sister, Sarah," Ryan explains. "We would always watch the movies together, and I used to think Wolfsbane was fake until I looked it up one day."

"Nerd."

"Shut up."

Travis clears his throat, and the two boys and Mary look at him. The sheriff looks over at Mary. "I'm going to ask this again, Mary. You mean to tell me... that you bought a goddamn toxic plant off Amazon?"

"Okay, first of all, fuck you, Travis," Mary says, sticking both her middle fingers up at him. "Because apparently you think I can just, you know, fucking travel to some mountain and pluck it off the ground with my bare hands and bring it back without dying. Anyway, as you can see, I'm already five steps ahead of you," she adds as she hands the vial off to Cassidy, who gladly takes it and puts it in his pocket. She also gives him the eyedropper and the syringe. "I can trust you with these, right, Cass?"

"Uh..." Cassidy looks at her sheepishly. "I hope so?"

"Travis, can I trust him with these?" Mary asks, looking at the sheriff, who shakes his head.

"No, he might lose them or break them," Travis answers, giving Cassidy a stern look.

"I won't," Cassidy whines, frowning as he crosses his arms. "The last time I lost somethin' was when Chris gave me the keys. Fuckin' dropped them in the river or whatever. Still have no fuckin' idea how that happened."

"You say that every time someone entrusts you with something."

"Look, it ain't my fault I happen to lose somethin' every once in a while!" Cassidy defends, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "Or that somethin' somehow manages to get destroyed in my care. And it only happens when someone gives me somethin'. I swear it ain't my fault that that happens."

"Okay!" Ryan interrupts, speaking a bit too loudly, on purpose, to get the two of them to shut up. "What do we need now? Blood from the first werewolf?" he questions, looking between the three of them. They all nod. "All right. So, are we killing Fenris or not?"

Cassidy grins. "Let's fuckin' do this."

✧ ✧ ✧

"Do you know where he is right now?" Travis asks once he starts up the car. Mary had climbed into the front passenger seat and Cassidy and Ryan were back in the backseats.

"'Do you know where he is right now?' Do you ever shut up, Travis? All you fucking do is talk, talk, talk. You need a silence button," Mary says as she rolls her eyes as she puts on her seatbelt. "Like, what kind of question is that, Travis? Of course I know where that motherfucker is. When I had checked earlier, he was nearing Route 919."

"Somewhere off Route 919 is where the remains of Harum Scarum are," Ryan says, glancing between them as Travis reverses the car out of Mary's driveway.

"Silas is there, that's why Fenris is in the area. He's gettin' closer to findin' him," Cassidy says. "We gotta hurry."

"What do you think he's gonna do when he finds him?" Ryan asks.

"No idea, but I do not want to find out," Cassidy answers.

It falls silent after that, the only other sound being their breathing and the car's engine.

Around twenty or so minutes later, they were nearing the Route 919 area. Cassidy pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks the time. It was only four-thirty. As he puts his phone back into his pocket, he looks out the window, swallowing nervously. It didn't matter that they were in the car, they were out in the open, and he had a bad feeling something was going to go wrong. Something always went wrong.

The shadows of the trees zoomed past. The moonlight was filtering through the branches and shining down on the car. He looks out the windshield and furrows his brows, seeing something in the middle of the road. His expression falls and his eyes widen, and right as he was about to warn Travis, Mary grabs the steering wheel, pulling it to the right.

The car swerves, the vehicle now half on the road, half on the grass. Straightening the car as best he could, Travis slows the car down, letting his feet off the accelerator as he pulls off into the grass completely. Once it starts slowing down on its own, he puts his foot on the brake. The car comes to a complete stop and he puts it in park.

"I think it's safe to say we found that son of a bitch," Travis states, taking the key from the ignition.

"Yeah, no shit," Cassidy says, taking a moment to steady his breathing. Travis and Mary start to get out the car, leaving him and Ryan alone in the backseat.

"You ready?" Ryan asks him, not wanting to leave the car yet if he wasn't ready yet.

"Yeah," as Cassidy is starting to get out of the car, he sees something sticking out of the pocket on the back of the seat. He pulls it out, only to find it was a tarot card. "I swear these end up bein' in the most random and inconvenient places. There literally could be nothin' there one minute and the next minute, one of these is suddenly there for some reason," he says as he turns the card over in his hand.

TAROT CARD FOUND
16 OF ??
THE EMPRESS

Mary stands her ground, shielding Cassidy, Travis, and Ryan just as Fenris comes lunging toward them, ready to sink his teeth into flesh and tear all of them to shreds. But she didn't have time to pull the trigger to shoot him.

It all happens so fast.

Her screams fill the air, but it was soon silenced by a loud snap. Fenris has his teeth clamped around her neck. He releases her, her body falling limp to the ground. Blood dripped from his mouth as his eyes flick toward the sheriff and the two boys that were with him. A hunger for blood was reflected in the werewolf's eyes.

"What is that?" Ryan questions, furrowing his brows as he stares at the card in his best friend's hand.

"A tarot card," Cassidy answers, showing it to him. "I've been findin' these all night and I don't know how many there are. You wouldn't happen to know anyone with tarots, would you?"

"No," Ryan answers as he shakes his head. "Unless... these cards belonged to the Hag of Hackett's Quarry... I mean, they're burnt and everything, right? And she was the fortune teller."

Cassidy nods in confirmation. "Oh, shit. This is bad. Like, really bad. Shit, shit, shit."

"Let's worry about that later, we have to get out the car, Cass. Your dad and Mary are waiting for us," Ryan says, opening the door.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'," Cassidy gets out the car and slams the door shut at the same time Ryan gets out. They walk away from the car and walk over to where Travis and Mary were standing by the line of trees ahead of them, Mary was observing the area before they enter the woods.

"Look who finally decided to join us," Travis mutters as he turns around upon hearing the boys' footsteps.

"Shut up," Cassidy replies, rolling his eyes.

Mary doesn't say anything to divert their attention and starts walking, a determined look on her face.

The others follow her.

They soon enter the woods. It was so fucking silent, you'd be able to hear a pin drop—if the ground wasn't soft, of course.

It was still raining by the time they get further in, to no one's surprise, but it had lessened a few hours ago. But now, it was starting to rain a bit harder. Dead, wet twigs snap under their feet as they walk. Some of the water that had collected in small puddles splashed with every step they took.

"Since the last time I checked, Fenris had probably moved locations, so, this persistent bitch most likely already found his son," Mary says as they enter the woods.

"How close are we to getting there?" Ryan asks curiously.

"Um..." she pulls her phone out of her pocket to try and check the map on her phone, but there was no signal out here. "So, we might be lost," she informs, putting her phone back into her pocket and glancing around. "I have no idea if we're going north, east, south, or west. And I can't fucking see the moon because of these damn trees."

"We ain't lost," Cassidy replies, falling into step with her. "They're near... Silas is closer, though."

"How do you know that?" Ryan questions him, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"Uh... 'Cos I'm infected. Heightened senses. Duh," Cassidy answers, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Did you forget already?"

"You two are talking too loudly," Mary comments, glancing between the two boys.

"You could just tell them to whisper," Travis mutters.

"How about we all shut up," Cassidy suggests, but by the time he spoke, he hears something in the distance and he stops walking, glancing around. "Yeah, no, now we definitely have to be quiet."

"Cass, what happened?" Ryan asks, stopping to look at him.

"Shh..."

"Cass—"

"Shut up! Somethin's in the bushes," he informs, staring at the shrubbery and trees surrounding them. The branches of a cluster of bushes rustle and he can vaguely see a pair of red eyes staring at the quartet. If Silas was here now, then where the hell was Fenris?

"Is that—"

"Shh!"

Ryan keeps his mouth shut, looking over at where Cassidy was eyeing the bush. The branches and leaves rustle again and werewolf Silas lumbers out, staring at each of them with curiosity. The albino werewolf didn't seem to be aggressive.

"Don't make any sudden moves, otherwise you'll scare Silas," Cassidy says quietly, looking at Ryan, Mary, and Travis. "Him bein' scared is what enables him to attack. He ain't tryin' to hurt nobody, he's just defendin' himself."

"And we're nowhere near the remains of Harum Scarum," Travis adds, looking around. "I've been up this way before, it's about another mile out."

"Maybe Silas was running away from something?" Mary suggests.

"Or someone," Cassidy and Ryan say in unison and then they both share a look, a single thought on their minds.

Fenris Driscoll.

"Come on," Cassidy demands, beckoning them to follow him. "If we wanna save Silas, we gotta kill Fenris."

They start walking cautiously in order not to scare off Silas. The albino werewolf was following them, though, wanting to know what they were planning on doing and where they were going.

But once they all reach a clearing in the woods, Silas tenses, the hairs on his back raising as a growl leaves his throat. Someone was awaiting them all, it seemed. The person he had just escaped from just minutes ago. His father. Fenris Driscoll.

Fenris watches them suspiciously. But he wasn't a fool. He knew what they were here for and they were not going to get what they wanted. But he was going to get what he wanted. Fenris always got what he wanted.

Cassidy glances between the two for a moment before looking back toward Mary, Ryan, and Travis. The four of them didn't speak as they formulate a plan, splitting up to flank Fenris. It was a bit of a poor tactic. But it was one of the only options they had. Time was running out. They only had less than three hours until dawn, and if Fenris wasn't dead by then, and if Silas wasn't cured, then they would have to wait an entire month for the next full moon to be able to attempt this again. And there was no time for that.

Cassidy could tell by the look Fenris was giving every single one of them that Mary was right. Fenris Driscoll did not ever give up.

It's only been twenty-one years since Fenris attacked the Martins during one of the days they had gone to kill him. And it had been fourteen years since Fenris bit Silas and infected him.

The only reason Fenris was back here in the area, in North Kill, was to finish what he started all those years ago.

Fenris wanted both the Hacketts and the Martins dead. Everyone single one of them. Two Hacketts were currently here, in front of him. The last remaining Martin was currently in front of him. He would kill them if it meant he'd be able to finally get to Silas, to finally make him change his mind and have him join him.

But Cassidy, Travis, Mary, and Ryan weren't going to let Fenris do that. And Silas definitely never wanted that.

Though Fenris is eyeing Cassidy, and Cassidy only, eyes reflecting a hunger for bloodshed.

Cassidy's heart is racing and he swallows nervously as he locks eyes with Fenris. He can tell that the werewolf knows he's scared. That unspoken bit of knowledge was reflected in Fenris' blood red eyes.

"Don't move," Mary warns him. "He senses your fear."

As if that wasn't already obvious, Cassidy thinks, glancing toward Travis and Ryan, but neither of them say anything to him, just glancing between him and Fenris.

Fenris takes slow steps forward, keeping his eyes trained on Cassidy the entire time. The Hackett boy backs up as the werewolf gets closer, not wanting him anywhere near him. Cassidy sidesteps, trying to regroup with the others, but Fenris keeps following him.

Fenris starts walking faster and Cassidy has to make sure he doesn't trip as he walks backwards faster. But soon Fenris slows down, huffing in annoyance as Travis and Ryan block him. He tries going around them, but they only follow in his direction, so he decides to shoulder past them with such force that sent them stumbling and knocking them over. Focusing on the task at hand, he continues trying to follow Cassidy to get closer to him before he attacks. But his plan is once again interrupted.

"Hey, you piece of shit!" Mary yells. "Leave him alone!"

Fenris turns around to see Mary standing a few feet away from him, handgun raised and aimed at him. He growls at her, teeth bared.

Cassidy could only watch with pure terror, seeing the absolute hatred burning in Fenris' eyes as he looks at Mary. Fenris absolutely hates Mary. He wanted her dead like the rest of her family. She shouldn't have been alive still. Why had he spared her all those years ago? To give her survivor's guilt after he killed her family and hurt her sister? Whatever the reason was, Cassidy didn't want to know anytime soon...

In a split second, Fenris is crossing the clearing, lunging toward Mary. He rams into her, knocking her to the ground. The gun falls from her hands and lands on the ground with a thud. A growl leaves his throat as he pins her to the ground, claws digging into her skin. There's a look of fear on her face as she tries pushing him away, but he was too heavy. Saliva drips from the creature's mouth, falling onto her face and she grimaces in disgust.

There's a warning shot that goes off as Travis and Ryan fire their guns, scoring holes in the ground beside Fenris, but the werewolf doesn't move or flinch, too focused on the woman on the ground beneath him. She writhes in his hold, trying she can to get him off of her. But nothing was working.

As she continues struggling in his grip, he lowers his jaws to her throat. Mary's eyes widen as he gets closer and she panics, starting to scream. And in the blink of an eye, there's a loud snap, followed by silence.

Fenris has his teeth clamped around Mary's neck and he tugs and tugs until her throat was torn out. Cassidy was in tears, he felt numb, his heart hurt. The only person he had left to remind him of his mother, his aunt Mary, was dead. Having to witness death again was not something on his to-do list.

Blood drips from Fenris' mouth as his eyes flick toward the Hackett boy. The utter hatred in the werewolf's eyes had died and was replaced by a hunger for blood once again.

Travis and Ryan both take a step forward to intervene, but Cassidy shakes his head at them. It would be better if he received their help, but he had to do something to stop this in its entirety. He wanted to do this himself. It had been his plan this whole time since reading the journal. He wanted to kill Fenris. He wanted to free himself and Silas and his friends and rid them of this curse that's been plaguing the entire county of North Kill for the past sixty-eight years.

Exhaling a shaky breath, Cassidy raises his gun, aiming it at Fenris. And as the werewolf comes charging toward him, he doesn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

A loud bang echoes in the clearing, and not only does the silver slug from the shell hit Fenris, the werewolf howling in pain and falling to the ground, writhing, but the loud noise had scared off Silas, causing the albino werewolf to run off deeper into the woods.

Cassidy lowers the shotgun and glances toward Travis and Ryan. The three of them shared the same thought, he could tell by the look on the other two's faces.

Sixty-eight years of a curse that plagued North Kill to this very day, and Fenris Driscoll was finally dead.

Now, they had another mission.

Cure Silas.

author's note
when this chapter is
over 7k words>>>>>

fenris is dead bitches
let's gooooo

sorry i killed mary,
you guys </3

silas is gonna get
cured next chapter
you're welcome <3

08.25.22