Destiny of the Last Wolf Page 21
At night, I venture into the city in my human form. As darkness closes in, the lights of London are turned up bright. Some nights, the streets are fairly empty; other nights, they bustle with people. I wander alone, watching and learning, trying to understand how humans think. They fascinate me, possibly because I feel that if I can get to know humans better, I can start to understand why Anna made the choices she made. Why, when I offered her everything, did she choose to die alone? It has been twenty years since cancer took her away, and still I wonder what made her turn down my offer.
Some nights, my master calls me. Since I fell in with Thomas Lumic, I have felt myself drawn under his spell, forced to follow his orders. I like not having to think too much for myself. He tells me, over and over again, that humans are scum, not to be trusted. He's right, of course, and I'm grateful to him for helping me to retain perspective. I chose to accept Lumic as my master because he seems to have a better grasp of the nature of the world. He gives me food, and helps me to understand the nature of humanity. It was Lumic who came closest to explaining Anna's actions, when he told me that she was weakened by her own mortality. Perhaps that's what happened. Before I met Lumic, nothing made sense; now, at least, I think I'm starting to understand humans as little better.
Tonight I've somehow ended up in an old, abandoned office building. There are signs of humanity all around, where people have been and gone. Homeless people, drug users and other dregs of society have been making this place their home. I usually try to avoid humans who have fallen out of society. They're often violent and angry, and while they can't threaten me, they can be an annoyance. As I look out the window and watch people in the dark streets below, I hear movement elsewhere in the building. My first instinct is to run, but I decide to go and see what's happening. Eventually I spot three men pushing a girl around.
"We were just being friendly," one of the men says, pushing the girl against a wall. "You took things way too far." As he pulls a knife from his pocket, I see the body of a dead woman nearby.
"Why don't you leave her alone?" I say, shocking myself. I never get involved with humans like this; I usually let them get on with killing one another.
"Who the fuck are you?" the man asks, turning to me. "You a tourist? Want to take a picture?"
"I said, why don't you leave her alone?" I reply. There's something about this guy that really annoys me, like he's the worst of humanity all rolled up into one form.
The guy steps towards me. "Why don't you lay on the floor with your neck sliced open, bleeding to death?" He raises his knife. "Oh, need some help with that?" He lunges at me, but I grab his arm and push him to the ground. For a moment, I feel an urge to be merciful, to let him go, but then I look down and see the anger and hatred in his eyes. I put my foot on his neck and push down, killing him. The crunch of his bones beneath my boot is one of the most satisfying feelings I've ever experienced.
"I don't like killing," I say. It's a lie, but I'd rather not glorify what I've just done. "But it's horribly necessary sometimes," I continue, "and one must not shy away from necessary things." He looks over at the other two men. "Don't you agree?"
The girl manages to slip away from the other men, and she steps closer to me. It's only now that I see how much she looks like Anna. It's not a complete likeness, but it's very close, and it's enough to give me pause. She looks scared, as if she's in way over her head. "Don't be scared," I say to her. "There's nothing to be scared of."
She eyes me warily. "You're not the first person who's said that to me tonight," she says.
"Point taken," I reply, looking across to see the two other men running from the room.
"Thanks," the girl says.
It's so strange to look into her eyes and see a semblance of Anna staring back. There's a definite likeness, and it really takes me aback. Part of me wants to spend more time with her, but I know that would be a mistake. Look what happened last time. "You shouldn't be here," I say. "Go home."
She looks down at the dead guy, then over at the dead girl. "What about them?" she asks.
"What about them?" I say. "They're dead. Boo-hoo. Now leave. If those fuckers come back, I won't save you again." I turn and walk away.
"Hey!" she shouts, running up behind me and grabbing my shoulder. "Who -"
I turn and snarl at her. Losing control for a moment, I allow my anger to bubble up and take control. It's shocking for me to realize how close I just came to snapping and attacking her. I don't ever want to look at her again. She reminds me too much of Anna. "Don't touch me!" I say eventually, calming down a little.
She steps back. "What were you doing here anyway?" she asks.
"Same as you," I say. "Looking for somewhere to sleep. I'll have to keep looking." That's not entirely true, but it's a better explanation than the truth.
"We could look together," she says.
I sigh, realizing that she's starting to get attached. "Go home," I say.
"Can't," she replies.
"You don't have a family?" I ask.
She pauses. "I can't go home," she replies, and there's a hint of sadness in her voice.
"If you have a family," I say, "go to them. You can't live like this."
She shrugs. "Can you help me find somewhere?"
"No," I say. I look down at the dead woman on the floor. "Go home, or you'll end up like her." There's silence for a moment as we both look at the tortured scream on the dead woman's face.
"I'll go down to the river," the girl says eventually. "There's probably someone down there who can..." She pauses. "Thanks again," she says. "My name's Jess, by the way. What's -"
"Leave," I say firmly, interrupting her.
"Whatever," she says, turning and walking away.
Once she's gone, I walk over to the dead woman, kneel down and examine her body. She seems to have been stabbed to death fairly recently. I try to avoid eating human flesh, but when a body presents itself so easily, it's hard to resist. I lean closer and take a bite from the flesh on her neck. She can't have been dead for too long, because she's still quite warm, and I take another bite. I haven't fed on a human corpse for a few weeks, and in some ways it feels like I've been denying my true nature. Perhaps it's time to get away from the humans, to strike back out into the wilderness.
Suddenly I hear a gasp from nearby. Looking up, I see that Jess has returned. She stares at me for a moment, horrified, and then she turns and runs. I rush over to the window and look out into the street, just in time to see her run out of the building. She races away, running for her life. I can't help but smile. There's something about her that I quite like, though I know that any attraction is probably based solely on the fact that she reminds me of Anna. Heading back over to the woman's body, I carry on feeding, although I have the strangest feeling that some day I'm going to meet Jess again.
Books in this series
1. Werewolves of Soho
2. Werewolves of the Other London
3. The Children of Black Annis
4. Destiny of the Last Wolf
5. Werewolves of Sangreth
6. The Immortal Wolf
7. Wolves of the Red Church (coming soon)