Hiding in the kitchen after the use of the P.I.’s skeleton key, Alice and Sammy waited until they could hear the heavy tread of the two transformed rogue werewolves coming down the stairs and padding their way along the hallway to the cellar door. Alice kept herself still, her lupine heart pounding within her furred chest. Then her sharp ears caught the sound she and Sammy had been waiting for – the unlocking of the cellar door.
The gunshot two floors upstairs startled everyone.
Roxanne growled. “What the…hell…!? Dwayne?”
Nodding to her companion, Alice chose that moment to attack. Bursting out from the kitchen, as Sammy opened the door, she leapt out at Kevin – who had just pushed open the cellar door. Startled, the burly black-furred werewolf was knocked off-balance by his swift assailant, as she rammed her head into him. He staggered into the cellar…
Before Roxanne could intervene, Sammy had shot at her – now that Alice was moving out of his line of fire. The bullet clipped her shoulder, but that was enough to make Roxanne howl with anger. She staggered backwards, and then she noticed that the wound was failing to heal. The scent was…
Roxanne gave an inhuman bellow of fury. Silver! She would make the human pay with his life!
“Surrender, Roxanne Dahmer! Don’t make me kill you!” Sammy yelled above the noise of Kevin and Alice’s scrapping. He forced himself to hold the pistol steady as he aimed again at her.
Roaring again with barely-checked rage, Roxanne held herself back from charging at Sammy. She couldn’t risk another silver bullet. Instead…
The auburn-furred she-werewolf bolted like lightning up the nearby stairs. Kevin would have to deal with the other werewolf – but given his strength, that wouldn’t take long. And then the two of them would slay the new human and their prisoners. They would dine well tonight, before moving on to find new hunting grounds…
At the top of the flight of stairs to the next floor, Roxanne realized her mistake. The snarling blond werewolf that had been laying in wait crashed into her, and the two of them fell back down in a tumble of tangled limbs, flashing claws, snapping jaws, and twitching tails. Splays of blood from both females splashed across the wall, before the pair ended up in a heap at the bottom of the steps…
* * *
Meanwhile, Kevin was having problems of his own. He had slashed Alice across her stomach at the top of the cellar stairs – and was about to seize her neck with his jaws, when Karl charged up the steps and grabbed hold of the bigger wolf man. Although inexperienced with his new form and having to quickly get to task with what he physically could or could not do better, compared to being a normal human – Karl allowed himself to be guided by his lupine instincts as they merged with his human intellect and personality. And right now, he was driven by his sense of justice, as well as his deep loyalty and love for Alice and Sally – as well as a human desire to shield Sammy Cornetto from serious harm. Bigger, stronger, and experienced as Kevin was, he was not going to find victory so certain against the new werewolves…
Kevin roared and swung his furred arms and claws at Karl, as the smaller wolf man ducked. Karl then twisted, grabbed hold, and sank his fangs into Kevin’s arm - making him howl with agony. Then Alice kicked out with her leg and connected with the larger wolf man’s knee. Hearing Kevin’s second cry, Karl used took advantage of the moment to slam his half-paw into the bottom of his foe’s lower jaw. The combination of the couple’s attacks made Kevin lose his balance again, and he rolled down the cellar stairs, howling. However, he yanked Karl along with him – and so both wolf men crashed into the nearest wooden shelves at the base of the steps.
Alice snarled – then gasped, feeling her stomach wound knit together, as she pressed her half-paw against it. Grateful for her lycanthropic power of increased physical recovery, she bounded down the stairs, whilst Karl and Kevin twisted themselves round so they could both rise upon the balls of their feet. Karl maneuvered himself so that he and Alice could tackle Kevin from opposite directions.
“Give it…up, Kevin…!” Karl spat.
“Give up…my freedoms…as a werewolf…?” Kevin shook his head. “We’re superior…to humans! They need…to respect us…as the…hunters we are – not place us…in reservations…and treat us…as dirt! They are…the cattle…”
“I know…you feel…discriminated against… Why you…are angry…at Sally…,” Alice rasped. “But murder…is not…the way. We need…to earn…the trust…of…normal humans. Let them…adapt to us,…as people…have gradually…got used to…colored people…, gay people…, disabled people.”
“Killing us… Killing Sally… Does that…make you…better…than those…human bigots…we’ve met?” Karl pressed home the point.
Kevin narrowed his amber eyes for a moment – but then he struck out again, his claws and fangs slicing and biting into Karl. Alice angrily tore into Kevin shoulder before he could turn in time. The three of them careered across the cellar. Crashing down next to the old paint pots, Alice winched at her latest wounds. Then groggily, she forced herself to use both of her fore paws to pick up one of the large pots. Standing behind the wolf men as Kevin swatted Karl to the floor – Alice slammed the half-full pot into the larger, black-furred beast, stunning him. With a snarl, Karl used both of his coiled legs to shoot out and slam Kevin into a rack of old shelves. The impact injured Kevin’s skull – and as he slide to the floor, the damaged shelves broke and dropped their bric-a-brac load on him. With an ‘Urr!’ – the big wolf man folded onto the concrete floor, half-buried by the junk. He did not move again.
Karl dragged himself across to Kevin and checked him over. “He’s out cold…,” he sighed with relief. He sniffed the air, scenting blood other than his own – and then turned to Alice, as she fell to her knees besides him. “Alice! Are you…all right!?”
“Yes… Just…dog tired,” Alice panted. She grinned, and licked her tongue over Karl’s wounds. “You were…great…just then.”
“So were…you…” Karl automatically licked her back. The couple nuzzled and held each other as they rested on the cellar floor – feeling their wounds starting to heal after their exertions…
* * *
Sally sniffed at the trench coat-suited black man standing before her as he lowered his pistol. The scent of fear slowly dissipated around the P.I., seeing that she was not about to attack him. Also, Roxanne had ceased to move since the two she-werewolves had tumbled to the bottom of the stairs. She was still breathing though, and Sally gingerly eased herself away from her hated first, unintended, ‘child’ – keen to back off from the scent of silver from Roxanne’s non-healing shoulder wound.
“Sally Yeller… Please to finally catch up with you – and to capture the rogue werewolf serial killer here.” The man gave a little smile, showing his pearly white teeth. “Pardon me for not shaking your paw. I want to ensure that the danger’s really over.”
Sally used the balcony rail to ease her aching half-lupine body into a standing position. She tilted her head to one side, regarding with interest the man who had shot Roxanne. He had a nice smile, and a cute face to go with it. “Wise… And you are Sammy Cornetto…? Karl and Alice told me you were tracking me down…”
“That’s right,” Sammy stepped closer to Roxanne’s still form, his pistol still in his hand. Then he spun round, startled, at the ‘crash’ resounding from the cellar below as Kevin lost his fight.
Roxanne struck like a snake, seizing the distracted Sammy from behind – surprising both him and Sally. Her right half-paw was clenched around Sammy’s gun hand and fingers, slowly forcing him to point the weapon towards the blonde-furred werewolf.
Sally snarled. “Let him…go, Roxanne!”
“Not until…you’re dead, Yeller!” Roxanne spat. “You turned me…into what…I am. Humans have…died because…of what…you’ve done…”
“You killed people…of your…own choice… You were…a monster…before you…became a werewolf… It’s your actions…that caused me…to infect you!” Sally growled back. Heart pounding and thinking fast, she decided to take a risk. Instead of jumping Roxanne and the struggling, panicking Sammy, she backed up the steps – away from them. “You want…me dead? Then catch me!” Turning, Sally sprinted upstairs, racing on all fours.
Roaring her fury, Roxanne forced Sammy to shot at Sally’s disappearing form. The blonde werewolf howled as a silver bullet struck her leg – but she pressed on. Slamming Sammy aside, Roxanne slashed at his neck, to remove him as a threat. He gasped, hand pressed against his bleeding wound as he collapsed and dropped his pistol. Snatching it up by the barrel, Roxanne raced up the stairs after her quarry…