Present Day, Chicago.
The light of the trashcan fire seemed to capture all of the lines in Jack’s face. He had rested his back against the damp, Graffiti laden wall. Lucille was sure that he had chosen this alleyway due to the pink and yellow anti-corporate messages spray along the walls. The old man’s head tilted up to the clouded night sky. His eyes attempting to pierce the smog filled ether, trying to find the stars which had guided him in years gone by. The human’s disregard for the environment had rendered that nightly ritual almost useless. The constellations which had guided his tribe seemed lost forever as the factories expanded. It was, he mused, why many of his kind still resided in the forests.
“Come young one and sit with me, I have a story to tell. It’s painful and true.”
His voice contained the throaty intonations which betrayed his true form. Lucille came closer to him, eager for the heat of the fire and to learn more about the history of the wolves. They had found each other as the young girl had experienced the first pains of the change. She had been walking home with her boyfriend as the transformation began. Her insides began to twist and her skin felt unbearably warm. She can remember her boyfriend’s concerned voice asking her if “she was on her moons?” She certainly was but not in the way that he had meant. Her head ached as she braced herself against the pavement. She was being forced onto her hands and knees. As her teeth felt too large for her mouth, the agony became too much and she blacked out.
When she regained consciousness, she was semi-naked, covered in blood and had pieces of meat stuck in her teeth. Looking down upon this sorry sight had been the heavily lined face of Jack. Although he listened patiently to her questions, Jack had been anxious to lead her to safety. He draped his worn leather jacket over her shoulders and led her away from the alley. Over the next few days, he helped her process the fact that she was a werewolf. He had explained that the first change was always bloody and dangerous. It would take many lunar cycles before she could control the beast which only borrowed her human face.
On nights such as this, Lucille found herself remembering Andy, he had been the first guy she had ‘gone steady’. He had treated her with respect and engaged her mind as well as her body. Andy had made the days at university fun and now he was gone. Lucille forced the image of his gently smiling face from her mind and concentrated on what Jack was saying.
Producing a skewer and some marshmallows from the bag beside him, Jack winked.
“I believe its best to snack on stories while they are being told.”
Jack took his eyes off his young wards face and once again looked towards the sky. His lined face creased into a smile as a solitary star appeared. The clouds had broken enough so that the magnificence of the blue azure of the night sky could be seen. Handing a marshmallow to Lucille, Jack began his tale.
10 Months Ago.
The two wolves fought viciously. One had already lost an eye, it hung uselessly out of its socket. He was young and powerful but lacked the strategic grace of his opponent. The older wolf had thick, black fur which was penetrated with streaks of silver. As the two wolves continued to clash, it was clear to the onlookers as to who the victor would be.
Jack had never felt so alive, this battle was fueled by a hellish anger. He had lost everything, his tribe and his mate to the traitor who cowered before him. His streaked fur shimmered as he flexed his muscles. The younger wolf began to prowl cautiously around Jack, occasionally snapping his jaws towards his older rival. The conflict had been building for the previous few years and this battle would be decisive. Jack smiled at the futility of this aggression, as he waited for the chance to strike the final blow, his mind wandered to the events of the last few months.
The wolves were born of the Earth. They felt her keenly under their paws. Their snouts could detect the shifts in her spirit and when they hunted, they partook of her bounty. This was the sacred and long held truth of the tribe. It was a code that Jack lived by. Now they had been encaged in a research facility, its smooth metallic walls made the call of the forest seem distant. Yet Jack still felt it, the call to run and hunt, to howl at the night sky and unleash the power held within his throat and lungs. Once he had dealt with this betrayer, he would lead the tribe to freedom and back into the arms of Gaia.
The younger wolf was the pack’s tribal heir, the chief’s son. He had been discontented with the life which the tribe had led. He often raised his voice in complaint during the tribal meetings. He believed that the wolves should make a pact with the humans who had encroached on their land. Speaking against the actions of Jack, who had become a saboteur. Jack and a few other members of the pack had begun to take part in protests and the destruction of diggers and construction equipment. Andrus had argued that this had been dangerous. No wolf could ever find itself in prison or in the public eye. Imagine the outcry if one of their kind transformed in jail?
Jack had responded with equal passion. Was it not the sacred duty of their kind to protect the forests? Yes, in his two-legged form he joined other concerned humans to stand against the polluting nature of the corporate owned factories. He hadn’t participated in any acts of serious violence. It was necessary to halt the destructive progress of mankind before Gaia responded in her own way. The shamans had long predicted that the Earth would begin to defend itself against the continual attack on the green. This would affect both human and wolf-kind.
Andrus’ discontent led him to leave the tribe, he could not wait until his father died before gaining authority and respect. Leaving the forest, he marched straight into the Genoria corporation and broke the cardinal rule of the wolves. He transformed in front of the astonished company executives and revealed their existence. This led to a flurry of government contracts and inevitable interest from the military.
Returning to the tribe wearing a fancy suit and shades, Andrus offered them a deal. A contract with Genoria which would assist in serving the ‘country’. Jack had snarled derisively in response, wolves didn’t have a country, they didn’t pledge allegiance to a man-made flag. They should be loyal to the Earth, to Gaia herself. The tribal chief moved slowly to his son. His wizened features reflected back in his son’s mirrored shades. He placed his hands on both sides of Andrus’ face and sniffed. The chief twisted his face in disgust, he proclaimed that his son didn’t even smell like one of them anymore. His skin was full of perfumes and manufactured chemicals. With this pronouncement, Andrus was cast from the tribe.
Twenty minutes later Andrus returned. He was accompanied by troopers armed to the teeth. Some wore bulky mechanical suits and fired liquid flame at the trees. Jack and the tribe ran into the forest, their clothes shredding as they transformed. They attempted to hide among the thick bark and greenery but the soldiers deployed tactical drones. Eventually the tribe had been tagged and shocked by these flying machines. This allowed the humans to capture them with ease. The operation lasted many hours. Some wolves evaded being tagged and were riddled with machine gun bullets. The humans had been sure not to use silver rounds, they didn’t want their prize specimens dead, merely incapacitated.
After their capture, it didn’t take long for the wolves to begin to submit to Genoria’s whims. The tribe had been bombarded with subliminal messages, promises and cold, hard cash. Jack had commented that this was the ultimate fraud of capitalism, those with money eventually get you to pay for the things which you had for free anyway. He found himself placed in isolation due to his non-compliance. Jack became increasingly violent, he found himself unable to contain his animalistic rage. He tore the arms off the guards who had brought him food. Even when restrained by silver chains which burned and chaffed his skin, he was able to mid-way transform and sink his jaws into the head of the scientist who attempted to take a sperm sample.
Often Andrus would stand outside his cell door, he would tell him of the progress of the others. How they were now ‘volunteering’ for military operations. In those moments Jack vowed that he would escape and kill this youngblood for his betrayal.
The moment came when his restraints were loosened in reaction to a few days of compliance. No doubt the corporate stooges were under the misapprehension that Jack could be tamed in the same manner as the others. In a battle which lasted minutes, the wolf found himself outside his cell door. Striding down the grey corridors, he screamed Andrus’ name. It was time for revenge.
As often happened with Jack recalled these events, he felt his heart pound faster. He was fueling his anger to drive himself into a frenzy. Andrus decided to make the first move and pounced on Jack; he used his agile frame to pin the older Wolf to the ground. Slashing with his razor-sharp claws, Andrus dug deep into Jacks chest. Pools of blood welled onto the floor. Jack could sense that the younger wolf was edging dangerously close to exposing his ribcage. He could survive significant blood loss but he knew from experience that organ damage would take longer to recover from. That was precious time he didn’t have. He needed to escape with his tribe before every human guard came running to his location.
A pause in the young wolf’s attack signaled Jack to take his chance. Howling with rage, the older wolf slammed his powerful jaws into Andrus’ throat and pulled. Andrus had not anticipated the attack and instinctively moved back. This motion aided Jack’s strategy. In moments Andrus found his larynx torn out and hanging at his chest. The younger wolf collapsed and Jack stood over him. Alarms began to sound across the base. The humans had been watching this battle, hoping that Andrus could take down the older wolf and finally establish dominance over the tribe.
Transforming into his human form, Jack turned to his tribe. He spoke urgently of the need to escape. They had all held back from engaging in the fight, as was custom. Jealousies or rivalry was always settled through honorable combat. Looking at their faces, Jack realized that he had mistaken their quiet observation for compliance. The faces of his friends had lost their vibrancy, in its place was a vacant stoned expression. A shuffling, shambling figure made its way through the crowd, his familiar wrinkled face filled with rage and sorrow. The words he spoke were a death sentence for Jack. Eternal banishment from this and every wolf-pack across Gaia.
Present Day
Jack’s voice trailed off and Lucille rested her head on his arm. Her auburn hair scattered across his pale green coat. The old man gently stroked her head and chewed on a slightly burnt marshmallow.
“That’s why they are after me kid. Genoria, the government. Hell, even the library service has probably a few warrants out for my overdue books from the ‘70s. I gotta get you someplace safe. Trouble is, I think events are starting, wheels in motion so to speak. I think there’s a goddamn war on the horizon and you will have to pick a side”.
[Not sure who the artist for this is – but its fantastic]
