The Ongoing War: Chapter 1

I sniffed the air with my new nose. I picked up a sweet, yet sour smell. I immediately knew that it was the scent of vampires, because it was the way the smoke coming off the burning vampire had smelled. I followed the scent. I kept going, running on all fours. I was incredibly fast. I was moving as fast as a cheetah, if not faster. After about 5 minutes, I had traveled 15 miles. I looked out of the underbrush, and I saw a huge mansion. It was white, with big stone fortifications. The stench of the vampires was all around the place. I saw a male vampire walk out of the building, swaying a bit as he walked. Apparently, vampires can eat normal food, and also drink. I could smell the alcohol coming off of him. I wondered how best to approach him. Then, I had an idea. Maybe, in the circumstances in which I had changed, I could possibly turn back and forth whenever I wanted. I focused and, all of a sudden, I turned back into a human. It was much smoother than changing into wolf-form. It was still quite painful. I pulled out my claws and climbed a tree that was right above the path the vampire was following. I saw him walk right under me as I hung in the branches. I dropped down behind him. He turned around and saw me. He tried to punch me, but I dodged, while saying, "Losing your nerve, vampire? Or are you incapable of even touching a creature like me?" He looked at me, all signs of being drunk gone, except for the bottle in his hand, which he had smashed. He swung it at me, but missed. He said, with an angry expression on his face, "What are you then? You're not a vampire, that much I know. You stink of wolves." I smiled as I clocked him right in his jaw. I replied, cracking my knuckles and extending my claws, "I am a new creature that, like you vampire scumbags, makes more of its kind by biting. I am a werewolf. It literally means 'man-wolf'. I can change from wolf form to human form and back again. Especially at the full moon." The vampire looked at me, paralyzed with shock. Then I bared my teeth in a grin. And I was still grinning as I extended them to full length fangs. The vampire now had a new look that, strangely enough, gave me a feeling of delight. From the look on his face, he felt... FEAR. I picked him up, and told him, "Give this message to my brother: I, Hunter, first of the werewolves, shall make an army of my kind strong enough to forever rid the world of vampire scum. From this day forth, vampires and werewolves shall forever be at war. Never ceasing until one or the other is wiped out. P.S. I know your weakness," I picked him up by his shirt and pants and threw him through the window of the first floor ballroom. There was uproar inside. I looked in and saw my brother. The vampire gave him my message. He looked up, and said, "Werewolf? My brother is a werewolf? What does it mean? Tell me." The vampire said, "My lord, he said 'Werewolf literally means man-wolf'. He can turn into a wolf like creature. I saw his claws and fangs. They are even longer than yours, my lord." The vampires gasped. I knew at once that everyone there was a vampire. The smell from them was both horrible and rather nice. I turned into a wolf and ran off into the woods.

I woke up in a mountain cave not far from the village. I noticed that my clothes had taken no damage from my transformation, which was lucky. I had come here to rest after going hunting for my midnight snacks. Everything I had eaten was either fatally injured or already dead, I hadn't become a complete animal. I walked out of the cave and sat down at the mouth of it. I crossed my legs and stared out over the village which was half a mile from the mountain's base. I stood up again and made a silent decision. I couldn't take down the vampires single-handed. I would need to find people who would be willing to help me. I thought that the people most likely to help would be the friends and relatives of those who had lost their lives to the vampires. How very wrong I was. They were either skeptical or scared, long story short, it had been 3 weeks so far and I hadn't been able to convince anyone. Then one day, a woman about my age came toward me in the street. I was doing my usual job as the local street vendor when this happened, so I was slightly confused. When I saw the expression on her face, I knew immediately that she wanted to talk to me about something. She had blonde hair that went down to her shoulders and framed her rather pretty face. She was about 5' 10" in height and wore a simple green dress that complimented her graceful figure and matched her eyes perfectly. Okay, I think I'm overdoing it with the description, but it was true. In fact, when she walked up to me several guys' heads turned. One guy came toward her, and in the next instant he was sitting down in a cart full of chicken eggs. When she stopped in front of the counter of my stand, I gripped a staff that I kept stored under the counter in case of emergencies. I may have forgotten to mention that I am a sorcerer as well as an alchemist. That's kind of how I became what my major profession is, a thaumaturge. But, more on that later. The girl said, quietly, "I need to talk to you, but not here. I hear that you know something about all the deaths in this area, is that right?" I was surprised, but I nodded. I opened the side door of my stand and she came in. Then I closed the wooden doors on top of the counter and activated the inscriptions on the doors which soundproofed them. Then I gestured to the girl to follow me as I opened a secret trap door in the ground. I told her, "Climb to the bottom and walk along the tunnel until you come to another ladder. Wait for me there." She nodded and walked down the tunnel. I climbed back up and closed the trapdoor, I opened the doors and placed the closed sign into the ground where the stand normally is. Then I muttered a spell and the stand packed itself into a cart. I looked at the people gathered around and said, "Sorry people, no more business today. You can come back tomorrow." Everyone groaned, but I grabbed the cart and ran off toward the woods where my home was located. Pulling the cart was easy, because I had made the stand of light, but strong wood, and I can run pretty fast. I found the hidden path through the forest that was a direct drive to my house, which was five floors tall, and made of marble. On the side of it, I had carved a picture of my favorite god from Greek mythology, Poseidon. The god was dressed in a blue toga and had his trident in the crook of his arm. This was because his hands were on the reigns of the hippocampi pulling his chariot. Hippocampi are creatures that have the front halves of horses and the back halves of fish. I walked in through the front door and walked down to the basement. I opened the trapdoor hidden under a crate full of firewood. When I went down, holding a torch, I immediately saw the girl coming toward me. We went up the ladder, and I escorted her to the living room. I sat down in an armchair across from the girl who sat on the couch. I looked at her and said, "So, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes," she said, immediately. She looked at me and continued, "What do you know?" I just looked at her seriously, and said, "I know where their base is, who their leader is, and what their weakness is." She looked surprised. She asked, "How do you know? And how did you find out about all those things?" I gave her a toothy grin. I didn't do this much because I have jagged and crooked teeth and of my canines was missing. My brother, Richard is his name, had punched me in the jaw and knocked it out, root and all. It didn't even grow back when I transformed. After Michelle saw my teeth, she looked rather strange. She said, "Your tooth, it's gone." I nodded, and said, "Of course it is. Who do you think has been keeping the people of this town safe from the vampires?" Over the past three months that I had been looking for people to join me, I had been fighting vampires at night. I had reduced their numbers by quite a bit. There were now only 75 left. That is, last I checked. Even the people of the town knew about me. That is, they knew about me when I was in wolf form. Obviously they didn't know that I was a werewolf. One of the people I had saved at the last moment had seen my teeth. He had spread the word, and both the vampires and humans were calling me the, 'One-Fanged Wolf.'" I had become rather infamous among the vampires, but the humans discussed me as if I were a hero. When Michelle heard my comment, she stood up and gazed at me with astonishment and, I couldn't be certain but I was fairly sure, adoration. All of a sudden I found myself thinking, </i> She's cute when she's surprised.</i> I mentally slapped myself in the face. Michelle started to speak, but stopped, then she tried again, and again, when she finally found her voice, she asked, "Y-Y-you're the One-Fanged Wolf?" I nodded.

"Yes," I answered, "I am."

All of a sudden, she started to ask questions. What was I when I was the One-Fanged Wolf? Did I wear a costume? Do I actually become a wolf-like creature? How did I become what I am? How did I lose my other fang? I held up my hands to get her to slow down. I looked at her seriously, and said, "I am going to answer your questions in order. Please sit down." She sat down on the couch, and I in my leather armchair across from her.

"To answer your first question," I said, speaking a little quick at first, "I found out about their weakness because I tricked a vampire into running into sunlight. I found out about who their leader is because this vampire told me before he was destroyed, and their base is in the middle of these woods. I found out about that because I followed the smell of vampires to the base." I took a breath, and continued, "When I am the One-Fanged Wolf, I am a creature called a werewolf. I transform involuntarily at the full moon, but other than that I can transform at any time. And no, I don't wear a costume." I stopped again, took a drink of water, and went on, "Yes I do become a wolf-like creature. I have already answered your question about how I change. I lost my other tooth a few years ago when my brother and I had a huge fight. He is the leader of the vampires. I have discovered one other thing about the vampires.” I walked over to the fridge, while saying, "They have a fondness for this." I picked up a brown bottle and put it down on the counter. Michelle looked at me and said, in a skeptical tone, "Beer?" I nodded and replied, "Not just beer. Alcohol in general. Gin, wine, rum, beer, whiskey, etc. They can't resist it. The male ones at least, and thankfully 70% of all the vampires are guys." Michelle nodded, looking genuinely fascinated. </i>She must be a very good listener, </i>I thought. I put the beer back in the fridge, turned to Michelle, and smiled, showing my teeth again.

"I am thankful for this," I said, "because I have a strategy in mind that will almost definitely work." She stared at me in silent shock. Then she opened her mouth and asked, "What strategy? How will it work?" My grin faded, and I held up my hands again, and said simply, "I'm afraid I can't tell you. I'll need more people to join me and become werewolves before that happens. I need at least fifteen more werewolves before I can put my plan into effect."

"Fourteen," Michelle said as soon as I had finished talking. I looked at her, surprised. I asked, "What do you mean?" She looked at me, this time ,she was giving me a toothy grin. I noticed that she had perfect, white teeth. I mentally slapped myself again. Michelle said, "You need fourteen werewolves, not fifteen. I want to join you." I looked at her, astonished, and broke into a wide grin. Alright then," I said. I looked outside, and saw that it was getting dark. I turned to Michelle and said, "We can get on with it tomorrow. Tonight, I need to rest. The guest bedroom is down the hall, second door on the right." She walked inside, changed into a nightdress that she found in the closet, and got into bed. She fell asleep instantly. I went to my bedroom, but I lay awake in the dark, looking out the window at the moon. Tomorrow night was the full moon. One way or another, there will be some action tomorrow night, I thought. One way or another.