FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A Change of Company _By Raska Kannagami

Don't let them in. Please, whatever gods watch over these people, tell this woman not to let these leeches in! They'll kill her and her family!_

But the human female at the door smiled and stood aside, allowing the two vampires - though, doubtless, she didn't know they were vampires - into her home. Dammit!

Adrian growled and shifted uncomfortably. He could not reveal himself unless the humans were in danger. Even if he knew the two males the human woman had let into her house were vampires, he had no way of knowing if she was an accomplice...or their intended prey. Until screaming and bloodshed occurred, Adrian could not interfere. So, he stayed and watched. It was entirely possible that the woman was not an accomplice, but the two leeches would refrain from attacking her. Adrian doubted it. He had been tracking them for nearly a fortnight, they had not fed at all in that time. They would be ravenous.

Then a car pulled up, and Adrian's ears perked. A man got out of the passenger side, followed by a boy from the back seat, thanked the driver, and headed toward the house. Adrian's nose told him that both of them were human. When the two reached the door and opened it, Adrian tensed, not sure what they'd find. But they went inside without commotion.

Then the screaming started, starting with the adult male, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!? THE FU-- GET OFF ME!!" The woman was screaming incoherently, and Adrian could also hear the boy's screams as well as the snarls of the vampires. Adrian sprang into a run as the boy threw open the front door and ran into the yard, pursued by one of the vampires. "Get down!" Adrian shouted to the boy, and leapt over him when he complied. Changing in midair, Adrian tackled the vampire with the full weight and force of an adult werewolf, his clothing exploding away from his body in rags.

It didn't take long to kill the leech. Having gone so long without feeding, this one was no match for Adrian's strength, he snapped its neck with pitiful ease. He didn't waste a second, though, dropping the body and bolting through the door, hoping he wasn't too late. He skidded to a halt as soon as he got as far as the dining room, disgusted by what he saw. The other vampire and the woman had the man on the dining room table, gorging on his insides while he moaned and weakly tried to shove them off. The woman had two holes in her neck where she'd been bitten - and there wasn't the normal gashes that came with an unwilling bite - she'd been an accomplice after all.

Seeing him, the male vampire froze, blood and viscera dripping from his lips. His eyes were wide as saucers, and the stink of fear was heavy on him. The newly-changed female was not as stunned, she leapt over the table and launched herself at Adrian, her mouth gaping in a wordless snarl. Contemptuously, Adrian batted her aside with a sweep of his arm, his lupine strength sending her flying - and soon crashing - into a wall.

The male tried to bolt, but Adrian leapt, growling, and tackled him to the ground. He screamed as Adrian's claws ripped his belly open. A high-pitched shriek made Adrian look up, just in time to see the female making another ill-advised attempt at attacking him. He flung the dying body of her sire at her, the scent of blood distracting her long enough for Adrian to run into the kitchen. Newly-made vampires were nearly indestructible, yet they did not have the strength or the cunning of their older peers. The only thing which could destroy them was fire, and Adrian hoped this house was not equipped with an electric stove.

His luck ran true. Doubly so because there was a large liquor bottle on the counter, which could prove useful. He ripped the door off the oven and, ignoring the pain the hot metal shot through his paw, clawed open the bottom to reveal the small pilot light. The female had gotten over her distraction and was now coming through the doorway. Adrian snatched the bottle from the counter and smashed it against the oven, throwing himself backwards. There was a tremendously loud WHOOMPH as the liquor ignited in a cloud of blue fire, catching the female vampire full in the face.

The female screamed as she was thrown back, her face and chest quickly becoming charred. Unfortunately, the fire was not persistent enough to do her in, and Adrian had to come up with a better plan. Scrambling to his feet, Adrian sprinted back into the main hall and up the stairs, the female close behind him. What else in a human house can explode? He thought frantically, making his way into the master bedroom. He smelled smoke, and realized that his impromptu flame thrower had caught something aflame. That would do, but he had to keep the female in the house to make it work. He was so caught up in his thought, standing in the middle of the master bedroom, that he was surprised by the female's claws sinking into his back. Reflexively, he used a judo throw to flip her over his shoulder.

She hit the floor hard, and was stunned for a few seconds. Long enough for Adrian to move over to the large, ornate wardrobe, grab it, and drag it over to finally tip it over onto her. The wardrobe had been heavy - well, not heavy for him in his Changed state, but still, it had some weight to it - and it landed directly on her legs. Vampires got a lot of perks from their 'condition', but superhuman strength was not one of them. If the woman would have had difficulty lifting the large oaken thing off of herself, the vampire she became would have no better luck. After taking a few moments to check that she was indeed trapped, Adrian ran toward a window and jumped through it without even bothering to open it. The glass cut him, to be sure, but the wounds healed instantly.

He landed on the roof of the porch and rolled to break his momentum, then fell a few more feet and rolled again in the soft grass. Looking back at the house, he saw that the lower floors were already aflame, the orange glow of the fire inside almost soft and pleasant. Where's the boy? He wondered.

He spotted the boy quickly enough, still huddled in the grass where he'd been just minutes before, crying. Adrian approached him, taking care to be noisy about it so he didn't startle the lad, "Are you okay?"

The boy looked up at him with eyes wide with fear, and scrambled back. Adrian held out his paws in a nonthreatening way, "I'm not going to hurt you, but you need to let me make sure you're alright."

"They--they were--those people were--"

"Vampires. Blood-suckers. Lords of the Night, whatever you want to call them," Adrian informed him, trying to keep his voice calm and soothing. It wasn't easy in his Changed form...a wolf's throat, no matter how different from the animal's, still couldn't make many sounds that were 'calm and soothing'.

"And you're a--"

"Werebeast, that's right."

"My parents?"

Adrian sucked in his breath. He hated having to tell people this, "They're dead, both of them."

A high-pitched shriek rent the air as the upper floors caught fire as well. The boy startled, but Adrian had been expecting it. He held out his paw to the boy, "Come with me. We ought to get out of here before the police and fire teams get here." Hesitantly, the boy took his paw.

* * * * * The boy's name was Marcus. He would be fourteen in six months. That was all Adrian had managed to get out of him before he lapsed into silence and eventually sleep. No wonder the boy was tired, though. They'd had to walk nearly three-quarters of a mile to get to Adrian's car. The boy had walked most of the way, but he wasn't used to it and Adrian had to carry him the remainder. It wouldn't have normally been such a hike - his car was just a few blocks away - but Adrian had decided to take a longer, less conspicuous route. Seeing a six-foot-something werewolf carrying a small-in-comparison boy...well, it might be cause for alarm, to some folk. He didn't just change back into his human form because his clothes had inconveniently shredded themselves when he'd Changed. A naked adult male carrying a young boy would probably provoke more alarm than the werewolf would.

Marcus had fallen asleep in Adrian's arms, and when they reached the car, the Werebeast was very gentle in setting him into the back seat. Then, he'd pulled out a small duffel bag from under the driver's seat and, making sure no one could see him, changed back into his human form and quickly dressed himself in a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt. Then, he got in the car and put it in gear.

* * * * * Marcus woke the next morning lying in a huge bed. He sat up, yawned, and checked the time - 08:44. Oh, shit! I'm late for school! He climbed out of the immense bed and ran out the bedroom, bumping into someone. Sent sprawling by the other person - running into him had been like hitting a wall - he looked up to see who it was. Considering the huge bed and the different house-layout, Marcus knew that he wasn't at home, but he'd still hoped that what had happened last night had been some sort of nightmare.

But no, the face of the man standing there with an amused look on his face was the same man who had turned into a Werewolf and killed the Vampires who had killed his parents. At least...that's what he says. Maybe he killed them! Maybe he plans to fatten me up and then EAT me!

When the man leaned down, holding out his hand to help Marcus up, the boy's first reaction was to scream and scramble away, kicking the door closed in the man's face.

It was a few minutes later that he realized how stupid that was. This was obviously the Werewolf's own house, and if he really was a Werewolf, the door to the bedroom wouldn't stop him if he wanted to get in. Marcus huddled on the far side of the room, next to the bed, anticipating the monster's wrath. But it never came. Instead, Marcus heard the shower run, and then ten minutes later, the phone rang. The Werewolf must have had a handset in the bathroom, because the phone was immediately answered, "Yeah? I'm in the fucking shower, what d'ya want?...Oh, hey Tom...Yeah, that brouhaha last night was me, killed some leeches, but not before they killed this poor boy's father and Turned his mother...Huh? Yeah, I saved the boy, he's staying with me right now...What?...Tom, this had better be your idea of a joke, or I swear to Dog I'll come over there in all my naked, sudsy glory and beat the fur off of you...You're kidding...Alright, come on over, then. Just gimme a few more minutes to finish my shower and be dressed..."

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, "Marcus? I know you're scared of me, but can you...I dunno...let me in so I can get my clothes?"

"Like you can't bust the door down anyways," Marcus replied hoarsely.

"I could," the Werebeast admitted, "...but then I'd have to pay to get my door fixed, and that's really annoying. Besides, the door doesn't even have a lock on it, I could just walk in at any time. I'm doing this 'cause I want you to trust me and stop being afraid of me."

"Why shouldn't I be afraid? You're a Werewolf! You're gonna eat me!"

Of all the replies to that Marcus expected, laughter was not one of them, "Please. Even if I were going to eat you, you're way too lean for my taste."

"That doesn't help your case!" Marcus shouted back in a strangled voice.

The Werewolf sighed, "Look, I have a friend coming over and I'd rather have some clothes on when he does, so I'm coming in now."

With that, the door opened and the Werewolf stepped into the bedroom, a towel around his waist and dripping water everywhere. He chuckled briefly at Marcus, but not unkindly, and went across the room into the walk-in closet. A few minutes later he reemerged wearing a simple vest over a bare chest and a pair of faded jeans. The Werewolf had nicely tanned skin and was shorter than Marcus expected, about five-three. His hair was the same jet-black as Marcus' own hair, though his prominent cheekbones and lean build suggested Native American heritage as opposed to Marcus' European mongrel ancestry. "See?" He said to Marcus, "And I didn't eat you. Anyways, my friend should be here any minute, we'll be downstairs. Stay up here if you like, but if you get hungry feel free to come downstairs and help yourself to anything in the fridge." After he'd left the room, Marcus felt silly. It didn't seem like the Werewolf meant him any real harm at all...but could he be sure it wasn't just an act to lull him into a false sense of security?

He heard voices downstairs, and he was hungry. Maybe if he was quiet and unobtrusive he could sneak down and grab some food without them noticing. He crept quietly out the bedroom and headed downstairs. At the foot of the stairs he oriented himself. The stairs had deposited him in a modest entry-hall, with two doorways. Through the doorway to his left seemed to be the kitchen, and on the right was a doorway leading into the dining room. He went in the kitchen.

Wow! This place is huge! He must be pretty rich. Look at the size of that fridge! He figured opening the fridge would make too much noise, so he tried to quietly inspect the contents of the cabinets. He was reaching for the top shelf to get a bowl down, when he heard his name.

"...is Marcus. He's a bit shocked after what happened last night, and I can't say I blame him. He's upstairs hiding in my room." That was the Werewolf's voice.

"Oh, is he? Well, he'll get over his fear when his stomach starts growling louder than we do. But You said 'Marcus' was his name? Marcus...Donner?" This was a different voice, probably the Werewolf's 'friend'. It had a smooth lilt to it, like the last hint of an Irish accent.

"He never told me his last name. How do you know it?"

The friend didn't reply, but Marcus heard the TV turn on. "...oon City Police and FBI agents are still scouring the city for word of Marcus Donner, wanted in connection with the arson and gruesome quadruple homicide that occurred at his parents' home in Umbra County last night. Among the slain were Donner's own parents, murdered in grisly fashion. The FBI warns that Donner may be experiencing a psychotic episode, and should be approached only by police or trained medical professionals. IF you should see Donner or have any information regarding his whereabouts, the Police Department and FBI urge you to call their toll-free hotline, at the number which should be scrolling across the bottom of your screen. In less sobering news, local artist Troy Hector unveils plans for a --"

The bowl fell to the floor and shattered.