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Chapter 4

Blood was spilling onto his shirt, the right side of his head was warm and wet. His ear hurt a lot.

He didn't stop running. He didn't look back.

The branches of trees were scratching his body, rocks and roots hidden in the snow were injuring his paws, but he didn't care. He ran until he stumbled and fell, his breath broken.

What have I done? Why?

His body chuckling in horror. He seized the ground with his claws, while crying. Tears mixed with blood painted the snow red below his face.

I killed a man... he said to himself. I killed...

The shivers were calming down. He sat down on the snow leant against a tree, drying his tears. The pain on his ear was still excruciating, but he didn't want to touch it.

I got shot, the bullet hit me. I defended myself. I had no other choice. I was prepared, wasn't I? "I'll do everything necessary to survive..."

«It seems a fucking apology.» he burst out. «And now they know about me... A murderer on the loose.»

Now he really needed to go far from there, he had no chance if he stayed there any longer. He already felt people chasing him down the woods, his footprints stood out on the snow, as occasional drops of blood. Finding him would have been far too easy.

He stood up, putting on the hoodie he stole back in that house, and the knife on his belt.

This will be a long chase...

Now that he was really lost none was to stand in his way. That or death.

The darkness quivered inside him.

Nothing made sense anymore. Too many senseless things going on at the same time.

Jack was already in a dubious state after that case was shut off without any reason. Than that murder, everything was going worse and worse, he felt like he was losing his mind.

«What the hell does this mean?» Kyle shouted to the coroner.

Jack and him just received the analysis on the blood. An entire day was passed, research were begun for the murderer, but the two of them spent a lot of time in that little town of Lerad, interrogating the woman and trying to figure out what happened. They didn't discovered anything major, no one saw anything strange, and although they spent a lot of time at the crime scene, it was just a waste. And after all they were rewarded with that.

«It means - the doctor answered mad - that this blood is not human, how hard is it to understand?»

«It is hard because this one killed a man! This that you call an animal broke into somebody's house and killed him!» Kyle continued shouting. It looked at Jack too asking for his support, and this time he really had the same opinion as him, strangely enough.

«It must have been a really intelligent animal, it opened and closed doors, it also was wearing clothes...» Jack said.

The doctor was more pissed off than ever.

«I don't know what to tell you, these results are correct.» he said, then he left.

Jack and Kyle remained alone in the corridor out of the doctor's office, left with all their doubts. Those who saw their little argument passed by now that the show was off.

Jack sat on a bench tired of all that madness.

«Now what?» Kyle asked. «You can't just sit there like it's all going to end soon.»

«You saw those footprints though.» Jack said. That was bugging his brain from the beginning of it all. «Those were not human.»

Kyle did not replied immediately, he knew he was right. He sat down next to Jack.

«If he really was not human this is... this is really something out the world. I think we shouldn't put ourselves into this.»

«We already are into this. I want to finish it. If it was a...» Jack stopped talking as a woman passed by and entered the office in front of them. «If it was a creature I want to find it. I already had to drop a case, I don't want to do it again.»

«Fine.» Kyle said standing. «Let's go then. I'm curious to see what we'll find.»

«Nothing good probably.»

They walked along each other till they got out the building, reached the car and got ready. There was really only one thing they could do, the really boring bit.

«So, let's go back to Lerad and look for any clue about that creature. Now that we have assumed it's not an human we might find something we missed before.»

Kyle turned on the car engine with a very happy expression on his face.

«We'll have a lot of fun there.» he commented.

«You said you were curious to see...» Jack pointed out.

«Yeah...»

The trip back to the small town was eventless, boring as hell for both of them. At some point Kyle turned on the radio cause he was tired of hearing just the monotonous sound of others cars on the highway. He really enjoyed Metal music, Jack didn't, but he hopelessly accepted that situation.

After an hour and an half they arrived to Lerad. They were unsure were to begin with: either returning to the crime scene looking for anything stranger than usual, or going to the police station to talk with the chief for any news.

«Let's go to the police station first, - Jack proposed - I don't think there'll be anything else to find on the crime scene, we have already turned that place upside-down.»

«Fine with me.»

They parked the car in front of the small station, they were not going to stay long in there after all.

«You know what, Jack, I think our team is pretty good. We did just fine yesterday, despite our differences I'd say...»

Jack maybe had something to say in regard, but in the end he was fine too with him. If they actually succeeded in that case it would have been the perfect proof.

«Let's finish this, ok? Then we'll see if you're right.»

They entered the building and went to the chief's office, asking him about how the research was going. He was a little upset about all that happened in his town, more so about that pursuit. He, as his men, wanted to know what really happened in that house.

«The research, yes, you know I still have three men out there in the forest looking for the murderer. They got out this morning and still didn't find anything.» he said.

«Nothing?»

«Not him... They're still following his footprints. He really ran away fast after he killed that man. He... he...» it seemed like the police chief was going to lose his mind on the subject.

Jack and Kyle were prepared for that question from the beginning. But it was still difficult to get asked such a thing.

«What the hell was it anyway?» he shouted.

«Well...»

«I had my men asking me why they were going after an animal from the moment they saw those footprints. - he continued without listening - And don't tell me it really was an animal, because it had clothes on.»

«We don't know what it was.» replied Kyle with his usual delicacy. «That's why we need to find him.»

The police officer calmed down a little seeing how mad was Kyle about all that matter. Jack intervened to calm things down, explaining to the chief they themselves didn't know anything more about it.

«I had some men that backed down after hearing what happened in that house.» the chief said when Jack finished. «They were terrorized, nobody wanted to go out and search that thing. A couple of hours ago a group of men returned and they were so uplifted to be back...»

«Wait, wait. - Kyle stopped him - Some men got back? Why did they stop?»

«They came to a dead-end.» he answered, but seeing as they were both confused he explained things better. «There were two trails of footprints from the back of the house, one towards south and one to the east. I sent one group for each of them, we wanted to see also where it was coming from. But it seems that the trail ended right on a riverside.»

«On a riverside...» Jack said to himself. «By any chance have you got a map of the path they took?»

He opened the folder in front of him and took out a map of the surroundings of the town, showing it to the two investigators. On the map there were two paths drawn with a red pen, the one on the south ended next the blue line of a river.

Jack read the name alongside it and a shiver went down his spine. That terrible name.

«The Colwak river...» he whispered thinking about it for a moment, he had almost forgotten about that man died in his waters. It happened just three days before, but that new case completely occupied his time. He didn't even have time to break the rules and continue with his investigation secretly.

«What? Something's wrong?» Kyle asked. Jack probably had a strange expression while thinking back to that case.

«No, nothing.» he said shacking away those thought for the moment, it wasn't the right time.

«Anyway, the team going west is still on his way, they'll call whenever...» The phone on the desk rang loudly, interrupting his sentence. «I'm sorry, just a moment.» the chief said before answering the call.

Jack and Kyle put to use that interruption to study more closely the map of the area, without considering too much that cursed coincidence. The line drew towards east was almost fifty kilometers long, turning upwards in a nice curve.

«It went a long way, didn't it?» whispered Kyle smiling.

«Running for his life...» continued Jack.

He lifted his gaze to the police officer. That call was not very pleasant for him, his face was a mix of confused and preoccupied. He was looking at them.

«Yes sir, - he said in the end - will do.»

Kyle didn't notice his expression, and was preparing to go away. He was almost about to call Jack and thank the chief for his time, but he was stopped.

«Please wait. I have some... bad news for you two.» the chief said, but he had some difficulty saying it. «It was your boss, there are new orders from the command center: you are both off the case.»

«WHAT?» Kyle shouted jumping on his feet.

«The case has been given away...»

«To whom?» he shouted again.

The police chief probably was ordered to not say anything, but he still answered the question to calm Kyle down.

«The secret services took it over...» he said and explained more. But Jack was not listening anymore.

He was struck by a lightning, the second time in just a few days. Something was going on, it took him just a moment to relate the facts, the idea came to his mind so fast he couldn't believe it. The Colwak river, that was not a coincidence anymore. In those waters, in the span of one day, a man died and a monster was born.

It was the only possible explanation. Jack had wondered why the suicide of a young man rose so many attentions. What if he wasn't a man in the first place?

Kyle and the police chief were still arguing, one mad the other sorry, but Jack interrupted them both. He didn't want to lose that opportunity; this time he wasn't going to follow the rules.

«Kyle, I think it's time for us to go.» he said.

«I don't want to drop the case, why...»

«Let's go, Kyle.» he said again, watching him directly, without an eye blinking. Finally he got it.

«Fine...» he said.

They walked out of the place without saying any other word, completely unusual for Kyle, but when they got in the car he didn't stay silent any longer.

«So, what do you want to do? I don't think you really want to return to Nethir like a dog with his tail between his legs, do you?» he said, smiling. He completely approved that.

«No, I want to finish this. You know I... - but he stopped - What now?» Jack saw the chief coming out of the police station and going directly at them. When he was close enough Jack opened the car door to listen to him.

«Detectives, something bad happened. We've lost any contact with the chasing team. They do not answer anymore.» he said really preoccupied. «I want you two to come with me.»

Jack and Kyle didn't think about it a single moment, they followed him inside the building again and to the roof. He was almost running trying to be as fast as possible.1

«We know their position, we'll take the chopper to arrive close to them.» he explained them.

«You know, right, that we couldn't? We're off the case.» Kyle said while still following him. It was just a provocation.

«I know, but I don't care. You two are the only one that know something about this.» he replied.

The chopper was ready to go, the pilot already turned the blades on. They got on it and flew off. They left behind the low roofs of Lerad and proceeded eastward, flying swiftly above the white trees.

«We'll be there in twelve minutes.» the pilot said.

Twelve minutes spent thinking the worst. There could have been many reason why they didn't answer the calls, from a simple malfunctioning of their radios, to something bad, something nobody wanted to even think about.

They would have find out soon.

After twelve minutes they were close, but it took the time to search for an open area to finally land. They needed to walk for a bit to arrive at the exact location. The snow slowed them down quite a lot, so much that Jack began asking himself how could someone travel fifty kilometers in those conditions.

«Wait!» said Kyle at some point. «I hear something.»

The four of them raised their ears. It was the sound of an engine vibrating through the woods. They followed the sound until they saw a motorcycle fallen on the snow. It was the off-road kind that the chase team used to move fast on that difficult soil. It was turned on, but no one there.

«Where are they?»

Jack looked for the footprints on the snow and found them. They all went in the same direction. He passed by a couple of trees, then he saw another one.

Then he saw the men.

«Oh my goddess... - he whispered - Save us...»

The ground was streaked by lines branched off a single point. Black shards that looked like glass were stuck on the trees and the ground, as the shrapnel of an explosion. Large scars signed the logs, as if they were mauled.

Near the center of all that were the three men, tore apart, unrecognizable. Stars of blood on the snow, destroyed. They suffered the same fate as everything else there, the fury of the monster did not only killed them, it unleashed on them all his violence. It was a massacre.

Anyone else there would have died in the same horrible way, mauled and ripped to pieces, pierced by those shards.

Jack had to sustain himself on a tree, then he threw up. The others approached him and had the same reaction to that sight. It was a nightmare.

«How...? How can someone do this? - Kyle asked, cleaning his mouth - How is it even possible?»

«It is a monster. There is no how...» Jack said. He couldn't stop watching that horror. He knew that sigh would have haunted them all for a long time. It was impossible to forget the true nature of a monster.

Was it really you, Lewis?

He ran for so long he didn't even know where he was going anymore. The heart on his throat from the moment he heard them following him.

He immediately recognize the sound of the engines, they were after him. He had no way to escape. Every second closer and closer.

He tried to lose them by choosing the hardest path, going up and downhill, passing over streams, but in the end it didn't matter. The sound was stronger every second. Then he saw them and he ran even faster, clawing the ground with his paws. It was a question of minutes, he was about to get caught.

«You there, stop now!»

He did not stop, he didn't want. Then he heard a shot.

Pain. He fell on the ground screaming and pressing his hand on the right side of his belly.

No, no I can't stop.

He got up again, but another shot flew past his head, almost hitting him on the head. They were right next to him, a couple of meters away. There was no escape. He was fighting with the idea to run, but he knew he could not; it was impossible for them to miss a shot. Another step to die.

This is the end...

«Turn around!»

He obeyed. Slowly he turned towards them, shacking in fear. His wounds hurt a lot, but it was his inside to be the most painful. He was not prepared to die.

There were three of them, pointing their guns at him. They were scared of him, but they try to maintain an appearance of calm. Lewis could feel it though, they were about to shoot him any moment.

I am going to die...

At that though the darkness quivered. He didn't want to die, the creature inside him didn't want to die. He felt it growing, preparing. It became stronger, Lewis could feel it again in the air and the ground. A power to be reckoned with; and it was him to hold it back.

He was not going to wait for his death. He unleashed it.

The darkness flowed through his body, catalyzing the strength of his creature, then it was released again, a thousand time stronger. Fibers of darkness formed in thin air, sharp as blades they cut through wood and flesh, mauling everything on their path like a knife on warm butter.

A storm of darkness. Lewis was in the middle of it, unhurt, feeling all that power going through him like he was a safety valve. But, even though the storm was not hurting him physically, it was hard to contain.

A few second of that were too much for him to handle, and he tried to stop it. The darkness collapsed towards him, crystallizing in big shards, which then exploded.

When it finally ended Lewis fell on his knees, left without even the strength to stand. But the darkness didn't go away, he could still feel it, ready to be unleashed again, ready to be used again by him. A power hidden inside him.

You're full of surprises, that for sure... Looks like I'll survive another day.

He lifted his gaze towards the corpses of those men; the sight didn't bother him at all. The destruction he created relieved him instead, he was able to defend himself. With that power none could have stand in his way, if he only found a way to control it.

He approached one of the corpses and took the gun out the man's hand. He put it into his pocket, then he went back on his way until he reached one of the motorbikes.

It was still on and ready to go.

The real chase starts now...