Life With A Werewolf

The Nobility Part 10 - Escape The Basement

          Some things are ingrained into you. A fast-food worker maybe ingrained to ask you to supersize your meal or say “have a nice day”. A police officer maybe ingrained to put their hand on their pistol when they approach a vehicle. When Donte collided with that wall of muscle and white fur, he was ingrained to get space and defend himself.

          He stepped back and tried to bring the pistol up. “Stop that, Donte,” the werewolf growled.

          “What,” he asked.

          “I’m Mitch. Eleanor sent me. Cicely and Killian are right behind me. We got to work fast.” Mitch didn’t wait. He turned, his fur almost shimmering in the light. His ears were flattened against his skull in what Donte perceived to be anger.

          “Why,” he asked.

          “Cause those two shots just told everyone you’re here,” he snarled. He looked upwards towards the bones of the houses to be built. His ear cocked as if listening to something for a moment. “Hang on.” With that, Mitch threw Donte over one shoulder and jumped out of the road towards the wall surrounding the perimeter.

***

          I heard the gunshots from where I was in the basement. But I didn’t hear them well. However, I know pistol shots when I hear them. Verner was grinning over me, in his underwear model million-dollar smile one moment, then racing up the stairs immediately after.

          It’s here that I must clarify a few things. First, the plan that me, Roam and Tanika had come up with never involved gun shots. So, when I heard those pistol shots going off, it was quite a shock to me too. I had no idea what to think. Had the gnomes come back to finish the job? Maybe a certain redneck vampire hellbent on revenge had finally found me? Who knows? I certainly didn’t.

          When Verner raced up the stairs, I started jumping my chair to get a better view of the stairs themselves. There was only two small basement windows after all, the small square kind that older houses with basements seem to have an abundance of, a bunch of dust, and of course those shelves I mentioned a while ago. Kris, Sean, Zack, nor myself had much in the way of anything there to see.

          Silence from upstairs. Then a lone howl rang out. Followed by another. Then a third. Snarls, like something pissed off a pack of dogs. Finally, the basement window near the stairs opened, and someone slid inside. As he stood, I could see he had a familiar face.

          “Donte!” I smiled. “Am I glad to see you. Quick, untie us.”

          He pulled a knife out of his back pocket and quickly cut through my binds first, then handed me his pistol. I watched the stair well as he went around, freeing everyone. “Mitch is a trip,” he said. “Thinks he’s going to take on an entire pack of werewolves alone, pretty much.”

          “Great, we got to rescue him then,” I asked.

          “Oh no,” Donte said, “we ain’t doing shit to a pack of werewolves. We are climbing into the dead guy’s SUV out there, driving out of this crazy place, and waiting on the cops to take us home. Mitch’s orders.”

          “Well,” I grinned, “I’ve never been good at following those. Got an article 15 to prove it.”

          When Zack was free, he lined up behind me. “You’re going after Crash, aren’t you?”

          “Yes,” I replied. “And you’re lining up behind me like Call of Duty? Really?”

          “What,” he said. “This isn’t the way you do this?”

          I gave him a light shove, “not in the middle of the room, back up.”

          With a deep heaving breath, I looked back at everyone. “Keep close. Watch your blind spots. Move fast from cover to cover. We’re literally walking into a fight up there and going straight out the front door. There is no alternatives. Outside or die. Do you understand?”

          There were no questions. I swallowed, and walked slowly towards the stair well. We could hear snarls, growls, a groan of pain that sounded half human, half monster. A loud thump as if a body fell to the floor. I waved everyone up to me, took a breath, walked up the stairs and opened the door.

          It opened onto a hallway. A snarling pair of eyes glared down upon me, and sprinted towards me. It was automatic. Pistol up. Two quick shots. The monster fell at my feet, grasping his shoulder, and whimpering in pain at how it burned. A hole in his chest began to smoke. I didn’t stick around to watch him die. I took a left, to what I hoped was the nearest door.

          We stepped into a living room of sorts. There was an old couch on the corner. A flat screen television was laying on its side, smoking. The body of a werewolf laid out beneath it, missing a head. We took two steps forward towards another door. Movement to my left caused me to pause. My pistol was already on the creature that flew through the doorway, tracking it as it collided with the far wall, and fell to the couch below. Another creature landed on it. This one all in silver and white.

          I recognized Mitch. I knew better than to say his name or distract him from the very necessary work he was doing then. Holding a finger to my mouth to silence everyone, I waved us forward. We stepped to our left into a dining room of some sorts. A collapsed table laid on the floor. There were no chairs around it. I get the feeling that the chairs were all downstairs holding us for who knows how long.

          Twin eyes glinted in the dark. I could only see the two eyes, and see the massive glistening teeth. “I’m going to tear you all apart,” the creature growled. “I will feast on…” It didn’t get to finish.

          My pistol flashed twice. I heard gurgling. Gasping. Then heard thunk as it fell to the floor. My training kicked in. I stepped towards the body, and shoved it once with my foot, holding my pistol on it at all times. Nothing. Turning, I saw something silver glint on the floor.

          “About damn time,” I smiled, picking up my pistol. I checked the chamber. Still silver.

          “Feels full,” I said. “Here someone. Barrel looks clear.”

          Someone took it. I figured it would have been Donte to be honest. We stepped around towards the far wall. Door was blocked. “Shit,” I snarled. Then moved us right, pushing towards a Kitchen area. A werewolf I recognized as Cecily from earlier, leaped over us, then kicked the window out. “Get out,” she snarled. Well, you didn’t have to tell me twice.

          We moved towards the window, and I looked back. Still had everyone. Donte, Kris, Sean, and Zack who was holding my pistol. Well, I didn’t have time to argue now. Though, I’d have preferred it to be Donte holding it.

          It appeared that the drop out of the window was about three feet. It sloped downward on a green lawn towards the wall. “Go to the wall and hold,” I said, “We meet there. Then we’ll discuss where to go next.”

          I handed Donte the pistol I was carrying, and grabbed Kris, and helped him out of the window. Then it was Sean’s turn. As I was helping Donte down a pistol behind me fired twice. Looking, I saw Zack with a grim look of triumph on his face. “Bastard,” he snarled. I glanced down. It was another werewolf. “He was the one who grabbed me.”

          “Okay,” I replied. “It’s your turn though.”

          After Zack was through the window, it was my turn. I sprinted, making my way towards the wall. Everyone looked towards me. I guess it’s only natural. I was the only one who had been through anything similar to this.

          “Donte,” I asked, “do you have any transportation here?”

          “My car’s outside,” he said. “Oh, and there’s the SUV I followed in here. You have to dump the bodies out of it.”

          “Kris, Sean are you two okay with handling that?”

          They both nodded. “Okay, so where is Crash being held?”

          They’re in the Mansion. Basement,” Donte said.

          “Okay,” I replied, “then Donte, that’s where me and you are going.”

          “And me.” Zack had a look of expectation on his face. I’ve seen it on soldiers plenty of times. He was in it now.

          “Okay Call of Duty,” I said, “You stay between me and Donte. Kris, Sean?”

          “We’ll get the SUV up to the house,” Kris said.

          “Okay, we got a plan. Kris, you and Sean stay in the SUV afterwards. Wait for us. If you don’t see us come out, you floor it and get out of here. Okay?” They both nodded their consent.

          I turned, and saw Mitch staring down at me, still in wolf form. Despite some of the gore that now covered him, he still looked silver and white in the moonlight, an image that will stick with me somehow perhaps for the rest of my life.

          “You’re going to assault the mansion,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

          “I can’t abandon my friend,” I replied.

          “We can’t abandon family,” Zack said.

          “Okay then,” he growled, “Get to the Mansion as fast as you can then. Me, Cecily and Killian will clear the way for you.”

          Clear the way. I knew what that meant. I could see on Donte’s face he knew what that meant. Zack, Kris and Sean only had an inkling of an idea of what that meant. “You heard the werewolf,” I said. “Let’s go.”