Daymond
Typical Antione. He looked at Camille as she rose to follow, but Longnose stepped in her way. It wasn’t meant to be aggressive. Daymond knew Longnose would never hurt them. But he knew nothing short of being tied up or knocked out would stop his sister from doing what she thought was right. Camille stared at Longnose as Bernard reached for her hand. “Sis–”
“We can’t let Antione do this alone. I don’t care what Bruno says. The vampires want to kill Dad for something he didn’t do. Why wouldn’t they grab Antione and do the same to him?”
Longnose stayed calm as he explained. “For one thing, they would have done so by now. They found your father, and Robert knows how to take care of himself. They made the rules for this exchange, little one. They won’t break them, and this might be the only way to get information. But just because we’re letting Antione go alone doesn’t mean we can’t help him.”
Camille frowned, holding Bernard’s hand as she asked. “What do you mean?”
“We’re werewolves, my girl. This swamp has been our home for generations. We know it better than they do. So, we shall see if we can find where they’re hiding.”
Daymond shook his head. “Wouldn’t that be too easy, though? The swamps around here are huge and full of zombies and stuff. If I was going to kidnap someone. This would be the first place I’d go to throw the police off my trail.”
Bernard nodded. “I agree. It would make more sense for them to hold him in town. That way, Dad can’t risk transforming to get away.”
Longnose chuckled and looked at Bruno. “Do you want to tell them, or should I?”
Bruno sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he stared at them. “Jean-Claude didn’t tell you everything–”
“I’ll say,” Daymond muttered, but Bruno continued without acknowledging him.
“Vampires can live among humans, and many do. I know of a couple that calls Louisiana their home. But that only holds true for the ones who can control their bloodlust or live in small groups. Think of it like a werewolf pack. You have an Alpha, and the rest aren’t.”
“That still doesn’t address the part where hiding Dad in plain sight is better than out here,” Bernard stated.
“And why do you know so much about them?” Camille asked. Daymond didn’t think they were being annoying, but Bruno rolled his eyes and stared at the sky while Longnose patted his shoulder.
“Let’s do this one question at a time. What Bruno is trying to say is that the vampires aren’t going to want to be seen if they try to kill Robert. But they also won’t go too far from town because that would be cheating. They must give Antione a chance to turn himself in if that’s what he wants to do. As for the second, a lot of vampire lore you see in books or movies is real.”
Longnose waited, a smirk slowly growing as the three siblings let the information sink in. Daymond couldn’t resist. “You’re telling us that we need to drown ourselves in garlic from now on?”
Bruno snorted. “No, pup. That’s one of the things that isn’t true. Vampires don’t care how much garlic you have.” He looked at Camille and continued. “Jean-Claude had ambition. He wanted to unite every werewolf pack under his leadership so he could claim Louisiana for himself. We spent months trying to track down a vampire, but then the thing with Robert happened, and…”
And our lives were turned upside down. Daymond didn’t need to look at the others to know they felt the same way. Two weeks wasn’t enough to process everything that happened to them, and none of them knew how to survive back then. Every day was a test of survival both physically and mentally.
Daymond was getting tired of talking, but he still wanted to know something. “You said Jean-Claude wanted to track down a vampire.”
Bruno nodded.
“Why?” Daymond demanded.
“Because Jean-Claude was going to declare war on the vampires once he had the other packs under his control.”
Daymond wasn’t sure if he believed that, but Longnose gave him a pointed look, so Daymond grinned. “Where should we start looking?”
Camille
I hate boys. I knew Daymond would pull something like this, and maybe Antione. But I thought Bernard had more sense than this! Camille rubbed her arms, shivering as the foggy air enveloped her. Longnose’s plan was simple. While Antione walked around, hoping a vampire would contact him.
Camille, her other brothers, and several members of Longnose’s pack would scour the surrounding area for any signs of vampire activity. Daymond had insisted that he wanted to travel alone, and Camille didn’t want to appear weak, so she told Bernard that they would all separate and meet back at camp in an hour.
This is why slasher films are so popular. It’s not about the kills or figuring out the killer’s identity. It’s watching dumb people do dumb things and seeing how long they survive. And now, Camille was firmly in that category. She sighed, watching her breath mix with the fog as she looked around.
The constant swirls of white made everything feel surreal, and she had trouble seeing a few feet in front of her, even with a flashlight. Maybe I should transform. The vampires obviously know we’re werewolves. What’s the point of walking around blind? Camille found a log and sat down.
What do vampires sound like? Bruno acted like it should be common knowledge, but he wasn’t there when Antione fought the goblin. We’re going off the word of one of the people who tried to kill Dad! A low growl escaped before Camille could stop herself, sitting up straighter as she scanned the surroundings.
Nothing moved. She sighed again. Maybe I should act like I’m in a slasher film. The killers usually go after girls, especially in the third act, once they think they’ve gotten rid of anyone that could hurt them. Would bleeding help? Camille stared at her hands and bit her lip.
She didn’t want Antione to be the only one taking risks. It wasn’t fair, and so far, no one had been able to guess why the vampires were interested in her oldest brother. How can they prepare if they don’t know what they’re dealing with?
Camille raised her hand in the fading light, bringing it to her lips and sinking her teeth into the meaty base of her thumb, filling her mouth with the tang of iron. At the same time, a twig snapped in the darkness. Camille was on her feet instantly, all traces of frustration forgotten as her inner wolf growled.
She wasn’t alone. Camille pointed the flashlight in the direction she thought the noise came from and stepped forward. Nothing moved to meet her, and after a few minutes of fruitless searching, she was ready to give up and transform when a white rabbit hopped out of the brush a few feet away.
“Oh.” She gasped, expecting the rabbit to run, but it turned to look at her with beady red eyes that contrasted perfectly with the soft-looking fur. Camille has always loved rabbits as a child. And that love didn’t go away once she learned what she was. But the more the rabbit stared at Camille. The more she began to feel uncomfortable.
Why is it staring at me like that? Is it a pet? Camille lightly patted her pockets, hunting for something to give to the rabbit, when the beam of her flashlight began flickering. She frowned, smacking it, but the light shifted from a powerful beam to a stuttering mote. Camille shook her head, attention firmly on the flashlight when something touched the exposed skin between her pants and shoes.
“What the?” Looking down revealed the rabbit was sniffing her. But the long fur felt off. It was stiff and itchy, like an old hairbrush left out in the sun for too long or a poorly cleaned paintbrush. But the oddest thing was the faint scent of blood wafting up from its tiny body.
Camille shifted, the hairs on her arms and legs rising, but the rabbit didn’t hop away. It moved with her, and before she could process what she was seeing, the rabbit leaned closer and bit into her shin. She screamed, kicking as hard as she could, sending the white rabbit flying through the fog as if becoming one with it until its red eyes glared at Camille from the darkness… and began rising!
She clung to her leg and whimpered as duel instincts fought for control. Her wound wasn’t bad, yet Camille couldn’t feel any sign of it healing. She wanted to run, but the red eyes refused to allow it as the creature finally stopped growing and stepped out of the fog, revealing a six-foot-tall naked man with a white dog head glaring at her.
Camille shuddered as he walked toward her, every movement a threat as he loomed above her, licking his lips clean of her blood, and reached a hand topped with mud-encrusted claws for her head. Camille’s inner wolf howled in dismay, but there was nothing she could do. Her body refused to obey, even as the claws reached her hair…
But the pressure from the creature’s claws and eyes vanished as a chorus of howls filled the air. Bernard and Daymond appeared in their werewolf forms and charged the beast. He turned his hate-filled gaze on them, but unlike Camille, neither stopped moving. They dashed forward, Daymond striking with a plasma blast while Bernard circled to the side and dove for the creature’s legs, knocking him to the side as the plasma blast struck it head-on.
Camille couldn’t believe how well her brothers were fighting. Her inner wolf howled in glee, wanting to join them to do her part. But her legs refused to move, and her wound still wouldn’t heal. Bernard turned to her and shouted, “Camille?”
She shook as her body strained against the strange numbness keeping her in place. Her mouth opened slightly, but she couldn’t say anything as the creature’s arm ran through Bernard’s chest, lifting him into the air in triumph… until he frowned as Bernard’s body disintegrated. Camille sobbed in relief.
A double. Bernard used a double, but where’s the real one? Daymond growled, throwing as many plasma blasts as fast as he could make them. But the creature began dodging more and more until it was almost like he knew where Daymond would strike next. And as Daymond tried to compensate by making a blast large enough to turn the creature’s head into jelly.
The monster howled and turned toward Camille! She heard Daymond cry out as the monster ran at her, arms outstretched with wicked claws spread to tear her to pieces. But Bernard appeared out of nowhere, standing between her and the beast still running at them. Camille could only watch as Bernard’s body shimmered, splitting into two as the creature collided with them… and was immediately knocked back by the Bernards.
“Now, Day. Do it now!” Bernard shouted, as he and his double fought to keep the creature away from Camille. She could hear it snarling in rage but couldn’t see any other signs of him being hurt. What is this thing?!
“Alright!” Daymond shouted back. Camille expected him to fire another plasma blast, but instead, he charged into the monster’s back, ripping off a leg when the creature tried to kick him away. The beast howled as red blood sprayed in spurts and gore as he fell. But the beast didn’t die. He pulled away from the three werewolves, snarling whenever either boy shifted until he reached the fog and disappeared—leaving his leg behind.