“What?” Eric asked, the phone pressed to his ear.
“The man you set me after. He is a fake. There is no such man,” the PI said on the other end. “No such man has ever existed.”
Eric didn’t even wait for the PI to finish with his report. He cut the call and immediately dialed Bellatrix. He got her voice mail, and he left her a message, telling her that she needed to get away from Antoine as soon as possible.
He waited fervently, repeatedly calling Bellatrix. He hoped she was okay. For all he knew that man was a serial killer and had multiple fake identities. He finally could take it no longer, and he ran out, hoping that he would somehow find her.
He looked at all the usual places that Bellatrix had told him about, but he couldn’t find her anywhere. He called her again and again, but received no response. Starting to panic, he wondered if he should go to the police.
Finally, Eric had to give up. His only option was to wait for her to call her or go to the police if she didn’t come back by morning. He turned around, slowly walking through the back alleyway. He was almost home, maybe if he was lucky, she would be home already.
Suddenly, he heard a crunching sound behind him. His instincts flared up. He felt as if someone was following him. He turned around, and what he saw almost made him scream. It was a wolf-like monster, standing on its own two legs. Its eyes were red, and it snarled at Eric, before starting to run towards him.
Eric screamed. Then, he ran.
∞∞∞
Bellatrix sighed, looking into Antoine’s eyes. He was everything she had ever wanted in a man. Yet, a part of her heart wasn’t happy. A part of her heart felt dark and depressed, and she couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it’s because she had been ignoring Eric too much. He had been looking so gloomy the past few days. He was her best friend, and Bellatrix had gotten so hung up on being with Antoine that she had been neglecting him.
All she knew was everything had been perfect the first week. She had been on cloud nine, but slowly she had felt a void in her heart. She tried to be happy with him, yet she didn’t know why, but her life had become gloomy and sad. She had slowly started to become distant from Antoine. Where he charmed her initially, he now bored her. She didn’t know what she was missing, but the unexplainable void in her heart was like a blackhole. It sucked out every little joy she could find, leaving her feeling empty. Maybe, Antoine wasn’t the one for her after all.
“Why are you sad?” Antoine asked. “I can look in your eyes and tell that your heart holds some pain.”
Bellatrix sighed and said, “It’s nothing. I just-.”
She stopped talking as the wolf inside her suddenly rose. It twisted in a painful manner, howling with pain and fear. Bellatrix gasped, trying to make sense of what she was feeling. Her wolf was withering with agony, so that she could barely move.
“I have to go,” she said and started to run. She could hear Antoine shouting behind her, but she ignored him. All she knew was that Eric was in trouble, and her wolf was telling her about it. She didn’t know how or why she had felt this, but she did.
She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, wishing she could turn into a wolf and just run. But there were people around, so she ran as fast as she could. She took out her phone and saw the many missed calls from Eric. She cursed, trying to call him, but got no response.
She reached home and ran inside. She was hoping Eric was there, safe, but it was empty. There was no one there at all. She sniffed the air, hoping some scents would help. Then she caught one. A foul, horrible stench.
She ran out, following the scent. She was ready to turn into a wolf at a moment’s notice. She turned into the dark alley behind their home and stopped. This was where the stench led to.
Eric was lying on the ground, bleeding and screaming. A huge wolf stood over him, ready to attack. Bellatrix howled, turning its attention towards her. The wolf turned, and she froze.
It was a Teil wolf.
Chapter 9
Bellatrix
She couldn’t believe her eyes. She had only read of them; she had never seen one. They are not natural. They are evil hybrids and nothing more than ruthless killers. Bellatrix was so shocked, she almost failed to dodge his attack. The Teil wolf jumped at her, slashing her with its claws. Bellatrix managed to dodge, and she shifted into her wolf form. Her bones and muscles contorted as her body adapted. Her fangs grew, as did her claws. Her body became covered in a long, elegant coat of fur. The power in her body grew, and her senses heightened.
She managed to finish shifting just in time. The Teil wolf jumped at her, and she lashed back, slashing it with her claws. Bellatrix narrowly avoided being gouged out by its claws and jumped back. The Teil wolf howled, and charged towards Bellatrix, who lunged sideways towards him. They clashed in mid-air, and this time the Teil wolf’s claws managed to slash through Bellatrix’s shoulder.
She howled, falling down. Fortunately, it wasn’t deep, and a second later she was on her feet once again. The two fought. Bellatrix managed to bite its leg, and she clenched her jaw tightly around it. She tried to rip it off, but the wolf was struggling, trying to throw her off. She didn’t know how, but she managed to overpower the wolf long enough to get the leverage and tear its limb off.
The Teil wolf howled, collapsing on the ground. Bellatrix was ruthless. She could see Eric bleeding from the corner of her eye, and panic flooded her body. She lunged at the Teil wolf, and they struggled once again. Bellatrix felt a powerful kick, and she was thrown from the top of the Teil wolf. Even with one leg, it was incredibly powerful.
Bellatrix snarled at it, running towards it at full speed. The Teil wolf lunged towards her, and when she was almost there, she jumped. She twisted in mid-air, something that the monster wasn’t expecting. Her claws slashed through its abdomen, and blood poured out. It collapsed on the floor, howling in agony. Bellatrix lunged, delivering her final blow. She bit its neck, clenching her powerful jaws around it and ripped its head off.
She threw the head on the ground, instantly shifting back. She ran towards Eric, who was lying on the floor, bleeding.
“Eric!” she shouted. “Oh, dear moon spirit, Eric are you alright?”
She examined his body and found that the wolf had only slashed his arm. Even though the wound was deep, it would heal.
