Chapter 27: Mark of the Beast

“Nick? Nick are you there?” Natalie cried as she sat on the floor of the living room in Blake’s home. The bloodshed that had occurred earlier was quickly drying into the carpet and Riley’s dead body was turning cold beneath that white sheet. “I need help!”

“Natalie what’s wrong? Has something happened to Blake?” She paused with the sudden realization that Nick may not be aware of what his best friend would become three nights out of a month. “Natalie?”

“I…” Silence came through from the other end as she tried to figure out how to put her dilemma into words but thankfully Nick took the issue out of her hands as he spoke.

“Did the wolf attack you?”

Natalie breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head no as she emphatically answered. “No, no, I’m fine but Blake is hurt and…and there’s a body.”

“…I’ll be right there.”

Blake barreled through the woods, large logs smashing like twigs beneath the strength of his huge paws as he moved. The pain in Natalie’s eyes kept him going; made him restless and angry. He hurt her, more than he ever wanted to, he hurt her. When she looked at him hovering over another body, one with which she had an intimate relationship, he couldn’t help but feel an ache in his chest as her shattered, fragile image sobbed the loss.

“Blake!” Angelo stood in shock as he answered the door. “I thought I taught you how to control this form, why…?” he stopped midsentence as he the familiar scent of blood fused with his senses and he took a step back. “You’re hurt!”

He turned so that Angelo could see the blade poking out from between his shoulders. “Brace yourself.” Blake clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as he felt the blade pull out an inch at a time until finally he was freed of the metal object. “This other blood, it’s not the girl’s is it?”

Blake shook his head no and slowly his human side broke through the fur as he collapsed at Angelo’s feet and cried. “I came close though, closer than I ever have before.” Angelo fell to his knees and pulled Blake inside the cabin as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Tell me what happened.”

“She was there and I wanted her. I could see myself mounting her and savoring every inch of her body as she cried beneath me and I wanted it. I wanted to take her; mate her. I needed to more than I ever thought possible. And instead I made her cry. I’ve never killed anyone before. And now I’ve taken two lives and Natalie has been there to witness it both times and both were people she knew and loved. I’m a plague on her life. I can’t keep hurting her like this.”

“Then you have a choice to make. You can give her up; turn away from her and live alone for the rest of your life or risk harming her fatally because of the animal inside of you.” As Angelo spoke those last words, his voice became a whisper. Blake looked up at him and could tell it was a decision that weighed heavy on his heart as well. 

He watched him walk across the room and drop into a chair in front of the fireplace and motioned for him to join him. Blake took the empty seat beside him and waited for Angelo to begin again. “I know the magnitude of the decision you have to make I was once in the exact situation myself. I was young, like you, and had just married the love of my life. Beautiful little thing, hair as black as the night, eyes the envy of the brightest emeralds in existence and a smile so bright it could put the sun to shame.”

“We were lovers since birth, she would tell me; a match made in heaven, destined to be. We met when we were kids, high school teens who knew everything and never took no when it came to something we wanted. That is until the day I discovered what I really was. It started as headaches, a few nights before the full moon. I’d become restless, couldn’t sleep; I kept having these visions of a large, black wolf hunting me down and always waking up before he attacked.” Blake gasped audibly as he recalled having similar nightmares of his own.

“My wife thought they were just silly dreams, remnants of an overactive imagination that kept my hand moving during the day. I was a painter and a master crafter you see and it was often from these dreams most of my works of art came from. But I knew it was something else; something more. It wasn’t until the first moon that I knew for sure. The worst pain imaginable struck me violently while I slept. I hopped from the bed, barely making it into the bathroom before every bone in my body broke.” Angelo fell over on his knees as he spoke, recounting the night of his first transition with eyes wide and glossy.

“I screamed bloody murder and could hear my wife banging on the other side of the door to let her in. The concern in her voice tugging at my heart but I refused to give in. I didn’t know what was going on but I knew opening that door and letting her inside would have only ended one way. I could smell the blood pumping through her veins, hear her heart beating inside her chest and all I could imagine myself doing was ripping her to shreds and feasting. The bloody scene of her death helped me keep my distance, as hard as it was to fight.”

“When she started beating the door down, I made a decision to jump out of the window and get as far away from her as I could. That bathroom must have been a sight for her; blood, hair and teeth everywhere. As I ran, I found sanctuary in an abandoned farmhouse some miles down the road and took up shelter hoping to wait it out until the night passed. It was there I was first approached by Dante.”

“He had been tracking me for some time, knowing the smell of my blood; it’s a wolf ability. Long story short, he made me a proposition: give him the power that I possessed and he’d give me a cure to end the curse. Naturally I thought the man was off his rocker and adamantly refused any deals he had to make. Later on I found out why it was me he wanted and the true depth of my ability. I was an Alpha, natural born, like you and had the command to make even the most powerful wolf kneel before my might. Yet sadly I never really got to experience the height of my abilities.”

“It was a few short months after my first transition when I learned my wife was pregnant with our first child. I wanted more than anything to be there for my family and watch our children grow up without fear of harming them because of what I was so I went to Dante and I made the deal. Only it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.”

“Dante tricked me. He took my status and he made me a much weaker version of myself but he never cured me as promised. After he got what he wanted from me he told me the only way to get rid of the wolf’s curse is by consuming the blood of pure love; my wife. He wanted me to murder my own wife to free myself of the shackles of this curse. He knew had he told me before I’d have never accepted the offer. So without my strength, my speed, my pack, I ran. I went as far as I could away from my family because there was no way I could be around them with the driving need I had to feed.”

“My wife gave birth and I watched her raise our son alone; never again able to be a part of their lives. Since then I traveled the world. Going anywhere and everywhere I thought could possible lead me to an alternative source for a cure. I trained myself to turn when I wanted and when I didn’t, forced this animal to live off of meat from the grocers, vowing to never taste a drop of fresh blood again. And I’ve spent a better part of my life studying Dante’s every move so that I could one day exact my revenge on the man that took everything from me.”

Blake sat in silence as Angelo finished his story and shook his head no. “You said I had a choice but it seems to me I’d lose Natalie either way. To me, neither of those would serve me any good. I can’t lose her; she’s the very air that I breathe. It’s like taking the only plate of food from a starving man. I won’t do it.”

“You have the mark of the beast Blake. A sacrifice must be made in order to heal the damage that’s been done. But it’s a decision no one else can make for you.” Angelo spoke as he gathered a bag of tools from beside the fireplace. “Stay as long as you need. I’ll be back soon.”

“Where are you going?”

“Cresting Heights; you said there’s a body. I’m gonna help clean it up.”

“Holy crap!” Nick exclaimed as he entered the opened door to Blake’s home. Natalie was on her hands and knees in front of the body crying hysterically. “What the hell happened?”

“Riley came as Blake was leaving to find seclusion and he grabbed me, Blake didn’t like that very much. They fought; Riley stabbed him just before…”

“Where did he go?” Nick asked picking Natalie up and guiding her to the couch. She was shivering frantically and trying her best not to peek over his shoulder towards the door and the body that was barely covered beneath a white sheet. 

“I don’t know. He didn’t say anything; I don’t know if he can talk in that form or not. He just looked at me his eyes were so red and angry. He turned and ran out the door. Nick he was hurt. Riley stabbed him! He had a knife sticking out of his back and I tried to help him, I wanted to. But the way he looked at me, I was scared.”

“It’s understandable Natalie given what you just went through. And me I’ve never seen that side of him fully so I have nothing in comparison but I know how scary he gets when he’s angry. I’ve seen that at least a few times.” Nick glanced over towards the door and nodded. “Who’s the guy?”

“My ex-boyfriend. He’s the reason my parents think Blake is a bad person and they’ve never even met him.”

“Ah. So basically Blake is a hyped up jealous boyfriend on supernatural steroids with a proclivity for human flesh; that’s…that’s great. I have no idea what we’re doing here Natalie or how we’ll explain this to the cops.” 

“That’s easy,” Angelo spoke as he stepped into the doorway. “You don’t. You let me take care of this and try and forget it ever happened.”

“Excuse me, who are you?” Nick asked taking a stand in front of Natalie protectively as the stranger helped himself inside the house, shutting the door behind him. He grinned in Nick’s direction watching him shelter Natalie behind him thinking to himself how admirable a trait.

“You’re Nick right? The best friend. And you must be Natalie. Blake has told me a lot about you. I’m sorry we couldn’t meet under better circumstances but times being what they are…I’m Angelo; I’m a friend of Blake’s.” Nick’s eyes narrowed hearing the name, it sounded strangely familiar and he glanced towards Natalie who stood and moved to his side as Angelo came further into the living room. 

“Is Blake…is he…?” she started, uncertain she wanted to know the answer to the question.

“Blake will be fine. He got to my place and I pulled that knife out of his back. He’ll heal and be as good as new come morning light.”

“Alright Angelo, friend of Blake’s, what exactly do you plan on doing with the body?”

“Digging a deep hole and tossing him inside, that’s normally what one does with the dead.”

“He’s the mayor’s son,” Natalie chimed in. “If he goes missing…”

“Well then I’ll just have to dump him some place he’ll be discovered. The tragic victim of a cruel animal attack; I suppose it’s not too far from the truth.”

“Riley was anything but a victim,” Natalie scowled glancing down at his body. “He was mean, he was arrogant but there was a time when I loved…I was the victim and anyone else who got in his way. Excuse me,” she sniveled and rushed from the room.

“She’s taking it pretty hard.”

“Well he was her ex-boyfriend.”

“Somehow I don’t think it’s him she’s crying over.” Angelo knelt beside the sheet and pulled a large, black body bag from the knapsack he brought with him. Within moments he had Riley’s body tucked inside and was using a box cutter to extract sections of Blake’s carpet and shoving it into his bag. “You’ll want to disinfect the wood beneath. Try not to use anything abrasive though, these are pretty nice hardwood floors.” 

“Yeah, thanks.” Nick answered as he heard the sink turn off in the bathroom. “How’s Blake holding up?”

“Right now he’s going through the motions. But his guilt will eat him alive if he doesn’t find an outlet.”

“I guess for some killing just comes easy but that’s not Blake! He’s not a monster!”

Angelo scoffed at the insult and shook his head as he stood. “Blake is a wolf, like me. We’re not locked into conventional rules that you humans live by. We’re hunters, we’re predators, it’s in our nature to kill. Whether or not Blake has accepted that part of himself or not is not my concern but one thing I know for certain, the wolf always wins out. Right now Blake is in over his head with this thing. I pulled him off the ledge once before but I fear he’s about as stubborn as the day he was born.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He wants to end his curse but like I told him there’s only one way to do that, a sacrifice. I’m afraid if he doesn’t see reason soon he’ll make a decision that will cost him everything, like me. And I’d hate to see history repeat itself.” Angelo gathered up his belongings and slung the body bag over his shoulder as he started for the door. “Only the blood of pure love can save him and it’s not a choice to be made lightly.”

Natalie waited until she heard the front door close before joining Nick again in the living room. “Hey! How are you feeling?” Nick asked approaching her and gently caressing his hands up her arms. She shrugged in response and he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “You should come back with me to my place. I don’t think you should be alone tonight.”

“I don’t…I’d like to stay here Nick if that’s ok.”

“Of course. I’ll just crash on the couch or something.”

“So now what?”

“Now we wait and see what the morning brings.”

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