Chapter 10

“Look,” Sansia said pointing to the building as they approached. “That half wolf is still outside our building and he seems to have a few more wolves with him.”

Raydon nodded noting that the creature was staring into the air its eyes following them closely as they landed on the roof.

“Why doesn’t it leave us alone?”

“I’m not sure but it’s definitely not a good thing that it’s found two more wolves to support it.”

“Why is this happening?” Sansia demanded. She wanted to throw something, to scream or simply to wake up and realize it was just a nightmare but none of that was going to happen.

“We just need to keep our heads on and we’re going to be fine,” Raydon said.

“Look what they did to Anara.”

“Don’t think about that now. Think about being strong.” Raydon advised.

Sansia nodded and hurried out of the helicopter and to the door leading into the building.

“Wait,” Raydon said.

“Another…?”

“No…it’s Mr. Belle Senior.”

The door flew open and Mr. Belle Senior and his son stood there staring at them.

“Mr. Belle,” Sansia muttered. “I’m sorry about the helicopter but it was my fault I made Raydon…”

“Raydon is it now?” Mr. Belle Senior asked.

“I…I mean Mr….” Sansia started to say.

“I’m sure if Raydon had a problem with you addressing him by his first name he would say something. I’ve never found him to be shy,” Mr. Belle Senior pointed out.

Tony, Mr. Belle’s son nudged him anxiously.

“The helicopter’s back dad, we can get out of here. We’d probably be safer at our mansion.”

“And leave my staff?” Belle Senior asked.

“We don’t even know where half of them are,” Tony pointed out.

“Having a helicopter here could be the difference between life and death for these people.” Belle Senior paused. “Besides, there is safety in numbers.”

“Not when the numbers turn into man eating wolves,” Tony shot back and Belle senior glared at him angrily and he shuffled back a few steps.

“So are you going or staying Mr. Belle?” Raydon asked.

“Staying, of course.”

Belle senior stepped out of the way and Raydon and Sansia slipped into the building.

“Where’s everyone?” Belle senior asked. “Since we got separated I haven’t seen another soul.”

“We’re in Lab A3 level 2,” Sansia explained.

Belle senior nodded.

“You don’t mind if I join you?” He asked looking directly at Sansia.

“Of course not sir; I’m sure the staff will be happy to see you.”

“You’re such a dear. I don’t know how I’ve never noticed you before,” Belle senior said.

“Maybe we should get down to the lab,” Tony cut in. “We’ve been lucky to avoid that creature for the past few hours but it’s getting late now and it will definitely have a night time advantage.”

“He’s right,” Raydon said.

“Of course,” Belle senior said gently slipping his arm into Sansia’s. “Lead the way my dear.”

***

“Mr. Belle sir,” everyone chorused as Belle senior entered the room.

“I was afraid something had happened to you,” Robert admitted. “I didn’t mean to run like that its…”

“No need to apologise boy, these are extenuating circumstances.”

Robert nodded gratefully.

“So what have you been doing?” Belle senior asked.

“Not much yet,” Robert admitted. “Mr. Payne…”

“Raydon,” Raydon cut in.

“Ray…Raydon said we should start looking for some information on what’s happening and we’ve been doing that. He also said to try to get as much information as we could from the radio and we’ve been doing that too,” Robert explained.

“I’m impressed,” Belle senior said.

“So what information did you get from the radio? Was there any updates?” Sansia asked.

“Well,” Robert looked hesitant.

“There’s nothing you can tell us that could be worse than what we saw out there,” Sansia said.

“They’re just speculating, I don’t think they know much more than we do about what’s going on,” Robert admitted.

“Doesn’t matter, maybe some of their speculations can be helpful,” Raydon pointed out.

“What did they say?” Sansia pressed.

“They said there seems to be more than one kind of transformation,” Robert said.

“We’ve seen that for ourselves. There’s the full wolf and then there’s the half wolf half man,” Raydon said.

“Werewolf,” Belle senior supplied.

“They think it’s more than that,” Robert said.

“Well don’t leave us hanging man,” Belle senior yelled.

“They…um…they’re saying over the past twenty four hours they’ve noticed at least three types,” Robert supplied.

“And…” Raydon pressed.

“They think the strange moon has no effect on some people,” Robert said.

“That’s good news,” Sansia said feeling a sense of relief and yet pain at the same time. What horror it must have been for Anara being one of those persons that the strange moon had no effect on.

“Then there are those that the strange moon caused to change into wolves immediately and twenty four hours later they are still in that form. They’re calling that the full wolf immediate permanent change or WIP,” Robert explained.

“Trust government to come up with fancy names and precious little else,” Raydon grumbled.

“The second type,” Robert continued. “They’re calling the wolf and man permanent or…”

“Let me guess ‘Wamp’?” Raydon put in.

Robert smiled and it faded immediately.

“Yeah, WAMP.”

“They say the WAMP appears to be much more aggressive than the WIP, but the WIP is larger than the average wolf – almost twice its size and ten times more deadly. The WAMP is off the charts,” Robert said.

“So two types and then people like us, normal,” Sansia said.

“No, they haven’t had very long to observe but they have already noticed that there are some people who seem to change but at a much slower pace,” Robert explained.

“Slower pace?” Sansia asked.

“Yes, they’ve found people with long extended nails, ears, some unusual body hair, the list goes on regarding the stages of the change,” Robert said.

“What are they doing with them?” Raydon asked.

“I would guess experimenting,” George put in. “This thing is phenomenal. I mean if we could get some of those mixed freaks we might be able to come up with some hypothesis ourselves.”

“They’re still people,” Raydon said angrily.

“That would be a pretty broad definition of people to include them,” George put in with a half laugh.

“Let’s leave the experimenting to the authorities for now and just try to consolidate our position in here,” Belle senior said.

“I’m with my dad on that,” Tony said hurriedly.

“I suggest we break into groups of…” Belle senior surveyed the other eight persons quickly. “Three and get to work. You three can start boarding up the glass on the ground floor to help secure this place…”

“And you’re in charge now,” Raydon practically growled.

Belle senior looked a little taken back and Sansia rested a calming hand over Raydon’s and noticed it was folded tightly into a fist.

“No, I assumed as sole shareholder…” Belle senior began.

“There’s a difference between having enough money to own a company and having enough skill to run a company,” Raydon pointed out.

Belle Senior’s brows knitted together in anger but parted just as quickly.

“I’m an old man now, makes sense for a young man to run this show,” he said.

“We don’t get a vote?” George demanded.

“Let’s put it to the vote,” Robert said.

Belle senior glanced about the room slowly.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “They’ll be plenty of time for finding out the true leader. Right now we need to focus on staying alive.”

Raydon nodded.

“On that note, what about the supplies you two were supposed to bring back?” George asked.

“We’ll have to get them later. I don’t think it is safe for just two people roaming around outside searching for supplies,” Raydon said. “Tonight we make a list of what we’ll need and head out for them as early as possible tomorrow.”

“And the glass?” George asked.

“Belle senior is right, we need to get to work on reinforcing this building. Robert you know all the access areas, pick a team and try to secure them as much as you can,” Raydon said. “Sansia and Tony can come with me. We need to go through all the floors and rooms in this building. It’s pointless barricading ourselves in if we’re not completely sure what else is in here with us.”

There was a moment of silence.

*****