Phoenix Jones // BluePhoenixBirb

My hands trembled as I hid behind a tree. The werewolf I had been tracking caught my scent, my position was compromised. It was one of the last werewolves in my area, I was determined to get rid of them all.

“Come out little hunter.” It sang. “If you come out now; I’ll make your death quick.”

I took a deep breath and pulled out my gun. I had to disable it; I couldn’t kill it- yet. I turned away from the tree and saw the werewolf standing a few feet in front of me. It looked like a normal human, but it couldn’t have tricked me. I had been tracking it for days, I even saw it shift. I lifted my gun and shot it in both kneecaps, this sent the thing to the ground.

I held up a picture of my family. “Do you know these people?” I asked in a calm stern tone.

“Dunno, don’t normally pay much attention to my food.” It laughed darkly, I hit it in the face with my gun.

“Tell me and I might just let you go.”  I held the barrel of the gun up to the thing’s forehead.

It sighed “I’ve never seen them before. But it sounds like something Ditch was bragging about a few weeks back. Said he had killed a family.”

“Where can I find him.”

“He lives alone in the old Mason place. Been there for years so I doubt he left. I told you what you wanted, now let me go.”

“Here’s the issue with that. A werewolf killed my family, since all werewolves are the same, I won’t let anyone else go through what I had to.” I said before pulling the trigger, shooting a bullet between the thing’s eyes. The silver from the bullet made the skin around the wound sizzle and bubble.

####

I calmly watched the house from across the street. As much as I wanted to break down the door and bring my family peace, I had to be smart. It was almost dawn, Ditch had been gone most of the day. I sat up in my seat as I saw a truck pull into the driveway. The man that stepped out of the truck is tall, he had short dark hair and short mutton chops. He pulled a brown paper bag out of the bed of the truck and made his way inside.

I grabbed my bag of supplies and headed to the front door. I knocked calmly, I wanted to stretch this out. If this was the thing that really killed my family, there was no way I was going to let him die fast.

The door opened and Ditch gave a friendly smile. “Can I help you?” I pulled my gun into view and pointed it at him.

“You can start by letting me in.” He looked scared and slowly backed away from the door, letting me in. I looked around the room to make sure there was no one else there. To my left, there was a living room with an old couch. To my right, there was a coat rack and in front of me was a dining room table and a door behind it.

I set my supply bag on the floor and used my free hand the pull out my family picture. “You know these people?” He looked closely at the photo; his eyes widened slightly before going back to normal.

“No, I’ve never seen them before.” He lied.

“Don’t lie to me.” I held the gun up closer to him. “I know what you are so just spill it.” He sighed and sat down in a chair.

“Yea I know them. Looks like a meal I had a while back. Why?” He said calmly like there wasn’t a guy pointing a gun at his head.

“I want to know why you did it,” I said pulling my supply bag up onto the back of the couch.

“They looked so happy. They always look happy. Why does everyone else get to be happy when I got everything taken from me? Doesn’t seem fair. So, I make it fair.” He said looking smug.

“You only kill families?”

“Normally I only kill the kids. I try to leave the parents, so they join my personal hell. But in cases like your little wife. She wouldn’t let the kiddies go so she had to die too.” He grinned like it was something to be proud of.

My eye twitched as I pulled the trigger, firing a bullet into Ditch’s forehead. His head fell back slightly before he groaned. “I’ve been alive for almost one hundred and fifty years. Do you really think one little silver bullet is going to kill me?” He picked the bullet out of his forehead like it was an annoying bug. He dropped it next to himself before he tackled me to the ground.

He started to dig his claws into my chest. I groaned in pain and kicked him off me. I struggled to my feet and ran through the door passed the dining table. It was a kitchen to the left and another door to the right. I went through the door on the right and was brought into a bedroom. My breathing became heavy as I looked down at my wound. My shirt was torn and was quickly becoming stained with blood. I had to get to my bag, if a bullet didn’t hurt him then a knife would have to do.

“Come on man. You’re supposed to make it easy. Why don’t you hide in the tub as your family did? You know your little girl called for you. I hope you liked the gift I left you in the bathtub.” He taunted me; I clenched my fist. He was talking about my little girl’s foot which was the only thing left of my family.

I took off my blood-stained shirt and threw it across the room and hid behind the door. As Ditch ran into the room, he made a B-line for the shirt. I slipped out of the room and quickly made my way to my supply bag. I opened the bag and brought out my 9-inch silver knife. If that through the heart couldn’t kill him then nothing could.

“You’re no fun at this. Really predictable.” Ditch whined from behind me. I turned around and came face-to-face with him. The hand I held the knife in shook with anger, or maybe blood loss.

“You always make a game out of the hunt?” I asked while taking a step back.

“Not always. Just the angry ones, gets their blood boiling. There’s nothing like warm flesh that’s still raw.” He grinned, his fangs were sharp and glistening with red-tinted saliva. Which told me he had sucked my blood off his fingers.

I tightened my grip on the knife and made sure I was going to have the right angle. As he was still talking about eating flesh, I ran toward him and shoved the blade into his chest, right where his heart was.

He gasped and looked down at the knife. His eyes began to drop, and they grew dull. “No… fun.” He whispered as he fell to the ground.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was done. My vision was starting to blur so I quickly went to my bag and started to patch myself up.

####

I yawned as I woke up and stretched. It was the best sleep I had had since losing my family. My goal was finally complete, my family was avenged. Other families in my area were safe.

I got out of bed and went to the bathroom. After doing my business, I went to the sink and dipped my face closer to the water to wash my face. I stood up and looked in the mirror. I gasped when I saw yellow eyes and sharp teeth looking back at me.