Wolves can't be caught by pierrot90

Wolves can't be caught

pierrot90, No-Yiff, Plot Development, Transformation, Werefox, Werewolf

Wolves can't be caught

Chapter 1

Unfortunate

"Yeah yeah, I know, it's my turn." Willem squeezed through the groups of talking people. At the bar he grabbed his wallet, took beer coins out worth 70 eurocents each, made eye contact with the barman and raised 6 fingers. The barman nodded to acknowledge the order and one minute later there were six full glasses of beer on the bar.

"Cheers!" And everybody took a few sips. They continued talking while the glasses were slowly emptied again.

It was the weekly Thursday beer party of the student faculty union. Of course everybody drank a lot, like every week, and Willem happily participated. Everybody was in a good mood, there was plenty of beer and Dutch music on the background. Especially this evening, the faculty union's band was playing. As always, when there was played a well-known Dutch song, everybody sang joyfully with the band.

This went on from 4 until 7 o'clock. Then the faculty union shooed everyone away after the faculty union's band finished playing. Although it was just 3 hours of partying, a lot of students had drunk a lot. But that was obvious. Everyone knows what the outcome of lots and lots of cheap good beer and students is. (That of a student would be: "Woohoo! Beer!!! Free beeeer! Beer!!!"

Slightly drunk, Willem and his friends walked to their bicycles, screaming and yelling to each other and making jokes. Although they would leave the campus, they weren't finished yet. They would all go to one student house to cook, eat and drink beer. After that they would go out. No, the weekly beer party was just a starter.

"Come on! Let's go eat at Sander's place!" suggested Willem.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. I don't have a lot of beer at my place..."

"Shut up kid, we need to go to the supermarket anyway. We'll buy there some Jupiler beer" Dirk replied.

"BEEeerr..." mumbled a first year's student with a decrescendo behind Dirk.

"All right then! Chop chop!"

Willem and his friends knew their routine very well.

Shortly noted, it would look like this:

Weekly beer party

Supermarket

Beer

Spaghetti with too much minced meat

Beer

Going out

Flirt girls

When you got drunk: Detox (drink lots of water)

Sleep until afternoon

Beer to become sober

College

Weekend.

"You go ahead guys, I'm going to leave my bag at my room because I've got my laptop with me." Willem yelled.

Now here was the case that Willem did not live in town. And he didn't like carrying his bag with laptop the whole evening. Especially tonight. Tonight was going to be a wild night but also the weather wasn't cooperating. It was a 4 Celsius degree winter evening and pillars of rainclouds were gathering above the city. Just a few moments, when a few shreds of sky cleared, a flint of the full moonlight shone through. Willem didn't want his laptop to get wet; his laptop already endured a lot this year.

"Ok! I'll see you at Sander's place!" Dirk replied.

The loud group of students parted for town centre.

Willem headed the opposite direction. He lived in a student house outside the city's ring. His friends compared the distance with the distance to China.

Suddenly it started to rain.

"Dammit" Willem cursed.

He put on his jacket's hood, which only caught wind and rain instead of keeping Willem's head dry. He pulled his hood down with his left hand to keep his head a bit dry at least.

Out of the centre, he had to cross the bridge over the ring.

With a lot of effort, he cycled up the slope.

But a squall caught Willem by surprise.

"Oh shit!"

His right hand lost control of the seedy bicycle and with a loud clang of metal against tarmac, Willem fell on his side. Willem cursed and stood up.

"Oah f*cking sh*tbike! Stupid pisswind! Oohh.. this f*cking hurts..."

With his cold and wet right hand he checked the damage. A rip in his jeans which got totally wet and big scratches on his left hand, left elbow and left knee. F*c k.

No use in cursing, Willem thought. Well, this leaves me with no other option.

He mounted his now even seedier bicycle and cycled off the bridge heading to his student house.

Then it even started to rain harder. It was raining terribly like it could only happen in the Netherlands.

This made Willem even more in a bad mood. He then decided not to go to the city anymore, definitely not in this rain. Even if there would be free beer. Better next time.

He grabbed his mobile phone from his pocket to send a message to his friends that he wasn't coming and that they didn't have to cook spaghetti for him. He'll just shove a frozen pizza in his oven.

Message sent ...

And then the screen went blank.

"Oh no..."

Willem got pissed. That pissed he even didn't curse. The rain caused his mobile phone to short circuit. He put the broken phone back in his pocket with the thought of bringing it back to the phone shop tomorrow.

He turned right and cycled on a road heading to a forest. Behind that forest is his student house. The student house was in a quiet neighborhood, especially with this forest, which was connected to the backyard. Of course it wasn't peaceful when there was a party going on.

But it was quiet now. Everybody was downtown.

Peace.

Yes, Willem could use that.

He loved nature, and he enjoyed cycling or walking through the forest.

That was why he chose this student house. Most of his friends didn't understand. He could've easily got a student house downtown.

But well, he wasn't enjoying the ride now.

It just has been bad luck this whole evening.

He left the paved road with orange streetlights and cycled in the dark through mud into the forest. And just as sudden the rain started a few minutes ago, it suddenly stopped raining.

Phew, finally some luck.

Maybe I'll change my mind and go out anyway. Willem thought.

Oh yeah, his only means of communication, that rip-off phone, is kaput.

He continued cycling through the mud, swinging a bit.

The path was dark and the dynamo of his bike skidded with every wheel turn.

Brief moments of faint light shined at the ground.

It was quiet.

The only things Willem could hear were the drops falling from trees, the skidding dynamo and the clanging noise of his bike.

The pillars of clouds gave away to a half clear sky and a bleak blue light from the full moon was laid upon the forest.

"At least I can see something now..." Willem mumbled.

But just after he finished his last word, a tree root which protruded out of the ground made sure Willem fell again for the second time tonight.

"Woooow!!!"

And to make things worse, he fell straight into a big puddle of muddy water, which he so eagerly wanted to avoid. The bicycle fell with loud clangs next to the path.

Willem stayed lying in the water for a few seconds to realize he had fallen, again.

"Oh no..."

This would be the perfect moment for many people to get a mental breakdown.

With his clothes soaked with brown water, he stood up. The mud puddle at least broke his fall: he hasn't hurt himself like last time. He only was worried about his laptop. So he grabbed his backpack to be sure. It wasnt'muddy. Phew... Lucky.

"Now, where is my stupid bike?" He muttered.

He stepped out of the puddle, but just when he put his foot on dryer ground he froze.

It suddenly was really quiet. Too quiet.

Just the sound of droplets and a squeaking rear wheel. He started getting shivers of fear besides coldness.

Did he saw two twinkling eyes in the bushes behind his bike?

Naah, that was just moonlight reflecting on wet leaves. He thought.

He laughed to himself. Stupid idiot that you are.

He stepped out of the puddle.

Then suddenly a rustle sounded from something running away.

Again Willem froze.

There was something.

"This is creepy..." he told himself.

As silent as possible he tried to reach his bike.

And again Willem froze, but this time with sincere fear.

He heard heavy panting and growling behind him.

"Now or never!" He thought. " I'm outta here!"

He sprinted two meters to his bike, pulled his bike up, mounted it and wanted to cycle away as fast as fast as possible.

But that cycling never happened: the cycling chain was of the cogwheel.

Fearful he turned around, only to see a giant wolf jumping at him.

Willem fell of his bike into the bushes. There he continued rolling past the bushes with the wolf on top of him.

"HEEEELP!!!" Willem screamed, and he tried to push the huge beast away.

But the wolf didn't budged. The grey-black wolf pushed effortlessly with his front paws against Willem's shoulders. The wolf gazed at him.

It was like the animal was just playing with him. It knew that Willem had no chance of escaping at all.

And Willem finally realized it too. His efforts to escape loosened. He yelled for help again, but there was nobody in the forest.

Afraid he looked straight into the eyes of the wolf. The wolf growled and showed his teeth. A line of saliva dropped out of the muzzle onto Willem's chest.

Willem knew he was done for.

"Please..." begged Willem, like the wolf would understand him.

The huge wolf growled loud and bit into Willem's left shoulder.

"AAAAAAAAaaaahh" screamed Willem in agony.

I'm going to die, Willem thought, it's f*cking going to eat me.

The wolf kept his biting grip in Willem's for a few seconds which seemed like ages to Willem.

Then the wolf let loose the shoulder and walked away.

Only once the wolf looked back around while crimson blood dripped out of his muzzle. Then he disappeared into the dark.

Willem moaned. With his right hand he pushed against his wound. Blood flowed between his fingers through.

"Jesus Christ... I must find help."

He was relieved that that... thing had disappeared.

Heavily wounded, he ran off as quickly as he could. He had to get away from the forest.

It was not only that his wound was bleeding heavily, but also out of fear that the wolf might come back. Thought Willem.

But Willem didn't get far. He was lost. Where was the path? In all the commotion and panic he just ran off into the opposite direction the wolf went. He anxiously looked around.

Again that creepy silence.

Wait.

Were those orange streetlights in the distance?

A faint orange light far away fell on his retina.

His fear faded and was replaced by a bit of hope.

He started to walk to the orange light.

But he advanced difficult.

He was very cold. He was running around in wet clothes with a 4 Celsius degree outside temperature. But also scratches, a heavily bleeding shoulder, wet forest ground and whipping branches brought him to a halt.

"I can't do it..." Willem mumbled.

He sank to his knees while still holding his left shoulder and fell down on the marshy ground.

Chapter 2

Code ten O four

The Volvo V50 stopped at the red traffic lights. Inspector Wolkers stared at the traffic lights, waiting for them to turn green.

"Wolkers? Where is that place again?" The new inspector asked.

"You'll see Jansens, at least if this stupid traffic light turns green..." Wolkers muttered.

"Calling all nearby units, a code ten O four at Zeiderlaan Oostring crossing."

"Hmm, I think your question will be answered later Jansens."

"Understood sir." Jansens turned on the blue screaming siren.

De police car was put in gear and rushed through the red traffic light. Wolkers swung the steering wheel and the Volvo veered to the left, making a U-turn.

"Unit Kilo Lima 3 is under way responding to code ten O four crossing Zeiderlaan Oostring. Over."

"A ten O four Jansens, you know what that means?"

"Yes sir" Jansens uncoupled his seatbelt and opened his leather pistol holster.

Wolkers' seatbelt was already uncoupled.

At the crossing of the emergency, a few cars stood waiting on the road. Some of them turned around and left. Cyclers and pedestrians looked at two men with shock.

The police car drove over the pavement, stopped and two policemen jumped out of the car.

"Police! Don't move!" Jansens kept his right hand resting on his pistol holster, ready to intervene.

Wolkers grabbed a bottle of pepperspray in his left hand.

One of the fighters turned around.

Eyecontact.

Because of years of police experience, Wolkers could see that the attacker was on drugs.

The other person was lying unconscious on the ground.

"Jansens, be careful, he's under influence. Call headquarters."

Jansens knew what to do: "Headquarters, this is Kilo Lima 3. We need an ambulance and backup at crossing Zeiderlaan Oostring immediately, be informed that this is a code ten O four. Over."

"Kilo Lima 3, Ambulance and backup is under way." The radio creaked.

"Stay away from me, f*cking cops!" the fighter yelled. "Or I'm going to f*cking kill you!"

"Drop the club sir, don't cause us to use force." Wolkers answered.

"Ok ok... I don't need that club anyway." He laughed and dropped the club. Suddenly there sounded a loud click when he opened a large pocket knife he took from his jacket. "Come on c*cksucker!"

Jansens drew his standard issued Walter P5 pistol. The gun was cocked, the safety off and his index finger was resting on the trigger guard.

"Not yet Jansens." Wolkers said silently.

Jansens lowered his pistol half way to the ground.

Step by step Wolkers walked to the criminal.

"Don't do anything stupid, son of a b*tch!" the man warned.

There was only a distance of 2 meters between Wolkers and the man.

Jansens took aim at the suspect. What was Wolkers doing? He thought. He knew if the guy was going to try stabbing his partner, he had to shoot as quickly as possible. But even then the chances were great that the knife could prove fatal to Wolkers.

Wolkers looked straight into the eyes of the man.

The suspect stared back.

Then he suddenly froze.

The man suddenly turned bleak and drops of sweat appeared on his brow.

Wolkers slowly approached the man even closer.

"Drop the knife" Wolkers said once more.

The man was looking at Wolkers like he was looking at the Grim Reaper himself.

The knife made a clattering noise when it fell on the ground.

Shaking, he put his hands up.

Wolkers kicked the knife away, grabbed his handcuffs and arrested the man.

Jansens put away his pistol. A few watchers applauded.

"You're going to jail, piece of scum." Said Jansens amused when he pushed the head down of the man, still shaking, who then stepped in the back of the V50.

Wolkers ran to the wounded man.

"He's still alive, just unconscious and serious bruises. Where's that ambulance?!"

"There they are" Jansens replied, when a yellow Mercedes ambulance with screaming sirens together with a Volkswagen Golf police car appeared.

Chapter 3

Crime scene

He knew he had no time to lose now. He had to be there. But he couldn't a moment ago, especially in company with his new partner. But he could now.

"Wow, how the hell did you do that?" Jansens asked. "Have you been playing a hero since you're at the force?"

Wolkers smiled.

Jansens continued: "Oh well, this is the best action I've seen so far! This is the first time I had to draw my gun!"

"Don't get used to it, we won't be using are irons often and it isn't fun to shoot someone."

"Haha, but of course it is fun to approach a suspect who is ready stab you!"

Wolkers smiled again. He knew if people got shot, he still would be at the scene. He couldn't afford to lose more time.

"Err... Wolkers, shouldn't we be going back to the police station?"

"No." Wolkers revved the Volvo, driving 80 kilometers an hour in city bounds.

"Damn, my partner got balls!"

"Watch your language Jansens."

They both laughed.

Not surprisingly, the man in the back didn't laugh at all.

With peeping braking discs, the Volvo came to a halt.

"Here?" Asked Jansens.

The engine was turned off and they both stepped out of the car.

"Not here, somewhere in that forest. Ah, there are our colleagues."

There was a white Volkswagen van from the investigation department and a Volvo V70 police car parked at the side of the road. A police officer stepped out of the van, leaving small plastic bags of evidence.

"Hi, who is in charge here?" Wolkers asked.

"Oh, he is at the crime scene, a bit further down the path." The police officer answered.

The duo tried to avoid the huge puddles of mud and rain when they walked to the scene.

There were two men in white suits making pictures. Every few seconds a bright flash blinded the scene.

"Good afternoon..." Wolkers started.

One of the men in white suits pointed to the bushes like he already knew what or who Wolkers was looking for.

"You stay here Jansens."

Jansens nodded.

Wolkers held his hands up to push away branches and walked to the open space behind the bushes.

"Good afternoon gentlemen, KLPD inspector Wolkers."

Two men in civilian clothes turned around.

"Ah hello, inspector Verheyen and my partner Brand from investigations."

"Am I right that there is someone missing?"

"Yes, that is right. This morning a 112 call came in about a missing Willem T. Native Dutch, 19 years old, height about 1,70 and dark brown hair. A few guys from his student house over there..." Verheyen pointed behind him "... said that he always liked to cycle through the woods. So we found his bike over here. His friends confirmed that it is his bike."

"You found any traces?"

"We found clear traces of a struggle over here..." he pointed at the police officer in white suit who was making photos. "... But we also found blood which is very likely to be the victim's blood. My team has already taken a few samples; these are going to the lab when we leave. We made a quick search around the perimeter, but no corpse."

"Hmm." Wolkers nodded.

"But we're out of here in minute. A report of a murder just came in on my radio. We're expected there. We'll carry on this investigation this evening. Brand! Seal of the path!"

"Yes sir!" Brand ran to the van and started taping of the path with white-blue-red policetape.

Verheyen sighed.

"I hate those savings at the police. Less colleagues and more demanding work." Verheyen muttered.

"Haha, don't start about it."

Verheyen and Wolkers laughed.

Then suddenly Brand called. "Hey! Err... Sir! Your suspect in the back of your car is going wild!"

"Jansens, please go take care of our guest!"

Jansens ran back to the car.

"Verheyen, while you're gone, I'll have a look around. I'll call you when I've found something."

"Ok" Verheyen answered. "As long as you don't erase the traces!"

They laughed.

That silly Verheyen. They were friends for years already, and often he would come by to give Verheyen a hand. Verheyen was bad at making jokes, but he always laughed nevertheless. Although they were friends for years, they still had to introduce themselves. "Good afternoon. KLPD inspector Wolkers. Ah hello, inspector Verheyen and my partner Brand from investigations." Wolkers smiled.

The van and the V70 left while Jansens was spraying pepperspray into the back of the car.

Wolkers looked around him. Nobody. Jansens was at the car.

It was silent.

He walked into the forest like he already knew where to go.

"Hmm" Wolkers thought.

He couldn't remember that night very well.

He moaned and growled.

Good, now he could at least smell properly.

Ah, blood traces. That was what he was looking for.

Now, where did our boy went? Wolkers thought.

He walked further into the forest.

The blood trail ended.

"Dammit."

Chapter 4

Good night

Willem moaned.

Man, he felt horrible.

Slowly he opened his eyes.

What time was it?

Midnight. 00:17

What happened?

Oh yeah, he remembered. Fuck.

Willem realized he has been lying in the forest unconscious for over 4 hours.

He took a look at his shoulder wound.

Luckily, it has stopped bleeding.

Slowly Willem rose.

To home.

Slowly he started to walk to the orange light.

Slowly he started to recognize his environment.

Slowly he started to see his student house.

Yes, he did everything slowly.

He thought, if that animal was still running around somewhere, he could've eaten me ages ago.

Suddenly he felt a surge of pain in his shoulder as like the wolf was biting in it again.

"Aahrgh..." Willem moaned. "I need medical attention."

He grabbed his shoulder and kept walking.

At his studenthouse, he opened the front door and dragged himself up the stairs to his room.

Door key.

Door turn key.

Door take key.

Door open.

Door close.

Door locked.

Why he locked the door? He didn't know.

Jeeze, he felt terrible, still.

"I need to call 112" He moaned.

He looked for his mobile phone in his pocket and pushed a button while he sat on the side of his bed.

"Oh yeah... I forgot"

Tired, he dropped his backpack with laptop and stood up to go to a roommate to ask.

But inexplicable fatigue was taking over.

He fell on his bed, sighed and fell asleep.

Chapter 5

Wasted

"Oh man... what have I been drinking last night..." moaned Willem with a raw voice.

A terrible headache was torturing him.

Slowly he opened his eyes.

The blue moon was shining through his window.

He turned around.

The red digits conveyed a time of twelve past eight.

"Eight o'clock in the morning" he sighed.

He wanted to turn back but then he realized his clothes were wet.

"Wow, what happened tonight?" Then he got frightened.

He quickly turned around, just to make sure no girl was lying next to him.

"Phew..." Luckily he hadn't impregnated a drunken Breezer slut.

He heard his friends telling that someone got problems with his parents ánd the girl's parents because of that. No shit.

He stood up, but quickly sat again because of the throbbing headache. He searched for his glasses on the night stand and put them on.

"But how did I got wet, muddy and ..... bloody?...."

He was startled.

Blood.

Then he saw his clothes.

His jacket and sweater were ripped and drenched with blood on his left shoulder.

"Shit, my clothes... What the hell happened tonight?" He asked himself again.

He tried to concentrate but the throbbing headache prevented it.

"Damn" He cursed. He already got wasted a few times, but not this bad.

He let his head resting on his hands.

"I'll ponder about that blood later."

"My God... I feel terrible. I'm never going to drink that much anymore." Willem moaned with a heavy, low and raw voice.

"Shit, this is very bad. Even my throat is fucked up more than ever."

He growled.

He told himself the standard detox procedure.

"Shower, yes, I need a shower. And drink loads of water. Clean clothes. And then drink even more water. And if that doesn't helps, a beer."

He unclothed his ripped jacket, sweater and jeans.

"Jeeze, even my shorts and shirt are wet."

With an effort he stood up and looked at his bed.

"That's going to the laundry." He muttered.

He shuffled to the sink.

Cup.

Water.

Toothbrush.

Toothpaste.

He tiredly stuck the toothbrush in his mouth.

He looked into the mirror.

"Huh? Did he look different?! Now, don't be surprised boy, you're fucking wasted like never before."

He thought to himself.

He started to brush his teeth.

The throbbing headache became worse.

He looked again in the mirror.

Suddenly a surge of pain entered his head. It was like somebody was stabbing with a knife into his brains and his shoulder.

"Aargh!"

Then suddenly everything turned black.

Very briefly he saw an animal with razor sharp teeth in his muzzle jumping at him.

"Whaaah!!"

Willem was panting while lying on the floor of shock.

The toothbrush with toothpaste had fallen in the sink.

Shaking, he stood up.

"Wtf, was that?!"

He rinsed his mouth.

The animal he saw seemed familiar to him. He had seen it before, but where?

He started pondering.

Suddenly another surge of pain entered his head.

Willem fell back on the ground and shrank together of pain.

This time the pain was worse. It was like someone with a nailgun was shooting at his head continuously,

His head rolled around in the space of nowhere.

Everything was rolling and turning.

The turning abruptly stopped.

Everything became black again.

"Please, not again..." Willem thought.

The wolf appeared from nowhere.

But this time, it wasn't jumping at him. It was sitting on him!

The huge animal kept his front paws on Willem.

Willem wanted to flee, but he couldn't.

His brains were sending messages in panic to his limbs to push away the wolf. But his body stayed motionless.

He couldn't go anywhere.

The wolf growled and showed his teeth. A line of saliva ended up on Willem.

He wanted to cry for help, but not a single sound escaped his mouth. It was like his whole body didn't respond at all, like he was in a horrifying nightmare.

He looked straight at the eyes of his attacker. His eyes had something humane.

Willem begged in his mind. No... Please...

The wolf growled and bit Willem in the left shoulder.

Willem wanted to cry out of pain, but his mouth stayed shut.

He watched as the wolf's teeth remained in his shoulder's flesh a few seconds.

Then the wolf released his grip and ran away.

Just once the wolf turned around to look at Willem.

Those eyes.

Willem opened his eyes.

He was lying huddled on the floor of his room.

Quickly he grabbed his left shoulder like he was wounded.

Nothing, only a bloody and ripped shirt.

He pushed a bloody rag of his shoulder.

There he saw a large scar in a bite form.

Then he realized what happened.

He was cycling through the forest.

Then the wolf attacked him.

The wolf bit him in the shoulder.

He wasn't wasted.

He was bitten by a fucking werewolf.

He feared what he now knew.

His left shoulder started to itch.

"No..." he growled, trying to fight against it.

Grey fur started to grow on the bitemark.

He was frightened. He crawled on his back to the wall.

"What is happening to me?!" Willem snarled.

He couldn't believe what was happening, although he very well knew what was happening.

The spot of fur quickly spread around his body.

He growled and moaned.

He stood up and leaned against the wall.

His head started to reshape. Skull bones were moving. His face grew to the front, forming a muzzle. His ears moved upwards and changed into furry ears.

His legs changed too. His heels started to go up, so he had to stand on his toes and front part of his feet.

His fur started to thicken, especially on his chest, back and behind his cheeks.

His spine started to lengthen and a furry tail extended from his back.

His bones started to bend and become smaller or bigger. His muscles started to grow. He also started to grow in height. His shirt could not bear the tension and it ripped.

Panting and growling he stood there.

Then he howled.

"What have I become?"

He howled again.

Suddenly his ears turned around.

He could hear much better as a werewolf. He heard everything:

Two drunken students cycling back to their student house a bit further, small gusts of wind causing drops to fall from the trees and a car driving by.

Everything was loud and clear.

But his ears didn't turn around because of those sounds.

He heard someone tumbling of the stairs from the third floor.

Someone was knocking on the door.

"Wleheey, God dammit, Willem! Keep the noizz down. Thes sum people tryin to sleep yeah!"

No answer.

"You heard wad I said? I fuckin wanna sleep you dipshit!"

A loud and intimidating growl came from Willem's room.

"Wooow, chill man! Urgh.... I'm gone, I'm gone. Jeezes, fucking asshole."

The growling increased.

There suddenly was a lot of noise. It seemed like all kinds of stuff were thrown around or smashed.

"Woweeewooow! Relaaax man! You know what? You'll get uh beeeeer from me for fucking freeee if you keep it quiet theere."

The noise got worse. A mirror fell in pieces.

"Goddammit, I can forget my fucking sleep now."

Slowly the roommate climbed the stairs in a sort of an unstable way.

At the end of the stairs another roommate opened his door.

"Yooooow! Heeeeiinn! Wazzzzzuuup!" greeted the drunken housemate.

"Hey Koen. Nothing, what is all that noise by the way?"

"Whahahaha! You fuckin don wanna knooow man! That assssz tapping Willem is fucking a chick reeeaaaall hard! Hahaha! OOOeeeuh!!!" Koen demonstrated by making a slapping movement with his hand.

Then Koen continued his journey with bends to his room.

"Hmmm... " Hein sighed.

He went down the stairs, following the noise.

"Hey Willem! Is everything cool?"

The only answer he got was the sound of a falling bookcase.

"Hello? Willem? What's happening in there?"

A loud growl sounded.

"Willem?! Is that you?"

The noise stopped.

What the fuck is happening in there? Thought Hein.

Hein pushed his ear against the door to hear better.

He heard heavy footsteps approaching the door.

The footsteps halted.

Heavy panting.

"Ah, Willem. I was wondering if you..."

CRACK!!!

A grey fist protruded from the door, just a few inches next to Hein's head in front of his face.

"WHaaaaah!!!" Hein yelled, and he sprinted back the stairs up to his room.

He locked his door and hid behind his desk.

What the hell was that?! A burglar on steroids?!

He saw his mobile phone on his desk.

Shaking, he dialed 112.

"This is 112 for emergencies. How can we help you?..."

Chapter 6

There he goes!

Wolkers picked up the speed radar gun with tripod and left the police station.

Jansens was following him.

"So, what do you expect from your first day at the force?"

"Uhm... just the usual police work sir."

"And what does usual police work consist of?"

Jansens looked at the radar gun.

"Err... I think speeding controls sir?"

"Yep, that's right. We'll first put up this baby at the city's ring..." He waved with his radar gun."... And after that we'll go to the highway. By the way, you can call me Wolkers."

Wolkers opened the trunk, put the equipment in it en walked to the front.

They stepped into a Volvo V70 police car of the KLPD.

"Ah, I've prepared for today" said Wolkers while he put his sandwiches and thermos can aside.

He started and revved the engine and took off.

"Er... sir? It is already 8 o'clock. Rush hour is almost over. Aren't we too late?" Jansens asked.

"Haha, you thought so. Most of the people on the road past eight o'clock are often late for work. That means more fines!" Wolkers winked.

The Volvo drove up the ring and was parked aside on a straight part.

"I'll set up the camera." Wolkers said.

He stepped out of the car and walked to the back. There he took out the camera and tripod of the trunk.

"Kilo Lima 6, come in. twenty-six O two in Kleerloop region Wijderzijdsestraat 8."

"Jansens? Did I hear something on the radio?" Wolkers asked from behind the car.

"Errr... Yeah, uhm... An emergency for us: a twenty six O two."

"Jansens! Why didn't you tell me immediately?"

Wolkers threw the equipment back in the trunk and ran back to the driver's seat.

"You don't know what an emergency twenty six is huh?!" Wolkers scowled at Jansens.

"Kilo Lima 6, I repeat: a twenty six O two in Kleerloop Wijderzijdsestraat 8. Do you read me?"

Wolkers grabbed the radio.

"Headquarters, Kilo Lima 6. Roger that. Twenty six O two Wijderszijdsestraat 8."

"You need to pay better attention Jansens."

"Yes sir."

The Volvo V70 surged forward with screaming blue lights while overhauling cars on the right side.

"I said you could call me Wolkers."

Jansens didn't answer.

Trrrrrrrrring.

The front door was opened.

A shivering student looked at the duo.

"KLPD inspectors Wolkers and Jansens" They showed their police ID.

"I assume you're Hein van Baal?" The student nodded.

"A 112 call came in from here?"

"Errrr.... yeah. Uhh..." He pointed upstairs. "Theh.. there's somthing... no uh... I think a burglar in Willem's room." Hein stammered.

"Could you show us where Willem's room is?"

With a shaking finger, Hein pointed to a door up the staircase.

"Uhm... second door."

De two policemen walked up the stairs. It seemed like a student house with three floors.

A large hole with a diameter of about 20 centimeters made clear which door it was.

Wolkers looked through the hole. The room looked like a rampage. Everything was broken. A broken desk, a fallen bookcase and lots of broken stuff and books littered the floor.

"Police KLPD! Open the door!" Wolkers called through the hole.

Suddenly a growl sounded around the corner in the room.

Huh? That can't be true. Wolkers wasn't sure. Could it be a coincidence? Wolkers sniffed and confirmed.

He moved his head to the left, but he still couldn't see him through the hole. Wolkers looked briefly at Jansens.

"Hello?! This is the police! Open the door or we will force our way in."

Wolkers just wanted to stick his hand through the hole to unlock the door from the inside, when he heard heavy footsteps.

He looked through the hole again. Through the hole he saw a huge wolf standing on his rear paws.

They kept looking at each other for a few seconds.

"What do you see?" Jansens asked.

Then the wolf growled loudly and jumped outside, crashing through the window. Shattered pieces of glass fell into the backyard.

He couldn't lose him now! Wolkers thought.

"He's escaping!" Walkers yelled. Wolkers braced himself and ran to the door. The door gave away with a loud crack. He ran to the window and saw the creature running into the neighborhood. No, don't do that. Wolkers begged in his mind.

"Jansens! The car! Quick! He's escaping!"

Both policemen sprinted from the stairs, passing the stunned student, out through the front door.

They jumped in the car and started the pursuit with screaming siren and blue flashing lights.

Jansens grabbed the radio.

"Headquarters. Pursuit twelve fourteen Kleerloop Wijderzijdsestraat direction North. Suspect is a male wearing a grey jogging suit and he is about.. uhm.... more than two metres."

"Kilo Lima 6. Roger that. All nearby units fifty seven twelve Kleerloop Wijderszijdsestraat in North direction."

With screeching tires, the Volvo veered to the right. The siren joyfully kept howling.

"There he goes!" Jansens pointed to the front to the large grey figure.

With 50 kilometers an hour through a neighborhood with high thresholds and small poles was not easy.

The suspensions were enduring a lot while Wolkers yanked the steeringwheel every time to avoid a pole.

"Suspect is going West on Anderzijdsestraat!" Jansens called through the radio.

The wolf kept sprinting. At a T-crossing he turned left.

"Suspect is going South-East Kleerloop Anderzijdsestraat left to Bijzijdsestraat."

Would he go to the forest? Wolkers thought. Atta boy.

Wolkers pushed the gas pedal even deeper. At the T-crossing he hit the brakes and pulled his steeringwheel to the left.

Suddenly a dark green Mercedes G-class appeared from the right.

Wolkers hit the brakes again and yanked the steering wheel even further to the left.

De tires started to skid and the ABS started working.

The Mercedes terrain vehicle also hit the brakes. But it skidded straight to the Volvo,.

The Mercedes crashed into the right flank of the Volvo V70. A loud bang. Detonating airbags. Glass cracking.

"Goddammit, which motherfucker just crashed into us?!" Jansens cursed coughing.

"Everything all right Jansens?" Wolkers asked.

"Yeah, I'm all right."

"Phew. Well, our suspect has escaped now. By the way, don't curse Jansens." Said Wolkers while he tried to open the door.

When he failed, he kicked the door open and stepped out.

"Through here Jansens."

Jansens crawled through the driver's seat out of the car.

A dark green DAF 2300 truck stopped 20 meters behind the Mercedes jeep.

Soldiers in combat outfit stepped out. A few ran to the police men to help. Other soldiers ran to the jeep.

"Are you hurt sir?" One of the soldiers asked Wolkers.

"Yes yeah, I'm fine."

The radio was still working and Jansens reported to headquarters.

From the crashed Mercedes G, two officers stepped out. Both looked a bit dizzy from the crash, but they were not wounded.

Wolkers walked to them.

"KLPD inspector Wolkers."

"Colonel Vissers and lieutenant Verhoeven." The lieutenant saluted. Wolkers nodded to the lieutenant. The lieutenant nodded back.

"Do you realize that you didn't give way to a priority vehicle with siren and flashing lights?" Wolkers asked irritated but calm.

The colonel pointed at the roof of the Mercedes. A lonely blue beacon was still turning around.

"No sirens colonel" Wolkers retorted.

Wolkers continued. "By the way, why in a hurry? Because of the incident our suspect managed to escape."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing. You just prevented us to arrest this dangerous criminal." The colonel pointed at the truck with soldiers, armed with Diemaco C7's.

"Oh?" Wolkers was surprised. "You know that only the police services and the Royal Marechaussee are allowed to arrest people?"

"This is an exception."

"And you can confirm this with any documents?"

The colonel turned red of anger.

"Momentarily I don't have the necessary papers with me."

Wolkers wanted to continue, but at that moment a yellow Chevrolet ambulance, a police Volvo V50 and a BMW motor police officer arrived.

The colonel and the lieutenant wished them farewell and jumped into the army truck.

The army truck left while Wolkers reported to the just arrived police officers.

Later they took the Volvo V50 when a police support Volkswagen Transporter van arrived.

In the V50, our duo drove back to the police station.

They didn't say a thing to each other until Wolkers broke the silence while they almost arrived at the station.

"You know what's strange? How did they know we followed the guy? And why did they also want him?"

"I've no idea Wolkers."

"I don't trust those guys from the army" Wolkers sighed. "At least nobody got hurt today... Hey, ... you called me Wolkers."

They both laughed.

Chapter 7

Verheyen questions the students

Inspector Verheyen walked out the room.

"Seal it." Brand took the police tape from his pocket and sealed the room.

Verheyen patiently waited until Brand was finished.

Then they walked down to the kitchen. It was a small kitchen for such a large student house, but you could also see that of all the mess. Dirty pans, dishes, forks, knives, spoons and spatula's were piled up on the dresser and the sink was blocked. Brown-orange dishwater from half an hour ago seeped through the sieve of leftovers on the bottom of the sink. In the cabinet without doors was a half eaten dish of molding spaghetti. The kitchen table was empty except for the bread crumbs, pea's and drops of sauce, littering the surface. It was less bad on the floor. The bin was filled over and the trash was piling up on the bin against the wall.

Seven students were in the kitchen of which three were sitting on different models of chairs.

Verheyen looked shocked when he saw the messy kitchen.

"Uhm, can't we better question all of you in the living room?"

"We can, but there is no table to write on. Please take a seat. Coffee?"

Verheyen pulled a chair out and knocked of the crumbs. He sat down and wanted to put his file on the table, but after a look at the table, he put the file on his lap.

"No thank you, we have a busy schedule."

Brand shook his head too, he also rather preferred to stand.

"Ohkeey." Verheyen sighed. "Who first?"

Hein and Koen looked to each other.

"I think it is best for Koen to start, he noticed it first."

"Good, mister Koen...?"

"Huybregts."

"Koen Huybregts, you can start your story."

"Well, I was at my room back from going out and I was drinking a lot of water before going to sleep. But then I heard a lot of noise. Although I was a bit drunk, I can't sleep with noise. That's why I chose to live here and not in the centre you see."

"Hmhm, and at what time exactly did the noise start?"

"Uhm... No idea. But it was this morning."

Hein jumped in. "About eight o'clock."

"Yeah, around eight o'clock. Something like that."

Verheyen nodded and scribbled in his file without touching the table. "Continue."

"So I went to take a look from where all the noise came from. So I walked down to Willem's room because that's where all the noise seemed to come from you know. So I knocked on his door and told him to be quiet but I didn't get any answer. Instead even more noise came from his room. After that I went back to my room. And a few moments later, I heard somebody scream like a girl." Koen smiled.

Hein quickly kicked Koen's leg. "Shut the fuck up..." Hein whispered threatening.

Brand smiled too.

"And that was everything, I think." Koen ended.

"Ok, if you remember more things, don't hesitate to say so." Koen nodded.

"Your turn babe." Koen pushed Hein with his elbow. Hein looked back with a 'I'll get you back' face and kicked harder this time.

"Uhmm... Yeah. I also heard some noise, but I thought like, whatever, there's probably somebody err... you know" Hein winked "really hard but then I heard a drunken guy yelling at Willem's room who later seemed to be Koen here." He smiled to Koen. "So when Koen's yelling stopped, I went out of my room to have a look what was going on. Because the last time Koen was drunk and yelling on the staircase, he vomited in his pants."

Another student came in between: "What? In his pants? How the hell did he do that?" Koen looked angry at Hein.

"Gentlemen please, Hein?"

"Oh, ok" He laughed. "Uhh... Oh yeah, I opened my door and saw Koen stumble by. I asked him what happened. And our genius here told me that Willem was having uhh... loud sexual intercourse, which was absolutely not true of course. So I went to Willem's door to look what was going on and I asked if he was ok, because I heard a lot of noise coming from his room. And then suddenly a gigantic grey glove smashed through the door. That is what that hole caused. Then I ran back to my room and called 112."

"Ok..." Verheyen kept scribbling in his file. "Oh, by the way, I didn't get your name."

"Hein van Baal."

"Hein... van... Baal... that is." Verheyen wrote.

"Good, the next one?" Verheyen looked at the other students.

"Nobody?" He asked surprised.

One of the students answered.

"Most of us were at a housewarming in the city and the rest went out."

"Ok..." Verheyen frowned. "Then we come to the next part of this interrogation: Have you lately noticed something strange or abnormal about Willem?"

The students shook their heads.

"Are you sure?"

"I only remember that I heard Willem stumbling a bit unstable to his room. But he's like that every week when he's drunk." Koen answered.

"Hm. Ok then. Well, we're finished here." Verheyen quickly finished his notes and ended with a loud dot of his pen.

"Of course you all know that it is prohibited to enter Willem's room?" The students nodded.

"When we know more about Willem, an officer will come by to inform you. And if you remember anything more..." Verheyen gave a small card to Hein. "You can contact us on this number. I wish you all a good day."

The shrieking front door closed.

Verheyen sucked up cool fresh air. It was a quiet neighborhood. The morning sun had already come up moments ago and although it was winter, it woke nature. Sparrows, robins and doves were watching nearby, hoping to get some food from the two humans.

"It seems like the boys from the lab are already gone. Shall we?"

Brand nodded and seated in the driver's seat of a grey Opel Astra. Verheyen sat on the passenger's side. He sighed.

With three gnawing thrusts of the start engine, the Astra came to life and they took off.

They passed a parked army jeep.

"Brand, what do you think about this case?"

"No wonder he got lost, those students are crazy. How do you ever..."

Trrrriiit... Trrrriiit...

Verheyen opened his mobile phone with a twist.

"Hello, Verheyen here... Yes... uhuh... And where is that? ... ok.... yes... ok.... we'll be there in a minute."

He closed his phone.

"Try to turn around Brand."

"Ok, where are we going?"

"Back to where we came from, but then the other side: in a forest. They found something there. If I'm right, our boys should be there already. So we've got to be fast."

Brand pressed the gas pedal a bit further down.

"Verheyen, I think it's going to be a busy day today."

"I'm afraid so too. God, I'm getting too old for this."

Chapter 8

Alone with my tail

Ah, they are finally gone. He hadn't had the chance to examine his new him.

Willem looked at his stomach. Everything was covered by soft grey fur. And his whole body was bigger. The rest of the world seemed smaller to him. He flexed his biceps.

Fuck yeah!

He looked behind.

Hey! A tail!

Willem grabbed his tail.

It was strange to have a tail.

His tail started wagging.

Funny.

Then he had a look at his front paws.

Wow... Big claws.

He moved one of his claws.

Grrrr... Willem growled. Cool.

Then he looked down.

Those feet, uhm... paws look strange. It looked like he was crouching half way the whole time. Willem bounced up and down.

Wow. It's funny I can stand straight on my toes like that.

He looked around him again. Everything seemed small.

Then he realized it was his own room.

Oh no, what have I done?

His room was ravaged.

Did I do this? He looked at the wall with the large scratches and then looked at his paws.

Oh yes, to stop my anger.

Anger.

What have I become? His tail stopped wagging and lowered between his legs.

No, this can't be true.

He growled. Rage was filling up again.

Steady boy, calm down. That's what caused the damage in the first place. Ok, ok. Calm now. Let's get the situation. Ok, my room is destroyed. It is now...

He picked up his watch whose strap was broken from the floor.

It is now almost half past eight,

He dropped the watch.

Ok. Destroyed room. Half past eight. Next question...

What am I?

He knew the answer. But he didn't want to admit it.

A... a werewolf. He sighed with a rumble in his throat.

Even how cool it sounds. This is a problem.

All kinds of questions went through his mind.

Will I always be like that? If not, how do I change back to human? What if I hurt someone? What if people find me in this state? What if my friends and family find out?

He could already imagine their faces if he would stuck his muzzle around the corner and growled rrrhewwo!.

Never drinking beer with my mates. Never making fun anymore. Never flirt girls... Come on! How am I ever going to get a girlfriend like this?!

Willem never has been good in flirting. He hadn't has a girlfriend for years. He yearned for just a bit of attention and love from a girl. He sighed with a whine.

It is not fair. In the end, I don't want to be a werewolf. Why is this happening to me?

He wanted to howl, but then he heard a car stopping in front of the student house.

Oh shit, I uncontrollably scared off Hein... Uncontrollable? How can I control myself? By hitting objects? I'm in control of... of my instincts now. How long can I control myself? How often do I become a violent wolf maniac? Shit. I just scared off my housemates. They're gone now. Probably back to their rooms. Oh no... I know what I would do when I would meet a monster. Especially a wimp like Hein.

Anger started to pile up again.

Fack! Somebody is walking to the front door!

The front door opened with a loud squeak.

"KLPD inspectors Wolkers and Jansens"

Shit. The police.

"I assume you're Hein van Baal? ... A 112 call came in from here?"

I must hide.

"Errrr.... yeah. Uhh...Theh.. there's somthing... no uh... I think a burglar in Willem's room."

Shit, where? Hide where?!

"Could you show us where Willem's room is?"

Everything is broken. I can't hide behind my desk or bookcase.

"Uhm... second door."

There they come.

Willem's sensitive ears heard how two men walked up the stairs with every thud. Quickly he pushed himself two meters next to the door against the wall. Like that, they couldn't see him through the hole.

He heard them stopping in front of his door.

He heard the breathing of the two police officers. One was breathing steadily, the other one was breathing fast and nervous.

"Police KLPD! Open the door!"

Willem startled. That smell...

He heard sounds as like somebody was peering through the hole. He quickly pushed himself against the wall even harder.

"Hello?! This is the police! Open the door or we will force our way in."

Oh no. Shit. They probably have guns.

Panic, anger and fear started to pile up in Willem's mind.

I got to get out of here.

He stuck out his muzzle. There was nobody looking through the hole now.

Now or never.

As silent as possible he walked to the window. His rear paws padded on the floor.

He startled. There in the hole, he stared straight into the eyes of the policemen.

All kinds of thoughts entered his mind.

I've seen those eyes before! I know him! Because of him I'm werewolf now!

Willem jumped out through the window and landed on his rear paws on the grass. Because of the digitigrade paws and the grass which haven't been mown for months, he landed softly. Glass fragments fell behind him as he jumped over the hedge to the neighbors. Then he ran up into the neighborhood.

"He's escaping!" He heard the werewolf cop calling.

Willem ran. He peered over his shoulder if they were following him.

Shit! He saw how the two policemen jumped into a police car starting the pursuit.

He kept running. Screaming sirens followed him

Fuck! They're gaining on me!

Something in his head told him he was going into the wrong direction.

Left.

A narrow neighborhood. Good. Poles and thresholds.

Effortlessly he jumped over parked cars. He heard how the suspensions of the police car creaked and the tires skidded as it raced over the thresholds with its yelling sirens.

Again left.

Yes! To the forest! There I can lose them!

A feeling in his mind gave him a satisfying feeling.

Suddenly he heard a loud bang. He looked around and saw that a jeep crashed into the police car.

Haha, so long suckers.

He followed the street and then ran into the forest.

He ran further and further into the woods. The soft forest ground felt more comfortable on his rear paws. Finally he slowed down.

A wind breeze blew against his fur.

Slowly the panting stopped.

I recognize this place...

He was standing behind dark green bushes next to a muddy path.

So here I was bitten.

He felt his left shoulder. He slightly felt the scar under his dark grey fur.

Hey, my bike is still here. I'll get it back later. But I can't stay here. A pedestrian or cycler may see me.

He walked away from the path. Suddenly his sharp eyes caught something.

Blood?

He followed the trail.

Wait, that's my blood!

The blood trail stopped.

I fainted here yesterday evening...

Again a cool winter breeze caressed his fur. His tail started to wag.

Hey, I'm not cold. That comes quite handy, a fur like that.

He remembered the cold and wet night. He looked down. The ground was still a bit wet. He looked a bit more up. He saw his abdomen moving on the same pace of his breathing.

Oh... that's embarrassing. I'm walking around in my shorts.

Because of the transformation, his grey shorts had become too small.

Ashamed he crouched.

Did somebody see me? I need clothes or something. No, even better. I need a disguise. Without any disguise I can't come nearby other people. I'm lucky I didn't meet any people during the run.

Now, for clothes. He looked around.

Of course, my room isn't far from here.

He quickly scanned the gardens from any clothes hanging to dry. But it was winter and nobody was hanging their clothes outside.

Damn, what do I do now?

He walked back to the back garden of his student house.

I can't walk in just like that.

Then he saw the broken window.

I wonder... maybe this works.

He looked around him if somebody saw him.

Nobody. There is nobody in the living room neither. It seems like the curtains on the upper floors are closed. Perfect.

He heard and smelled his roommates having coffee in the kitchen. The kitchen was at the street side so he didn't have to worry.

He jumped over the fence, ran to the living room, crouched a bit and jumped. His front paws grabbed the window frame. His left paw claws hooked into the wood, but his right paw ended up on a glass fragment.

Willem whimpered. Wrautsj!

He pulled himself up into his room.

Everything looked the same as when he left except for the door which barely still hang from the hinges.

It seems like I just escaped in time.

His ears rose. The only sounds came from the kitchen.

Good.

He opened his closet which was the only thing still standing straight.

Hmmm. Jeans are too small. Ah, this is what I need.

He pulled on wide dark blue jogging pants. He continued his search.

That sweater is too small too. Dammit, everything is too small.

Oh, this looks reasonable.

He took a dark green T-shirt from his closet.

It was too big anyway, good that it has some use now.

He looked at his furry arms. I need to hide that too.

He picked up a red hoodie.

No, too prominent.

He picked up a dark blue hoodie with zipper. It was too small so he couldn't close the zipper, but at least his fur on my arms was concealed. By the way, like that he could put on the hood. It felt uncomfortable on his fur though.

He picked up a black baseball cap to camouflage his muzzle. His muzzle could be seen as a shadow of his cap.

Now for his paws.

Effortlessly he pulled up the bookcase and took two big army mittens from it. The mittens were large and made of sturdy leather and water repellent cloth. With difficulty he put on the mitten.

Only his rear paws were left unconcealed. He stared at his feet. No way there is ever going to be a shoe where they're going to fit in. I need to find a solution for that later.

He looked at himself.

In fact I don't look that bad after all. Well, except for the fact that I look like a giant police attracting football hooligan. But at least I stay unnoticed in the vicinity of other people.

Good, let's get out of here.

Willem wanted to jump out of the window, but changed his mind.

What could I need more? I might as well look around for handy stuff.

He looked around his messy room. He took his wallet from his dirty and wet jeans which was still lying on the floor and put it in his pocket. Mobile phone? He took the mobile phone from the ripped jacket and pushed the on-button. The screen lit up for a brief moment but failed a moment later.

Maybe it still works. I recharged the battery yesterday, so it might still work if I let it dry.

He put the mobile phone in his pocket and looked around for more things. My laptop... Maybe I could find a wireless network and search the internet about my condition. He grabbed the backpack which now weighed like a feather. My watch? Could be handy... He grabbed the watch with broken strap from the ground and stuffed it in one of his backpack's pockets.

A shaver? He laughed barking.

Then he saw his fallen over little fridge.

Food... He realized he hadn't any dinner and breakfast. His stomach started to rumble, his muzzle started to produce saliva and his tail started wagging.

He pulled the fridge open and quickly consumed the liver paste, cheese and slices of ham.

More!

But the only food he smelled was the packaging of the food he just ate. For the rest he only smelled a mix of forest, coffee, molding spaghetti and bread, puke and beer.

Bah! Willem growled.

He walked to the window, jumped down and ran off after he made sure nobody saw him

Food. Where can I find food?

Suddenly his nose smell something. He looked straight into the direction the rabbit odor came from. His ears peaked and his tail held still.

Hmm... that smells nice. He smiled while his side lips pulled up a bit, revealing sharp teeth.

Stealthily he walked a few hundred meters into the direction of his prey.

He heard how the small rabbit heart beat in the bushes.

There it is, Willem thought.

The rabbit knew he was compromised and ran off. The hunting instinct took over Willem and he started the pursuit. Shortly after that he caught the poor animal in his claws and the rabbit stopped struggling when he bit through its neck spine.

He savored the meat and ate it clean to the bone.

That was nice.

He walked further. He smelled more animals. More rabbits, mice, cats and birds.

No, it was enough for now.

Then he realized he was standing on all four paws. During the hunt he started running on four paws to catch the poor little rabbit.

Awesome.

It felt more familiar to walk on all four.

He lied down and started to ponder.

I just caught and ate a raw rabbit. Uncooked, just raw meat with pieces of fur. No salt, pepper, seasoning or oil. Just like that. Disgusting.

I have to admit it is quite good edible.

In fact, I like it.

So, we've solved the food problem. But what's next?

How long am I going to stay as a wolf? I want to be back the old Willem. With fur, muzzle and paws, I don't get far in this world.

I feel miserable.

I feel... alone.

He howled.

Then he let his head rest on his front paws.

Chapter 9

The colonel's story

Somebody knocked on the door.

"Come in."

A soldier with stripes entered the room, closed the door, saluted and clicked with his boots.

"At ease lieutenant."

The lieutenant adjusted his straight stance to a wide stance and put his hands behind his back.

"Lieutenant, do you know why I called you?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well, sit down."

With large steps the lieutenant marched to the desk and sat on one of the two chairs. Behind the desk was a military with lots of stripes sitting in a big office chair. On the desk were a small plant and an old desk lamp with penholders. For the rest, the room was dark grey and had no windows. There was a large bookcase with files, forms and reports up to the ceiling. In the middle of the ceiling there were two humming pale blue light tubes. The light tubes and the desk lamp were the only lights in the room.

"I'm very impressed about your service record Lieutenant Verhoeven."

The lieutenant just stared at him.

"That is why I'm assigning you a special mission, on which I will be operating on too. But I've already told you that, haven't I?"

The lieutenant nodded.

"Well, back to business. I'm hunting for this beast specie for years. This far underestimated murderous specie must be wiped out. But be careful, because almost nobody acknowledges its existence, it is our duty and our mission to do so without other people knowing. Even not our superior officers. So that means this conversation never happened. Are we clear?"

"Yes colonel Vissers."

"Good, do you know about which monstrous specie I'm talking about?"

"No idea sir."

"Wolves, lieutenant. Wolves."

"Sir? I beg your pardon sir. Aren't wolves an endangered species? By the way, there are no wolves in the Netherlands."

"That is true lieutenant, but I'm not talking about regular wolves... I'm talking about werewolves."

"Err... Sir?"

"Let me tell you a story lieutenant. It was a cold winter night in West-Germany 1981..."

Chapter 10

West-Germany, Gotthards, nearby the East-German border, 24th of December 1981

It was cold that night. It was almost Christmas and everybody was longing for home. But somebody had to guard the border. You'd never know what those communists were up to. Or there might be refugees. Sigh.

Although it was partially clouded, it was freezing. It felt very cold.

Maybe because of the wind. Thought Corporal Diederik Vissers while he hid in his collar and his helmet.

Why did HE have to guard the border? The other guys were playing cards in the barracks and the bunker. Well, an order is an order. Vissers remembered his commander.

A moment the full moon peeked out behind the clouds.

Private Bommels has been sick the whole evening and Vissers had to replace him. Luckily his best friend private Breesma was there.

Breesma was a fine soldier and his best friend.

If those DDR communists would ever invade, he could count on him.

Bas Breesma and Diederik Vissers grew up in the same small village and were best friends since they were kids. Together they succeeded military school and they were happy that they were put in the same unit. And now they were standing here at the East-German border.

Vissers heard approaching footsteps behind him. Bas Breesma joined him, wearing a winter coat, winter hat, helmet, gloves and a FN FAL rifle. Now they would follow the fence which was barbed on the top. Together they walked down the frozen path.

"Bommels is having a hard time; I think he's very ill. I heard him throwing up in the toilets."

"Poor guy, his first foreign service is going badly already."

On the other side of the fence two DDR-guards with AK74's walked by on a similar path.

"Gute Weihnachten" One of the guards wished them merry Christmas. They stopped too.

"Gute Weihnachten, Zigarette?"

The East-German soldiers smiled when they saw the American cigarettes. "Bitte."

Vissers passed each guard a cigarette through the fence. He lit them. He and Breesma took one also. There they stood, silently smoking their cigarette in the cold.

"Es ist doch verdammt kalt nicht?" One of the German guards started.

"Jah... verdammt kalt." Vissers responded.

The guard realized that the two Dutch soldiers weren't very good in speaking German and the conversation didn't go well. So he kept silent.

Everyone smoked their cigarette, wished them a good night and resumed their round.

"Danke für die Zigaretten, guten Nacht."

"Guten Nacht."

They continued walking.

Small flakes of snow fell down.

"It's going to be a white Christmas Diederik."

"Yeah, I think so too."

The frozen ground slowly started to get covered by a layer of snow. The trees and bushes next to the path started to form white and black silhouettes. A thin layer of snow grew on the helmets and shoulders of the two. The army boots made a crunching noise in the white layer.

"Shall we turn?"

They turned around and followed their own trail in the snow.

Suddenly they saw a third set of footsteps in the snow.

"Bas, do you see that?"

They both got their rifles from their shoulders.

"Yes, the footsteps go into the bushes."

"Wait a minute Bas. Hmm, there is no fresh snow on the trail. He passed by not long ago."

"I'll have a look, probably another refugee."

"Ok, I'll stay on watch."

The snow creaked as Breesma followed the trail into the bushes.

The creaking footsteps were heard more distant per minute.

Minutes passed.

Then suddenly Breesma yelled.

"Diederik! Help!" There sounded two loud shots, followed by a terrible scream. "AAaargh!"

Corporal Vissers aimed his FAL rifle at the bushes. He couldn't see a thing. The trees and bushes formed a mix of white snow and dark branches.

Damned.

"Alarm! Alarm! Insurgent at pole 64!!!" Vissers yelled. He saw two colleagues a few hundred metres running to the bunker.

Vissers stared frightened into the forest. He scanned the forest with his torch.

"Hold on Bas! I'm coming!" He yelled.

The snow creaked as his boots left the path. He clicked his safety off. The torch shone at the trails of Breesma and the stranger.

He went deeper and deeper into the forest. Then he saw Breesma lying in the snow. His rifle lay on the ground a few meters further.

"Bas!!" He ran to Breesma and kneeled. Blood seeped out of Breesma's neck. He put pressure on the wound, but felt there was no pumping pressure behind it. He grabbed Breesma's hand to find his pulse.

"No! Bas! Say something!"

Breesma's skin had become pale and cold.

Suddenly he heard howling nearby. A few ten meters from him stood an immense human-like creature. Vissers startled but regained his courage.

"You will pay for this! Die!" Vissers grabbed his rifle and aimed at the wolf. Although the wolf had already ran away.

His FN FAL spit twenty 7.62x51mm NATO bullets into the direction the wolf went. Vissers dropped the empty magazine, wriggled his pouch for a new one, pushed the new magazine in his rifle with a click, cocked the handle and fired a few more rounds.

It stayed quiet a few seconds. A line of smoke escaped from the barrel as well as the empty rounds which melted the snow.

Behind Vissers four soldiers came running with their rifles drawn. Another sergeant was carrying a FN Browning pistol.

"Jesus Christ! Has the third world war begun toda...."

He shut silent when he saw Vissers crying at Breesma's body.

Then the sergeant ordered: "Get the medics here and report to the base commander!"

One soldier ran back to the bunker.

A few minutes later, a dark green M38A1 Nekaf jeep medic transport covered in snow drove over the path with Bas Breesma's body in the back stretcher.

Chapter 11

Call of duty

"Rev it lieutenant!"

"I don't want the truck to lose us colonel."

Colonel Vissers cursed.

Dammit, you won't get away this time.

The portable police radio creaked.

"Headquarters. Pursuit twelve fourteen Kleerloop Wijderzijdsestraat direction North. Suspect is wearing a grey jogging suit and he is about.. uhm.... more than two metres."

"Kilo Lima 6. Roger that. All nearby units fifty seven twelve Kleerloop Wijderszijdsestraat in North direction."

"Lieutenant! Turn right!"

The military Mercedes jeep veered right with flashing blue lights into a neighborhood.

Not far behind the jeep, a DAF army truck followed them.

"We're close colonel, we got them this time."

"Don't feel happy now. I'll feel happy when I've got its dead head in my hands. They've escaped several times on the brink of capture."

"Suspect is going West on Anderzijdsestraat!"

"The police's pursuit is going quite well."

"Yes, and that's why we've gotta be there first."

"Suspect is going South-East Kleerloop Anderzijdsestraat to Bijzijdsestraat."

"Straight ahead lieutenant!"

"Do you know why we're driving this fast?" The soldier in the back of the truck asked.

"I don't know. The colonel has been acting strange lately. We're now using live rounds during an Urban Mission Training."

"Yes, definitely this. I don't want to jeopardize any civilians."

"Yeah, I've got a bad feeling about this. This just doesn't feel right. Come on, look at the way our driver is driving. It's like he's driving for his life."

The army truck made a sharp turn to the right.

"There we go again."

The army truck leaned a bit over.

"I wonder what the colonel is up to. Because I've never..."

Suddenly a large bang sounded.

"What the hell was that?"

The army truck stopped on the side of the road with peeping brakes.

"Gogogo! Out of the truck ladies!" The sergeant yelled.

The soldiers jumped out of the back of the truck.

Then they saw that the colonel's car had crashed into a police car.

"Holy shit."

"Help the wounded!" The sergeant ordered.

The sergeant and the corporal ran to the army jeep. The soldier and his mate ran to the police car where two disorientated officers crawled out.

"Are you hurt sir?"

"Yes yeah, I'm fine."

Then the soldiers saw the police inspector walk to the colonel.

"Wow, they're having quite a conversation."

"Yeah, I think that cop is a tuff one."

"Yeah... What do you think he's saying?"

"I don't know, but I do know that the colonel is in big trouble now."

Chapter 12

Vicky

Wolkers was standing in the middle of the forest. The blood trail has stopped. He quickly looked around if someone was near. He sniffed. He smelled that a wolf was nearby. Or at least came through here recently. He could clearly smell the scent.

I have to find him, but I can't just start yelling. Jansens could hear him.

Wolkers started searching through the bushes.

I'm sure I heard something from here somewhere. Nope, he hadn't hid here.

He was sure Willem was here. The first instinct of every new-were is to return to the scene of infection. Maybe his colleagues, who kept a short search, scared Willem off. No, that couldn't be true. He feared of the boy's life. If they caught him... Wolkers preferred not to think about the consequences.

A short police siren sounded from his pocket. He grabbed his mobile phone. But before he pushed the green button, he moaned briefly. His muzzle, ears and fur retreated.

"Yes? No... Yes, I'll be back in a minute. How is our guest doing?... Ok... cya."

Dammit Jansens... Don't be that impatient. Hmm... I've got an idea.

Wolkers scrolled through the telephone register of his mobile phone until he found the right number.

"Hello?... Yes, we have a problem here... yes, he's gone. I can't find him.... Yes?... Ok... all right. Bye." He tucked his phone back into his pocket.

Jansens approached Wolkers.

"Didn't I tell you to stay with the car?"

"No, you told that you would be there in a minute. And by the way, I'm quite an impatient person."

"Haha, I realized that a moment ago. If you're impatient, you shouldn't have joined the force boy."

They walked back to the Volvo V50.

"Found something back there?" Jansens asked.

Wolkers stepped into the car.

"Naah..."

"Yeah dad, ok... I will... ok... yeayeah.... yeahes... don't worry... ok... kisses."

The girl put away her new iphone.

"Vicky, was that your dad?" Her friend asked.

"Yes, he's always concerned about me."

"Like you're still a kid." They laughed.

"Yeah, he's worried because he's always gone to work and has little time. Busy at work blabla."

Her friend giggled.

"So your dad told you he had no time again?"

"Nono, he asked if I could come home early. And he asked if I was at school right now."

"Oooh, of course you're at school now!"

"Yes dad! It is break time now!" The two girls laughed.

The two friends were shopping in city's shopping center during the afternoon. They were in the last class of Cerilius high school and they were free today. It was almost three o'clock and there weren't a lot of people on the streets.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" Her friend asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!"

Vicky walked out of the shopping street to her bicycle. He unlocked her bicycle and cycled away.

She cycled on the bicycle path next to city ring. After a while, she turned right, just before a bridge.

He had told her that the new-were would be in the forest. She already knew though. She heard a howl from there somewhere before lunch. She wondered why she was called that late. She is called immediately if the other one couldn't take care of the new-were for what reason ever. Usually the one who bit the new-were had the responsibility to take care of the new-were. Why hadn't the biter taken care of the new-were? Hm. Oh well. I've done this a few times. But the howl sounded sad though. I hope he is ok.

She changed to a higher cycling gear.

Chapter 13

Tailing Verheyen

The shrieking front door closed.

"It seems like the boys from the lab are already gone. Shall we?"

Brand nodded and seated in the driver's seat of a grey Opel Astra. Verheyen sat on the passenger's side. He sighed.

With three gnawing thrusts of the start engine, the Astra came to life and they took off.

"Ok, there they go."

He started the military Mercedes G-class terrain vehicle and calmly drove away from his parking spot.

"Try to keep distance, they're not allowed to see us."

The soldier behind the wheel nodded.

The soldier in the passenger's seat started to phone.

"Yes, we're following them right now... ok... understood."

He tucked away his mobile phone.

"Why aren't we using the radio?"

"You know that the colonel is in deep shit right now? It means his ass if command finds out that he's still doing this. AND our asses by the way."

"Ow, then why are you forcing me to do this? This just doesn't feel right."

"Because I was forced by the colonel. And if you don't cooporate, I'll tell command that you're using drugs. You do know the no-tolerance policy, do you?"

The driver sighed.

"But don't think about that. Think about what you're going to do with the money when the colonel pays up."

"I hate you."

"I know."

"Wait, they're turning around."

"Keep driving."

The grey Opel Astra turned around but the military jeep went straight ahead.

"Ok, now go into that street and turn. Quickly."

The jeep turned right, turned around without stopping by driving over the pavements and then turned left to keep following the Opel.

"Easy easy... We haven't lost them."

"They're revving up."

"Keep holding distance, just don't lose them."

"Roger that. Wait a second... They're going back."

"Interesting."

The two soldiers in the Mercedes jeep kept following the police men until the Opel slowed down.

"That's a dead end."

"Don't turn; we'll stop a bit further down the road."

The Opel turned right and parked at the dead end. There was another police car and a police van. The jeep went straight ahead and stopped a hundred meters further.

"You stay behind the wheel, I'm gonna take a look."

The soldier stepped out of the car and sneaked into the dead end street.

Wow... Hide. Thanks for the camouflaged uniform dear army. Ah, they're entering the forest.

The soldier grabbed his binoculars.

It seems like there is an investigation going on.

He left his binoculars hanging from his neck and dialed the colonel again.

"Yes, with Alpha... they stopped at the forest and are investigating something... yes, lotsa cops... yes? Are you sure?... Yes of course sir... Understood sir... Thank you sir."

The colonel hung up.

The soldier sneaked back to the jeep.

"The colonel doesn't need us anymore. He has what he wanted."

"Oh? That fast?"

"As long he doesn't blackmail me anymore and that I get my money."

The jeep left and disappeared into the traffic.

Chapter 14

Court marshal and night vision

"What was that all about?!" The brigadier's head was red of anger.

"Because of you, I'm in big trouble! The state-secretary of Defense demands an explanation how a high ranking officer crashes into a police car in pursuit with a fake blue light, a stolen police radio and an illegally taken truck with a whole squad of reserves armed with live fire Diemaco's! So now the whole command is accusing ME!" Colonel Vissers kept silent and the brigadier calmed down.

"Ok, there is always another side of the story. Enlighten me." The brigadier was still panting.

"Brigadier? Uhm... It was just a realistic Urban Mission Training with..."

"Dammit! Don't fucking lie to me Vissers! I can get you to court marshal!"

The colonel shut his mouth.

"So, tell me what REALLY happened."

The brigadier waited more than ten seconds but the colonel didn't answer.

"So we're going to play the hard way? Good. Ok then... As your commander I am obliged by army command and defense to take action. You take all the responsibility. I have nothing to do with this and I cannot be blamed. You lose your command on Delta Company and you're demoted. Oh by the way, congratulations with your new rank, captain Vissers. Besides that, you're sent home for three months for a new screening and investigation. You should be glad I didn't send you to court marshal. Defense can't permit any bad publications like Van Gelder and Kroon. "

The colonel didn't speak.

"Is that understood colo... captain Vissers?"

"Yes sir."

"Go to the administration, replace your stripes and hand in your firearm at the stock."

"Yes sir."

"Get out. I don't want to see your face around here anymore."

The captain left the office.

The brigadier sighed.

"I never thought that such a fine soldier would misbehave like that."

"And?" the lieutenant asked while Vissers appeared.

"I have my old rank as captain back, they took away my company and I'm suspended for three month. At least my rank is still higher than yours."

"Sigh... What now?"

"This isn't finished. I know how to catch him this time."

"But colonel? Are you going to continue this?"

"Captain lieutenant, captain is my new rank. And yes, I'm going on with this. This afternoon, two men of mine followed a few cops. Soon we will catch those wolves."

"But... Delta Company was taken away from you?"

"I know, but it doesn't means there aren't any soldiers left listening to me."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"I know very well. Come on, I'm going to swap my stripes."

The lieutenant followed the captain to administration.

"That's a long time I wore these stripes."

"Why are we walking to the storage?"

"To fetch equipment."

Lieutenant Verhoeven watched surprised at captain Vissers.

"We're going to fetch two pairs of night vision goggles because it will be dark soon." Captain Vissers looked at his watch. "15 past 5. When it gets dark, it starts."

"Starts what?"

Captain Vissers looked at the full moon which gradually became visible in the twilight.

"Lieutenant, are you armed?"

"Yes, why?"

"We're going to need those."

"Oh but... Weren't you going to hand in you Glock 17?"

"That's why we must leave before the brigadier notices."

"But..."

"No buts lieutenant. I still have my jeep. It is going to be tonight or never."

They walked into the hall and fetched two pairs of night visions. Then they walked over to the Mercedes jeep and drove away.

The guard at the gate opened the barrier when he saw 'the colonel's jeep'.

A telephone rang in the guard house. A second guard answered the phone.

"Yes? ... What?!... He just left... Ok."

"What was that?" the guard at the barrier asked.

"The colonel..."

"I know where they're going."

"Who?"

"The monsters that killed Bas."

"How do you know?"

"I noticed that werewolves come back to a certain place and I'm quite sure where that place is. My two men found out this afternoon."

"Where is it then?"

"You'll see."

They drove an hour to the city. On the city ring they turned right just before the bridge. Then the jeep drove into a neighborhood. They drove into a dead end. There the captain parked the jeep under the shadow of a tree, not far from the path.

"And now we wait."

"How long will we stay?"

"Until we catch or kill them."

"Ow... I'm going to call my wife I won't be home for dinner."

Chapter 15

Were-fox

Where can I go? With all that rabbit blood and mud on my clothes I can't enter the city anymore.

Willem has been asking the same question for a while now.

For the time being I will stay in this forest. Definitely with the police in the surrounding areas. They found my bike. They took samples from the scene and they searched the forest. Luckily I could hide. And now they're still busy with the investigation. I guess they think I'm murdered or something. Haha, if they knew better...

Willem smiled.

Wait a minute... What do I smell? It is him!

The same police officers who chased Willem a few hours before walked to the officers in white suits.

This can't be true! How do they know about this place?

Of course, he is the one who attacked me here. What is he going to do next?

My God. Of course. This is definitely what I need. Everybody is leaving except himself. I need a better hiding place. What? He is following my blood trail! He is looking for me! He... He has a muzzle, a snout, fur, the ears. He... How did he do that?

He's sniffing. Oh no, if I can smell him, then he can smell me too! He's coming my way.

Please, not this way, not this way, not this way. Phew... Lucky me. He's searching the wrong bushes. His phone rings. And he just changes back to human! Wtf?! I have to learn that trick.

"Yes? No... Yes, I'll be back in a minute. How is our guest doing?... Ok... cya."

Now he's going to call.

"Hello?... Yes, we have a problem here... yes, he's gone. I can't find him.... Yes?... Ok... all right. Bye."

What? Are there more werewolves? Or are there more people who know about werewolves? I have to be careful. He's not the only one.

There his colleague arrives.

"Didn't I tell you to stay with the car?"

"No, you told that you would be there in a minute. And by the way, I'm quite an impatient person."

"Haha, I realized that a moment ago. If you're impatient, you shouldn't have joined the force boy."

Is he a werewolf too? Mwah... No, he smells... human. Does his colleague know that he's a werewolf? I don't think so; else he didn't have to change back.

Finally, they're gone. But they might come back, he has smelled my scent.

Willem waited until he could hear the car driving away.

Sigh. What now? He knows I'm here.

Why is he searching for me?

He is the one who bit me.

I haven't done anything wrong to him.

I've never come in contact with the police. (Except the time he peed in public. Oh yeah, and public alcohol consumption too. And oh yeah, the night when we burnt the hedge of the holiday cottage.)

But why is he looking for me? Maybe he wants to help me? I don't trust this guy. And why can he change just like that and I can't? I don't want to be like that forever. It is cool however. I can see, hear and smell better and I'm bigger and stronger. But I don't want raw rabbit meat on my menu. I don't want to be lonely for the rest of my life. By the way, what should I become then? I can't finish my education like that. I trust my friends, but can I trust them this secret? This sucks terribly. This is impossible. I can't do this. I can't do this. I don't want to be a wolf anymore. It is fun for one time, but I want to change back. I don't want to stay like this. I want to hang out with my friends, see my family. I want to be back normal. I don't want any damn fur.

Willem scratched his furry chest with his claws. The scratch behind the shredded shirt started to bleed.

I don't want this. Dammit. I don't want to be a wolf. Stupid cop. Why me? I can't do this. I don't want this. I want to be back normal. Dammit.

He growled and snarled loudly and hit a tree with his paw. Bark and branches fell from the tree. Panting, he didn't move a few seconds.

Auhautsj... I can't do this.

He collapsed and whined.

Why me?

For the first time as a werewolf, drops of tears emerged from his yellow eyes. He didn't care anymore. He directed his muzzle to the sky and howled sadly.

Snif snif...

He sniffed again.

Snif snif... What do I smell?

It smelled familiar but he was sure he hasn't smelled this scent before.

I smell something. It wasn't one of the regular animals in the forest nor was it a human.

He stood up. He sniffed again.

Crack.

Shit! Somebody is very near!

He crawled back into the bushes. He lied down while adrenaline started to flow through his veins.

How could someone sneak up to me like that?

Willem looked around anxiously.

Where is the sneaky bastard? Nobody. Nowhere. The scent is getting stronger though. I smell... her? A she? For crying out loud, how could I smell that? Wait, something moved there. Was that her? No, nothing.

A tiny breeze swept the scent into Willem's muzzle.

So there she is! Shit, she knows. There she goes! Gone again... Where is she? I'm sick of this. I am the big bad wolf! Why am I the one who is scared?! Come on. Let that anger fill up. Yes, become angry. I'm not afraid.

He stood up on his four paws, walked out of the bushes to confront the intruder and growled into the direction the scent came from.

Come on! Where are you?!

He sneaked around looking for the intruder.

She's very close now. I can hear her heart beat. I smell her scent. Yes, let the hunting instinct rise. She's somewhere over here. Very close. Dammit, she's good at this.

He continued his search.

There!

Sounds of bristling leaves and branches came from a few bushes further away. He sneaked to the place where the sound came from and smelled the ground.

She was here. Where is she now?

He sniffed again.

I am much closer now. Very very close. Oh shit...

Willem realized too late.

Something jumped at Willem into his right side. They rolled a few meters before a fox was lying on Willem. The paws of a vixen pushed against Willem's fur who was now lying on his back. Surprised he looked at the fox.

"So you're the new one." The fox said.

Willem snarled. He was bigger and stronger than the fox, so he rolled the fox aside and sat on her instead. Willem's position was in favor now. He growled again and showed his teeth although he was still surprised.

A talking fox?

"Don't stare at me like that. You're dribbling on my fur by the way."

A large drop of saliva fell on her fur.

"You don't talk that much, do you?"

No answer.

"Uhm... I'll start then. I'm Vicky, nice to meet you."

Willem growled.

"Anyway... can you please get off me?"

"What are you doing here?!" Willem snarled at her.

"Your paws are touching my errr..." She nodded downwards.

Willem blushed of shame when he realized his paws slightly touched her breasts while he was pressing her down. He quickly got off her.

"Sorry... I didn't know that err..."

"Doesn't matter. In fact I should be apologizing. I shouldn't have jumped you like that."

They sat down. Willem looked at her eyes.

Those eyes. She is a werefox.

He was glad there were more people like him.

"Your eyes... they're..."

"Oh, eh... Thank you..." If Vicky didn't have any fur, Willem could've seen that Vicky was blushing.

"Oh no, I meant ... Yes uh..." Now if Willem didn't have any fur, Vicky could've seen that Willem was blushing.

"Those were-eyes? ... oh... You didn't meant that I ... Oh sorry, of course. You can recognize other werepeople by looking at their eyes." She looked a bit disappointed.

"Oh ok.... I like your eyes anyway." They both blushed.

Idiot, why did I say that?

They sat there silent for a few seconds, waiting for the other one to say something and not knowing what to say. To break the silence Willem started.

"I'm Willem, nice to meet you."

"Oh hi. Since when are you like this?"

"Since this morning. But I was bitten last night."

"Ok."

Then Willem remembered all the questions he had.

"But, now you're the first werefox I've met. Maybe it's impolite to ask, but I've a lot of questions."

"Sure, you can ask." She looked delighted.

"Will I always stay like that? How can I change myself? And who is that police officer?"

"Wow, wait a minute. I'll explain everything. You were infected yesterday, weren't you?"

Willem nodded.

"Then that means it happened during full moon. All werecreatures change into their animal form in the night during full moon. Some people can't control themselves at that moment."

"But during the day there is no full moon. Why am I still a wolf?"

"You stay in this wolf form for a while because you're new. After you've been bitten, you first heal all your wounds. Then you will change into a wolf for the first time. That is the most painful part."

"Yes, I noticed. But what do you mean with 'a while'?"

"A few days."

"What?!! A few days?! Then how can I..."

"Take it easy, you'll change back when there's no full moon anymore. Because of the sun shines during the day doesn't means the moon disappeared. The moon's light is just weakened."

"So when will I change back?"

"The day after tomorrow."

Willem whimpered.

"No worries, these will be your best days of your life!"

Willem looked back to her.

"You will discover all kinds of things! Freedom, nature and more. Your biter will... Oh, by the way, I have a question. Where is your biter?"

"My biter?"

"Yes, the one who bit you last night?"

"I don't know. I only know he's a police inspector."

"A police inspector? Hmmm..." Vicky pondered. "No, I don't know him. Because usually it is the biter's responsibility to take care of the new-were."

"So I'm the new-were?"

"The biter then takes care of you. He takes care of that you stay hidden the first days and that you learn your new instincts in a safe way while you're also able to control them. Usually that is in a big deserted forest. Not like this one, this one has a path in it. Those days are the most fun days. At least, that's what I think."

"Ok, what now?"

"It seems like you already know how to walk and hunt on four paws. Well done by the way." She looked at the blood and mud stains on Willem's clothes. "But as for the rest, I need to hide you. Because I only have a bike and no car, we're forced to that in this forest."

"Here? What about the police inspector? What if he finds me?"

"Your biter? He's probably looking for you to take care of you. That's his responsibility."

"Oh ok. I saw him calling somebody that he couldn't find me."

"You see! He couldn't find you. Luckily I found you; else you could get caught or seen by someone. But I'll tell you the rules later. Anyway, I found you because I heard your howl. Let's go, we're going deeper into the forest, away from the path. There we can build a den."

"A den?"

"Of course, how are you going to stay dry and hidden? You will surely be staying here for a few days. So you learn how to build a den the first day already."

They walked deeper into the forest.

"Wait a minute. I'm going to fetch something." Vicky said and she ran off.

A few minutes later she came back with a bag of clothes.

"Those are my clothes; we're taking those with us." They continued their walk.

"But, you just changed into a fox?"

"Yes, everybody can transform anytime if they want. Except during full moon and you can't. You transformed for the first time. You will have to learn how to transform back too."

"You just transformed for me?"

"I don't want to die trying to convince a giant wolf." She smiled. "I'm going to change tonight anyways."

"So all werewolves and werefoxes change tonight during full moon?"

"Not only werewolves and werefoxes. All were-creatures."

"So there are other sorts?"

"Tigers, lions, dogs, uhm... let's say all mammals. But over here werewolves and werefoxes are the majority. I think. I've only met a weredog and werecat besides werewolves and werefoxes. But I've also heard that for example in Asia there are a lot of weretigers. So it depends on."

Willem was happy that other people bared the same fate.

I'm not alone! I can't wait to meet more werefolks!

"All right, this is a nice spot. Let's build our den here."

"We?"

"During the night I will stay here to make sure you don't become too wild. And somebody has to teach you the rules. Every werewolf MUST obey the rules. They cannot be broken, else you jeopardize every werewolf. It happened before during the Middle Ages for example. During those times, a lot of werewolves ended up on the stake."

"How many rules are there?"

"A lot. But most of them are logical. I'll tell you the most important ones. 1: A werewolf may NEVER be caught. If a fellow werewolf threatens to be caught, you MUST help him escape or prevent him being caught. This also counts for prisons. So stay out of trouble. Nobody wants a werewolf in prison during full moon. 2: Don't wander in places where there is a chance that people might see you when you're in wolf form. 3: As a werewolf you're faster, stronger and more powerful. But this doesn't means you're invincible. A regular kitchen knife through your heart or brains is fatal. So don't think only silver bullets can hurt you."

"That's it?"

"The most important three rules, yes. Let's start digging. It will be dark soon."

She showed him how she dug a hole. Willem joined her digging after pulling out his clothes. He felt more comfortable digging like this. For a moment he looked at his chest, the wound and blood was gone. The bruise on his paw was also gone.

Chapter 16

Final

Willem watched her dig.

She looks stunning. I never thought that I would like a girl with fur.

"Hello? Willem?"

Willem shook his head.

"Oh sorry, I was uh... daydreaming a bit."

Willem continued to work on the den.

We nearly met and I already like her. She is the first who has been nice to me since my change. Somebody like me. Somebody who doesn't hunts me. Somebody who cares about me.

He looked around his shoulder to Vicky. His ears pointed up and his tail was wagging wildly.

Damn, and she looks good too.

He inhaled the pheromones.

Vicky turned around and watched at him. Their eyes made eye contact. For a moment they stared at each other. Amber yellow eyes. Quickly Willem returned to his job and smiled.

"What's the matter?" Vicky asked when she saw his wagging tail.

"Nothing..." Willem answered while trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"I think you're hiding something."

Willem kept digging and didn't look at her, embarrassed.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are." Vicky teased.

"No, I am not!" Willem growled slightly and abruptly turned around.

They both startled. Both furry faces were facing each other very closely. They stared into each their eyes longer than half a minute. It felt like an eternity. Willem started to get nervous.

Wow, she is stunning.

Finally, Willem found some courage and began.

"I like you." Willem stammered.

Vicky softly opened her muzzle and licked Willem's snout.

"I like you too."

Willem licked back. Then they kissed for an eternity. Two kissing were's in ecstasy.

After the long kiss he looked to the sky. He proudly howled of happiness. Vicky added her howl and whines too.

She likes me! Yes! She likes me!

Tears of happiness rolled from Willem's eyes into his fur.

After the howling concert they lied down. Vicky let her foxy head rest on Willem's furry chest. Willem put an arm around her. Together they watched the sky darkening into twilight.

Jansens drove in his own Ford Focus. Wolkers sat beside him.

"Turn left here Jansens, a few blocks further is my house."

"Ok."

Jansens turned the steering wheel so the Ford calmly entered a neighborhood. The headlights slightly lightened the street because the street lights were already turned on. The red orange sun was preparing itself to stay hidden for the coming hours.

I got to go home quickly, bathroom, take off clothes and then transform. It is almost time. Take it easy old man. Don't cause any suspicion.

"So what do you find about your first day?"

"Spectacular. Yes that's the right word. Spectacular. I had to draw my pistol and we've chased a burglar! Today was awesome. It is very tiring though."

"You deserve rest after such a day." Wolkers complimented.

"Straight ahead by the way. I live a bit further down the road. I'll hop off there and you can go home then."

The dark blue Ford Focus stopped in front of Wolkers house. Wolkers opened the car door.

"Ah, home... Ok, I'll cya tomorrow." Wolkers said while he stepped out of the car.

"Ok, cya tomor..."

A police siren sounded from Wolkers pockets. He flipped open his mobile phone.

"Hello Wol...." Wolkers interrupted his name. He just kept nodding.

" .... ..... .... .... .... .... ok."

"What was that?" Jansens asked.

But Wolkers already had jumped back into the car.

"Drive!"

"I can hear them howling."

"Yeah, I hear them too."

"I told you they were here!"

"You're always right as usual captain."

Captain Vissers looked satisfied. Then he raised his head.

"Lieutenant, look who we've got here."

Captain Vissers and lieutenant Verhoeven both put their night goggles on. Shortly the headlights of the approaching car blinded the saturated green vision. The car braked on two parking places and a man from the passenger side stepped out. The man had a few words with the driver and ran off into the forest. The two military stared at him from the jeep.

"Is it him?"

"I think so." Vissers answered.

Captain Vissers pulled out his Glock 17 from his legholster and cocked it to make sure that there was a bullet in the chamber.

"You stay here to watch the driver."

"You stay here in the car!" Wolkers told Jansens while he stepped out of the car.

"But... Where are you going? What's going on?"

Wolkers was about to leave but he turned back to Jansens, leaned on the roof and looked down.

"I can't explain this now. Just stay here and don't do a thing!"

"Shall I call backup?"

"No, this is something I have to do on my own."

A short silence.

"Please."

Wolkers looked at Jansens.

".... But.... Oh whatever, you're the most experienced one here."

Wolkers however already ran off.

Dammit, why does he suddenly have to go there? Our shift ended an hour ago. Wait a minute, isn't this the same spot as the missing kid case? The investigation... During the investigation he was so eager to come here. He also went into the forest on his own that midday. Maybe Wolkers has something to do with it. Has my partner committed a crime? Anyway, he is hiding something... I don't get it. Now he just goes back into this damned forest all alone, just like today. Crap, I can't see into the forest. It's too dark. Where is he now? The forest is freaking big. Huh? What's that? Somebody else is entering the forest! No, he is rather sneaking into it. There's something going on. Shit, he's gone. I can't see him anymore. Dammit, this is going wrong. Where have I got myself into? Maybe this is a drugs deal. And maybe the missing boy saw too much. But why was Wolkers called at this late instant? Sigh. I'll just have to wait then.

Suddenly a gunshot sounded in the distance.

Was that Wolkers?

"Shit!" Jansens cursed. He grabbed his torch and stepped out of the car. He also opened his holster to make sure he was able to reach his Walther P5 pistol at a moment's notice.

I've got a bad feeling about this. Jansens thought while he entered the dark forest.

Wolkers ran into the forest. The moon was now shining through the growing darkness. Twilight was changing into night. Patches of fur started to grow on Wolkers skin. He ran faster. His nose formed into a snout while his muzzle grew forwards. Ears were shapeshifting into big pointy and furry ears on the top of his head. He kept running. He stopped running for a moment to smell the air. In the car he could hear that the howling was coming from here somewhere. His running slowly changed into long jumps as his digitigrade feet ripped his shoes. He was close now, he could smell it. His tail ripped through his pants.

Bliss.

Willem stretched. He felt like the full moon was giving him extra energy. It made him wild. It seemed like that Vicky was also enjoying it. She kept staring at the pale white clear moon.

Suddenly Willem smelled something.

"Vicky!" Willem whispered.

"Huh? What?" Vicky asked because she was still enthralled by the moon.

"I smell something!" Willem whispered anxious.

Vicky stood up on her four paws and sniffed the air.

"Yes, I smell it too."

"It's the policeman!"

"Your biter? Ok then, he's coming to help us."

"I don't trust him. He's a police officer!"

"That's why we can trust him right? All werepeople have all kinds of occupations you know."

"Shht, here he comes."

Willem and Vicky crawled into their den, waiting for the werewolf to leave. Surprisingly, the werewolf ran straight to the den.

"Get out! Quick!" the policeman whispered.

No answer.

"I know that you're in your den! Now come out! You're in danger!"

"In danger?" Vicky suddenly asked.

"Vicky, shut up!"

"Vicky? I've heard about you. Now please listen to me! My name is Wolkers and I'm a werewolf. You got to leave right now."

"For what?" Willem asked with mistrust.

"There's no time for explanation! Follow me! Dammit! I smell his scent."

Wolkers looked around anxiously.

"Smell who?" Vicky asked.

"I smell him too. It's a human scent. Let's get out of here." Willem said.

Vicky and Willem quickly crawled out of their den and followed Wolkers. Willem noticed that the police officer Wolkers also had a muzzle and paws. Wolkers fur was black and darker than Willems though.

"Sssssht..." Wolkers whispered. Willem saw how Wolkers drew his pistol.

Then he also noticed the strong scent of a human. The man was chasing them very closely. They continued fleeing until they arrived in a small clearing. Pale white blue light lit the open space.

How can somebody follow us in the dark that closely? Wait, was that something?

"Wolkers, I think I saw something there."

Wolkers stopped in the middle of the clearing and sniffed.

"Run." Wolkers whispered.

Suddenly a gunshot sounded. The bullet ricocheted against a rock.

"Not so fast you three..."

A military with large goggles in front of his eyes appeared from the bushes. Wolkers raised his pistol at him.

"Uh uh uh. Else they are gone." The army officer aimed his pistol at Vicky.

"Well well, finally I've caught you. And you know what? I've caught three of them."

"Wolves can't be caught. You know that." Wolkers answered.

"Oh, I think I just did. Finally everyone will believe me. I, captain Vissers, will be restored to my rank as colonel and then promoted to general. Finally I will receive the fame and honor which was taken away from me. Taken away... Finally I can revenge my best friend's life you monsters took away!"

"You're mad."

"And who are you to say that? I'm the one with the firearm here."

"Me too." Wolkers pulled back the hammer.

"And me too." Everybody looked up in surprise. It was Jansens who spoke the remarkable words. Three men were standing in a triangle aiming with their pistols. Vissers aimed at Willem and Vicky, Wolkers and Jansens aimed at Vissers.

"You know that when one of you fires, that I will have long killed those two."

"And we you." Wolkers answered.

"Hey hey hey, I think we've met before. Aren't you those two cops I crashed into today?"

"Pleasure to meet you." Wolkers sarcastically greeted.

"Wolkers and Jansens I presume? Hmm... So you are Wolkers the werewolf and you are Jansens?"

Jansens looked at Wolkers. Then he saw that Wolkers had grey black fur all over his body and sounded different. Also, he realized he had mistaken the two creatures on the ground as animals. Those weren't two normal foxes. But it was a grey wolf trying to protect the fox by shielding her. They both resembled humans for just a little bit.

Jansens aimed his Walther pistol at Wolkers who was then forced to lower his pistol.

"Ahah, inspector Jansens, I'm glad you agree. These monsters must be destroyed."

Jansens looked at Vissers. Then he looked back at the furry werewolf who was supposed to be Wolkers. He looked at the other two werepeople again.

"No Jansens, we are no monsters. The missing boy, is that wolf over there."

Jansens peered at the werewolf who was still shielding the fox.

"Inspector Jansens, these are no humans. These are murderers. Violent and merciless beasts!"

Jansens turned back to Wolkers.

"Wolkers, why?"

"I can't do anything about this Jansens. Please, trust me. I'll explain everything."

"Who says that you won't kill me?"

"Because I won't Jansens. I have never killed and will also never kill anyone. That man in the contrary finds it normal to kill humans and animals."

"Hahahahaha!" Vissers laughed. "Humans and animals?! You are neither of them! You don't deserve to live. The only thing you low life creatures awaits is death."

Vissers aimed at Willem and Vicky who tried to jump away together. But not a single moment later a loud gunshot echoed in the forest. Jansens startled from the loud bang and looked at Vissers. Wolkers grabbed this chance and hit the pistol out of Jansens hands with his big paw and then jumped at him.

"Sorry..." Wolkers whispered before he slowly stabbed his sharp fangs into Jansens arm. Jansens screamed terrified and yelled out of pain trying to escape from Wolkers grasp. But Wolkers didn't let his grasp loosen.

Willem checked if Vicky was hurt. Nothing. And he self wasn't hit neither.

They looked at Vissers while Wolkers was still grabbing Jansens. Vissers had dropped his pistol. Dark red fluid soaked his army uniform from the middle of his chest. He dropped to his knees and then fell on his side exhaling his last breath. His eyes stared into the distance while his pupils started to widen.

Wolkers finally released Jansens.

"Aaargh!!" Jansens screamed out of pain. "Why?!! Why Wolkers?!!!!"

"Sorry Jansens. It had to be done. You know too much."

"Wat?! No! No, this can't be happening!"

"Don't worry, everything will be just fine."

Wolkers stood up while Jansens lied on the ground moaning and turning.

"You're late. Where were you?" Wolkers started.

A soldier stepped into the clearing.

"I'm never too late nor too early Wolkers."

The soldier put his smoking black pistol back into his leg holster and hugged Wolkers.

"Haha, you've done very well!" Wolkers praised.

The soldier released the hug and looked at Vicky.

"Everything fine honey?"

"Yes dad, we're ok."

"Dad?" Willem wondered.

"Yeah, come, I'll introduce you. Dad, this is Willem. Willem, this is my dad Verhoeven."

Lieutenant Verhoeven shook Willem's paw.

"Nice to meet you. So you're Willem. But err... I wondered. How old are you?"

"Dad!"

"What? Just in case."

Willem curiously looked at Verhoeven. A non-were, the father of Vicky? Who would've thought about that? I thought that Vicky's parents were also werepeople.

"Oh. Just let them, they're still young." Wolkers said.

Wolkers returned to Jansens who was stil lying on the ground moaning.

"Is it any better now?"

"Urgh... aah.....w...w..will I also become a..a.. w.. werewolf?" Jansens anxiously asked.

"You'll be fine Jansens. You know, there are a lot of benefits. But you'll soon notice. I'm sure you'll like being a werewolf."

Wolkers turned back to Willem.

"Willem? I ignored my responsibilities as a werewolf because I was chased down by this wolf hunter." He nodded at Vissers body. "My apologies therefore. Still, I invite you to follow your basic training together with Jansens."

Willem nodded.

"Oh, can I come too?" Vicky asked.

Wolkers glanced at Verhoeven who shortly nodded.

"Well, I could use some help with two new werewolves. Come on Jansens." Wolkers helped Jansens to get up. "Ok, nice and slow now."

Jansens answered by moaning.

"Wolkers? I'll take care of mister wolf hunter." Verhoeven called out at Wolkers.

Wolkers waved. "Ok, we will meet again some time!"

Verhoeven waved back while the four werepeople walked back to the dark blue Ford Focus after fetching the two bags at the den.

The lieutenant took out his own Glock 17 pistol, wiped it clean, put it in Vissers hand and took Vissers' pistol.

Chapter 17

Case closed

Inspector Verheyen sat behind his desk at the police office. He was tired. Three cases at the same time were exhausting the old policeman.

Trrrrit... Trrrrit... Trrrrit...

He picked up the phone from the desk.

"Yes?"

"Hi boss, I've got good and bad news."

"Tell me the good news first then."

"Ok, not long ago a message came in that the missing Willem is sound and well."

"That surely is good news Brand."

"Yep, he told us he had a little too much that night and he crashed into a tree. Our boys brought back his bike a moment ago."

"Students... What about his room?"

"We think it was a vandal burglar. His wallet is gone, as well as his watch and laptop."

"Ok, what about the bad news?"

"Again the forest, Verheyen. A high ranking officer committed suicide there. Defense reported him missing AND wanted yesterday. It seems like the guy was in some serious problems. Anyway, the chief wants it investigated."

Verheyen sighed.

"Have I told you before that I'm getting too old for this?"

THE END

If you liked this, you can read more of my stories (yellowfellow/pierrot90) on:

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/pierrot90/

http://pierrot90.deviantart.com/

THX FOR READING!!! :D

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