Annie

“Good Evening officers.” the desk sergeant yelled with a beaming face full of yellow teeth. Bernard was a fat jovial dwarf who stank of way too much aftershave mixed with misery. “mornin.” answered Annie quietly. She had been having nightmares about a case she was working on. Serial Killer. Guy breaks into houses and eats everyone inside. Eats them up leaving massive amounts of blood. No bodies. There is a catch though, Annie was told by her superior officer who smirked loudly behind their hands ‘Are you ready, Annie? You aren’t……..the footprints aren’t human. We are on the trail of a lycanthrope aka a werewolf. I know. We thinks its nonsense too.”

As Annie dressed in the outfit she had been given for this particular case she wondered about its significance. It was a red dress with a fur collar. Black……thing. Cape. Hair stuff. She looked at herself in the full length mirror of the changing rooms. It kinda worked honestly even if she felt silly. The boots were heavy but they made her look taller and imposing. She wandered back to her bosses office to receive further instructions. Her boss was a large man named Chief O’Reilly. Large orc with a big beard. Booming voice. Polite but not friendly. Annie liked him. She swung open the heavy door to his office and stepped. It was a large room. There was a fish-tank in the corner with some very well fed fish. Thick white carpet on the floor with a roaring fire. O’Reilly was stood facing a huge hand drawn map of the local area talking to himself with his back to Annie. He turned slowly to face her wearing a grim expression. ‘Right. Annie. Yes. You have been posted to The Forest.’ Annie opened her mouth but O’Reilly quickly raised his hand to silence her. ‘I know. I know. Officers are not supposed to go in there by themselves bla bla blahhhh. Not interested. You are going. We will assign undercover backup but they will remain undetected. You are to make your way to this area and carry out a thorough search of this farmhouse. O’Reilly pointed to a crudely drawn house. The officers assigned to watch your back will be armed and will respond to any threats with deadly force. This guy so much as clears his throat in a funny way and he dies. We would prefer him alive so you are going in undercover.’ They continued to discuss the various minor details of the plan for around two hours and once both sides were satisfied Annie stood up. She left the office and proceeded to the armoury to gather her equipment. She had a wicker basket containing an apple pie. She had a knife tucked into the band of her dress and a revolver strapped to her left upper arm in case everything went to shit. She approached the front door of the station. As she reached the door she greeted Thompson whose job it was to sign people in and out of the building, he was a giant. Literally. He stood 9 feet tall and his scalp brushed against the roof of the building. ‘Hi Anne. How are you?’ Thompson whispered loudly, Thompson found that because he was so tall he had difficulty hearing people and so assumed that people might have difficulty hearing him which made him yell everything. He went to great efforts to whisper when at work. He enjoyed this job. He got to talk to people, drink his tea and if anyone gave him any nonsense he was within his rights to hit them with the club he kept on his belt. He unlatched the door stepped outside to catch if there was any suspicious characters around and waved Annie out. She stepped out into the darkness. Thompson closed the door behind her and Annie stood in darkness.

It was chilly and very dark. The path wound up over some green grassy hills and finally stopped at The Forest. There was no path through The Forest because people tended to stay out of it. It was filled with wild beasts and desperate people who needed to disappear from the law. Annie her way inside. The trees were huge and blocked out most of the light leaving everything a dark dull green. It was warmer than she imagined and also strangely quiet. The wood must deaden the sound Annie thought to herself. She began to move in a straight line as she had been instructed. Every snapping of every twig and rustle of leaves made her reach for her knife. She held onto the handle for a few seconds, comforted by the feel of the wood in her hand. After a few hours of wandering she came upon a path. It was made of white gravel and led her to the house. It was small with broken windows. Sad, abandoned. The door was closed and Annie decided to try it. To her amazement it worked. The door creaked and shook but it opened. There was dried blood on the walls. The furniture was upturned and broken. Food was laid on the table which had gone bad, flies buzzed around the plates eating what was left. The stench of blood and rotten meat made bile rise in Annie’s throat. On the wall there were words written in barely legible print HELP ME. I CAN’T STOP. SOMETHING INSIDE ME.

Annie held out a hand to see if the painted words were dry. They were but on closer inspection could see they were a dull red. Blood. More blood. ‘God damn it.’ Annie thought. There was suddenly a movement upstairs. A shuffling of furniture and a voice. ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT? GET OUT. I’M SICK. CANT YOU READ? YOU DUMB BITCH, GET OUT.’ Annie pulled the revolver out and pointed it in front of her like a crucifix. ‘This is Officer Annie Benson with the Storyland P.D. Come out with your hands up or I will open fire.’ No response expect for heavy breathing. Annie tried again ‘Come out with your hands up. I am going to count to five. 1. 2.’ ‘3’ the man’s voice replied slowly coming down the stairs. He was tall and blonde with brown eyes. Handsome in a rugged sense. ‘You have to get out of here. I cannot control myself. I need help. Now. Before I kill again.’ Annie put her gun down and tried to reason with the man ‘Look buddy. Whatever problems you are having we can get through them. Come with me and we can discuss it at the station. OK? No-one has to die this day No more killing.’

The man’s eyes darted around at the furniture and the blood and began to weep loudly. ‘I killed them. I killed all of them. I ate some of them. I need help.’ his sobbing grew louder ‘Why wont you listen?’ Annie reached for her cuffs and put her walked slowly towards the man. ‘Listen. I don’t know what you’ve done but lets just go get this mess straightened out. Shall we?’ The man backed away angerly.

‘No. We can’t go outside now. We must wait until morning. It’s a full moon. I’ll change again.’ the man pleaded.

Annie stepped out into the night and the man stood in the doorway shaking. ‘You don’t believe me, do you? DO YOU?. The man was shaking violently now. He began to laugh, a low guttural sound in his throat. Annie stumbled backwards and the man pounced on her. His hot breath washed over her face and his saliva smeared her hair. His eyes were more yellow and bloodshot now. ‘WELL? YOU BELIEVE ME NOW? HUH? I CAN’T HEAR YOU.’ Annie was struggling to breathe as stars danced in front of her eyes. ‘Don’t pass out. Pass out and you die.’ she reached for the knife and realised it wasn’t there. ‘LOOKING FOR THIS?’ The man-wolf thing held the knife in its hands. Its blade caught the moonlight and it glinted with sharp intent. The man-wolf swiped at Annie with sharp claws opening up a gash on her face. Blood poured onto the forest floor. Those stars that Annie were growing brighter unconsciousness threatening to overwhelm her. She choked as the man-wolf clasped his giant hands around her throat. ‘After you die I will eat you and you will become part of my story.’ He spoke quieter now almost serenely in the violence. ‘There’s one thing you have overlooked here though.’. The man-wolf shook with laughter ‘WHAT WOULD THAT BE LITTLE WOMAN? YOUR BACK-UP? YOU REALLY THINK ANYONE IS HERE WATCHING OVER YOU NOW? LISTEN. DO YOU HEAR THEM. I CERTAINLY DO NOT.’ Annie smiled ‘No this.’ she suddenly reached across with any remaining strength to her left arm and yelled ‘NO THIS!!!!!’ She pulled out the revolver and squeezed the trigger over and over. All in all she fired all six shots directly into the man-wolf stomach. The man-wolf slumped over dead. The blood mixed with matted fur and dirt as Annie used all her remaining strength to push him off. She stood up and dusted herself off. She was alone covered in blood and back-up was nowhere to be seen. ‘FUUUUUUUCK’ she screamed at the trees. The trees did not answer.

She stood catching her breath and trying vainly to remain some of the gore coating her face. She was cold and tired. After a while she began to hear a low howling sound. It was getting closer and was being joined by more voices now. They sounded vaguely human but also animalistic. After a few minutes of this, a man stepped up to the house from out of the forest. ‘I am Samuel. I believe you know what I am so I won’t bother explaining it. You have killed Grey Tom in a fair fight. You must join our family. We will not accept a no.’ The man was small but heavily built. ‘OK. I accept but what position will I hold in this family? What guarantee do I have that you will not kill me when my guard is down?’. The man silently held her gaze and then answered ‘You have my word. You will never be harmed by a member of my family. Well? Choose. Quickly now.’ Annie noticed that more people were starting to wander out from the trees. She noticed they all had the same yellowish eyes. A man licked his lips hungrily. ‘I guess I have no choice. I will come with you.’. Annie took the man’s hand and in an instant she left the fairytale world behind to become a member of something bigger than her. A family.

The End.