“What are you talking about? They can plan out things like that?” I asked.
“Sometimes,” Gail said. “Especially when they’re older, more mature werewolves, but an older one can usually direct the ones it makes, at least when they’re in wolf form.”
“So this other guy, somebody you can recognize, changed this joker deliberately and then set him on your trail.”
“I wouldn’t recognize him; I haven’t seen him in human form. I just know he’s older.”
Gail drew her Colt, checked the port to verify a chambered round, and then held the gun out to me.
I hesitated, and then slowly raised my right hand to the horizontal. Gail set her gun in my hand and started unraveling the bandage on her forearm.
“Gail? What’s going on? You’re scaring me.” I said; my voice was shaky.
Gail finished with the bandage, let the material drop into the grave, and held up her arm.
A double row of punctures marred the flesh of her forearm. The flesh around the bite was swollen and inflamed.
“I can’t do this myself, Jesse. I need someone I trust to handle it for me.”
Chapter 3 – Monster Hunting 101
I stared at Gail’s arm until my mind caught up with what I was seeing. I looked at her Colt in my right hand and a shiver passed through me. “You were bitten by one of them?”
“Yes, a few nights ago. Jesse, tomorrow night, the second night of the full moon, I’m going to change.”
My stomach soured like bad sushi on a hot summer day. I couldn’t get a grasp on what she was saying. I fought for reason. “But you said any of the three nights would—”
“Take my word for it, Jesse. The first time it takes the real full moon to force the change. When that happens, I won’t be able to control myself. I’ll kill innocents. I’ll be evil. I can’t live with that change. You have to help me.”
“Fuck that! Gail, there has to be something we can do, some cure.”
“There is no cure,” Gail said, her voice resigned, tears welling up in her eyes. “Don’t you think others have tried to find a cure? No one has ever found one; no one has successfully reversed the infection that causes the change. I’m doomed, but I can decide how I go out. I’ll go out like a hunter, not like the monsters we hunt. You have to do this for me.”
I shook my head violently, my own eyes growing moist. “No, we can lock you up. Keep you safe the nights of the full moon. Damn it, Gail, you can’t ask this of me.”
She closed her hands around mine and pulled my hand closer until the Colt’s muzzle pressed against the inside of her left breast, directly over her heart. “It’s the only way, Jesse. There is no one else I can ask.”
I felt her thumb forcing my finger into the trigger guard. Good Lord, she was going to force me to shoot her. I tried to lock the safety, but her hands blocked it. I met her gaze and I could see the determination in her. Her thumb pressed against my trigger finger.
I brought up my left hand and closed it on both of hers. My thumb slipped between the hammer and the firing pin just as the hammer fell. It snapped painfully against the meat of my thumb. Gail flinched and I tore the Colt from her hands before she could react.
“Damn it, Gail! I am not going to let you kill yourself or let you make me kill you. There has to be another way.”
She spun away from me, deep sobs rising in her chest.
I pulled the hammer back to release my thumb and then I lowered the hammer carefully, locked the safety, and slipped the Colt beneath my belt just above my right kidney. I stepped forward and took her by the shoulders. Turning her, I pulled her into a tight embrace and held her while she sobbed against my chest. Gradually, her arms encircled me and she hugged me with enough strength to hurt the wounds in my chest, but I only hugged her tighter.
Minutes passed and when she had at last calmed down, we separated slightly. I fished out my spare handkerchief, wiped the tears from her cheeks, then and offered it to her. She took it and blew her nose noisily.
When she raised her head again, I lowered my lips to hers. We kissed softly, more like an old married couple than the lovers we had been. When she broke the kiss, Gail looked up at me. “You’re a fool, Jesse. You have an over-developed hero complex. You can’t save everyone.”
I nodded. “Yeah, maybe not, but I can save you.”
She hugged me again, briefly, and then pulled back out of my arms. “So, now what, hero? An hour ago you didn’t believe in ghouls and werewolves and now you think you can find salvation for one?”
“Don’t call me that, Gail. I’m no hero, but I won’t let you die and I won’t let you kill innocents either. We’ll fill in this grave and then we’ll go somewhere. You can tell me what’s going on and how you came to be bitten and then we’ll see what we can do about keeping you safe tomorrow night.”
She choked back a bitter laugh. “Okay, Jesse, it’s your funeral, but tomorrow afternoon you should keep my Colt close at hand. When the moon rises, you’ll kill me; you won’t have a choice.”
I grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a shake. “Enough! Enough of the negativity. I said I’d find a way and I mean it. Any doubts you have you can keep to yourself.”
Gail stared into my eyes as though looking for reassurance. Then she nodded, “Okay, Hoss, you got it. You can give it your best shot and I won’t say another negative word. I guess that’s the
