Wolf Moon
Chapter 28
Aaron Hotchner and Spencer Reid arrived at the station in the morning feeling rested and refreshed… although Reid was still sore from the run on the mountain.
“Alright.” Hotch said, taking a seat and sipping his coffee. “What do we have?”“Not much.” JJ sighed. “These people are off the grid. As in no medical records, no credit cards, bank accounts… About a dozen men have drivers’ liscenses but that’s pretty much it.”“There is the ownership of the land and the little store on the interstate.” Morgan said, waving a piece of paper. “But we can’t even tell you how many people are IN that little group.”“… Tell Garcia to get us satellite images of the town and the surrounding areas.” Hotch ordered, and Morgan nodded, picking up his phone and moving to the corner. Then he looked around to make sure that the team was alone, with no LEO’s to overhear. “I think Reid and I will do some up close reconnaissance.” Reid groaned. “We’re not going to RUN all the way there.”“Promise?”“Promise.” Hotch smirked, and the others looked amused. “I’d also like for Rossi and Prentiss to talk to the people in the village… when EZRA isn’t there… Reid and I will give you notice when he leaves.” The team nodded again. “JJ, I want you to head to their store. See what’s there, talk to the people there.” Then he turned as Morgan finished with Garcia and rejoined the group. “Morgan, co-ordinate with Garcia.” Morgan nodded.“… What’s bothering you, Hotch?” Rossi asked, suddenly.“I’m afraid that we’re going to have to wait for the full moon to completely close this case…” Hotch admitted. The team all sat back in silence, contemplating this…
Sadly, a week later it appeared that Hotch had been correct. There had been no break in the case. No one in the village would talk to Rossi and Emily, and the people in the store clammed up when JJ talked to them. Reid and Hotch never really noticed anything unusual as they watched the little village. Garcia and Morgan found nothing unusual on the satellite pictures.
But then, three days until the full moon, the phone rang.“Hey mama.” Morgan answered, putting it on speakerphone. “So…” Garcia said. “I… may have something.”“Thank GOD.” Emily groaned.“If everyone would please direct their attention to the laptop with the web cam that our dear Dr. Spencer Reid is picking his nose in front of, thinking that I CAN’T SEE HIM!!!”“What?!” Reid squealed. “I WAS NOT!!!”Garcia chuckled wickedly, and a moment later some images appeared on the screen. “Okay. So… here is a satellite image of your little Village of the Damned…” Garcia said. “And… here is one of the day before the full moon last month… Well… evening. Around sunset…”The team leaned in, staring at the dark trees… and the bright, glowing orange lines…
“Is that… fire?” JJ asked.
“Looks like it.” Garcia said. “If I zoom in, you can see individual points of light. There are… over a hundred. It’s a trek through the woods and I have followed it all the way to that… tree. Whatever is happening out there, it looks like the whole village is in on it.”
“… Damn.” Morgan breathed, and the sheriff shook his head.
“What now?” The man asked, looking at the Unit Chief. And so was everyone else… How could he take care of over two hundred people who might be connected to these deaths, as WELL as seven killer werewolves, and not let the world find out…?
“… Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do…”
The door of the tiny little church opened, and four men appeared, escorting a woman in a plain white dress. She was trembling, but putting on a brave face as she was escorted away. The women and children of the village lined a path from the door of the church to the trail in the woods at the edge of the village, leading to the tree. As they passed, the men broke out of the lines and began to follow the men and the woman. They wound their way through the village and then headed up the hill and into the woods. The trek through the woods took them several hours. It was late afternoon when they arrived. The weeping woman was led to the tree and Ezra, the village leader, pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the manacles. They were fastened around her wrists.
A soft prayer was said as the shackled woman was given Communion and Last Rites, and then then men began to prepare for the sunset ceremony they had to do before they headed back to the village, leaving her to her fate… but they didn’t get far…
“POLICE!!!”
“FBI!!!” Came the shouts, and they were surrounded by uniforms. The next several hours were chaos. The man were all arrested and loaded into trucks brought in by the state police and sheriff’s department, being read their rights. The men who had escorted the woman, the village leaders, were taken to the sheriff’s office to be locked up, while the others were being taken to a small, local event hall as there were so many of them. As the clearing began to empty, the FBI Agents separated from the police…
“Alright… Are you SURE you want to do this?” Hotch asked, looking at Morgan and Emily. They nodded firmly.
“We’ll cover for you.” JJ said, and she and Rossi turned and headed after the police, and the prisoners.
“Finally… I was starting to get worried.” Reid mumbled, glancing at the setting sun.
“Me too.” Hotch said. “But they should all be out of here in time.”
“I’m not wearing the white dress.” Prentiss said, looking up at the chains. “Will they buy it?”
“I don’t know. But we have to try.” Hotch replied, giving her one of his guns, loaded with the silver bullets. Then he gave Morgan the other. “You get up a tree so they can’t reach you… And as soon as you can, Prentiss, get up a tree. Spencer and I will be here, and we won’t let them reach you, okay?”
“Gotcha.” Emily said, nodding. Then she allowed her wrists to be shackled, though the cuffs weren’t locked. And a moment later, Hotch and Reid had hidden behind a large bush and made the change as the full moon rose. Morgan clamored up a tree and made himself comfortable… and they waited…
Rossi and JJ walked into the sheriff’s station, and the sheriff hurried to meet them.
“Anything yet?” Rossi asked.
“No, Agent… they jus keep insisting that they’ve done nothin’ wrong… But I’ve received a call that some of the men over at the event center are talinking.”
“And what are they saying?” JJ asked.
“Of course.” Rossi snorted.“How long HAS this been going on for?!” JJ asked.
“According to them? Over a hundred years…”
“A sacrifice every full moon…” Rossi murmured.
“Twelve months a year.” JJ said.
“Thirteen full moons.” Rossi added in.
“There are a LOT more bodies out there…” Rossi murmured.
Morgan was drifting off and Emily was bitching about the cold weather when they heard the first howl… Instantly, Hotch and Reid hid in the bushes, Morgan drew the gun and Emily started acting scared…
The minutes crawled by… after a while, they wondered if it had been a false alarm. But then, a large, scruffy brown wolf emerged into the clearing, followed by six others. They were all of them skinny and unkempt, and salivating. Emily raised her head and gasped, beginning to “struggle”.
“Hey…” Said one of the wolves “This one is older…”
“And do you smell that?” Another said, sniffing the ground. The wolves put on the breaks, and looked around, warily.
“Something isn’t right.”
Hotch cursed softly, then stepped out into the moonlight.
“Don’t move.” The wolves all turned, hackles up and teeth bared as they stared at the large black male. “FBI.” They all looked startled at that.
“… You’re kidding?!” One barked, as Reid emerged beside his mate.
“Oh, no joke.” Emily said, slipping out of the shackles and pulling her gun.
“Make one wrong move and I’ll put a silver bullet through your brain!” Morgan called from up in the tree, while Emily backed away to keep her back against the tree.
“What are you going to do?” Sneered the leader. “Arrest us?”
“No.” Hotch said. “We’re going to put you down.” The leader clearly didn’t like that… with a roar, he attacked. Chaos broke loose. Reid ran yelping as two of the wolves chased him into the woods, and gunfire went off. Emily shot one, then another; the first died instantly, the second thrashed around, screaming in pain, before she put a bullet through his head. Morgan winced, but started pulling the trigger. He felt like he was killing in cold blood, but Hotch and he had spent two hours that afternoon discussing the different options and ultimately, Morgan had to come to the conclusion that Hotch was right… these wolves had given up their lives as men… they could NOT be arrested, and there was no doubt in their minds that they would kill again. He gunned down two of them, and watched as Hotch battled the leader.
“Prentiss?! Where’s Reid?!”
“I dunno!” Emily called back, climbing the old gnarled tree. “He ran and two of the wolves chased him!”
Morgan raised his gun and aimed for the leader. “HOTCH!!! DOWN!!!” He shouted. Hotch immediately disengaged and rolled to the side, hearing a gunshot and a yelp and thud. The leader was down. “Reid is being chased!” Morgan shouted. Hotch didn’t even hesitate. He vanished into the woods, calling “STICK WITH THE PLAN! WE’LL MEET YOU BACK IN TOWN!!!” And then he was gone…
Morgan and Prentiss made their way to the forest floor and stared at the five wolves. One was still breathing. Prentiss moved over to him… he was one of the younger ones.
“Why did you do it?” She asked. “Why did you kill those people?”
The wolf laughed, choking on his own blood. “For a quick fuck and the taste of their flesh…” He hissed. “You humans… are… inferior creatures… You’re nothing but meat…”
“Why…” Morgan gasped, eyes wide.
“For… fun…” the wolf gurgled. Then he heaved and shuddered, and went still.
“Was there any evidence of sexual assault on the victims?” Prentiss asked softly.
“… There wasn’t enough of them left to draw any conclusions…” Morgan murmured, looking sick. It wasn’t until that moment that he felt that killing the beasts was the right thing to do. Because that’s what they had truly chosen to be… beasts…
Reid darted through the trees, eyes wide as he heard the snarling of the wolves behind him. His little heart was pounding, just as his paws pounded across the forest floor. The branches overhead creaked and swayed in the wind, and the moon lit everything a strange, ethereal silver…
“Come on, pup!” One of the wolves behind him laughed. “We’ll make it quick and painful!”
Reid frowned, ears tilting back… he didn’t like that wolf using Hotch’s pet name for him…
“Don’t call me that!” He snapped. The other two wolves laughed as they moved to flank him. Reid was getting tired… he was fast, but he still hadn’t really built up his stamina…
Hotch charged towards his mate, growling deep in his chest… The relief was incredible when Reid appeared before him, unharmed. He sniffed him over just to make sure, licked his cheek and then turned and flew at the two wolves with a thunderous roar. One of them skidded to a stop, alarmed, while the other met Hotch’s charge with equal ferocity, shouting “DID YOU KILL THE OTHERS?!”
“An eye for an eye!” Hotch announced. “How many have YOU killed over the years?!”
Reid pranced in place anxiously, but then laid his ears back, bared his teeth, and leapt at the other wolf. The wolf was startled when the young omega suddenly attacked, and he skittered away from the snapping teeth before he turned to fight back. But Reid was much faster. He danced around the larger wolf, evading every strike and would come in from behind to nip or slash at his hindquarters.
A moment later, there was a loud yelp that was cut short, and Hotch’s opponent went down. The wolf that Reid was driving dizzy turned and lunged; Hotch’s back was turned. Reid leapt after him and snapped his jaws closed on one of the wolf’s back legs. The wolf let out a yelp and turned, but when he went to get Reid off of him, he left himself open… he never even had a change to defend himself. Hotch seized the wolf by the neck and efficiently snapped his neck. Then he turned and touched noses with Reid.
“Well done.” He said, pride in his voice.
“The others?”
“Dead.” Hotch nodded.
“Move on to the next step?” Reid asked.
“Yes.” Hotch said, and the pair headed off into the woods.
As dawn broke, the people of the village milled about in what served as the town square… they were all worried and spoke anxious words; the men had not returned from delivering the Sacrifice. Such a thing had never happened before, and it frightened them…
As the sun rose, a cry went up, and fear swept through them. A large beast emerged from the woods, moving on all fours. He was black and massive, covered in sleek fur which thickened to a mane around his neck… and as he drew closer, this enormous wolf rose and began to walk on two legs like a man, carrying his weight on the balls of his feet, putting him at nearly seven feet tall at the tips of his ears.“Your men will not be coming back…” The monster growled. A woman burst into tears.“WHY?!” Cried an old man, hobbling forward on his cane, looking angry and grieved. “We have always offered the sacrifice!”
“That will not happen again.” The man-wolf snapped, showing his teeth. “The creatures you left these sacrifices for are dead! I killed them! They will terrorize you no longer. And as such, you will no longer leave anyone out there to die! Your men are not dead and they were not taken by my kind, but by yours. They have all been placed under arrest for the murder of the people you sent out there to die!”The people in this strange village were silent, staring in shock. “And soon, law enforcement will come here to deal with all of you as they, and the law, see fit. Co-operate with them, and I will have no quarrel with you. Do as I have said, and you will never see me again…” And he backed away into the woods, and vanished.
“… That was dramatic.” Reid snorted.“It had to be.” Hotch chuckled, nuzzling his mate.“This whole case has been so surreal…” Reid said as Hotch shifted back to a wolf and the pair took off into the woods.
“Well, it’s over now and we can head home.” He said, looking at the little timber wolf by his side.
“Yeah. Great. Back to our psycho stalker.”
Hotch growled. “This time, that bitch is either going to get the message and back the hell off… or she’s going down…”