Dawn of the Werewolves

Chapter 2 – Aurora’s job

When Aella was walking in the river, Aurora woke up. She caressed her lower jaw and mumbled, “This is going to hurt for a while. Why did she punch me? Does she have something against me? Or my mother? She was so beautiful… Ouch, my head hurts… She moved so fast that I barely saw her. I could have avoided her punch if I had expected it, but she totally got me by surprise. She deserves that nickname for sure; she is a whirlwind, alright!”

Aurora got up and took a big body bag from inside her bag that she used to put the dead Human inside. She looked at the fresh soil on her left and said, “At least she buried them. It is better if I get back. I need to take this poor guy to his family. This will not do well for Werewolves’ reputation. Normal Humans already fear us enough without having Werewolves kill and eat people. These guys give Werewolves a bad name, and the problem is that, lately, more of these deaths are happening. That law that my mother is trying to fight about Werewolves needing to be registered and identified will get through if this keeps on happening… and all hell will break loose!”

Aurora left the clearing in the opposite direction from where Aella ran, carrying the dead man over her right shoulder. She had a slight frown all the way to her car, which was parked on a path near the side road she used to get there, still thinking about Aella and her reaction.

She carefully put the body in the trunk, and spoke in a low voice, “I am sorry for not finding you on time. At least your family will give you a proper funeral and mourn for you. I am also sorry for putting you here, but I can’t have you in the back seat. I hope you will forgive me.”

Aurora closed the trunk and threw her bag onto the back seat after taking her phone from one of its several pockets. She sat in the driver’s seat and sighed, before going through her contact list and pressing a familiar name there.

Aniya’s voice came from the other side. “Aurora! Where have you been? Are you alright? Are you safe?”

“I am, mother, no need to worry. Why all the stress? You know I had work to do, right?”

“I know. You told me after slamming the door on me last week, remember? But things are not like last week. Come home; it’s not safe for you to be all alone!”

“Why is that? Did something happen? I have heard nothing since I picked this job. I have been tracking three Werewolves for two days straight!”

Aniya went silent, and said, after a few seconds, “There are a few skirmishes all over the country, and in other countries as well. People are putting pressure on their governments to approve the Werewolf Registration, and mobs are attacking Werewolves’ families and getting killed. So far, twenty Werewolves died along with their children and over four hundred normal Humans. Some countries have already enforced Martial Law. Can’t you come home to us?”

“What for? What good will it do if I am there? You have the pack to keep danger away from you and father. You don’t need me. Besides, no one knows I am away, and if I don’t use your name, no one suspects me. Don’t worry, I will be alright. Besides, someone has to be around doing what I do, hunting maniac Werewolves. You and the Werewolf Organization knew this could happen. Heck, you knew things could turn out like this when you and all the other Lunas went after the Hunters! But it was not to argue with you that I called. I need a name and a location. Aella ‘whirlwind’ Harlow, a member of the Werewolf Enforcer Unit.”

“You took one week to at least phone me to say you were alive, and you called asking for a favour? You have some nerve, young lady!”

“Mother, she is my partner. I felt the bond. And she also has your light. It seems today was the first time it appeared. You know what that means, right?”

Aniya gasped, and her voice came in a low tone from the phone, barely audible, “No way… Aurora, you and another woman… Really? Well, I knew you liked women, but I thought… I never heard of a bond between two women! And she has a light like me? You saw it?”

“Of course, I saw it, or else I wouldn’t have said she has one, would I? She killed two of the Werewolves that I was also tracking. She said she had been tracking them for one month, and they left a trail of dead bodies until she caught them. I killed the third Werewolf, and I took the dead man they killed with me, and I am going to deliver him to his family.”

“That… Maybe you shouldn’t. It will do more harm than good if news reaches the TV channels that a group of Werewolves killed another Human.”

“Too late for that. When they contacted me, the news had already spread. The least I can do is deliver the body so that the family can have a proper funeral, but I can also make sure they spread the news that the Werewolf Enforcer Unit was also after those Werewolves, and that will ease some damage in the public’s eye. You do your part as well, with a press conference or so. As for my question, can you see what you can find about her?”

“Why didn’t you ask her what you wanted to know? She left you or what?”

Aurora rubbed her jaw and explained, “She kind of punched me the moment I told her I was your daughter. When I woke up, she was long gone. I could smell her track, but I will let her be for now. She has to think about this for a while, I suppose. She also denied being a Werewolf, and she killed those two Werewolves in her Human form. From what she told me, she doesn’t like to be a Werewolf. I got the feeling she hates our guts. You might have something to do with that, judging by her reaction when I told her my name.”

“Or, and this is just a thought, you said something that made her angry. You tend to do that, you know?”

“I wonder from whom I got that trait… Not father, because everybody likes him. You, on the other hand…”

“Oh, shut up, you! I will see what I can find out. Is she pretty at least?”

“No mother, she is hideous! Horribly looking, with a hairy wart right on the tip of her nose! She is also crossed-eyed and has male features! She looks like a nightmare as a Human! As a Werewolf, I can barely imagine!”

Silence on the other side. Then, after a deep sigh, Aniya said, “You don’t want to tell me, then don’t tell me. I will see her photo when I find her. What are you going to do after delivering the body? Can you at least call me every two days so that I know you are still alive?”

“I guess I am going to wait for your phone call and go after Aella. I could try to follow the bond, but that could take a long time, and if things are as bad as you say, it is better if I remain low. Will you send a kiss to Grandma?”

“A kiss, you say? Really? Not a punch?”

“No, a kiss will make her suffer more, that old hag! She always hated me, so I know showing her kindness will make her angry. Bye, mother, we will talk later.”

“Bye. Be careful!”

Aurora hung up and frowned. She slowly shook her head and mumbled, “What was she expecting? For as much as she defends Werewolves, normal Humans will always fear us…”

She turned the key and drove away, entering the countryside road towards the City where the family that hired her lived.

Using side roads and avoiding villages and main roads, Aurora rode all night, stopping every two hours to sleep for one hour before continuing her journey.

At dawn, Aurora entered the City. She followed the same small streets she used two days before to reach her destination, the backyard of the family that was waiting for her anxiously. It was a pity that she had no good news for them. Instead of a smiling husband and father, she brought a dead body with missing flesh and limbs because of the Werewolves that killed him.

She stopped the car in front of the garage, and phoned the wife, telling her that she had arrived but without good news.

The garage door opened, and Aurora drove the car into it. The crying woman was already there with her mother, and as soon as the garage door closed, Aurora got out of the car and spoke, “I am sorry. I didn’t find him in time. He was already dead when I got to him, and he probably died yesterday morning. The ones that killed him are also dead, and their deaths were excruciating. A member of the Werewolf Enforcer Unit was also after them for some months. Those Werewolves that killed your husband were on the run, leaving behind a trail of bodies. They won’t hurt anyone else. The Enforcer Unit has its own laws, above the police or any government, concerning Werewolves that kill normal Humans. They kill Werewolves on the spot, no questions asked. I killed one of them and the Enforcer killed two. And she was terrifying. I am pretty sure they pissed themselves as they were dying, those bastards.”

Aurora took the dead man from the trunk of her car and carefully laid him over the table that was near the wall. She unzipped the bag for them to see his face, and said, “Don’t look further than this. It is not a pretty sight. From his injuries, I can promise he died instantly, and he didn’t suffer. His killers suffered a lot.”

The woman and her mother hugged the dead man, crying their eyes out. Aurora stood next to them in silence. Delivering dead bodies to their families was the worst part of her job.

She preferred it way more when she could reach her target in time, even if she had to kill all the Werewolves in her path to get the job done. Delivering him or her alive to their families was the sole reason she worked as a Werewolf Bounty Hunter. She was often hired to track down and kill a wanted Werewolf, but saving someone in the process made everything worthwhile.

As usual, Aurora didn’t accept the payment. She never did that when her target was dead. Instead, she gave money to the wife to help pay for the funeral. More than enough for it, and to get her life straight when the pain ends.

As soon as the door opened, Aurora drove the car away, leaving behind a mourning family, suffering the loss of the one she couldn’t save.

A few blocks away, she stopped the car, parked near a tree, and cried. It was still early, and that street had no shops open, so there was no one in sight that saw her there.

Almost fifteen minutes later, she cleaned her tears and drove to the motel where she was staying to sleep and wait for the phone call from her mother, hopefully with news about the dark brown-haired beauty she met.

She couldn’t figure out why Aella got so angry and reacted like she did at the mere mention of Aniya Rossi, or why she denied her Werewolf side. But she sure wanted to find out! Not only that, but everything about her. Her deepest secrets, her quirks, what she liked, or what she disliked.

Thinking about those deep brown eyes was enough to raise her mood, and Aurora found herself smiling, as she mumbled, “Yeah, she sure is a beauty… The things I want to do to her… and the things I want her to do to me… Geez, calm down, Aurora! Calm down!”