As Jack’s ambulance speeds down North Avenue he can’t help but wonder what’s been going on at the military base. It’s past midnight, the full moon is out and he’s on his 17th straight hour on call. Only an hour left and he’s off duty, but now he must focus on where he’s going. He and his partner, Larissa, are responding to a call at Sultan’s Market, a popular Middle Eastern eatery in Wicker Park. They arrive to see a police car near the alley behind the restaurant.
“It’s about time.” the policeman says. “I’ve been waiting here for nearly fifteen minutes.”
“Sorry about that. Saturday night in the city; you know how it goes.” Jack apologizes. “What’s the situation here?”
“A cook from the restaurant came out here to toss the trash and found a man behind the dumpster. He’s hurt, bleeding, and violent. When the cook approached him he went berserk. I’m waiting for back-up before I head in there to get him.” The cop explains.
“Did the cook say anything about the man’s injuries?” Larissa asks.
“A head injury is all he saw. Nothing else I’m afraid.” The cop replies.
“Well, I’m almost off duty for the night so I’m in a hurry. Let’s see what we have here.” Jack says as he walks into the alley.
“What are you doing?” Larissa asks in a panic.
“My job. Stay there, I’ll be back in a minute.” Jack adds as he approaches the dumpster.
He can see the man hiding behind it and he does indeed have a head injury. A line of blood has dried on the side of his face from an unseen gash under his hair. The man is filthy, covered in grime and dirt and is rather stinky even from where Jack stands.
The man (player Paul)sees him and stands up, waving a broken bottle at the intruder. “Leave me alone!” he screams as he waves the makeshift weapon about. The stink of alcohol hits Jack like a brick.
Suddenly two small hooks attached to thin wires come out of nowhere and sink into the man’s chest. The cop has fired his taser at the man. Strange thing is, even though 1200 volts are running through the person… he doesn’t seem affected by it at all. He looks down at the cables sticking out of his chest and pulls them out with little trouble.
Jack gets a good look at the man and recognizes him. “Brad? Brad Dreimann?”
The man stars at Jack for a moment before it hits him. ”Jack Daniels. I’ll be damned.”
The cop, being a little taken aback by the feat Brad just accomplished, asks, “Is everything okay in there?”
“Yeah, I know this guy from my army days.” Jack says.
“Should I call off the back-up?”
“Yeah, I got this.”
“Good, there’s an apple fritter at Dunkin’ Donuts with my name on it.” The cop jokes as he turns to leave. He reports in and drives away.
“It’s been years since I last saw you.” Jack says trying not to sound condescending. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
“I don’t remember. I, quite literally, just woke up here an hour ago. I don’t know where I was, how I got here, how I got hurt… nothing.”
“What’s the last thing you do remember?”
“The service. I was volunteered to take part in an experiment of some kind. I remember reporting to the people running it, but that’s all.” Brad says nervously, looking around to see if he’s being watched. “Look, is there someplace we can go to talk? I don’t like being out in the open like this.”
Jack looks back at Larissa, who is growing increasingly impatient. “I can do you one better.” He says as he hands over some keys and a small wad of cash. “Go to my place, get yourself cleaned up, eat something, take a nap, whatever. When I’m off work we’ll talk.” He writes his address down on a small notepad from his pocket and hands it over. “I’ll see you later.”
“Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.” Brad says as he salutes Jack, who returns the gesture.
Liam, still in his werewolf form, lies unconscious on the floor of the armory. The man who doped him up to knock him out, calling himself Oz, looks at the others with an indifferent expression which isn’t threatening in any sense of the word.
Cherice leans over to Saorshe and says, “I think he’s waiting for us to make the first move.”
“I am.” Oz interjects.
“Who are you? And who is this guy?” Justin asks while pointing at the dude in the trenchcoat on the floor.
“I’m Oz. That’s Walter Blomquist, a professional werewolf hunter.” Oz replies.
“Professional werewolf hunter? Is there such a thing?” Saorshe asks.
“Yes. There’s one right here. I’ve run into him a few times before.” Oz answers matter-of-factly.
“You’ve run into him before. So I guess you’re a werewolf too, huh?” Cherice jokes.
“Yes, I am.”
“Then why aren’t you all beastly like Liam?” Justin asks.
“Jasper King is a friend of mine. He helped me find someone that could teach me to get the wolf under control years ago.”
“Really? Where would you find someone like that?” Justin pushes.
“Tibet.”
“So this guy wants to kill Liam because he's a werewolf.” Saorshe says to herself.
“He’s been looking for the werewolf that killed his son for a long time. He hasn’t found the one responsible yet, so now he blames all of them.”
“I hate to interrupt the game of twenty questions,” Cherice blurts out, “but we need to figure out what we’re going to do about Liam and this hunter fella.”
Oz points at Justin. “Can you help me move Blomquist into one of these cages? We’ll leave him locked up. As for Liam,” he says as he points to the others, “I’ll stay here and watch over him until he wakes up, so you can all go home. The sun should be up in a few hours, and the time right after a transformation is critical in getting the curse under control.”
“Sounds good. Lets scram.” Cherice says as she walks out.
“You sure about this?” Saorshe asks Oz.
“Pretty sure. I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t.” Oz replies.
Saorshe nods to Oz as he and Justin pick Blomquist up and lock him in one of the empty cages. Justin approaches Saorshe afterward and asks, “Can I crash at your place tonight?”
“I knew you were going to ask me that. The couch is all yours.” She says as they exit the armory.
Jack has returned home after his double shift to find Brad on the floor sleeping. Empty cans of beer surround him, but at least he took a shower and cleaned himself up first. Jack softly kicks him in the shoulder to wake him up. “Brad, wake up.”
Brad jumps to his feet at the slightest touch and reels his hand back to attack whomever is near him.
“Dude, it’s me!” Jack says as he puts his hands up.
“Shit, don’t scare me like that. You can take the man out of the military, but you can’t take the military out of the man. You know that.”
“Sorry. So I can see you had a fun night. Is there any beer left at all?”
“Umm, no. Sorry. Got a little carried away.”
“Yeah, well, take it easy. So you want to talk about what happened?”
“I looked at the date on the newspaper on the table over there. A year, an entire year, is missing. I have no memory of anything.”
“A year?! Jesus Christ!”
“That’s when I raided your liquor cabinet.”
“You remember nothing at all? Absolutely nothing?”
“Zilch. I told you the last thing I remember… showing up for that experiment on the base. After that… nada.”
“Which base?”
“Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.”
“I’ll do some research. I still have some good connections in the military so I’ll see what the deal is through them if possible. Maybe Intel can help.”
“Of course intel can help. Don’t be stupid.”
“No, not intel. Intel. He’s a DJ at this club a few people that I know frequent. He knows a little about everything.”
“If you say so.”
"And how exactly did you do that little taser trick back in the alley? I've never seen anyone take a charge like that and not get knocked on their ass."
"I... I really don't know. I didn't feel anything. No pain at all. I can't explain it."
"And how exactly did you do that little taser trick back in the alley? I've never seen anyone take a charge like that and not get knocked on their ass."
"I... I really don't know. I didn't feel anything. No pain at all. I can't explain it."
The sun rises around 6am, and when Liam awakens from his chemical induced slumber he finds that not only is he stark naked, but there’s a strange man sitting across from him with an elaborate looking weapon on his lap.
The man points to a bag off to the side and says, “There’s clothes in there. Please put them on.”
Liam tries his best to hide himself from the man as he gets dressed, and once that’s done he asks, “Who are you?”
“Name’s Oz. Jasper King sent me to help you with your problem.”
“Ahh, got it. Nice to meet you.” Liam says as he reaches out to shake his hand. As Oz puts the weapon on his lap on the floor to stand, Liam notices that parts of it look familiar. “Where did you get that? I built parts of it for some creepy dude.”
“Ahh, this bitchin’ crossbow? Belongs to my pal Blomquist over there.” Oz answers as he points at the cage in the back containing the sleeping hunter. “He was here to kill you. He thinks you’re the werewolf that killed his son, which isn’t true since you’ve only been one for a couple of months and his son died years ago.”
“Uhh, yeah. I haven’t killed anyone as far as I know. Although I did eat a dog at one point.”
“No worries. But the question I have to ask is…” he loads the crossbow with a silver tipped arrow, “do you want me to help you get the beast under control?” He aims the crossbow at Liam’s chest. “No pressure.”
Liam puts his hands up like he’s being robbed. “Of course I do. I’d like nothing more than to get rid of this curse.”
“Good.” Oz says as he starts dismantling the weapon. “If you had said no I’d have to kill you, and that’s not something I’m comfortable with.” He starts hiding the individual parts of the crossbow in various places around the room. “We start your training tomorrow night. I’ll meet you at Intel’s club and we’ll take it from there.”
“What about your friend back there?” Liam asks.
“The MPs can deal with him.” Oz replies as he flips open his cell phone.
Saorshe has the day off, it being Saturday and all. Her well deserved slumber is interrupted by a phone call from Sister Sunshine.
“Just wanted to give you an update of sorts. I’ve fully gained Sissy’s confidence and tonight we’re going to do a little shopping in Oldtown followed by a movie. She tells me the Pier One Imports out there is second to none. I’m sooooo totally excited about it!” Sunshine jokes.
“That was fast. I didn’t think you two would become besties so quick.” Saorshe muses.
“It didn’t take much. You’d be surprised how effective talking about Prada and Lindsay Lohan’s upcoming jail time is to someone like her.”
“Nice. Any word on what’s going on at the library?”
“I still can’t tell if the bad juju I’m picking up is coming from her or not, hence the night on the town. I wanted to get her away from the library to see if I detect anything from her alone.”
“Sounds good. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Will do, chickie.” Sunshine says as she disconnects.
Saorshe puts the phone down and hears a voice coming from the living room. She walks over to see Justin up and about and talking on his cell phone.
“Thanks, man. I owe you one.” Justin says into the phone. He hangs up and looks over at Saorshe. “What’s up?”
“You hungover?”
“A little, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. Look, I just got a call from a friend that has a new lead. I’m going to be heading out later today to meet with him. Mind if I use your shower?”
“Sure. Need any money?”
“No. I need to do this on my own. I’m going to crash at this guy’s place, so I won’t need the couch again.”
“Okay. So when will we see you again?”
“Can’t say. But I’ll call you.” Justin says as he heads off to the bathroom to shower.
Saorshe goes back to her room to sleep when her phone rings again. “Hey Intel.”
“So I heard you met Jasper’s friend last night.”
“Yeah. He doesn’t say much, does he?”
“Not really, but he’s cool. He’s from some small town in Cali called Sunnydale. You might have heard of it.”
“Isn’t that the town that collapsed in on itself a few years back?”
“That’s the one. Caused by the destruction of the Hellmouth underneath it thanks to a Vampire Slayer or something. I don’t know all the details.”
“Wow. You think that a Hellmouth is causing all this trouble out here?”
“The only other one I know of is in Cleveland, but it’s possible. Oz is coming to the club tonight with Liam, so you and the others should come too. I have some info on Xal’Vak, the Water DeathDrome. Around 8?”
“Sure. 8 it is.” Saorshe replies as she hangs up.
As Justin prepares to leave she decides to check out one of the tomes she picked up from the haunted house. Working for a number of hours she successfully translates a spell called “Healing of Asclepius”, which can be used to heal the injured. As 8 o’clock approaches she gets ready to leave to meet with the others.
Everyone converges on the bar at 8pm. It’s Saturday so the place is jumpin’. Intel is spinning some hard bass tracks that have the crowd bouncing like maniacs, making it pretty impossible for everyone to get to the Green Room. Once they push their way through the dancers they find Oz there waiting for them.
“Hey.” Oz says in his careless way.
Jack has brought Brad, who stinks like cheap beer. He is introduced to the others and is more interested in sifting through the trough of expired liquor in the corner than making some new friends.
A few minutes later Intel comes down the stairs with a grin on his face. “Oz! Been a long time!”
“Yup.” Is all Oz says in reply.
Intel puts his backpack on the table and pulls out his iPad. “I have a little present for youz.” he says as he places it on the table and turns it on. The screen displays a picture of The Congress Theater , a concert venue located on Milwaukee Avenue in Bucktown. “I’ve scored a whole mess of free tix to SlamFest at the Congress tonight. It’s a giant punk rock festival that lasts all weekend. Looks like some doozies are going to be playing tonight too: High on Fire, Corrosion of Conformity, Cap’n Jazz, The Circle Jerks… you name it. I want you all to have them. One, because I’m a nice guy. Two, because a friend of mine that knows a little something about Xal’Vak will be there and wants you to meet him at the concert.”
“Nice!” Jack says. “On both counts.”
“His name is Quint.” Intel says while looking at Liam. “Oz knows him and can point him out to you.”
“Yes, I can.” Oz says sarcastically.
“So if there are any other questions…?” Intel asks as he puts his iPad back in the backpack.
“Actually,” Jack interjects, “this is my friend Brad. I’d like to talk to you about something he’s involved in.”
“If it has to do with finding an original Cool as Ice LP I’m all ears. But I gotta run, I have to finish my set.” Intel jokes as he runs back up the stairs.
Brad looks at Jack in a confused way and asks, “Isn’t that the crappy Vanilla Ice movie?”
“I paid to see that back in the day.” Cherice mumbles to herself.
“And you admit that publicly?” Liam jokes.
“Umm,” Oz interrupts, “I’m all for the concert idea. Very all for. Shall we go?”
The crowd watching Droids Attack is going absolutely berserk. Violet McGowan (player Jackie), a thirty year old with a jet black mane of unkempt hair, moshes with the other punk fans filling the Congress to capacity. She waited more than 3 hours to get inside and have her face melted by some of the best acts in the biz, both old and new. Drunk assholes are bodysurfing, or attempting to do so. Most of them just smack people upside their heads with their army surplus store combat boots. Half-filled bottles of water fill the air as every jerkoff tosses something or another at the band, be it a drink or otherwise.
Some wasted dude in the pit with her decides that he’s going to mess with Ms. McGowan. He repeatedly bashes into her with his hulking frame in an attempt to push her out of the pit and into the watching crowd. After the second assault she retaliates by punching the guy right in the eye and sending him back into the fray off balance. He falls over and is trampled by the other moshers who could care less if someone lost their footing.
“Only the strong survive, asshole.” She says to herself as she continues to jump around like a wild baboon.
From the crowd, a small group of men emerge and stand before Violet. They eyeball her for a few moments before she notices them, and ultimately recognizes them. In a flash they charge her.
The group arrives at The Congress Theater to see that there is a line stretching around the building. Luckily these are the poor souls purchasing tickets at the box office. Since they already have their tickets in hand they head right for the doors and circumvent the crowd.
It’s standing room only inside the main hall, and it’s absolute pandemonium. The crazed bodysurfers and drunk lunatics hurling bottles of liquid, hopefully filled with water, are everywhere and looks like some sort of mental ward hopped up on cocaine.
“Two men enter, one man leaves.” Cherice jokes.
“Nice.” Oz smiles in reply.
As soon as they get to the center of the main floor they realize that something is wrong. The mosh pit looks like an arena fight gone horribly wrong. There is a woman in the middle of the pit who looks like she’s fighting for her life. Three men are attacking her, and although she’s holding her own, she is outnumbered and no one is attempting to lend her an assist.
“Holy shit, it is Thunderdome!” Cherice screams.
She looks over to Oz for another comment on her observation, but he seems to be smelling the air instead. “Those guys attacking the woman,” he yells, “they’re not human!”
The others get serious and decide to intervene. The three guys attacking the woman step back at the sight of the unwanted helpers and snarl like animals, baring their fanged teeth.
“Vampires? Great. Now I’ve seen everything.” Jack says sarcastically.
“Not a problem.” Oz says as he produces a wooden stake from his trenchcoat. “Never leave home without it.”
A second later the battle begins. The vampires lunge at them, one making a run for Violet. Liam, using his blessed sword, beheads one while Brad steps up to the plate and punches one so hard that he breaks its teeth. Oz stakes him with little effort.
“Just like old times.” He says in a deadpan tone.
Violet holds her own against the one in front of her. She pulls off a three punch combo followed by an uppercut that knocks the vampire off his feet. As the vampire falls, Jack delivers a crushing tackle followed by snapping the creature’s neck. It turns to dust an instant later.
The crowd reacts like it’s an everyday occurrence, cheering and rooting them on. The frontman of Droids Attack screams into the microphone, “That was fucking brutal!” as the band blasts into another song.
Cherice grabs Violet by the arm and pulls her out of the mosh pit.
“Let go of me you bitch!” Violet screams as she pulls her arm loose.
“You’re welcome.” She retorts in her snarkiest tone. “We just saved you back there.”
“I can take care of myself. Now leave me alone!” Violet screams as she pushes past her to reenter the pit.
The doors to the main hall open and seven more vampires enter, all of them heading for the mosh pit. Oz turns and sees this.
“Incoming!” He screams over the music.
Violet doesn’t see the oncoming attack, but Cherice steps between her and the group of vampires. In one quick movement she slashes at the one in front and cuts its head off. This seems to enrage the others. They converge on Cherice, who slashes at them with her katana, but there are too many. Saorshe casts her Ball of Light spell, which hits a vampire in the side. He is thrown into the other vamps, knocking them over like bowling pins. A moment later the vampires are all dust as Liam, Jack, Oz, Brad and Cherice take them out while on the ground.
“She’s being targeted. Let’s get her out of here before more show up.” Liam tells the others.
“Sounds good to me.” Brad says as he takes Violet by the arm and guides her out despite her protestation.
“Liam and I will stay here and find Quint.” Oz tells them as they exit. Oz and Liam move deeper into the main hall. “He’s here.”
“How can you tell?” Liam asks.
“Use your senses. They’re more acute than any normal person’s. You should have figured that out by now.” Oz replies.
“Well, all I smell is sweat and all I hear is blaring crappy music.”
“Use your eyes. One of these things is not like the others.”
Liam looks around frantically, as if trying to set some kind of werewolf record for picking someone out of a crowd. “I got nothing.”
“I’m going to tell you a little secret about your curse. The day before and the day after a full moon can be pretty rough for someone in our predicament. Sometimes you might change, your senses could go haywire… it really depends on a few factors like stress or the time of year. Right now my senses are going off like crazy. I can smell each and every sweaty punker. I can hear the individual strings being strummed on stage above all the music. I can taste the excitement in the air. And I can see that Quint is here. Can you?”
“No, but I’ll try.”
“Don’t try. Do it.”
“Okay.”
“You know, I think that little diatribe of mine is the most I’ve ever said in one breath. Swell.”
Liam laughs at Oz’s comment before focusing on honing his senses. He listens, looks and even smells and tastes the air. After a few moments of concentration he gets into a peculiar mindset that phases everything around him out except one particular scent… that of Old Spice.
“I think I found him.” Liam says.
“How?” Oz asks.
“I can smell him.”
“I knew you could do it. No self-respecting punk rocker would wear that fuddy duddy crap. Point him out to me.”
Liam hones in on the scent and points. “Stage left.”
They head over to where Liam’s senses guide him to find a man of medium height, medium build and looking like he’s way too old to be in this place. Liam approaches him confidently as the stench of crappy aftershave fills his nostrils with every step.
“Quint?” Liam asks.
“You must be the one Intel told me about.” He replies in a stuck up manner. “Liam, is it?”
“That’s right. Nice to meet you.” Liam says as he shakes his hand.
“Nice to see you again Quint.” Oz adds.
“Same here. Mind if we go outside to talk? I don’t want to have to scream over the music.” Quint points out as he moves toward the exit.
On the street, camouflaged by the rowdy crowd trying to get into the concert hall, Cherice questions Violet. “So what’s your deal, chickie?”
“None of your damn business. Can I go back inside now?” she asks Brad, who is holding her arm tightly.
“Why were the vamps after you?” Saorshe pushes.
“It’s not your concern. Now let me go before I kick your teeth in, geek!” Violet screeches as she lunges at her.
“We’re trying to help you, if you haven’t noticed. A little information would be nice, seeing how we saved your ass in there and all.” Jack says, stepping up to her.
“Don’t get yourself involved. This is my mess, I’ll deal with it. Okay?!” Violet shouts as she shakes free of Brad’s grip.
Liam, Oz and Quint exit the theater and head for the others.
“Look who we found.” Oz says with a sheepish grin on his face.
Annoyed by the ungrateful Violet’s attitude, Cherice walks up to Quint and gets right to the point. “So tell us about this water demon, and make it quick.”
Taken aback by Cherice’s direct approach Quint replies, “So you want to know about Xal’Vak, huh?”
“That would make my night.” Cherice answers sarcastically.
Quint’s right hand suddenly morphs into a long, transparent sword. In one swoop he slices Cherice’s head clean off. He looks at the others, his eyes glowing an intense shade of blue. As he smiles in delight at the shocked expressions on the faces of the others his body emits a strange ethereal glow that gives off intense waves of moisture.
“The only thing you need to know about me… is that I don’t fuck around!” Quint says as he evaporates like mist.
