A dark omen never fails to appear.
Unholy Creations
I knew exactly where Ruben was, I could smell his fear. The pungent aroma was so familiar, it hadn't changed since I last smelled it. With slow steps, I started towards the table, careful not to trip over a cable. When I got there, I pulled the chair away and tipped the table back in one quick motion. A trembling figure appeared from under the desk. He had his legs drawn up, his head pressed to his knees, and his hands protecting it.
"Ruben," that single word was enough to make the shaking stop one moment and then double the next. But then the fear was joined by immense anger. He looked up at me.
"You!" he cried, "How dare you come here again?!"
My piercing glare made his mouth close before he could hurl another torrent of words at me. He was still terrified of me — the memory of our last encounter was ingrained still deep inside him.
He wore a wrinkled, worn Nightwish T-shirt with black trousers, a chain was gleaming at his side in the dim light. His light brown hair clung greasily to his forehead, and sometimes, when he let his emotions get the better of him and his concentration broke, his face began to change, resembling traces of a rodent's. Also, as much as he would like to, he will never be able to wash from his pores the sewer stench that his ancestors had collected back in the day.
"You have to help me," I said.
His eyes widened, then narrowed with hatred. He jumped up from the floor.
"Help?!" he spat. "After what you did last time?! You wanted to execute my darlings one by one!"
The last time we met, Ruben didn't want to talk. Information is never free. When he asked me to give him something in return, I said I'd spare his life. He laughed. But he was less inclined to smile when I tore his tiny little informants into tiny little pieces. He cried, he cried bitterly, and he begged me, but I didn't stop. He watched three executions, then he broke down screaming. Finally, he told me what I needed to know and I left without a word. I kept my promise and let him live.
"Yes. You will help me."
My voice was cold enough but it barely cooled his anger.
"And why should I help you?!" he screamed, his voice breaking into a whimper.
"Because you have no choice," I answered lightly.
He knew that too.
"What do you want?" he spat.
"Alex is missing," I said.
He rolled his eyes and slumped back in his chair. "You don't say."
"Who kidnapped him, why, and what do they want from him?" I asked.
He looked deeply into my eyes for a moment longer and only answered after a deep sigh.
"The pack he was leading has returned to the city, they have him right now," he said, "Viktor didn't leave him alive for nothing, he was just waiting for this moon, which peaks at midnight tonight.
"What's about the moon?" I questioned. "It's so red as if someone had painted it with blood, but the strangest thing is that humans can't see it."
"Of course, they can't see it." Ruben folded his arms in front of his chest. "The moon's magic can only be truly understood by the creatures of the night. Humans saw it too, back in the old days when they believed in vampires, werewolves, and demons of all kinds. They tied their own ribbons over their eyes, they don't see it because they don't want to see it. This fast-paced, technologically advanced world puts a shell of perceived security around them, beyond which they can see no further."
"But why is it red?"
A deep sigh. Ruben looked at me seriously as if I had come from another planet.
"I guess you've been feeling strange changes in yourself. You feel that this moon is special..." I nodded and he continued. "It occurs every thirty years; the monsters are fiercer and stronger, there are more human deaths, and here comes the most important information for you: the wolves choose their companions when the celestial body is at its peak.
"How do they choose?" I furrowed my eyebrows.
"You never asked your precious wolf about himself?" He shook his head, then returned to the subject, "So, there are cliques in a given pack. Some wolves like each other more, some like each other less, but even within those, they are divided into pairs. For a wolf, a companion is different from family, different from love. A companion is like your other half, without whom you cannot live," he explained.
"So they love their companion very much," I nodded.
"It's not that they love them. Sometimes a wolf's companion is the same as their lover, but usually, they separate the two roles between two people," Ruben shook his head, "A companion is like air to them: if they die, they are usually consumed by the monster inside. How can I put it, the companion is the counterweight that helps keep the wolf inside them in check."
"So, the wolves choose their companions at midnight tonight," I stated. "So someone chose Alex?"
Ruben nodded. "Viktor lost his first companion seven years ago."
"But didn't you say that their monster would devour them?" I protested.
"This shows what a tough opponent Viktor is: he didn't let the darkness inside him defeat him. He probably had his eye on your friend, that's why he let him live after he took the pack from him."
"Fine," I said, "But if Alex doesn't want to, he can't force him, can he?
The rat shook his head. I was just about to sigh, but the relief was stuck between my lips.
"Have you ever wondered how much he might want to return to his pack?"
It was a simple question Ruben asked. A simple question, yet it had the power to turn my world inside out.
"Wolves are social creatures, they thrive in packs. The bond between wolves is so strong that we can't even imagine it," the rat remarked, "No matter how much time you spend with him, no matter what you do, you will never be able to replace the intimacy a pack can give a wolf. If I were him, I'd give him the nod. Viktor's strong, he'd protect him, and he'd get back in his family."
"Shut up," I snapped, and the rat's eyes flashed slyly.
"Have I touched a sore point?" he inquired. "Well, the truth is usually painful."
"You just mind your own business, rat," I hissed menacingly, "Now cough up what you're hiding!"
His eyelashes fluttered, and his eyes widened barely perceptibly.
"I..."
"Don't lie, I'll find out," I interrupted, "and I'll kill you."
The rat swallowed. He considered, considered his choice carefully. Finally, he spoke in a thin voice.
"Viktor needs your friend. He needs all the help he can get."
"Why?", I asked.
"Pitou and Liou are after him because he queered their pitch. The two mages are very powerful, they control most of the underworld, and they're on his tail," he swallowed another gulp. "Allied packs gathered in the city, that's why there are so many wolves in Pécs.
My fingers clenched into fists. "Where is their hiding place?"
"In the Kossuth Community Centre."
I turned and started with nervous steps toward the two boys waiting in the doorway. Before I stepped out, I paused for a moment.
"Thank you, Ruben," I said quietly.
(...)
Alex woke up in a daze. First, he sniffed the air carefully and stroked the soft material he was lying on.
"Are you finally awake?"
He opened his eyes and saw her. Alex's eyes widened, then suddenly came the understanding.
"Encsi?" Alex breathed, perhaps a little doubting.
Her grin widened.
"Nice to see you again, Alex!"
"Where am I?" He looked around and then realized that there were many other people in the room.
Members of his old pack greeted him with kind smiles, some even waving.
"Welcome back!" Encsi smiled.
Alex's face was then filled with so much emotion. He hadn't even noticed that he had jumped up from the sofa. For a moment, he seemed to run to the other wolves, but in the end, he didn't move.
"So, tell us what happened while we had to go without you." Encsi laughed and finally sat down on the couch, pulling Alex with her.
Encsi looked similar, yet completely different. Over the years she had grown her hair and put on make-up. There was no trace of the short-haired, boyish little girl anymore.
"Do you remember Shay?" Alex asked.
For some reason, it seemed so appropriate to tell her everything, as if he had just returned home from a long trip.
"That little spitfire?" she replied with a smile.
Alex nodded with similarly curving lips. "We've stayed together ever since. We have an apartment, we rent it together. Plus, we go to the same high school, you can imagine, he's been such an insufferable smartass ever since. He refuses to take notes in class, yet he's one of the best in our class!
"I can imagine how difficult living with him it must be," giggled Encsi.
"Yes, he hasn't let up on his sadistic habits," the boy said.
"And what do you do for a living?" she asked him.
"I don't have a job at the moment," Alex sighed resignedly, "Unfortunately, I got fired a while ago. But Shay's a bartender at a nearby pub."
"I see, he must get in your face a lot," Encsi looked a little disappointed when Alex shook his head.
"He doesn't, but I think it's just because I cook," the boy replied.
"You learned to cook?" her eyes lit up.
"Yeah," Alex nodded. "I think I'm doing pretty well. Shay never says it, but his eyes always sparkle when I put food in front of him."
"I wanna try your cooking!"
Alex nodded approvingly. "Yeah, you should come over for dinner sometime."
Her lips trembled, but Encsi said nothing, only smiled — a smile that was no longer genuine.
"Sounds good."
Then it was Enchi's turn to tell her story. Alex could learn from her how she hadn't spoken to the others for a long time after his defeat and how terribly sad she was. She told him how they had then headed east under Viktor's leadership. Encsi didn't accept him as a leader, argued with him a lot, rebelled, and sabotaged him wherever she could.
Then Viktor once saved her from a homunculus when she was planning to run away. He got another scar among the many others that covered his body, but he didn't shout at her, didn't try to punish her, just held her in his arms and whispered in a hoarse voice, 'Thank God!'.
Encsi did not reconcile with him entirely, but she liked him a little more and didn't want to go against his will that often. She even told Alex about their fights with mages, which they had endured for almost three months. She told him that it all started because of one particular incident. Viktor had killed one of their suppliers. Encsi insisted it was self-defense: the mage wanted Viktor's liver for some insane potion, which he was reluctant to part with.
"He's not a bad guy, Alex," she said, "He treats us very well, every member of the pack. He's a great leader, I swear."
Alex was about to open his mouth to say something snappy enough, but he entered the room.
"Oh, I see you're awake," Viktor said with a smile intended to be friendly, but all he got in return was a pair of piercing looks from the boy.
Anyway, Alex had been awake for about three hours, so it was a bit late for that.
"Encsi, could you give us a moment?" he asked, and she jumped up, reluctantly.
"Don't keep him to yourself for too long!" and with that, she left to join the rest of the pack.
"How are you these days, Alex?" Viktor inquired.
"Why did you kidnap me?" Alex questioned him grudgingly instead of an answer.
Viktor's face grew a little grim.
"I want you to rejoin the pack. Be my companion, Alex!"
There were no immediate reactions from Alex; he was too stunned.
Viktor had a nice smile on his lips. "The choice is yours, you have until midnight. Think carefully."
With that, the leader returned to his pack. He smiled and stroked the top of Encsi's head, and she immediately started a fight, which made everyone smile. There was a painful shadow cast on Alex's face. His family was there in front of him, all of them looking at Viktor with a mixture of respect and love.
His family had betrayed him. They now respected and loved the man who had separated him from them, the son of the wolf who had founded the pack. Still, his face showed that he couldn't stay angry with them for that. He obviously wanted to be among them again. Even in spite of the betrayal, his eyes gleamed like two lonely fireflies in the night — filled with hope and longing, even if he didn't want them to.
Then the moment passed, and chaos erupted. The walls shook, the plaster on the ceiling fell, and then the left-hand section of the wall succumbed to the siege. Alex found himself confronted by a huge, black monster.