It was a mid autumn night. A man was walking in the forest with his back bended. Darkness sheltered him and he was hidden in a bush. He, Daniel, was following the track of the man before him. They went into a strangely vacant place in the woods. Daniel hid himself behind the tree, monitoring the odd-behaving person. Then there the man stood, when the full moon light came out from the cloud, and with a strange roar tumbled out from his mouth, the man, once a friend of Daniel, slowly changed into a murderer, or a ……
A month ago, Daniel came to this small town in Romania with his partners. They were werewolf hunters, searching for the escaped monster. They tracked the footprint for all night, and they chased the werewolf to the gate of a town.
“That monster must be in this town.” said Eric with anger. “We’ve been following him for months. Now we have to wait for the next full moon, but we don’t have any money to stay in an inn.”
“Don’t worry about that,” replied Daniel, who was their captain. “I’ll go seek for help.”
Then he asked a man who is a resident in the town whether anyone could help them.
“If you’re seeking for help, sir, you should go to the mayor.” the man said. “I’m sure that he can help you. People in my town always rely on him when we are in trouble.” All the people around them agreed. Then the man showed them the way to the mayor’s house.
When they arrived at the mayor’s house, they thought they would see a beautiful, luxurious palace with lots of police guarding its front door. But they were wrong. They saw a cottage with some flowers and vines climbing all over it. There wasn’t any police standing outside, but some villagers walked by.
“He must be a nice man.” Daniel thought. “He is so friendly to the villagers. Maybe he can help us.”
They walked toward the door and knocked.
“Who’s this? My door is always open to my people. You don’t have to knock!”
It was the sound of an old man. Then the door slowly opened. The hunters saw an old man with white hair, great white beard and a nice but exhausted face that made him looked like Santa. His badge shined on his chest.
“Well, what’s going on? Who are you?” said the old man.
Daniel told the old man about their mission of hunting the werewolf, and the difficulties they were facing. They thought the man would think that they are crazy, but actually, he invited them in to his house without hesitation.
“Come on in, then. I like gusts from other countries. By the way, I’m Aaron.”
When they walked in to Aaron’s house they thought that he was really a man who likes clean and neatness – all of his things were put neatly. Books, vases, chairs, cups, all were neatly arranged in the room. Eric noticed that there was a statue of Jesus. He also saw bibles on the desk and shelf. He seemed to be a devout Christian. Eric also saw some specimens of animals head. Then Aaron told them that the dinner was served. The servants quickly set the table and served some wonderful food. Strangely, the tableware was not made by silver, but other kind of metal.
“Now, let’s dig in!” said Aaron
Everyone did so expect Eric. He felt strange. He wanted to talk to Daniel about his doubt. But Daniel was busy trying to persuade the mayor to offer a shelter for him and his crews. Aaron, again, said “yes” to his request. All the people became dizzy after some wine. But the mayor seemed sober. He told them about his effort in protecting wild beasts.
“Animals, like man, should have the right to exist in this world.” he concluded.
When everyone was going to bed, Daniel saw Aaron was about to go out. He asked him where he wanted to go. Aaron said that he would go around and check if everyone in the village was save, and that he would do it every day.
One day, Aaron asked Daniel about his motivation of hunting werewolves.
“t was such a mourning memory,” Daniel sighed. “When I was only a fifteen-year-old boy, a couple of werewolves appeared in Prague, my hometown. Those hideous beasts killed my beloved parents and made my dearest brother into a werewolf. He, no, it became one of them. Thanks my mom asked me to the wine-vault, I survived with loneliness.”
“I’m really sad to hear that. How about your brother, then?” asked Aaron.
“I felt not only helpless, but also hopeless. Once, I even wanted to suicide. But when I heard that the three monsters continually killed many people in my hometown, I told myself I should stop them, in order to cease another tragedy happening. I found the den of the werewolves and killed two of them, yes, just so you think, I didn’t shot my brother. Not due to my sympathy, it just escaped.” Daniel said without any emotions. “I became a werewolf hunter. My duty is to protect innocent people from attacking by werewolves.”
“Perhaps, the duty is just an excuse, right? The main reason you became a hunter is to find your brother out, though you are reluctant to admit it. Am I right?”
Daniel silenced.
“Family and love are both complicated relationships.” Aaron said, looking at the cloud in the sky. “Maybe, so does friendship. Complicated, so complicated…”
“I found my brother two years ago…a purple-eyed werewolf. I hate my bloody hands.” Daniel then stared at his hands, seeming that they were still worn by the werewolf’s blood. “Now, my purpose of being a werewolf hunter is clear. I need to protect people against the ugly monsters.”
“I believe God doesn’t want to cast you out, my dear Grey Theodore–famous purple-eyed Grey from Czech,” smiled Aaron.
A month seemed like a day. The moon was about to be full.
On the morning of full-moon day, the hunters were preparing their tools, loading their shotguns. Daniel felt excited and nervous. He recalled the memories of last month when he almost caught that bloody beast. This time, he thought to himself, he would never fail again.
Then, the mayor appeared beside him quietly, staring at Daniel and his gun.
“You are a nice hunter,” he said, looking worse than ever. His face seemed somewhat paler, “and a good friend, too. I hope you guys can stay here for a longer time. But …uh…,” a weird smile appeared on his face. He turned to everybody. “I know that you have works to do. So, farewell! My friends! I wish you good luck!”
Everybody said “farewell” or “thank you” in return, including Daniel. But when he saw Eric, he found out that this sharp-minded hunter was staring at the fatigued-looking old man with a doubtful look. He came upon Eric and asked what happened.
“There’s something strange about Aaron.” he said. “I can feel it.”
“You think so? Maybe you just worry too much”
“Maybe, or maybe not. We’ll see, then.”
As the sky became darker, everyone was more excited. They went to the forest earlier that afternoon, setting traps for that night. Everyone waited patiently, hoping that they could catch the beast this time. Time seemed to freeze; every minute was like eternity. Suddenly, a loud noise came from the east. They all went there with a beating heart. But they only found a police trapped in nets they set. It wasn’t the werewolf.
“What are you doing here?” asked Eric, angrily.
“Don’t be angry. Some villagers saw you and thought that you were up to something not good. I just come around and see if there is something wrong,” said the policeman.
“Come around?” Daniel thought to himself, “I remember that Aaron would go around the village everyday….. Oh! Oh! If he comes to the forest, he might be attacked by the monster!”
Daniel quickly ran back to the cottage. When he was about to arrive at the cottage, he saw somebody coming out secretly from the backdoor, and went in to the forest of the north.
“Would it be Aaron? But that was not the road he always takes. What is he doing?”
Out of curiosity, Daniel followed him. They walked a long way to a strangely vacant place in the woods. It was about midnight, and there Aaron stood, with his face twisted because of pain. Then he kneeled down, screaming in an aching pain, screaming in a voice of a…wolf?!
It happened so surprisingly that Daniel couldn’t believe in what he saw. But when the fearful scream became louder and scarier, he knew the truth.
His friend, Aaron, who helped them when they were in trouble, was a werewolf. He didn’t know if he should kill him. Aaron saved the hunters and offered them a shelter. He was a kind, nice man in his and every villagers eyes. Should he just catch him or trap him in a cage until morning? What about next month? He loaded his shotgun, and the dreadful face of the werewolf turned to him. It looked like he had noticed him there. Suddenly, Aaron’s words came up to his mind, “Family and love are both complicated relationships. Maybe, so does friendship. Complicated, so complicated…”
Daniel closed his eyes, held his gun tight. He knew what to do. He heard the roaring of the monster. “Just wait.” he thought.
Then he suddenly heard a voice cried out “Daniel!”. He opened his eyes and saw Eric running toward him, but so did the monster……
A gunshot along with a cream scratched the silent night.
