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“Oh gee, Cedric, I still can’t believe it myself! I can’t wait to tell Mamma! Just think; a girl from Drabstreet growin’ up to marry an uptown boy from Dawnpeak Heights! It’s like somethin’ outta a fairytale.” 

Cedric Bradberton forced a smile, no words slipping out of his tightly sealed lips. [i]Not much longer now[/i]. The pair made their way through a thicket of dense woodland, tower-like trees looming up above them, Cedric’s dark jacket billowing ever-so-softly behind him in the calm night-time breeze. 

“And whatever will papa say?! Oh, I’m so excited to tell them both! They gonna be so proud of me!” Maria squawked in her shrill bird-like voice, flapping her arms about as she bounced around Cedric. “We’ll be plannin’ the wedding soon, oh it’s gonna be so magical! And then children- oh, sorry…I got ahead of maself there. Gosh darn it! I hope I’m not scarin’ you, Cedric, Mamma always says I’m scarin’ boys off….” 

“Not at all.” Cedric managed in a strained voice, as they pair drew nearer and nearer to their destination. 

“Oh this is so romantic! A late-night stroll out into the woods, us two so very in love with each other, about to get married! I could simply squeal with joy, Cedric, I swear I could!” 

Cedric tolerated her squealing for a few moments more, until they reached the clearing. What trees there were ran along the outside of the great dirt flat, and the cover of night time obscured the clearings finer features in a blanket of unwavering darkness. 

Maria bounded ahead of her companion, until she found the clearing infront of her to be empty. The young girl slowed down, wide-eyed and anxious, shambling awkwardly forwards.  She stopped just where Cedric needed her. [i] Everything’s falling into place[/i]. 

“Why, Mistah Cedric,” she stammered, laughing uncomfortably “I can’t help but shake the feelin’ there’s somethin’ more sinistah goin’ on here…” she anxiously scratched at her arm “ain’t that silly of me?” 

“Well, My love,” Cedric began slowly, a slick grin creeping across his thin lips “You’ve guessed just about right.” 

In one fluid movement the silenced pistol emerged from his breast pocket. He gave the trigger a firm squeeze, a muffled shot rang out, and then Maria was in a heap on the floor, a hole blown straight between her eyes. 

“For fuck’s sake, Bradberton!” Hissed a nasally voice from somewhere out in the darkness. A tall and lanky figure, dressed in a burgundy turtleneck jumper, came slinking out of the shadows, an expression of annoyance ripe on his lean face. “It’s not the same when they’ve got their brains hanging out!” he whined, stamping his foot on the ground, kicking up a cloud of brown soil. 


“You know the arrangement,” Cedric snapped “Nyx needs to make someone important disappear, we take them out here –dispose of them-, you lug them back to the crematorium and have your wicked way with them, then they end up in the furnace –No questions asked-. The specifications of your sick little perversion doesn’t interest me.” 

“You could at least take my needs into consideration…” Willis grumbled, gazing down at Maria’s corpse with frustrated eyes. “It’s harder to get it up when there’s a great big hole in their face!” 

“Oh my God, enough!” Cedric bellowed “D’you want the skanks body or not?!” 

“Yes.” Willis muttered with a pout.
 
“Then quit your fucking bitching.” 

“What was so special about her, anyway?” Willis asked after a long silence. 

“Some fancy-types painted whore, I dunno who. Nyx is really conservative with what she tells us.” 

“Well, my dear, you’re gonna get it tonight.” Willis said with a sickly little laugh, the hitman rolling his eyes in response. 

“Lovely evening for a walk, isn’t it gentlemen?” A deep, thundering voice called from out in the darkness.  

Cedric and Willis looked at each other in horror, stunned, as three tall figures came striding out into a small patch of moonlight. 

On the left was a savage looking mongrel of a man, at least 6 feet tall, with a shaggy mane of dirt brown hair, great barrel-like arms, and a hideous, gnarled face. On the right, stood a lithe, pointy-faced figure with greased back hair, vulture-like eyes, a hooked nose, and a partially bitten off ear that stuck out from one side of his face. Between the two large men, stood a much smaller, lightly tanned, woman, with messy black hair that had been shaven into rows on the right side of her face and left to grow into a thick dark mop on the other, an exposed left arm that was covered in a myriad of brightly coloured tattoos, and miss-matched yellow-brown eyes. She was dressed in a dark purple sleeveless top that was covered in straps and buckles, a grimy steel chain that was woven around her broad waist, and bass studded bracelets. 

“That it is.” Cedric replied plainly, keeping his eyes locked on the figures, frantically gesturing for Willis to get behind him, who complied almost instantly. 

“Nice girl ya got there.” The woman observed with a toothy grin, gazing down at the limp bloody on the floor “shame about her being dead and all, still; each to their own I suppose.” 

“How about you carry on your merry way, and we forget we ever saw each other?” Cedric offered up coolly, slowly aiming his silenced pistol at the largest of the three figures. 

“You ready to use that pea-shooter, little man?” Boomed the savage-looking one, his feral eyes tunnelling into Cedric’s soul. 

“I suppose we’ll find out.” Cedric shot back calmly. 

Suddenly, the lean one shot forwards, but before he could gain a footing Cedric had fired straight into his chest, sending the lanky beast stumbling backwards. Whilst he fell to his knees, the figure was by no means dead, and preceded to meet Cedric with a wicked grin. 

“Oh shit.” 

The change was sudden and rapid; what began as a small tick in the figure’s left arm soon became an immense, body—wide thrashing. Foam pooled out of his gaping mouth, and his already sharp teeth began to grow and stretch forwards, becoming dog-like fangs. A tuff of dark brown fur spread across his exposed neck, ripping across his skin, until all of his flesh was covered in a thick brown pelt. His limbs grew, his back arched, and his sharp face stretched outwards, adopting feral, wolf-like proportions. The monster that stood in the place of the lean figure was as much a wolf as he was a man, with a great thrashing tail, clawed-hands, a leathery black muzzle, dog-like ears, and a snarling, snapping mouth full of dagger-like teeth. 

“Should’ve stayed home and locked your doors.” Cackled the woman, laughing darkly. 

Similar transformations occurred in the other two, their bodies morphing, contorting, and shifting, until three humongous Werewolves stood in the moonlit clearing. 

“Orders, Den mother?” One of the werewolves boomed in the guttural voice of some hellish monster. 

“Let the hunt begin.”