Chapter 8

Ludi rolled onto her side, letting a shiver roll down her body as no wind brushed through her fur. She knew she was underground, or in a confined space then, as the smell was all plastic and un-real. The only semi-familiar thing she could smell was Leon and ever that was dampened and closed off. Slowly, she picked herself up and padded around slowly. Dirt and sand digging into her paws as she studied the trees. Ludi moved forward gingerly and sniffed along the “bark” of the tree. It was real enough, she moved to the next and sniffed along that as well. Real too. So the forest was real. But the actually atmosphere wasn’t. she moved forward slowly, gliding through the trees as she scanned for exits, cracks in the wall that surrounded the trees and bushes. She skirted along the outside, sniffing the concrete that had a horrible grey tinge to it.
She found nothing. Ludi grunted in frustration and sat back on her hind legs. A frown across her wolf face.

High above the werewolf, Kimura, Cross and Dr Kate Bishop scanned across the screens, watching them as they scanned the immobile wolf.
‘What’s she doing?’ Cross said, his very male voice filled with annoyance. He wanted to hunt this thing. He wanted to know how fast it could run, how it would kill. How it ticked.
‘Thinking I’d guess. Something you don’t do too much,’ Kimura muttered in reply, running her fingers over the 9mm strapped to her thigh. Now she wanted to put a bullet into Cross’s knee caps. He annoyed her. All he was, was a hired thug, he was ex-military, come bounty hunter, come body guard, come what ever big biceps and a history of violence could get.
‘She was planning an escape route. But it’s an air tight room. There’s no way she’s going to get out. Everything’s concrete. Floor, walls, ceiling. Send in Study group one,’ Dr Bishop said the last 5 words into a microphone protruding from the control panel. She sat herself onto a wheelie chair and tabbed a few key on the large computer desk then watched as the three metal doors around the oval enclosure opened.
‘What’s going in Doctor?’ Kimura asked, her voice filled with curiosity. She peered over the control panel and Bishops shoulder,
‘Bear subject 15, Hyena subject 23 and Wolf subjects 18 and 12. Animals that have been enhanced, vampire blood injected, her own blood injected, and fire demon blood injected. Animal test subjects to see how a full blown werewolf going in battle, you know see how one would face up against a demon, vampire or one of its own. All to know what would happen with an injected werewolf virus human subject. This is what its all about ladies and gentlemen,’

She had heard the metal doors slide open and had dived back into the trees as they did, soughing them out to find exits. As he got to the first, she stopped just short of the animal that came lumbering out. A bear, 6 foot high maybe, with patched of its fur shaved off, marks of needle ejection points on al the bare patches. She shuffled backwards and turned to run to the next exit. An animal from the African plains came jogging out, its high pitched laugh rattled out and Ludi’s mind raced. A hyena. Here? Well seeing as she didn’t know where here was she wasn’t really surprised. Skirting backwards she watched the metal door slam down and heard the bear roar as it lumbered through the trees. Last exit, she though, her paws hitting the artificial ground as she skirted around the trees.
The metal door had already slammed down be time she got there. Though there where unfriendly faces waiting for her. Two wolves, looking a lot like they had been dragged through a blender faced her. Their lips pealed backwards and they growled. Their teeth wayyy too long to be normal wolves. They lunched and Ludi swung her paw through the air. She hadn’t put that much force into it but the jaw of the first wolf smashed off, flew through the air and landed 3 foot away. Blood splattered over Ludi’s fur and she jolted forward, like some white hot thing had truck her through the chest. Her mind blurred and she was pushed back. The little ghost girl fogged into view,
‘Rebecca, you can’t handle this, let the professionals do so,’ she smiled, all sweetly and such like some proper innocent school kid then everything went blank.

Dr Bishop grinned to her self as she watched the vitals of the bear, hyena and two wolves die.
‘This is perfect!’ she laughed, arms in the air in such a happy gesture. Cross frowned, he didn’t think this was so perfect. If their enhanced animals couldn’t be a match to one little girl wolf, then what would a enhanced male solider, like himself, be against a full blooded wolf? He turned away and crossed his arms over his chest, a frown on his face,
‘What’s wrong dear? Don’t like the though of not being top dog any more?’ Kimura laughed, slapping Cross on the shoulder. She moved towards Bishop and opened her mouth as the glass of the high room smashed open. The dead mangled body of the enhanced bear rolled over Bishop and Kimura and knocked Cross down. Kimura gripped her pistols and span around, one barrel pointed to the shattered window, one to the bear on top of Cross.
He grunted and shoved the bear off, pulling his own gun free and letting half the cartridge of the sub machine off into the bears blood matted fur, ‘I think its dead,’ Kimura said, her voice thick with sarcasm.
‘Any casualties?’ Cross asked, scanning the room, there where only three of them in there. Kimura frowned at him. They where all alive.
‘Doctor? Any ideas?’ she asked and Bishop shrugged, picking herself up from the floor,
‘Well what ever that wa-was unexpected,’ she reached for the mic again, ‘squadron 3 go in,’ she ordered and the metal doors slid up once more. ‘Kimura, go to the other one. Now!’

The spirit haunting her body controlled her every move. She could only feel a little in her muscles, she couldn’t see past the fog that covered over her human emotions. Her body wasn’t wolf no more, neither was it human. It was in the middle that she was. Her body taunt with power, her hands clawed, her face elongated and jaw filled with long fangs. Her feet dug into the floor as she span around, watching the metal door in front of her slid open. Men with guns, automatic machine guns, marched in.
‘.....shoot it.....’
NO, the spirit screamed inside her head and the beast that she was lunged forward, slamming it to the mass of the squadron. Bullets rattled into the air around her fur, some skimmed her fur and others dug into her flesh. It hurt. It didn’t hurt the spirit, but it hurt Ludi, she could still feel some pain it seemed. The men screamed as the beast crushed skulls, broke bones, and killed the soldiers. One was getting away. Down the hallway and out of sight.
She was moving, moving so damn fast it was like she wasn’t touching the floor at all. She could smell the solider, smell the gun powered that clung to his clothing as he rooted in a gun cabinet three doors down. She heard him pull a shot gun free, pump the barrel and slam the door open. He yelled aloud as he slammed into the hallway, letting rounds fly. She killed in instantly. The beast biting into his neck and cutting all main blood flow in one. Sub-automatic bullets pounded into her back as Kimura ran past, her favoured weapons pumping out human killing lead. She knew it wouldn’t stop the beast, but getting to the other wolf and holding him at gun point might.

Leon slammed himself against the glass once more, grunting in pain as his still healing chest contracted at the force. The door slammed open and Kimura wrapped the hilt of the gun across his face. He cried out and swung back at her, wrapping his leg around her’s knocking her to the floor. She grunted in pain as she hit the side of the door. Leon slipped through the door and stopped dead as the beast stared at him.
‘give it up Ludifer,’ Kimura said, stepping out of the cell. She’d obviously recovered. Well now she held the barrel to the bottom of Leon’s jaw. Digging it up hard. He growled at her and she elbowed him in the side, ‘give it up or your boyfriend get a few lead teeth,’ Kimura muttered, stepping backwards, pushing Leon with her. The beast moved forward slowly, the beast wanted more. Ludi wanted more. Her muscles couldn’t take any more, but the spirit was pushing her, pushing her to the edge and over it.
Instead of lunging towards Kimura, like the woman expected, the beast dropped to the floor and lay still. Ludi’s body couldn’t take no more and the spirit had had its fun. So that left only one option. Passing out.