Prelude

In the dark hours of the early dawn, a pack of werewolves moved through the woods, under a heavy down pour of rain. Their sharp eyes blazed menacingly in the darkness, shining like dangerous fireflies, as they moved in several groups towards different directions, sniffing through every end of the woods. Their paws left imprints on the wet ground as they moved, but it was swiftly covered by the quick current of erosion that swept through the woods. This was a good thing, as the last thing the pack wanted to do was leave a suspicious trail of paws in the woods, this close to the dwelling place of humans.

The rain was being helpful in covering their tracks, but it was not helping in their hunt. Actually, it was frustrating them. Their furs were completely soaked and dripping, and the scent they were trailing was getting faint and fainter, as the rain continued to pour down in heavy sheets. At this rate, they would loose the trail completely, and their hunt would have been in vain.

Still, the wolves pressed on, not showing any sign of retiring.

Suddenly, a loud howl pierced through the night, and all the wolves turned in the direction of the call. The howl sounded again, and the wolves immediately set out in response to the call. The call was coming from up in the mountain.

A single man was at the top of the mountain, bent over a seemingly lifeless body of a woman. The man was dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts. He was naked from waist up, but he didn't seem bothered by the relentless rain that kept soaking up his bare skin.

The man was one of the wolves, a member of the pack, and he had come out on the hunt with the rest of the. But he had transformed back to his human form when he found the body, so that he could check if it was salvageable. Unfortunately, the woman was long dead.

As the wolves arrived one by one, they circled around the man and the body. None of them moved any closer until their leader arrived.

The leader immediately transformed into his human form too, and went over to the man who was still bent over the body at the center of the circle.

"Carlos." The man called gently when he reached the man, and placing a hand on his slouched shoulders.

"She is gone." The man called Carlos, said absent mindedly, still staring at the lifeless body.

"I can see that." The leader said softly.

"She didn't deserve this. They could have targeted any other person, why her?" Carlos said, looking up at the leader now.

"Carlos..." The leader started to say, but trailed off when he could not find any more words. So he just tapped Carlos' shoulder again, comfortingly.

"She was like a mother to me. She nurtured me, she watched me grow." Carlos went on saying as he turned back to the lifeless body on the ground, getting soaked every minute, by the rain.

"If the vampires did this, I don't think they willingly targeted her, knowing that she is close to you or to the pack. They must have thought she was just another random human. The last thing the vampires would want to do is let us know that they are here, when they are clearly not ready for a confrontation. I don't think they intended to announce their return like this, they know better." The leader said.

"The vampires did it!" Carlos barked. "There are no ifs! The vampires did this! There, those are their bite marks." He said, pointing at the dead woman's neck. The leader went around to squat beside the woman and carefully observe her neck. The two point holes at the base of the woman's neck was the unmistakable mark of vampire fangs.

The leader sighed as he rose to his feet.

"We must get back to the rest of the pack now!" He announced. Then looking down at Carlos, he said. "We must let your brother know about this. The vampires are back in our territory. We must get ready."

But Carlos did not move.

"You think they did not target her in particular? You think there was no purpose for this killing?" He asked.

"Yes. I don't think they singled her out just to get at you or provoke the pack. I think it was a random attack. Especially as in recent times, there has been a trend of strange deaths going on around the city, but the police has refused to share any information with us. I think this has something to do with that." The leader replied. "If they were bold enough to confront us, they would have done so head on. They would have come for us without letting us learn of their presence. If you ask me, this is a big mistake on their side. I don't think they were ready to let us know that they have arrived in our midst."

Carlos remained silent for a moment, then he rose to his feet.

"Fine then. We must let my brother know all about what we have learned. And we must inform the tribe too. We must all get ready, because I vow to revenge this night!" Carlos said to the leader, then he turned to the pack.

"The vampires have returned to our lands!" He cried in a war-cry like voice. The pack replied with soft howls and whimpers.

"After several hundreds of years, these blood thirsty beasts have returned to our lands. And the first thing they do is rip away one of our very own! Someone close to my heart." Carlos went on. The howls and whimpers increased a notch.

"Our ancestors defeated them many years ago, and banned them from entering these lands ever again. But now, these evil bastards have returned. They have come for our lands, for our lives. They hide among us like cowards, and they should have stayed hidden forever! But they have made the mistake of revealing their ugly selves! Our ancestors were merciful enough to let some of them flee during the great war! But this time, I swear on the honor of my lines, no one of those monsters will be spared! We will crush them all and put a swift end to their cursed line!" Carlos charged, and the howls and hoots from the wolves reached a crescendo, filling the rainy night.