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If he had to be honest with himself, Arthur supposed, today was beyond odd. Odd that all of their cases had wrapped up so cleanly. Odd in that the quickly closed cases gave them enough time to take a break and have a relaxing picnic. Odd that their last case had lead them to a perfectly secluded meadow and forest with no reported beings lurking in them a few miles from a small town. And even odder still that nothing strange had happened to them lately. But perhaps this out of place normality was the main cause for his lack of nervous energy, the male supposed as he tucked his flesh hand into his vest pocket and curled his shoulders against the Autumn chill. Pleasant as that day had been, now that the sun was almost set, a chill had found its way into the air.
“Arthur! Mystery!” Vivi called to them. She had opted to stay with Lewis at the van while the two others had taken a short walk. “We’re leaving soon!”
“Okay, we’re headed back!” He called back, smiling fondly as Mystery took off towards the others with happy barks. Despite the other’s status as a centuries old kitsune, they all couldn’t help but find Mystery’s more dog like behaviours endearing. Plodding after the speeding canine at a much more relaxed pace, he let his mind wander. That is until he heard a loud crunch from somewhere behind him. Hesitating as he paused mid step, he tried to brush it off as a deer or some other forest animal. That is until the feeling of being watched came over him, filling him with dread. Maybe today wasn’t such an amazing day after all.
Slowly, he swallowed and turned around inch by painstakingly slow inch. If he could figure out what was hunting him, then he should to be able to survive long enough to make it back to the van for help. What he saw though, almost tore a particularly high and loud yelp from his throat against his will. Lurking just a few yards in front of him in the shadows was what could only be described as a monster. The creature was easily just as tall, maybe even taller, than Lewis’ ghost self while he was angry, and was every bit more built than the specter. Glassy, fully yellow eyes were set in a massive, square head above a long muzzle of crooked, hooked fangs. The beast was covered head to toe in oil, ill kept, dark fur as scraps of fabric hung off it’s figure. Tilting its head to one side, it growled as those too intelligent-to-be-feral eyes glinted in the low light, placing a hand like paw on the trunk of a tree as it stalk forward. Shakily, Arthur backed away from the werewolf. If he was lucky, the beast would ignore him long enough for him to escape. If not… Well, he’d rather not think of it.
As the beast let out a savage growl and dropped down onto all four legs, it charged at him, snapping its jaws threateningly, and Arthur couldn’t help himself as he took off in a sprint towards the van. Ducking under and hopping over stray branches in his flight, the werewolf crashed through the undergrowth behind him, hot on his heels with ravenous snarls. Skidding on the slick leaves below his feet, Arthur yelped as he was pinned down by a large, heavy hand. Writhing under it, he tried to drag himself away as the beast snuffled at his neck and left shoulder, hissing as claws dug into his skin through his clothing as his vest and shirt were shredded. Roaring as whatever had caught the beast’s attention ceased to hold it, the werewolf reared its head back and clamped its jaws down. Arthur couldn’t help the blood curdling scream he let loose as the beast’s teeth scraped against his bones and its claws left trenches in his sides and back.
Lewis sat on top of the van’s hood with Vivi beside him, the duo talking idly and pointing out shapes in the sky as the sun set. The ghost had to admit, it was nice, having a slow day to just enjoy themselves, unwind, and slow down. Smiling as Vivi hopped off of the hood to greet an energetic Mystery and fuss over the other, he watched the woods carefully. Arthur shouldn’t be that far behind the canine, but after five minutes, the blond had yet to arrive at the van. Standing himself, he joined the other two near the forest’s edge, seeing his own concern mirrored on their faces. Snapping their heads towards the forest as a scream the was most assuredly Arthur’s broke the silence of the evening, they only spared a brief glance at one another before Lewis took off towards the source of it. Purple fire engulfed Lewis’ form as his human form melted away into that of bleached bones and a pressed, black suit as he speed off from the other’s, fire trailing in his wake as he searched for their missing friend.
Arthur whimpered as he twisted weakly beneath one of the werewolf’s back paw, it licking the blond’s blood from its jaws. Huffing at the pitiful sounds from it’s prey, it clamped back down onto the mechanic’s leg, shaking it’s head to and fro as it worked to tear off a chunk of the flesh there. It halted it’s work as a loud screech of rage and a bright flare of light swarmed it’s senses as the ghost found his friend. Growling as the limb was abandoned, the beast crouched over the fallen human, sizing the ghost up carefully. Snapping at the air, the beast reluctantly backed away as spectral fire surged towards it before taking off as it realised the ghost, despite being less bulky than the canid, was not a force to be trifled with.
Lewis watched the beast retreat, tempted to give chase to it until a weak and pitiful noise caught his attention. Swiveling his skull towards the noise, Lewis’ features softened at the gut wrenching sight in front of him. Arthur lay face down on the ground, clothing shredded to the point he might as well have not been wearing it at all, his metal arm pulled apart at the elbow with both halves sporting dents and gouges. It was at the other’s injuries that Lewis balked however. The male sported a large bite wound to his left shoulder that continued to bleed, along with equally deep bites in his legs and flesh arm; gashes littering his sides and back. If he could still breath, Lewis would have been holding his breath as he gingerly picked the boy up, trying his best to not jostle him too much. As he adjusted the blond slightly, wincing at a soft moan of pain, the ghost quickly snagging the detached part of Arthur’s arm before speeding off to the van.
“Arthur, come on, stay with me okay? Stay awake, please.”
“...Lew?”
“That’s right. Just stay awake, okay Art? We’re almost to the van.”
“...Okay.” With that small, simple answer from the blond, Lewis could have sworn he felt his heart crack just slightly. It had been so long since he had heard Arthur sound that weak, or that exhausted.
Worrying her lower lip as she paced in front of the van’s back doors, Vivi glanced nervously to the trees as Mystery sat by her side quietly. She had everything ready, from the simple first aid kit, to heavy duty bandages and antiseptics, all laid out on ground atop the blanket they had used for their earlier picnic. As she saw Lewis draw closer to her, seeming frantic with Arthur held in his arms, she braced herself for whatever state their boy could be in.
“Oh gods… Did you see what attacked him, Lew?”
“I’m fairly sure it was a werewolf, Vi. His back is… It’s not good.”
“Okay, let’s lay him down on his stomach...And Mystery?”
“I believe I can counter most of the effects the curse would have on him.”
“Good. Artie? C’mon, you can’t sleep now. I know it hurts but you’ll be better soon, I promise.”
Arthur let his eyes slip closed as the others began to tend to him, drifting in and out of awareness. What did Vivi mean that he couldn't sleep? Sleep sounded wonderful right now. Maybe he'd just take a short nap for now.
The first thing Arthur noticed when he woke up was that everything hurt. A lot, though most of it was centered in his head, shoulder and legs. The second was that his body had a stiffness to it that he hadn’t felt since the last time he had ended up playing almost-sacrifice for a cult. The stiffness of sleeping off wounds for long time. The last thing he noticed was warmth all around him, and a solid pressure to either side of him. Sitting up with a wince and a soft hiss of pain, Arthur blinked slowly to help clear his vision.
“Hey Art. How are you feeling?” Lewis rumbled from beside him, his skeleton self long ago abandoned for his human visage. Sitting up with the blond, Lewis placed a hand on the other’s uninjured shoulder to steady him. “You were asleep for almost a day.”
“Lew? Ugh, I feel like I got used as a sacrifice again.” He stated, pressing his right hand to his forehead as he leaned against the ghost’s warm, solid bulk.
“You were in bad shape after that thing attacked you. I, we, thought we might have lost you.”
“What happened to it?”
“It ran off when I got there, and Mystery said he couldn’t sense it either.”
Yawning, Arthur sleepily looked around the back of the van, noting with dull interest the brunette sleeping beside him on the air mattress in the back of the van, Mystery curled up at her feet. Glancing at the windows of the back, he could see a concrete wall lit with fluorescent lights. It was fairly safe to assume that the group had stopped at a gas station for the night.
“It was a werewolf, right?”
“...We’re fairly sure it was.”
“So that means I’m cursed then ‘cause it bit me and all that jazz?”
“Sort of. Mystery said he’s taken the edge off of the curse, and Vivi’s been working on finding a cure for it.”
“Oh.” Arthur swallowed the lump in his throat as he tried to process the heavy information he had just been given. Shoulders sagging as he sighed and leaned into Lewis more as the ghost began to rub slow circles into his shoulder, working some of the tension out of the muscle. “That’s… I dunno.”
“Yeah… Come on Art, let’s lay back down. You need to rest some more, and then we can deal with this when everyone is awake.”
“Sleep sounds nice.” He said with a soft yawn as he was gently guided back down by the ghost. Smiling sleepily as Vivi curled closer to him, Lewis pressed against his other side with an arm draped protectively over the other’s midsections. He supposed that a little more sleep wouldn’t hurt. Snuggling down between his two lovers, Arthur let himself drift off into a gentle sleep.