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Their most recent assignment was for a man named Ren, who lived a good ways away outside of town. Apparently he resided with a friend named Doc, though there wasn't much info given on him besides the fact he was away on a trip.
Scar flipped through the pages tucked clumsily inside the manilla folder. "Something about a wolf," He said passingly, "At least that's what he thinks it is, judging by the claw marks. Apparently the thing's been killing his chickens. Poor guys."
Cub hummed in acknowledgment but didn't take his eyes off the road. Scar let out a noise of disgust as he found pictures of the chicken crime scene.
"Do you really believe it's a wolf?" Said Cub, "Cause I might not be an ecology expert, but I'm pretty sure wolves don't live around here."
"Could be a stray dog. Or a guy dressed up as a dog. One of them fluffies. Is that the right word?"
Cub chuckled. "Yeah man, sure is."
...
Cub ran his hand down the side of the chicken coop, feeling the grooves left behind by what looks like claws. Awfully big ones at that. It dug past the layer of red paint, going a good quarter of an inch into the wood. Little chips of paint stuck to the edges like some imitation of blood. A chicken emerged from the coop and made it's way over to Cub, seemingly staying close to the edge of the coop as to not go near Ren and Scar.
"How long has this been going on for?" Cub could hear Scar ask from behind him.
"About a month. The first time it happened was really bad dude, I lost like five chickens. It was already a pretty bad week for me, so that just made it a whole lot worse. Like, I got bit by someone's chihuahua? Who lets a vicious beast like a chihuahua run loose like that!? Trust me, I had one. His name was-"
Ren took a breath like he was about to deliver the Gettysburg Address in full, paused for a moment, realized he was about to go on a tangent of a lifetime, then sighed. "Anyways, it's been more sporadic since then, but I have a tingling feeling it's gonna get worse. Like, I can feel it in my bones, man."
"So this happens at night," Scar said, "That means we should probably set up the trail cameras and stake out. Hey, it'll be just like that time at iLuminate! Right Cub? Cub?"
Something about the claw mark just felt wrong to him, but he couldn't quite place it. He looked it up and down, until it dawned on him.
"What kind of wolf has five toes?"
"Hmm?"
"Wolf and dogs have four toes, right?"
Scar thought for a moment. "I mean, besides that weird dangley one that's further up, yeah."
"But that wouldn't leave a mark." The chicken began to peck at Cub's shoelaces. "Hey!"
"Shoo!" Ren moved over to Cub's side and waved the chicken away. It seemed frightened as Ren approached, and scurried away with no resistance. "Sorry about that, these chickens have been all sorts of weird lately."
Scar crouched down beside Cub. "Yeah, that is a weird mark!" He placed his hand on the scratched wood, letting each finger fall into an etch. "It's kinda humanoid, honestly."
The realization hit Scar and Cub like a particularly well-aimed airborne salmon.
...
"So, a werewolf, huh?" Ren smacked his lips, "Wild."
Ren took a long sip from his tea. Chamomile: Ideal for calming the nerves of someone who had just learned werewolves are real.
"Don't worry, we've dealt with way weirder." Said Cub, still waiting for his to cool.
The attention seemed to shift over to Scar.
"Oh. Right. How to deal with werewolves..."
Scar stroked his chin dramatically as he pondered. Until his mind finally landed on what he needed.
"Legend tells of an ancient elixir that brings werewolves and other canids to their knees."
"Sounds fun man. But uhh...where do we get it?" Said Cub, taking a sip before cursing out everything he held dear, (he burned his tongue).
Scar waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry, I'm a master at preparing this sort of thing. Just give me one minute and about three cups of your finest milk and we'll be set."
...
Typically, when it came to stake-outs, Scar usually fell asleep pretty fast. However, here he was, wide awake and still staring out the window. His 'ancient elixir', aka three large mugs filled with hot chocolate made from a packet, were lined up on the window sill in front of him. Despite Ren claiming to have been going 'chocolate-free' for at least a month, there was still some in the cupboard, supposedly for his roommate.
Cub watched as he nodded off, only to jerk back awake as he rested his upper body on top of the back of the couch.
It might of just been his eyes messing with him, but Scar could've swore he saw shapes moving in the inky blackness. Though it was hard to see anything when the only available illumination was the porch light, along with the reflection of the light inside concealing most of the detail.
"You know, we can sleep in shifts if you want." Cub said, looking up from his phone. The blue light was keeping him relatively awake.
Scar shrugged. "I dunno. I just don't want anything...anything bad to happen. Feel bad for the chickens." Another yawn. Cub considered starting a timer.
It was another ten minutes until Scar actually drifted to sleep. That was until a large crash could be heard from upstairs.
He jerked up and through blurred, sleepy vision, continued to stare out into the shadowed property outside the window. He heard footsteps behind him, likely Ren coming downstairs to check on the two, but Scar paid little attention to that. What he was more focused on was the unsettling figure coming into view. Hunched over, arms close to itself but still curling outwards, panting like it was struggling to breathe.
It didn't seem to belong in the backyard. Like a ghost. Like a projection.
Like a reflection.
By the time he turned around, Cub was already shoving his crutches into his lap and pulling him to his feet. The duo turned over to face Ren (well, Ren in very loose terms), who was seemingly sizing them up. He didn't exactly look like what Scar or Cub expected from a werewolf—he only had the ears and claws—but it was still downright terrifying.
They burst out of the sliding door, the frigid night air smacking them in the face as they hobbled away from the house.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. The hot chocolate's still in the house isn't it?" Said Cub, staggering as he tried to nrush off any tiredness still lingering on him. Scar looked at him sheepishly, then slowly nodded.
"Alright. Alright. Just keep him busy, okay man? I'll run back and grab it."
Before Scar could even agree to the plan, Cub was already gone and a full-grown wolf-man-thing was chasing him down. He hurried away as fast as he could, trying his best to avoid any unexpected dips in the night-obscured lawn. Ren was gaining on him. He could hear his uncanny dog-like panting from behind as he rounded around the chicken coop.
"Alright Ren, how about a nice business offer! I give you ten of these lovely chickens for you to snack on, and I get to keep my head. Sound like a deal?"
Ren paused for a minute, licked his lips, then continued hunting him down.
Scar scrambled away. "Okay! Okay! Gosh, if I knew a business degree wouldn't get me anywhere, I would've jumped straight into the getting hunted down by the creatures of the night thing!"
Cub called out his name from the back porch, steaming mugs in hand, looking just about ready to kill a man. Scar made his way around the coop and towards Cub before a tug on his shirt made him fall backwards.
Everything after that went by in a blur. Scar struggled to stand up as he was pushed around by a blood-thirsty werewolf and his best friend. He saw Cub grabbing onto Ren in the corner of his eye, and on his other side was a set of claws coming concerningly close to his face. The two connected, and it all went black.
...
Consciousness hit Scar like a semi-truck. It felt like his skull was squeezing into his brain. He shot up, trying to remember why he was lying down on a couch. Or more importantly, why a foreign set of hands were slowly pushing him back down into a lying position.
A voice hushed sweet nothings as he settled back down into a laying position, the cadence sounding more and more familiar.
"Easy man, you're concussed. We're still at Ren's house. He's letting us stay until you're well enough to go home."
"Is Ren okay?"
"Yeah man, he's just tired. Faring much better than you."
Scar brushed hair out of his face, and in the process rubbed his fingers along the large gauze patch on his forehead.
Scar smiled. "Thanks for patching me up."
"No problem." Cub patted his shoulder before hopping up to make a call.
Scar was going to ponder on the fact that Ren was a werewolf for a month without realizing it, but his concussed brain decided that was too much of a feat. Napping sounded much better.