High up in the sky, the sun was a sweet peach color. But just as it was up, it won’t take a while before it goes down leaving the sky of Fur Rivers large and gray This morning, it was past nine. Five men gathered in Caesar’s lavishly decorated study. They were known as the Fur Rivers Council Of Elders. Any decisions to be made in the town must go through them. They were actually the ones who gave the town its name. These men drew a lot of water in the small town and no one dared question their judgment.
Among them sat Sheriff Conrad Hatton, tall and beefy, his sheriff outfit topped with a star-adorned hat. Next to him, the town’s priest, Francis Rupert, a pale, thin man with thick-lensed glasses. He was the eldest among them. Opposite the sheriff sat Hank Woodman, a mountain of a man with deep blue eyes and shaggy thick beards making him look like Rubeus Hagrid in Harry Potter. He was famed for his skills as an animal skin hunter. Also was Lionel Williamson, a wealthy real estate mogul who completed the quartet. He was always impeccably dressed with iron-white hair and piercing green-yellow eyes. He had the looks of Mickey Rourke in Man On Fire. His daughter, Ara, loved Caesar.
Caesar sat at the end of the table, he was dressed in an open neck black silk shirt, black pants and boots. His face was hard and expressionless.
“We ought to thank Caesar for the brave thing he did at Sam’s bar a few weeks ago.” Sheriff Hatton said, looking directly into Caesar’s eyes. “That’s a mighty thing you did back there son. I know this appreciation is belated but we still appreciate you all the same.”
“Yeah, yeah! fine thing you did back there boy.” Woodman toned in, his voice hard but yet, appreciative.
“Well done, Caesar. We need more people like you in this town” Williamson, a wide smile on his face. “Yeah, more people like you, that’s what we need.”
Priest Rupert smiled wanly at Caesar .
“You saved lives, young man. Your reward is in heaven, son. A big reward that is.”
“It’s nothing. I was only doing my job,” Caesar began, looking around at the men. “It was an easy fix. The werewolf was there and I fixed him for good. That’s what I do and it’s what I will keep doing.” he finished, a determined expression on his face.
“We are still grateful all the same,” Sheriff Hatton said. Then a jeering expression came into his eyes. “Tell me, how is old Sam faring? Still behaving like a good old boy is he?”
Caesar grinned viciously.
“Sam makes me sick. You should have seen him on that day. Man couldn’t do shit. I’ve seen someone so helpless in my life” he had a cold bitter expression on his face now. I don’t know what the hell he’s still doing, running that damned bar.”
“I think you boys should give Sam a break,” Woodland cuts in. “He’s an old man you know. Lord knows I can’t stand that coward. But you can’t expect much from a man as old as Sam. He ain’t getting any younger. Not that any man in this room could help it too.”
“No one in this room wants to talk bad about an old man, Hank,” Sheriff Hatton said, facing Woodland. “But truth be told, we all know Sam should be here with us. Right now! In this very room! And we all know why he isn’t. I believe we are justified if we throw some bad words along Sam Wesley's ways cause that louse deserves it!" Then his voice took on an angry, menacing tone. “I think we should shut that damned bar of his down, will do that old head a lot of good.”
“Will you stop all this?” Williamson's voice boomed. “I think we should forget all about Sam Wesley for now. Moreover, we can’t just shut down the bar. Most of us go there one time or the other to cool off.”
“Sure! Sure! I still went there yesterday.” Woodland said, tilting his head.
“Well I can’t help it either. Man’s gotta drink, you know,” Sheriff Hatton said bitingly. “I mean it's the only bar in this goddamn town.”
“Watch your words, Sheriff,” The priest fired, speaking for the first time. Behind his thick lenses, his big eyes glared reproachfully at Hatton. “Remember, your daily bread comes from this town. Watch what you say, lest God’s wrath strike out your daily bread from your big, unappreciative mouth.”
Hatton’s face hardened. “Hey don’t give me one of those sermon crap. I ain’t buying. Take your sermon and shove it up your Christian ass.”
“What the hell!” Caesar said tightly. “Are we here for a meeting or to throw words at each other? I’m getting sick of all this”
A deafening silence fell among the men. They all stared at each other, their eyes bulging out like that of Scrat in ice age. A moment later, Williamson cleared his throat.
“Alright! Alright! Now that we all know while we are here, what are we going to do about those animals coming into our town?” His eyes roved around the faces of the men. “Those bastards fixed Bill and his family. His beautiful wife and daughters were ripped open. That’s crazy! Bill was a Fur Elder. He was part of us. His death shouldn’t go unpunished. How do we end this wolf business?”
“That’s what I've been yelling into your ears for a long time ago. But no one is ready to listen.” Caesar said harshly.
“Should we prepare ourselves for the attack?” Sheriff Hatton said, lifting his eyebrow.
Caesar shot an incredulous look his way.
“Attack? I’m talking about preparing ourselves for war! Or do you think there’s any other way to fix this?” When the Sheriff said nothing, he went on. “Whether we all like it or not, this town is going to war. Those werewolves are coming. Bill Castle and his family are just pieces of cake to those werewolves. The real deal is this town. They want it back. And they are ready to do anything to get it.” He paused and went on. “But they won’t do shit. Because, we are going to kill them. Every last one of them.” His voice was hard now, and vicious. “We kill them all! But we’ve got to prepare. That’s the only way we are going to win this”
“Is there any other way to go about this?” The priest said, his voice shaking. “War is never a good thing. It should be avoided at all costs. It begets violence and bloodbath. Most importantly, God doesn’t like .............” But Caesar raised his hands, cutting him off.
“Keep God out of this, priest!” He snapped. “This is between men and wolves. Get that into your scripture skull. The werewolves are going to take over this town if we don’t prepare ourselves. If we prepare, we can beat them. I won’t lie to you. It’s never going to be easy. This is going to be a big war. A bloody war. Those animals are stronger, faster and deadlier. One of them can snap up three abled-men like goddamned sticks while they are still screwing with their guns. Believe me when I tell you, men are going to die. Good men of these towns are gonna die. But if we do it right, we are going to win this war” he finished, leaning back comfortably into his chair, a cool expression on his face.
All the men sat on their seats, like stones, lost in their thoughts. Then the priest opened his mouth.
“Christ! We dug our own graves,” He muttered. He took off his glasses, and placed them on the table. Freed of the glasses, his face looked gaunt, unfeeling, and feral. His eyes stared at the men accusingly. “We dug our own graves!” He said spitefully.
“Hey priest! What the hell are you talking about?” Sheriff Hatton said, looking at the priest strangely.
The priest turned on him like a cat.
“You mean you don’t understand what I’m saying?” You mean you don’t understand what I’m talking about?” his voice shivered with anger. “Don’t you dare pretend, Sheriff Conrad Hatton! Pretense is a sin.” His Adam’s apple was going up and down as he regarded Hatton.
The sheriff stared at him, his face screwed up bewilderedly. Then slowly, like the drawing down of a curtain, understanding crept up into his eyes. And the surprised look was replaced with a rageful one. He pointed a finger at the priest.
“Wait a minute. Don’t you dare go into that, priest. I mean it. Don’t you dare. That night was a mistake. And you know that. We were all higher than kites. Including you too. Don’t you go blaming anyone in this room for a stupid, drunken mistake.”
Woodland stared hard at Priest Rupert.
“What’s got into you, priest? talking about that night. Do you think this room is a confession box or something? Why bring back bad memories huh?” his eyes were glittering like wet pebbles.
“I should not have gone out with you men that night. I should have stayed in my room, praying for the forgiveness of your sins” The priest said bitterly. There was a gloomy, remorseful expression on his face and it irritated the men. “What we did that night to those folks is a sin. Now, the penance for our sins is coming right back at us,”
There were lines of anger on Woodland's face now.
“Shut up! Shut up, priest! Or so help me God I’m gonna shut that mouth up for you.”
“We are going to pay for our sins!” The priest yammered on, ignoring the deadly look on the faces of the men, mostly especially Woodland. “And we are all going to perish. Perish on earth and burn in hell! Everyone, one of us!” his voice quivered violently.” We are damned souls. Damned!”
“Now, I’m gonna break your lousy mouth for that!” Woodland spat out.
He got out of his chair in annoyance, stretched his hands forward to grab the collar of the priest’s shirt but Caesar 's words stalled him.
“Leave him alone!”
Woodland jaw dropped. He turned on Caesar .
“What?” his eyes glaring into Caesar ’s.
“Leave him alone.” Caesar said quietly. He met Woodland’s hot gaze, with a cool, unflinching one. “If you handle him the way I know you would, you are going to kill him. So leave him alone.” he turned his face from Woodland to the priest. “I think it’s high time you shut the hell up. If you can’t contribute anything meaningful to this meeting, then shut your trap.”
The priest looked at Caesar for a long moment but said nothing.
Woodland was still looking at Caesar, as if not quite believing the young man had earlier not commanded him. Then he seemed to pull himself together and sat heavily on the chair.
Caesar watched the face of the men for some moment.
“I don’t think we need to waste any more time here.” He began.” I’m hungry and I need to eat. So let’s get this over with. We are going to win this war with these werewolves. For that reason, we don’t need to meddle ourselves with the past. But here's the thing. I’m ready to help this town to fight off those animals. Every able man, minus you men in this room, we’ll be trained efficiently by me and equipped with weapons. Under my tutelage, men would transform from mere men to fur hunters. To achieve all these, I would need two things.” He turned his eyes to Woodland. “Mr woodland here, would be in charge of the training.” Woodland grunted but said nothing. “He’s a good hunter. I’ll feel more secure with him handling the training. And of course, I’ll map out the defense tactics to use against those animals. From time to time, I could always dropped in to handle the training sessions with Mr Woodland,”
“That’s a brilliant idea.” Williamson said. “Alright. What’s the second thing you need?”
Caesar smirked.
“Money! Finances! Every men in these minus Mr Woodland and I would donate some money to this cause”
“What?” Hatton yelled. “What money? What do you need the money for?”
“I’m just a poor priest with a load of sins on my back” Francis Rupert mourned. “I don’t have any money,”
“Caesar,” Williamson said patiently. “What’s the money for?”
Caesar drew in a long, slow breath. Then he said in a hard voice.
"We need more weapons, better equipment for our men. But it all costs money," his tone turned serious. "Listen up. If any of you decide to be selfish and not chip in, I'll wash my hands of this whole thing. I'll leave this town for good." His voice grew stern. "You all have kept a dark secret for years, and I know you'd like to keep it that way. But imagine if it all came out because you wouldn't spare a few dollars. It'd be a shame," he threatened, his voice lowering dangerously. "And mark my words, if the town finds out they're being attacked because of some foolish mistakes made by drunken old men on a dark night..." He paused, then continued, "You'll wish you were never born."
All the faces of the men around the table were perfectly wooden. They all stare at Caesar, with old, haughty, reptilian eyes. No one said a word. No word needed to be said. The threat in the air was palpable.
**************
After the men had all left, Caesar was still locked up in his library flipping through some notes. When the telecom on his table buzzed. He looked at it, puzzled, and pressed a button on it.
Marianna's voice came out through the intercom.
“Someone is here to see you.”
“Who?” Caesar snapped.
There was a long silence from the other end and Caesar was already thinking she was fooling with him, just then he spoke again.
“Selena! She’s here. She’s waiting for you.”
Caesar felt his body stiffened with shock.