The next few days were full of activities. Caesar made sure that every nook and cranny of Fur Rivers was screaming with:
WANTED:
FUR RIVERS TOWN SHERIFF'S OFFICE.
NAME : VICTOR.
WANTED: Dangerous Werewolf $20,000 Reward.
Caesar got every man in the town looking for Victor. He also made sure that the local radio station aired the wanted information about Victor. Of course, he knew exactly where Victor was. All he had to do was to go down to the cabin hut and get Victor. But Caesar has other plans. He was playing a sick game alright. He knew sooner or later Victor would find out he was a wanted man.The information will definitely reach him. And so, he wants Victor to feel the heat.
He wanted him to be restless and worried. A wanted man will always be restless. Why? because he doesn’t know when he could be captured or killed. Anything can happen at any point in time. Now, imagine a werewolf whose mind is not at rest. One moment he could be eating and the next, he’s been chased down by men with silver bullets or even worse. The fear of the unknown is a powerful, psychological torture weapon to fuck with the mind of even the most strongest and fearless man. And that’s what Caesar was using. Whenever he’s ready he would lead men into the woods and get Victor. But for now, Victor’s mental health would suffer.
Thinking back about all the past few months' events, Caesar knew he had been right along when he had fought with Victor inside the church. He had sensed a kind of weird energy from him. He had the feeling that this man he was fighting was not ordinary. His guts had been damned right. If not for Marianna who had totally brushed off his suspicions, Victor might be in his torture house, shackled to the walls, having a long stretch with no food or water. The bastard had slept with his sister, played with her feelings, and inexplicably ruined his marriage. He deserved anything coming to him.
He relaxed back into his seat and grimaced. His mind went to Marianna. Ever since that day when he had killed Amor, she seldom goes out and is always keeping to herself. Though they had resumed their sexual escapades but it had reduced and sometimes, he never even made any attempt to touch her; the passion and urgency wasn’t there anymore. In fact, Caesar would have been content with getting just a hug from her. Honestly, he was tired of her. He had a feeling she was still in love with Victor and was only using him as a rebound. But he wasn’t sure about this.
He turned his mind away to the Fur Hunters. They were all ready now. The outstanding ones amongst the team were all rewarded. Hank Woodman had done a great job. The Fur Elders had sent money to Caesar’s offshore account and he had paid for the weapons to be bought and shipped off to Fur Rivers immediately. Now, each of the Fur Hunters had a WolfStopper.
The Fur Hunters were stationed in different locations of the town. Each Fur Elders had one Fur Hunter for protection except for Caesar and Hank Woodman who had three stationed in their houses. Some of the Fur Hunters were also stationed in a few houses of the wealthiest in the town. Inwardly, he believed the town was ready for any werewolf attack now. Though the only thing that was not certain was when next the werewolves would launch another attack. But Caesar wasn’t bothered. Whenever those werewolves were ready they should come, his Fur Hunters are waiting patiently. In fact, he couldn’t wait to test that WolfStopper. Those wolves would get the greatest shock of their lives. That’s a promise.
Caesar heaved heavily and turned his mind to Selena. He smiled wickedly. He wondered what she was up to now. Since their failed wedding, he hadn’t seen her. But he knew her daily routines. He had ordered one of the Fur Hunters working for him to do some digging around in the town. The Fur Hunter had later informed him that she was working in a recently handy job outfit store owned by Lionel Williamson and once she closed for work, she headed home straight and never left her apartment till the next day. He had called the Fur Hunter off. There was no reason to follow her around anymore.
There was also some talk about her and Sam having internal issues but he wasn’t interested in that. Selena! Don’t worry, he thought, when I’m ready I’m gonna fix you! You hurt me! You damn well hurt me! You can’t escape what’s coming to you. You can’t! Just then, his cellphone rang. He picked it up from the table and looked at the screen. He hissed when he saw Ara’s name. He turned the phone off and tossed it to the table. Since they had had sex, she had left the next morning to attend to her father’s business in Devils Wept. But she had been calling. Calling really hard. Checking up on him and stuff. The whole thing bored Caesar. I will do something about her when next she comes into town. With that thought, he leaned into his chair, closed his eyes for a nap.
If Caesar had not stupidly call off the Fur Hunter tailing Selena, the Fur Hunter would have caught a whiff of her unusual visits to the woods.
****************************
While Caesar was thinking, Victor too was also thinking. As he sat on the bed, a cigarette burning between his fingers, his mind went to the past long and insufferable days and he grimaced. Cooped up in this cabin hut with no one to talk to as made him tensed and his nerves all jacked up. If it went on, sooner or later, he was going to walk through the wall. Though watching some YouTube and Netflix movies and streaming some Hard Rock and Metallica songs on Spotify, had kept him going for some time. But nothing beats having a television or radio to listen to, especially for news and important information.
He wished he had a television in the room or a radio. At least that would keep him updated about what was going on in the town. Fur Rivers did not have a local TV station. But there was a local Radio station. For Victor, a radio station would do just fine. All he needed was to be updated with the happenings in the town, that’s all. He swore under his breath and grimaced.
Even the thought of seeking out the Outcast pack did not occur to him. Of course, he had heard different howls calling out to him from some part of the woods in the night. They knew he was also in the woods with them. But Victor had a lot of axes to grind. Jack, Safiya and the Outcast Pack were not his problem right now. Fur Rivers was. A lot of things have been happening lately.
Few days ago, Selena had called him on the phone and told him in a trembling voice that there was a bounty on his head. He had been declared a wanted werewolf in Fur Rivers for the reward sum of $20,000. She had sent a picture of the bounty poster to him on iMessage. Selena had admonished him on the phone for hours telling him that his reasons for ending things with Marianna abruptly was the cause of all these.
Marianna had ratted him to her brother as a way of payback. The fact that he was a wanted man did not even move Victor. In fact, his mind didn’t even dwell on it for a second. What actually got his nerves shaken was when she had told him the bounty poster accused him of being a werewolf and also when she went on to tell him about the presence of some kind of hunters in the town known as Fur Hunters who carried a weapon known as the Wolf Stopper and these hunters were stationed all round the town even to the entrance that led into the woods. These are all what actually made him restless.
Selena had told him vehemently that she hated werewolves and the thought of them scares her more than anything. And if she ever finds out that he was a werewolf, she will get the hell away from him and he would never set his eyes on her. He took him almost two hours on the phone before he was able to convince her and assure her that he was not a werewolf and Caesar had deliberately used that term ‘werewolf’ to aggravate the whole situation. Her love for him prevailed and she had believed him. Then she had sent the picture of the weapons which had been plastered in one of the newspapers to him and a screenshot where the weapon specifications had been highlighted. What he read had startled him greatly. The Wolf Stopper sent fear into him. That particular gun was a real threat to their kind. Later on, they had ended the call but not before they had both agreed that her coming to visit Victor would have to be systematically calculated.
Selena had told him she and Sam had issues and she had stopped spending any money the old man was sending to her. Now she was working in a new small clothing store in the town which was owned by one of the Fur Elders, a Mr Williamson. He had gone on to ask her what happened between her and her father, but she had been reluctant and unwilling to say anything. Victor had left the topic alone. Then he had warned her to be careful and vigilant in her work place. They both agreed on her coming to the cabin hut every Saturday once she was done with work. Then finally, he had told her to check up on Dvorak Zimmerman before ending the call. Since then, it’s been almost four days now that they speak to each other. But he was not bothered. That’s exactly what he wanted even though she had protested against it. But Victor was not to be moved. He knew with all that was going on in the town right now, they had to be very cautious. Nothing must ever have linked Selena to him. If information ever got out that they were seeing each other, Selena would be in great danger and Victor could not bear the thought of anything happening to her. As long as they were communicating once in a while, he was fine.
He heaved heavily and dragged his eyes to the ashtray beside him. It was filled with cigarette stubs. He had been chain smoking for hours. He crushed out the cigarette in his hand and dragged his eyes to the cheap wristwatch on his wrist. The time was past eight. Today was Saturday. Selena should have closed from work and be on her way now. He eased his heavy shoulders and yawned. Then he got to his feet and walked out into the hot, stiffening darkness of the night. He peered into the thickets and trees. He kept thinking about Selena. How the hell could he ever bring himself to tell her that he was a werewolf? If she knew he was one, She would bolt. He was going to lose her for good. No doubt about it. Had he not realized that the first time they had first talked and she had told him about the attack in Sam’s bar and how terrified she was when she had seen Conan changed to a werewolf? He shook his head and grimaced. For now, he had to keep on lying to her. Either that or he would lose her. And he couldn’t let that happen.
He dragged his eyes to the long, white curvy road that led to the cabin hut. He saw something moving at a fast pace in the far distance. He narrowed his eyes, using his wolf super senses. His heart gave a lurch. It was Selena on her bicycle.