Bogeyman

The night was still. A few members of the pack had slithered off, going on a hunt. Not everyone always hunted at the same time, it always depended upon an individuals appetite. Of course Aled Phillips had been one of the few that had gone off to find an unsuspecting human to slay and drain. He was disgusting figure, one Sean never aspired to become.

That was why he was walking down a dark, deserted street in the middle of an internal battle with himself. He knew he'd rather die than kill another, but the thought of being killed by such savages chilled him to the bone. He knew that if Aled and Gavin had anything to do with his death sentence, it would be slow and painful, and the pair of them would probably torture him beforehand. His pale skin sizzled at the thought of being burned with matches or cigarettes. He had heard many horror stories that had circulated the pack about how ruthless Gavin Butler could be when pushed. It was in Aled's nature to be awful, so he figured that he'd jump at the chance to join in with such bloodthirsty acts.

"Smith!"

A familiar voice met Sean's ears and he turned around at the sound of footsteps pounding against the pavement as Ian came hurtling towards him at a speed humans could only dream of. He stopped beside him, his eyes searching Sean's face for some sort of answer. "Don't do it."

"Do what?" Sean asked.

"Do what they say," Ian spat, "I don't want you to. I don't fancy seeing you die, either, but, Sean, mate, it's what sets you apart from us. You're different. You are better than us, we're just disgusting, I mean, we kill people for our own satisfaction - "

"Ian, you can't help it. It's in your DNA to go out and kill. You're a full one of them. I'm not. I've always been the underdog, the filthy half breed."

Ian shook his head, his greasy hair shivering with the movement. He laughed bitterly. "Don't try and make up excuses for me, just because we're friends."

Sean shrugged. "I'd say the same about the rest of them. It doesn't matter if you hate me or your my best friend. It's still the same. You're designed to feed, to kill humans, even more so because your full breeds, the real deal. I'm only half, so I can fight the urges. I don't fancy killing humans anyway, not when my dad was one."

Ian inhaled sharply. "What are we gonna do? Sean, I'm not letting them hurt you."

"This is my battle. Let me fight it, yeah? You've done enough for me over the time we've been in the pack."

A sharp howling sound ripped through the airwaves. The sound of one of them, in pain, absolute agony. The howl sounded again, this time longer, louder. Sean and Ian exchanged a look before the pair of them set off in the direction of the blood curdling noise.

"It's a hell of a good thing it's too high for humans to hear, or that would've woken the whole damn neighbourhood," Ian commented, as the pair of them ran effortlessly in the direction of the painful howls.

The sound had already attracted most of the pack. Everyone was huddled in a circle, the one's at the back trying to see over heads to catch a glimpse of what was happening in the middle. Sean and Ian fought their way through, emerging at the edge of the scene. Laying before them was a figure. It was dark and slumped over, dressed head to toe in black, a pool of crimson blood was pouring from the creature's abdomen.

Ian stepped forward, gently rolling the creature over onto it's back, turning the face to see who it was. Gasps emitted around the crowd as they took in the familiar dark eyes, wide open with fear, blood bubbling up in the open mouth. The creature coughed, struggling to breathe, choking. Ian sat back and watched as the creature took it's last dying breath, before becoming completely motionless.

"Move out of the way!" Gavin Butler's sharp voice called, as the pack members stepped aside, allowing Gavin and John to step into the clearing and observe the scene.

John bent down on the other side of the body, glancing at Ian, before turning the face to study it properly. "Gavin Burrough, what a waste. He was a good one. Did anyone see what happened?" He rose to his feet, turning to face everyone. Silence. "I said, did anyone see what happened?" He asked again, louder this time, more demanding.

Ian rose to his feet, his fists balled up, his knuckles turning white. "Nobody saw what happened." He spoke through gritted teeth.

John's head snapped around to glare at Ian. "Watkins, no need to get snappy about it. Burrough's dead, it's a dark time for us all." He turned back to face everyone, speaking louder, clearer as he addressed his adoring crowd, "this," he pointed at Gavin's body with a gnarled fingernail, "is the picture of murder. Gavin Burrough was a decent man, he went about his own business, and didn't mess with the dynamics of the pack. He didn't deserve to die under such horrible circumstances. So, what I'm saying is, be careful, keep yourselves safe. I don't want to see this happen again." He threw his black cloak over Gavin, before addressing his son, "make sure this gets cleaned up before dawn." With those final words, he swept away.

The crowd began to diminish, everyone disappearing to go about their own business, presume hunting like everything was perfectly normal.

Sean stayed still, rooted to the ground. He hadn't really known Gavin Burrough. He'd never taken the time to speak to him. He knew he was decent, of course he killed, but as he said before, it was in the pack's nature to kill, and no matter how much Sean despised that fact, it would remain true. Out of everyone in the pack, Sean would've never chose Gavin to die, not when he didn't deserve such a horrific end.

Ian clapped him on the shoulder as they watched two members of the pack wrap Gavin's body up in John's cloak, before picking him up and carrying him in the direction of the warehouse.

"You don't think John did it, do you?" Sean asked, his voice quivering.

"Nah, not one of us that actually obeys him."

Sean swallowed hard. "Yeah, I guess not." He looked around, cautiously.

His own problems now seemed so small. There was someone out there ready to kill, and Sean wasn't sure whether that murderous being was one of his own or a lethal human, and that thought scared him to death.