The Other Side of the Tracks

Posted on February 20th, 2008 by Jaybo.
Categories: Jaybo.

Moonlight - Chapter 9

David didn’t spend long in the convenience store. Leaving the van for any considerable amount of time left his partner unattended and that was strictly forbidden by the Agency. But he only wanted a coffee and bottled water for the evening stake out outside the high school. It wasn’t like he was going to a movie. He opened his wallet only to find a $100.

“Hey man, can you break a Franklin,” David asked the cashier. The cashier was a teenage dropout with piercings all over his face. The boy lowered the magazine he was reading just enough to meet David’s eye. Even from that point David could see he was pissed.

“Can you break it or what?” David asked again. The cashier, acting as though he had been asked to lift the weight of the world onto his shoulders, got up and opened the register.

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Eddie laid back inside the van continuing to take the scents in. His long snout combed the air looking for the one that didn’t fit. He would know it when he found it. Normal men and women would walk by and an uneasy feeling would overcome them; even they could sense the hidden thing. Eddie didn’t need that though. He would be able to smell him blocks away. The stench of a rancid infection just below the surface. Hiding. Waiting for its time to be called forward.

The duties of the Wolves and Handlers when above ground were usually delegated to evening hours. They were more easily hidden by the night and far less suspicious. It was rare to find them in broad daylight amongst the rest of the world. But unusual and urgent circumstances meant a change in priority.

A renegade wolf was in the city. He had already killed over 35 people (per the sewer dams body count) and that number would only rise. Eddie and David knew their duties and were ready for the night. Identify and apprehend. Teams were spread throughout the city and could respond with 15 minutes when called. They wouldn’t attempt to apprehend such a powerful Wolf themselves. To many Handlers and Wolves had lost their lives that way.

Eddie pushed down the black hair on his snout and relaxed, taking in the air that the van’s ventilation system provided him.

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David walked back to the van with his bottled water and hot coffee. The cashier had enough cash in the register to break the hundred, he just didn’t want to be disturbed from his recreation. David was still irritated that the boy behind the counter had given him such a hassle, but was attributing his anger to the headache that was beginning to surface. Even after years of training and medication, David still found it difficult to keep his anger under control when his symptoms surfaced.

He stuffed the water bottle into his front coat pocket and took his free hand and grabbed his pills out of the inside of the coat. With slight of hand, as he had done countless times before, he opened pill bottle with one hand and tossed another pill to the back of his mouth. Another one for the road, he thought as the flavor of the meds began to assault his taste buds. He didn’t even groan anymore when it happened. At the beginning his gag reflex was so bad it took him 10 tries before finally getting one down his throat. He shut thebottle and grabbed the water out of his coat and washed the medicine down.

David crawled into the front seat when he reached the van. The front and back of the van were separated by a reinforced wall that, when push came to shove, was more about keeping people out than keeping the Wolf in. The back of the van was essentially a secured cage that would hold a Wolf for some time, but not for long.

“Anything weird yet,” David asked. Eddie just snorted his response.
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Over two hours passed while the Handler and Wolf waited outside the high school. They mostly sat in silence. Eddie knew David’s life outside of the pen was barren and empty and so no need to ask him about it. On the other side, Eddie’s life inside the Pen was even more mundane. David would occasionally talk about his past life prior to coming to work for the agency, but never in great detail. And though David knew of Eddie’s change and his past life, he knew better than to broach the subject with him. The deep pain of separating from life and family was almost too much for the Wolf to bear.

As David and Eddie sat in the van, the basketball game inside the school gym was wrapping up and people were beginning to move around. A few blocks away and unsuspecting man sat calmly on a bench reading a paper waiting for the people inside to make their way home. His gloves and long sleeve shirt covered the scaring from the burns on his arms and hands. He had only been there 5 minutes and though Eddie’s snout was good, it couldn’t work against the wind that was blowing towards the stranger.

The people from the game began to exit the school and go to their cars. Around 300 people poured into the New York City night. Eddie’s nose covered them all, looking, smelling, searching. The scent of a house cat on a woman’s coat, beer on a 17 year old, a girl’s perfume… and in a moment’s notice a new scent entered the van. It wasn’t anything special to Eddie, just something familiar. And before he could analyze the thought the wind changed direction and the smell of the intruder caused Eddie to move.

“He’s here,” said Eddie.

“What?”

“He’s here, I said,” Eddie growled at David.

“Do you have an area?”

“The wind switched directions. He’s three to five blocks to the north.”

David got out of the front seat and hit the street.

“Eddie,” David whispered in his com, “I got people all over the place out here. I’m gonna need something more.”

“Keep heading north. I’ll track your scent and let you know when you get closer.”

David looked around. There were people everywhere. The renegade had waited until the sheep were let out of the pen. He knew exactly where to be and at what time. Smart, David thought. David turned to head north and ran straight into an boy.

“Oh man… I’m sor…” David didn’t even get to finish his sentence.

“No problem,” the kid said.

David’s eyes were locked with the boys. He had run straight into Luke Francisco.

“Oh s***,” David whispered.

This caught Luke off guard; but worse, it brought the situation to Eddie’s attention.

“What happened?” Eddie asked.

“Nothing. I’m heading north.”

“What?” Luke asked David, not understanding he wasn’t speaking with him.

“What’s going on?” Eddie asked. He turned on the monitor in the back of the van to observe David. What he was his son. The familiar scent came flooding back to him.

Eddie’s heart began to race and his eyes widened. “Luke!” Eddie shouted from inside the van. The sound proof walls held it in, but David could already sense the trouble.

“It’s alright kid,” David told Luke, and moved on.

Luke began to walk away and David whispered into the com, “Hold it together, Eddie…”

“Luke!” Eddie shouted from inside the van. From outside the van had begun to rock as Eddie moved around to get a better view of his son.

“Eddie, quit moving and calm down. We’ve got to head north.” It was wothless to think that would work.

“LUKE!” Eddie roared from inside the van. The vibrations from the Wolf’s voice shook the outer shell like a subwoofer.

“Damn it Eddie. Don’t make me do this!” he shouted. People around him stared.

“LUKE!” The van was now beginning to rock and vibrate. People were watching it while they walked passed it, giving it a wide berth.

David sat down on the steps to the high school, knowing the situation had already gone to far and put his head in his hands. “Your gonna hate me tomorrow,” David whispered. The Handler opened his mind and touched the Wolf inside the van. Before Eddie could tear the van apart, the Wolf’s eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed on the floor. Eddie’s body quietly convulsed while David bent his will with his mind in an attempt to keep his friend and partner under control. He had to hold Eddie until everyone left the area.

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Going home, two 16 year old girls talked about the basketball game they had just left, boys and how they hated cheerleaders. They laughed at each other’s jokes and never once noticed the huge man who had quietly followed them for two blocks.

It was a shock when he grabbed them from behind.

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