Shadrack found the rabbit first, and toyed with it for a few moments, before sinking his jaws into the back of its neck. Hot blood filled his mouth and ran down the back of his throat. He tore the rabbit to shreds, with Sheba's help. Together they consumed it raw. It was a glorious night.

Nearby Shadrack could hear loud music, with a heavy beat, playing. He also detected the scent of marijuana, in the wind. He wondered for a moment where the music was coming from, before finishing off his portion of the rabbit. it hardly mattered. It was just some human, blowing off steam. He was a wolf, and beyond such things. Still, the smell of weed reminded him of home. He signaled to Sheba and together they ran back through the night, headed toward the RV.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the RV and Shadrack went through his transformation again. His mouth was still covered in blood. He walked into the RV, and into a haze of weed smoke. The interior was hung with tapestries, beaded curtains and silk curtains. Jimmy Hendricks was playing on his mom's little plastic radio. His mother was on the couch, laying naked on top of some man, as she smoked a joint. He looked away, and ignored her, as he always did. Going to his trunk, he pulled on a pair of pajama pants, an old t-shirt, and then brushed his teeth and washed off his face, in the tiny bathroom. Soon he was asleep, curled up with Sheba.

---

Sunday morning was not a day of rest for his mother. Her shift started at noon, which was good because she woke up late. Shadrack had already been up for hours. She walked out of the RV, wearing a red bathrobe and with a towel around her head. Shadrack looked up from the remnants of a fire. He was roasting beef franks over the coals. She pulled her camp chair up to the fire and joined him in the weenie roast.

Shadrack was wearing a black sleeveless KISS t-shirt, black combat boots and a pair of worn jeans.

"Good morning Shad." She leaned forward, looking for good coals, her metal roasting fork in hand.

"Morning Ma." He lifted his frank from the coals and ate it straight off of the fork. Sheeba looked on longingly. "Don't worry Sheba. I will make yours next."

"Did you enjoy your run last night?" She was in position now and held her fork still, over the glowing embers.

Shadrack felt like asking if she had enjoyed her shag, but did not bother. She would just laugh and roll her eyes at him anyway. He wondered how many other people's mothers did what she did, where her grown child could discover her. Not many he was guessing. "Sure," was all he said in reply.

They fell into their usually comfortable silence, as they ate. His mother lathered her hot dog and bun with loads of condiments, draw from a blue plastic cooler. They wash their food down with cheap beer, and shared a joint. It was a pretty typical morning for Shadrack.

Two hours later, after dropping his mom at the dinner, he rolled past the Baptist church, as it was letting out. Some of the good, God fearing people looked at him strangely, as he road slowly past, looking them over. Next he road into the parking lot of the library, determined to finish up his studies. The test was in a few days, and he wanted to pass this time.

Sun filtered in through a crack in the silk curtains, and from a pile of twisted sheets and luxurious duvet, came a groan. Her body ached from last night's abuse and her head ached from the alcohol. With a stumbling step, Genesis moved to the bathroom and turned the faucet for the hot water. Steam swirled up from the water as the young woman stripped and slipped into the nearly boiling water. The heat made her skin red as she soaked in it until was tolerable.

Her phone vibrated against the marble countertop and Genesis groaned. She knew it was her mother, and she knew she didn't want to speak with her. All she would do was rail against her and treat her like a child.

---

Trapped...

I wasn't where I remember being last, and when I tried to remember where that was, my head hurt more. All I could feel was cold metal around me, steel bars like a cage, and they were so cold. It was so cold in the room, I wasn't sure where my coat was, I was wearing it last thing I remembered. I closed my eyes again trying to remember what happened, but everything is blurry.

I was in the park and I was walking home, I shouldn't have been out so late, but I didn't care. Hemlock Grove was safe, especially with all those security camera's, right? And then I can't....see it clearly. It all blurs into this place, this hell I was in now. I could hear footsteps, they were getting closer. I tried to scream to them to help me, to save me, but I was so thirsty it barely came out as a squeak.

What if I die in here? I feel tears slip down my cheeks as a mechanical whirring sound behind me buzzes to my attention. The small cage they had me in lifted up, and I felt the chains attached to my legs and arms start to stretch. I whimpered but nothing happened until I was spread eagle on the cold metal floor. The place was still pitch black, and when I heard the door open, I knew nothing good was about to happen.

Sherrif Roland Weis was having a horrible weekend. He sat in the little sheriff's department, staring at a picture of his wife. She had left him the day before, without notice. He had arrived home from a long twelve hour shift, to find her clothing, her mementos and herself gone. She was at her mom's according to the note, in Ohio. Her note said that she was leaving him because he worked to much and put the job before her. He knew it was more than that. They had been having problems for a few years now, and the complaints about his hours were only the tip of the iceberg.

He sat at his desk, with rolled up sleeves and a suit vest. His solid, forty something face had looked a decade older than he was, since he found the note. His salt and pepper hair had not been washed and he had a five o'clock shadow on his firm chin. His brown eyes were red from lack of sleep and crying.

The morning had been mercifully quiet. His deputies were out on patrol and had not reported any disturbances. One of them was out checking on the newest residents of Hemlock Grove, making sure their permits and such were all in order. He had trouble enough without having travelers in his town, but they were not doing anything illegal, that he knew of anyway.

A half eaten ham and cheese sandwich sat on his cluttered desk, next to a can of warm Coke. He had not had much of an appetite today. A full ashtray was next to it. Normally he was only a half a pack a day man, but he was already on his second pack of Marlboro lights.His depression and picture staring were interrupted by a chirp on his radio. He answered it.

"Sheriff Weis here."

"Deputy Rainford here. We've got trouble out on Warren Road. I just got a call from my brother Steve. He says he's found a body, about a quarter mile away from those new residents. A young woman, naked and pretty mangled. I'm going up there to check it out now. Just wanted to keep you informed."

The sheriff did not respond for a moment, and the reached for his hat. "I'll met you up there Stephanie. Give me about fifteen minutes." He did not really want to see a dead body, but it was better than staring at the picture of his beautiful wife and wishing that she still loved him.

---

Steve Rainford stood staring at the body he had found. She looked only about nineteen and probably had been beautiful, before whatever had happened to her happened. He could tell she had been blonde, but could not see her face. It was half hidden by a a bush, and he knew better than to move anything. The body was hog tied and had signs of burn wounds, lacerations and even some missing skin. All in all, her death must have been terrible.

He adjusted his flannel shirt uncomfortably, as he said a pray for her soul, and crossed himself. Hell, he might have even taught her, at some point. He was a biology teacher at Hemlock Grove High. Steve was a lean man, with muscles developed from hiking and running. He had long, brown hair, which hung loose around his shoulders. His blue eyes were filled with tears, as he waited for his sister to arrive. His walking stick was clenched in one hand and he wanted to beat whoever did this with it, despite the fact that he was a pacifist.

---

When he was done at the library, Shadrack decided to take a walk over to the dinner, to check on his mother and to have a milkshake. He left his motorbike in the parking lot and hoofed it along Main Street. Along the way, he passed a bookstore. He paused in front of the store window. Conrad Taylor's newest thriller, A Sensible Killing, was on display. It had a lurkid cover, with a half naked woman with yakuza tattoos, clutching a bloody dagger.

Stepping into the shop, he spotted the woman behind the desk. She was a short, fat lady, with a pretty smile.

"How can I help you?"

"Reports are saying this girl was mauled by the black bears recently sighted in the area. No one witnessed the attack and a hole was pointed out in the Jones' surveillance in the Hemlock Grove. Some are asking what the real point of them is when they aren't where they are needed..." The reporter signed off and soon sent the news anchor safe in the studio a wave back to taking charge. Genesis rolled her eyes as she flipped around the channels. Her cameras had stayed out of certain places because of privacy issues. They were mostly centered on the major roads and municipal places.

With a shrug Genesis lit a cigarette. Her mother was due back late tonight, not that Genesis would ever fathom staying up to wait for her. No, tomorrow she would wake up early and Jamison would chauffeur her to the college and drop her off. She would sign up for mostly fluff classes and one or two science classes to keep her mother off her back. Genesis was smart, smart enough to know just how much she would need to do to get by. On bare feet she padded through the empty house, the cigarette still between her lips as she pushed open the heavy wood and wrought iron doors.

The evening wasn't so late yet for it to be pitch black out, but it was the sky was darkening. Genesis leaned against the open door as she stared out over the grounds. Her thoughts trailed back to Shad, the guy she'd met at the diner. She hadn't seen him since their first meeting, but her determination to have him hadn't faded. As she inhaled on her cig she made a note to not stay up too late before closing the door behind her. With her cig perched between her lips, the young woman made her way to the greenhouse and disappeared within. She was going to go through the footage, maybe if she found something for the city they wouldn't be such harsh critics of her cameras.

Shadrack was sitting outside his Winnebago, playing spades with his mother, on a small folding table, when he saw a police car pulling up to their lot. It was a black and white sedan. An officer stepped out of the car and started toward them. She had brown hair, tied back in a bun, dark sunglasses and a gray uniform. Her figure was lean and muscular. She wore a service revolver on one hip and a mag light on the other. Despite the lateness of the evening, the officer was easy to see because of flood lights mounted on the RV.

She approached them slowly and cautiously, as if she were unsure of her reception, or she worried that they would be dangerous. Shadrack had seen this visit coming. She was here to check on the gypsy and to try to influence them to find another place to stay.

Her voice was authoritative as she called to them. "Are you Sharon and Shadrack Rumancek?" Her arms were crossed over a modest chest.

They both nodded together, and Sharon called out. "That's us officer. Is there something we can do for you?"

The officer shifted her weight and looked them over with a critical eye. Her gaze seemed to rest more on Shadrack than his mother. "I have some questions for you."

"What's this about officer?" Shadrack leaned forward in his camp chair and put his cards down on the table.

"I'm not at liberty to say. I just need for you to answer my questions."

Shadrack nodded his agreement. He had nothing to hide. It hardly mattered. The police were always harassing them, even if they did not have just cause. He was, unfortunately, used to such treatment.

"Where were you both earlier today."

Sharon started. "I was at the dinner working and then my son picked me up at seven when my shift was over."

Shadrack said "I was studying at the library until about six fifty and then I went to collect my ma."

The officer nodded, "And did you come straight home after that, or did you make any other stops.

Sharon answered. "No officer, we did not stop. We came straight home."

The officer did not seemed convinced, though it was hard to tell without being able to see her eyes. She wrote their answers down in a little log book.

"Did either of you see a stranger come through her, walking or jogging? She would have been blonde."

Shadrac did not like where this was going. These were not the standard questions. Something bad had happened. He shook his head. "No, I did not see anyone else, but ma and me." His mother nodded in agreement. The police officer, whose name badge said Stephanie Rainford, was scared. Shadrack could smell her fear. She was prey, to the wolf. The wolf wanted to change and to track her down and eat her. He had control of his inner wolf, most of the time, except when the full moon came. The closer to the full moon, the more difficult it was to control it. Fortunately it would be another week until the next full moon.

"And your sure you came straight home. You did not stop off for groceries, or pick up any hitchhikers?" Sharon and Shadrack nodded.

Sharon laid her cards down as well. "Officer, what is it that your not telling us?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, but I would be obliged if you would both come down to the station with me, so that the sheriff can question you. Any little thing out of the ordinary that you remember could be critical."

Neither of them took is as a request, but as the polite order that it was Sharon was allowed into the RV for a moment, to grab a jeans jacket for her and her son, and then they loaded themselves in the back of the squad car.

---

A darkly dressed man, with a deep hood over his face, watched from the edge of the treeline. It seemed that the gypsies were under suspicion for the little craft project he had recently undertaken. Excellent. They would make good patsies. His work was not yet done. The demon Azreal still had to be appeased, and that meant that another craft project would been needed. With the police concentrating their efforts on the boy, he would be more free to look for the perfect opportunity.

As the night stretched on, Genesis sat before the glowing screen of her computer. Her nimble fingers flew over the keys as she worked at trying to find any footage of the poor girl who had been mauled. After seeing some of the pictures of the body, by way of hacking into the Hemlock Grove Police database, she wasn't convinced that this had been a bear attack. Bent over the keyboard, the young woman didn't notice as the ashes fell on the keys, and pretty much dusted everything on her dark wood desk. Hacking into the P.D.'s server had been a snap, but trying to figure out where the girl had last been seen was a bit more tricky.

Her mouse clicked open different documents as she reviewed the files. Her little sister, Maisy, had been the last person to see the young woman, Jordan had been her name. Typical blonde, Genesis could remember seeing her around town from time to time, but the two had never spoken. It wasn't unusual, Genesis was seen as the bad girl and most teens had been warned to stay away from her, but it still smarted Genesis from time to time. Pushing her feelings aside, Genesis continued to read the police reports, trying to piece together the story.

And then she found it....

Evidence of peri-mortem bruising around the ankles and wrists suggest victim was bound at or near time of death. Upon further inspection, the deepening of bruising further suggests she had been held for likely a few hours in a splayed state. Some portions of the victim's body showed signs of missing skin, all the way to the superficial muscle....

Genesis blinked, they had lied. Someone had captured and tortured this poor girl. They had avoided such claims as not to scare the little town, but now that Genesis knew the truth, she itched to find the bastard who had done it. As she stubbed out her nearly spent cigarette, she lit another one. Tonight would be long, but she would find SOMETHING to point at who did this, she was sure.

Sheena discovered there was a killer in town, over the lunch table. Her mother, Shirley Anne Miller, was the police dispatcher and had taken the call herself. Her mom had all of the gory details, which were not published in the papers. The whole thing made Sheena shudder.

Mother was eating her second peanut butter and banana sandwich, as she told the story, lingering over the more lurid details. Sheena did not feel hungry, as a result. Mother was a bigger woman, with fake blonde hair. She was wearing a pink track suit and getting ready to go to bed. She worked the night shift.

"And then they brought in that gypsy boy and his mother! Well the sheriff was in talking to them for the longest time. I can't imagine what they were talking about!"

Shadrack? Sheena suddenly felt sick. Did the police suspect Shadrack? If they did, it was because they did not know him the way she did. They did not have a connection, like she and Shadrack shared.

"I got to go Mom." Sheena dropped her uneaten sandwich onto her plate and bolted out the door, pausing only long enough to grab an umbrella. The forecast was calling for scattered thundershowers.

"Just watch yourself out there? They let that boy go you know!" Her mother shouted after her.

Sheena jumped on her moped and speed off toward town. She would try the library first, to see it he was there. If he wasn't there, she would try the dinner. Her cousin had told her that his mother worked there now, as a waitress. He would need her support!

---

Shadrack sat in the dinner, scarfing an order of curly fries, when Sheena walked in. She was wearing the same pair of spectacles, a short checkered skirt and a red blouse. Under her arm was tucked an umbrella. She rushed over to him and laid a hand on his arm.

"Oh Shadrack, I heard that they hauled you into the police station. How unjust!" The entire dinner heard her words, and paused it's activities. She slid in next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.

Shadrack had survived the police questioning without to much of a problem. He was used to the routine. When something was stolen, or missing, or destroyed, you called in the usual suspects, which always seemed to include him. It had shaken him when they showed him the pictures of the victim. His mother had actually throw up on the investigator's desk, which effectively ended the interview.

He pulled over a little in the booth, to get some space from Sheena. "No worries. They were just talking to us about it because it happened out near our place." He patted Sheena's arm awkwardly. "Thanks for the concern though Sheena."

"So," she started, stealing one of his fries. "I'm free and your free. How about that tour of the town I promised you?" She was looking at him with a hopeful expression. From the corner of his eye, he spotted his mother at the bar, cleaning it with a rag and spying on him. She shook her head yes. Thanks ma, he thought.

"O.K., where do you want to start?"

She did not hesitate. "The Historical Society Museum! Your gonna love it." She seemed pleased and excited. Shadrack did not have the heart to back out of it now.

"Sure Sheena. Just let me finish my fries."

Twenty minutes later they approached an old Victorian house, on the corner of Main and Walnut. It had two gables, a wide wrap around front porch and a neatly cut hedge around its entire lot. The siding was painted a creamy white and the architectural details were painted robin's egg blue. Sheena all but dragged him up the stairs, chattering the whole way.

"My great, great, great grandfather build this house with his own hands. It was in my family for nearly one hundred years, before we sold it to the city to make into a museum."