TT: Hoof it 4
From Create Your Own Story
No time to lose! Gotta get back to town before dark!
Your oil's getting low, so you put out your lamp, making sure you have matches to light it again should you need. Taking a deep breath, you exit the castle. You start down the path at a steady jog. You're racing the sun, and you know it. The downhill nature of your journey helps, too. Unfortunately, you can't keep that pace up the whole way. You're starting to gasp for breath, and you slow to a walk. It's getting dark, and the forest seems somehow wilder. You can't tell how far you've gone.
When you've caught your breath, you run again, but soon it's gotten too dark for that. Fortunately, the full moon gives enough light to make out the trail. That doesn't reassure you at all. Neither does that howl. You try to tell yourself that it's just a wild animal, but you're a little worried. What if it's not just an animal? You finger your weapons, hoping you don't have to use them. Another howl, and this one's closer.
You stop and load your revolver by the light of the full moon. You're shaking a bit, so it takes longer than you had hoped. When nothing untoward happens, you light your lamp, too. What it reveals is not encouraging. Two huge, yellow eyes stare at you from a dark patch in the forest. You put down your lamp. The eyes step out from the brush, and you get a full view of the creature. It stands on two furry legs, and has a snout baring the sharpest teeth you've ever seen. Werewolf you think.
It crouches to spring. You fire one shot. The bullet hits, and the creature flinches. It growls, crouches, and goes blurry for a moment. When it come into focus again, it's changed shape. The werewolf is quadrupedal now, and resembles a giant wolf.
You chamber another shot and take aim. The werewolf begins to circle around you. You fire again, hitting the wolf in the side. It springs at you, but its leap falls short. The werewolf struggles to its feet again and limps toward you, frothing at the motuh. You fire again into its head, and the creature falls over, dead.
Its outline shimmers, and the giant wolf turns into a man. Holding your gun in front of you, you walk over to the body. It's definitely dead, and you don't recognize the man.
Another howl sounds in the woods. You have only two shots left. It may not be enough to deal with another werewolf. You pick up your light and leave the scene.
You reach the town without further incident. Tired both physically and emotionally, you enter the inn.
Herr Gauman is cleaning up. He looks up at you, obviously surprised. He gives you a once-over. It's only then that you realize you're still carrying your loaded gun, and the stake and knife are conspicuously tucked into your belt. The oil lamp you're carrying completes the ensemble.
He's silent for a moment, then he says, "My wife could launder your coat. You'll want to get that cleaned up before the stains set."
"What?" you ask, then look down at yourself. There are blood splatters on your coat. "Oh. Thank you. It's been a rough day." You take the remaining bullets out of the gun and put them on the table. You sit down.
Herr Gauman walks over and picks one up. He inspects it closely "Silver." he says. He puts the bullet down again. "That was your shot then?"
"Er... yes" you say. Everything comes out in a rush then, "I didn't mean to hurt anyone, but it attacked me, and there was nothing else I could do!"
Herr Gauman's wife enters. He says something quickly to her in Romanian. He gives your coat to her. She gestures at him and shoves the coat back with a few sharp words. He walks off with it. She sits next to you and puts her arm around you. "Honey, you did okay. It's a rare person who comes back from that place after dark, and you took one of the monsters out, too. It was one of the werewolves, I take it?" You nod. She continues, "Don't worry about it. Just get your rest tonight, and we'll help you get settled up tomorrow."
You go up to your room. You fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, and you sleep sound until the daylight wakes you. At first, you're a bit confused, but then yesterday's happenings hit you. You think on them for a while, then you make a resolution: Whatever happened yesterday, you need to get back to work on the case today.
Shouts rouse you from your thoughts. You look out your window. A few young men are carrying a body into town. Uh-oh. You rush outside.
The lads set the body down outside the inn. You look closer. It's the werewolf you killed last night. You explain. The locals look at you long faced. The rest of the day turns out to be very unproductive. They insist on calling in a priest to determine if the corpse was really a werewolf. By the end of the day though, they're satisfied. That night, they hold a party in your favor.
The day after that, everyone is your friend, and very helpful in your search for Walfried von Furchstam. Herr Gauman gives you access to Michael's room, and some of his notes give you leads. Hans calls in a favor with an official in the nearby city, and your requests for information get shunted to the front. Two days later, you've located him.
