The clock on the mantel chimed midnight, the day had passed and nothing had happened. Everyone in the cabin was exhausted, the entire tense day had drained their energy. Jack was next to Ophelia staring out the front window, " What are they waiting for?" asked Ophelia, " I mean just come at us and get it over."
As if granting Ophelia's wishes howls began to echo from all directions snapping everyone from their sleepy daze. Everyone was in the living room, " You think that is just coyotes?" asked Ray.
" Maybe not, but werewolves, please" said Molly.
The howling slowly died off, " Great now they are fucking with our heads" said Daniella.
Both Sasha and Derek put their hands over Daniella's mouth as their attention followed Ophelia and Malcolm's as they pointed to the roof. Everyone strained their ears desperately trying to hear anything. Slowly as silence once again filled the air they could heard soft footfalls on the roof. " Upstairs" hissed Ray.
Everyone started to gently move towards the stairway. Movement was extremely slow due to the fact that everyone except Daniella was wearing boots with heavy soles. After what felt like an eternity they reached the base of stairs, Ophelia nodded and slipped a throwing dagger out and it started to glow with fire racing along the blade. Suddenly a loud creak splintered the silence moments before the door exploded into pieces. The werewolf leapt down the stairs and caught the Ophelia's flaming dagger straight in the left eye and two bullets from Jack and Sasha. Suddenly howls began to echo again but this time it was just outside the cabin. Windows were shattered and long shaggy arms began to rip the frames out. Everyone rushed to each window and began to pour fire out the window at the attackers.
The werewolves fled into the forest, " Happy now?" asked Ray, " does this look like a fucking coyote?"
" God you always have to be right don't you" snapped Molly, " you're right and guess what we're all fucking screwed anyways, guess when you get your guts munched on you can enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that you were right."
" Why don't you go upstairs and bitch to the walls" snapped Ray, " bout all you're good at."
" Why don't both of you just shut up" said Malcolm, " we have bigger problems right now."
Another howl echoed through the night and suddenly a great force slammed into the door making everyone jump. Another slam made the entire wall shake, " Are they trying to ram through the door?" asked Daniella.
" They're messing with us" said Derek, " taking our attention away from something else."
There was a great shatter of glass and Ophelia screamed. Everyone spun to see Ophelia laying motionless on the floor, a werewolf standing over her, a piece of the window frame hanging around his thick neck, his eyes staring directly at Daniella. She grabbed the pot off the stove and hurled it into the werewolf's face. The water let off a great hiss that was almost as loud as the werewolf screamed. Daniella proceeded to wildly attack the werewolf with the pot. She struck left and right in his face and pushed him through the window. Derek raced to her side and fired. Malcolm and John were at Ophelia's side gently lifting her up. Blood was running down her head, " You okay?" asked John.
" I have the strangest sensation I'm bleeding" said Ophelia, " and I wish someone would stop the room from spinning."
More glass shattered and Jack began to swear and fire his rifle. Another werewolf came through the kitchen window. Malcolm and John tried to fight him back as Sasha and Derek tried to secure the other windows.
Ray and Molly just stood there, their jaws slack at what was going on around them. Another howl echoed through the night, this one was higher pitched than the previous ones. Molly softly began to laugh, " Now what?" asked Ray.
" Oh, nothing" said Molly in a deep sinister voice.
Ray turned and felt blades slicing into his throat. Blood rushed into Ray's throat as he desperately tried to warn the others. He dropped to his knee trying to grab at Molly who easily brushed him off. He dropped to the ground, and watched as Molly unlocked the front door.
Everyone heard the last lock click open, it sounded like a cannon shot. They saw Molly started to transform, she had been waiting for her moment and she had struck. She was laughing in a deep gravely voice, " You're all doomed now" she laughed.
A bullet from Derek's rifle ripped through her face, splattering the contents of her skull on the wooden cabin wall. The door burst open and a werewolf missing an ear entered. Sasha broke free of the werewolf she was dealing with and dove into the middle of the room. Sasha hit the ground right under the werewolf with the missing ear. A smile crossed his face looking down at Sasha. Sasha jammed her rifle under the werewolf's chin and squeezed the trigger.
Boom, the top werewolf's head exploded. All the other werewolves began to howl and one by one they all left. " Did we just win?" asked Ophelia, a dish towel clutched to the side of her head.
Sasha patted the werewolf on the cheek and took his necklaces off. " Nope just demoralized them rather badly" said Sasha, " this was the alpha male, they have no leader now, I doubt there is much fight left in them."
" Doubt?" asked John, " we aren't sure?"
" When you kill their leader the pack retreats but the ways things have been going on this one, I just don't know" said Sasha.
" Let's error on the side of caution and stay here until first light" said Malcolm, " then we can start to hike out of here."
They quickly began to secure the doors and windows with whatever they had handy. The table was jammed against the window and several logs from the fireplace kept the front door on. They all stayed in the living room in a tight circle watching the clock on the mantel slowly tick down to dawn amid the carnage of the attack.

Jenna and Melinda navigated the rickety old staircase, each step groaned enough that they thought the entire staircase would disintegrate underneath them. They finally survived the four floor climb and found themselves in a narrow stinking hallway. The wallpaper was peeling and the carpet was stained dozens of different colours. " Nice place" said Jenna.
The walked to the end of the short hall to 4-4 and knocked. The door opened and fat man with very greasy brown hair wearing a sweat stained Dungeon and Dragon Convention 86 t-shirt answered. His dull brown eyes glittered as he greedily eyed up both women. " Hello" he said in his best attempt at suave, which came off nasal and almost comical, " I'm Harold Knox, who may I help you two lovely ladies?"
" We're with the LAPD" said Melinda, " we have a few questions about your weaponry business."
" Hey, I've almost got that whole mess with the museum sorted out" said Harry, " I'm clean, I swear."
" Then what's all that?" asked Jenna pointing to the weaponry on the wall.
" I can still sell in Nevada, Arizona, and at conventions" he protested, " I don't buy from anybody but licensed guys anymore, come on don't be this way, I ain't done nothing wrong."
" You sell many daggers?" asked Melinda.
" Lots" said Harry, " my customers like them the most."
" Any French?" asked Jenna.
" Yah some, I bought a set from a collector in Arizona a few months back" said Harry, " authentic 17th century gentlemen's daggers."
" How many of those have you sold?" asked Melinda.
" Two" he said, " I sold them at Dragon Con, what the hell is going on? They weren't stolen I swear."
" One of your daggers was probably used to butcher a young woman in West Hollywood" said Jenna.
" Whoa, no way" he said, " one of these things killed somebody, oh shit, there goes my license again."
" Who did you sell them to?" asked Melinda.
" Look before this gets out of hand, I sell this stuff to guys that play roleplaying games. These guys like to stage sword fights to make them feel more a part of the game, no way any of these guys actually killed somebody" said Harry.
" Just tell me who bought the daggers" said Melinda.
" I sold one to a regular customer of mine, Paul Monto, he goes to UCLA" said Harry, " other guy was a new guy, had a Boston Accent, blonde."
" Anything else?" asked Jenna.
" Um, yah he had on this strange necklace, it was this circle with a strange looking symbol inside of it" said Harry, " I asked him about it and he simply chuckled and said I wouldn't understand like it was some big secret."
" Can you describe him to a sketch artist?" asked Melinda.
" Not really" said Harry, " he was really normal except for the necklace."
" Okay, but we want the other daggers of that set to test" said Jenna, " here is a receipt for them."
" Okay" said Harry, rather dejected.
He walked into the apartment, " Maybe you should show a little leg in exchange for the daggers" joked Jenna.
" I'm wearing a thong maybe I should drop my keys and kneel down to pick them up" said Melinda.
" Probably shoot blood from his nose and then die of a hemorrhage" said Jenna.
Harry came back with two long wicked looking daggers, " Thank you" said Jenna, " they will be returned soon as possible."
" No problem" said Harry.
Jenna and Melinda exited the rundown old apartment building and started back to Parker Center.

Thunder rumbled over the heads of Malcolm and company as they cautiously crept through the woods, all of them ready for an attack by the werewolves any moment. Ophelia was in the middle, her head wrapped in dish towels and duct tape because they had lost all their large bandages when the werewolves attack at the first camp site. " Okay?" asked Malcolm, helping Ophelia along.
" My head is killing me" said Ophelia, " at least I can still see."
" That's the way to look at it" said Jack, " and hey now with Malcolm you don't need to worry about your looks."
Ophelia playfully punched Jack, their light conversation helping in breaking the tension in the group. They crested a ridge and as they started into the next valley it began to rain. Large drops splattering on the tree leaves above their head. They continue to walk on as the rain began to fall harder and harder, so hard it began to sound like gun shots hitting the summer leaves. They began to hear real gun shots echoing through the hills and valleys making them all hit the muddy ground. " Now what?" whispered Daniella.
" Maybe it's the Markosas?" suggested John.
" That's all we need" said Derek, " we have almost no ammunition, we're exhausted, and covered in mud."
" Let's keep moving" said Jack, " I'm less worried about the Markosas than I am about our furry friends."
They slowly got to their exhausted legs and stumbled on through the ever deepening mud. Ophelia could feel presences all around but it could either be an army of werewolves or the fact that her head refused to stop hurting. They slowly reached the bottom of the valley and they all came to a complete stop. There on the next ridge line were twenty werewolves standing next to one another. " Oh shit" said Sasha, " I think we've had it."
For several minutes no one moved, everyone waited for some one to blink. Slowly one by one each werewolf began to howl and slowly began to morph. They watched as the werewolves slowly returned to their human form. A woman, clad in several necklace and nothing else slowly descended the hill to the group. " You have proven yourself to be great warriors" she said, " we are returning to the desert, with our former leader no more we are free to return to where we belong. Do not fear we have concluded our alliance with the Markosas."
She threw a severed hand on the ground, " They are in no position to bother you again. Today the Iliescu Tribe has made a friend with our pact" she said.
" Thank you" said Sasha, holding up the taken necklaces from the previous leader, " I believe these belong to you."
" They are yours" said the female, " I will earn my own. Farewell."
The female slowly walked up to the others and they slowly vanished over the ridge. The female turned and waved before disappearing from sight. Everyone let off a long exhale and started hugging one another. " God I can't believe I survived this" said Daniella, " thank you so much all of you, I wish there was a way to repay all of you."
" Invite us out to Pacific Palisades sometime" said Sasha, " we never have been out there."
" Certainly" said Daniella, " I would love to have all of you at my place, just a way to repay for saving me."
" Lets go back to civilization" said Ophelia, " the only plants I want to see are the two half dead plants in my apartment for at least a month."
" I agree" said John, " let's get going."
The started off again with a renewed sense of energy knowing that now their task was completed, the werewolves were returning to the desert, the Markosas were in pretty bad shape and they all made it out alive.
It took most of the day to hike out of the forest and reach where they had parked the Jeep. They followed Daniella's directions out to Pacific Palisades, to a very nice beach house. Once they were inside and Ophelia's wound was taken care of they all passed out about the living room, sleeping soundly for the first time all week.