What Lurks in the Darkness?

For Bryce Fields, a detective with a decade under his belt, it was originally going to be a typical day on the job. He got the call moments after it happened: a young woman murdered as she was attempting to enter her car. It's nothing that Bryce hasn't seen before. He's been through a lot during his profession. However, he was not prepared for what he would see.

"Oh my...what did this?!"

"Don't you mean, 'who'?" asked Clarice Henley, a captain on the force.

"No, no, no," said Bryce. "This doesn't look like anything human did this." Bryce had a point. The woman, revealed to be named Maddie Schayes, appeared to have her throat slashed, but it clearly didn't look like a typical weapon caused those lacerations. Bryce said it himself:

"It looks like a wild animal killed Maddie!"

"A wild animal?" asked Clarice. "In Pittsburgh?"

"You've never been to a Pens/Flyers game, have ya?" Bryce asked humorously, which drew a slight chuckle from Clarice, whose cellphone started to ring. After answering, Clarice was on the line for just a few seconds before suddenly handing the phone to her lead detective.

"It's for you."

A bewildered Bryce took the phone, wondering who could be calling him. Even more confusing, Bryce heard a woman's voice referring to him by name.

"Detective Bryce Fields, my name is Kaitlyn Walker, and I believe I have some insight regarding this very case."

The call actually led to a meeting between Bryce and Kaitlyn at the home of the latter, with Bryce agreeing to do so despite still being quite puzzled over receiving such a random call. Bryce appeared at Kaitlyn's home not knowing what to expect from his caller, but even so, he didn't think he would hear what came from Kaitlyn regarding his case.

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me, Detective," said Kaitlyn. "I know what killed Maddie. What you are looking for is a werewolf."

"Mrs. Walker...," said Bryce.

"No need to be so formal," Kaitlyn said with a smile. "Call me Kaitlyn."

"Uh-huh," said Bryce. "But anyway, you can't be serious."

"It's the only answer," said Kaitlyn. "I'm only telling you what you need to know."

"What you're telling me is impossible!" exclaimed Bryce. "Werewolves do not exist."

"Are you sure about that, Detective?" asked Kaitlyn. "I mean, from what I know, nothing completely human could have done this. What else do you think could it be?"

"I don't know," answered Bryce. "But I can assure you, it's not a werewolf. I'll stake my Bucs fandom on it."

The following night appeared to be the same as the previous one: typical evening, moonlit setting, people heading home--either on foot or on the road. For the most part, it was a quiet scene. Until...

"HELP ME!!!"

A woman's loud cry for help drew the attention of a passer-by, but by the time that person arrived, it was too late. The woman was deceased, with the cause being the same as the case with Maddie Schayes, but after Bryce and Clarice arrived on the call, he received a description from the citizen, named Darren Paulson. As Darren revealed, he couldn't get a good look at the figure, but it didn't look human, and he actually heard a howl afterwards.

Bryce stood stunned over that last part, because that led him back to Kaitlyn, who he would contact and ask her to stop by the precinct on the following day. Kaitlyn was happy to oblige, under the condition that she would only speak to Bryce. Sure enough, the following day came, and Kaitlyn appeared at the precinct and met with Bryce, though as Bryce noticed, Kaitlyn had quite the confident aura about her.

"I knew you'd call back," said Kaitlyn.

"All right, all right," said Bryce. "Look, I'm man enough to admit it. You were right. There is a werewolf on the loose. So tell me what you know?"

"I can tell you who it is," said Kaitlyn. "After all, I'm married to him. Well...I was. You are familiar with James Walker?"

"The big time college professor?" asked Bryce.

"Yes," replied Kaitlyn.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Bryce. "I mean, I don't know him personally, but from what I've seen, he seems...well...quiet."

"I thought so, too," Kaitlyn said, "but it took two years of being with James to see what a monster he is...literally. I finally had enough and got out, but I'll never forget those piercing, yellow eyes when I last saw him. All of a sudden, two women are killed, and I've been on the receiving end of threats!"

"And you're sure it's your husband?" asked Bryce.

"I know it is!" said Kaitlyn. "Those two women who were killed, Maddie and Brianna? They're his students, and his lovers. Just disgusting."

Bryce left the interrogation with quite a bit of information, though he did find it a bit peculiar that Kaitlyn had so much immense knowledge of the case. He didn't think too much of it on his way to the home of James Walker, doing so after contacting him and arranging this meeting. Bryce knew that James was a big deal, so he had to tread carefully.

"James Walker?" said Bryce. "Detective Bryce Fields."

"Yes, we called earlier," James said as Bryce entered the house. It was quite a lavish setting, but Bryce could not focus on his surroundings at the moment.

"I'll get right to the point," said Bryce. "Maddie Schayes and Brianna Young. They were your students, yes?"

"Correct," replied James.

"Were you ever...involved with them?" asked Bryce.

"What?!" James shouted indignantly.

"Professor Walker, I'm sorry," Bryce explained, "but given your connection to the victims, it's a fair question to ask." James was at a loss for words regarding the questions he was being asked; he was actually accused of being in illicit relationships with a pair of his college students, and it led to James asking the question that was on Bryce's mind.

"Detective, are you accusing me of killing those girls?"

"I'm just trying to get all of the facts together," Bryce said before walking towards a photo that suddenly caught his attention. It was James posed with a woman, and it was quite a warm and romantic pose, which puzzled the detective. "Professor Walker," he asked, pointing at the photo, "who is this woman?"

"That's my wife," answered James.

"Wait, that's your wife?!" a shocked Bryce asked. "That's Kaitlyn Walker?"

"Kaitlyn?!" asked James. "Oh no..." A look of horror suddenly appeared on the face of the usually strong professor, and Bryce quickly noticed it. Bryce has seen a lot in his time as a detective, and it gave him an ability to read expressions. Hearing Kaitlyn's name brought James back to a place that he did not want to return to, and Bryce knew this.

"Who's Kaitlyn to you, Professor?" asked Bryce.

"James," replied James. "With what I'm about to tell you, we may as well drop the formalities. Kaitlyn was my assistant, but I absolutely regret hiring her. Two years. That's how long she lasted, but within a week, she was flirting with me. I'm a married man, I thought nothing of it at first, but it continued on and on for days. Then weeks. Then months. And then, about a few months ago..."

"What happened?" asked Bryce.

"We went on a class trip to a Midwestern village, and that's when things changed. Kaitlyn changed. Something happened to her, but she never told me what. All I know is that she became more aggressive in her flirting, even made pleas for me to leave Judith. I had to fire her. But I'll never forget that sight."

"What sight?" asked Bryce. "Let me guess: piercing, yellow eyes."

Later That Night

"Hello?"

"Ms. Chadwick?" said Bryce.

"So formal, Bryce," Kaitlyn said coyly.

"Well, I did speak to your...ahem...'husband'," Bryce replied, "and I did learn a few things. Your actual last name, for one."

"So you spoke to James, I see," said Kaitlyn.

"Yeah, and he had quite a bit to say," said Bryce. "It was quite a revealing chat. I think you and I may have to talk again at the station." Kaitlyn stood silent following Bryce's statements, mostly because her world was suddenly starting to crash down on her, but in addition, Kaitlyn looked outside her window and became mesmerized by the rising full moon.

"Kaitlyn? You there?"

"I don't think that will be necessary," Kaitlyn said with a slight snarl before hanging up on Bryce. Shortly afterwards, Kaitlyn suddenly wrecked her house in a rage, all while her transformation started to progress. Her body was covered in white fur, and her sinister metamorphosis saw Kaitlyn's blouse torn and tattered, as well as her high heels rip apart. Once her claws and fangs grew out, the fully transformed Kaitlyn snarled as she gave another glance at the full moon; unleashing a loud howl after escaping through her window.

Meanwhile, James--following his encounter with Bryce--was preparing for a special date night with Judith, a night that James was very excited for. As James approached Judith and gushed over how beautiful his wife looked, the couple suddenly heard strange noises from outside the house. James and Judith thought nothing of it at first, and they were on their way out, but as they reached the door, the couple received quite a frightening surprise...in the form of evil she-wolf Kaitlyn, who crashed through the front door.

"Hello, James."

"Kaitlyn?!" James shouted as Kaitlyn proudly showed off her lycanthropic appearance.

"Oh, that's right!" said Kaitlyn. "You've never seen my new look, have you? So what do you think?" Kaitlyn's words were only met with stunned silence from both James and Judith, who were still trying to process the fact that they were standing face to face with an actual werewolf in their own house.

"Is this what happened to you on that trip?" asked James.

"Oh, now you're interested all of a sudden?!" snarled Kaitlyn. "All you did was push me aside for the entire time we were together!"

"You and James were never together," uttered Judith, drawing an intense wild-eyed glare from Kaitlyn, who suddenly grabbed Judith.

"James, would you kindly step aside?" said Kaitlyn. "Your wife and I need to have a little private discussion...the same one I had with Maddie and Brianna." Just as Kaitlyn was about to attack and kill Judith, she suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"Hold it right there!"

Kaitlyn turned around to see Bryce holding her at gunpoint, with Clarice and other officers doing the same, all while showing their shock over what they were facing. Despite this, Kaitlyn continued to hold Judith captive, much to the panicked horror of James.

"It's over, Kaitlyn," said James.

"It's not over until I take care of this first!" berated Kaitlyn. "But I promise, after Judith's gone, and we're finally together, you can keep me locked up during full moons. Well...unless you go against me."

"There's no us, Kaitlyn," said James. "There never was. I deeply love my wife." James' words increased Kaitlyn's already immense rage, leading her to toss Judith aside and leap towards James, unleashing a furious roar while doing so. Kaitlyn's murderous attempt was thwarted by the officers, who fired their shots at the fiendish she-wolf, and afterwards, everyone involved watched as Kaitlyn suddenly shifted back to her human form, giving one last reach to James before suddenly dying.

"Wow," said Clarice. "Just like those horror movies; silver bullets did the trick. Good work, Bryce."

Clarice's mention of horror films was a result of Bryce's further look into Kaitlyn. Along with being obsessed with James, Kaitlyn was a horror buff who watched all types, including films involving werewolves. Regarding the class trip, it was Kaitlyn's idea, as she figured that she would encounter a wolf and become bitten by one in the process, so she could become a werewolf and eliminate anyone in the way of her obsession, while also sending threats to James in the time that passed after she was fired. At last, the long nightmare was over. Judith and James Walker were now back to a life of marital bliss and normalcy, now that they no longer had to be plagued by the evil Kaitlyn Chadwick. As for Bryce, the entire case was bizarre, but it was one that he would never forget.

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