A lunatic moon

Chapter 14 - Just a dream

Monday, September 3rd, 1984.

The next week went quickly. Everything seemed about going back to school. They had to get back to school clothes. They had to get new gym shoes. Kevin and Bobby and James all got their hair cut for back to school. Danny didn't want to and his parents didn't push it. Before they knew it they were back in school in homeroom getting their class schedules. They all hooked up with friends they hadn't seen since before summer and some that they had seen occasionally over the holidays. Some of Danny's friends wanted to know what he'd been doing for the past month. These were people that he used to go into town and hang out with on a regular basis until he'd found Mike's body. Rumours were already going around about him getting arrested. He figured it must be coming from Gord Bennett because his brothers had sworn to their parents not to talk to anyone about what Danny had been through. A lot of people that didn't know, were shocked when they heard about Mike Vansickle and Julie Gifford. In fact there was another local teenage girl who had gone missing way back in the middle of May, before school had let out, but they were just hearing about it now. She had never been found either. The cops thought she might have run away. She'd been having problems at home. Danny had other ideas about her disappearance.

Part of Danny was kind of glad to back at school, happy for a little bit of normalcy and structure. Part of him was starting to get stressed out again though. Another full moon was just around the corner and he knew what he had to do. He didn't think he could wait another month. He didn't think Duhamel would wait another month either. He started having nightmares about Duhamel slaughtering everyone in the village again. It had been weeks since he'd heard from Mike-boar, but he was back now and starting to appear in his sleep again too. Including these funny brief little daydreams that would catch Danny off guard. One minute he'd be sitting and thinking or doing some menial task, the next minute he'd be talking to Mike-boar and whatever he'd just been doing would be forgotten. A couple times Kevin had caught him talking to Mike-boar and just assumed he'd been talking to himself.

Kevin had gotten worried about Danny's mental state and asked him what they'd done to him while he was in the psyche center. Danny confided in him about the electroshock treatments, but at the same time reassured Kevin that he felt totally normal and there was nothing for him to worry about. Lots of people talk to themselves he pointed out. Kevin left it alone.

Mike-boar started showing up more frequently and Danny's anxiety grew as each day passed. On Thursday night, September the 6th, just four days before the next full moon, he had that same nightmare where Duhamel came as a werewolf to Glen Thomas and started laying waste to the families of the village. This time though, Mike-boar was there and the tables were turned...the village appeared untouched. Duhamel hadn't started his bloodthirsty rampage yet. Strangely, his parents were even watching from the sofa on the porch. He saw them wave to him.

The sky was all dark, save the full moon leering down at them, the sky a patchwork of desultory clouds, frayed by lightning and thunder. No rain fell, but Danny's face and hair were wet with something. Danny thought it might be sweat at first but when he wiped his forehead with his hand it came away slick and red, with fresh blood of no consequence. Duhamel stood in the middle of the road, hulking and threatening. A grinding, gnashing noise filled Danny's ears and it took a second for him to realize it was the sound of Duhamel's teeth. Silver sparks flew from it's face as it ground it's fangs together. Mouth working like a machine, razor teeth in process, end product death.

Danny seemed to be standing taller than normal, he was almost looking down on the maniacal werewolf. When he glanced down he learned why. He was sitting astride Mike-boar as if it were a pony ride at the fair, but Mike-boar was enormous. Larger than Duhamel. His tusks were so big they curved up and back ending in sharp points level with his eyes. Danny could see the serrated edge, tight and compact like a bonesaw. His breath puffed out in clouds of steam, or smoke he couldn't be sure. His back and shoulders were so wide it was difficult to straddle him. He had to practically lay down on his front, clutching the folds of it's bristly hide.

Mike-boar was saying something to Duhamel, but Danny couldn't understand what, since it was in French. Whatever it was, it was pissing the werewolf off to no extent. Danny wanted to tell Mike-boar to shut up, that he was going to get them all killed and if Duhamel won, he'd destroy the entire village, slaughtering everyone in it. But the noise of the thunder, the crackle of lightning and piercing squeal of horrible gnashing teeth, was so cacophonous he couldn't even hear his own voice. For some reason though, he could hear Mike-boar speaking perfect French at the monster. Shaming him. Mocking him. Accusing him and damning him all at the same time, in his native language. Duhamel looked ready to charge, his eyes boiling in an ugly light, but Mike-boar made the first move. A false charge. His hooves tore the ashphalt to bits as he lunged like a rocket sled, then dug in his hooves coming to a stop so abrupt, Danny had to hold onto the coarse hair around the boar's massive head to prevent him from flying head first over the boar's head and ending up at Duhamels clawed feet.

Mike-boar laughed at Duhamel's expression, he'd seen a brief glimpse of fear at his mock charge. His laugh was incredibly loud and deep, spraying drool and mucous ahead of him, but when he stopped, it was practically silent. Duhamels teeth were finally still and the lightning had ceased. Only a lonely distant peal of rolling thunder remained, fading into the hills around Glen Thomas.

Then Mike-boar spoke in english to Duhamel. "I made you flinch!" If the dream weren't so horrific Danny might have found it amusing. "Hold on Danny." He said. "Here he comes!"

Duhamel attacked. He came in low and fast like a wolf, trying to take out the boar's legs. If he took out it's legs, the boar and the boy on it's back would be easy pickings, but Mike-boar anticipated this and went low himself, his right tusk tearing through Duhamel's thigh with ease. Blood, black and thick pulsed from the wound. Duhamel roared and leaped away, stumbling as he realized he'd lost some mobility in that leg. Furious, his eyes glowed with that bad light. Neither Danny nor the boar met his hypnotic gaze and Mike-boar circled around Old and Ugly's flank where he was undefended. Duhamel whirled and lurching with incredible speed and agility went high this time, going for the boar's throat. The boar ducked it's chin protecting it's neck from the strike of Duhamel's fangs. Although the werewolf struck with purchase and left a gaping red hole showing Mike-boar's collar bone, he missed the artery. Mike-boar however had sunk both tusks into Duhamels gut and ripped upwards in the strike. Twin tracks of gore showed where the tusks had instantly cut a swath through the werewolf's tough skin, the deeper wound left a loop of intestine bulging free, shiny and wet. Growling, Duhamel stuffed it back in and retreated. His teeth were gnashing again, Mike-boar's blood was smeared around his mouth. He was badly injured though and had a hard time standing with that damaged leg. A closer look showed that much of the thigh muscle was uselessly hanging from a few scraps of hide. That loop of intestine had popped free again too, bringing with it a few more feet of fresh bowel this time. Ignoring it and breathing heavily he looked for an opportunity to strike again. If he could get in close, his teeth would do the rest if he could get to an artery, preferably the carotid.

This time though, Mike-boar attacked with a full charge. Without stopping he easily trampled Duhamel. Bringing his hard cloven hooves up high he hit him in the chest and crushed him flat on his back, deliberately stamping on his face as he passed over top of the prone werewolf. Surprisingly Duhamel squealed, both in pain and rage. He was beat and he knew it. The boar was not going to spare him and could easily destroy his body and head now. Pummel him into paste. Duhamel struggled to get to his feet, getting tangled in his own intestines in the process. It was pitiful to watch, but Danny felt elation. Duhamel was no match for the power of Mike-boar. He was flooded with relief and joy, it was over and everything could go back to normal. He slid from Mike-boar's bare back and waited for the boar to finish it.

Just then he saw something...

Danny knew they'd won, but...

There was one more thing...

One more terrible surprise...

He saw Carrie bouncing into the scene. She was so happy they'd won. She was fresh looking in her faded denim shorts and white blouse. She had a blue ribbon loosley tying her blonde hair back and she was smiling at Danny, her arms open for a hug. Her lips shiny with lip gloss. He could smell her airy perfume from where he stood. He wanted to say "No!" He wanted so badly to warn her that it wasn't over, Mike-boar just needed to finish it off. He wanted to scream "Wait!" but he was frozen and so was Mike-boar, Carrie's brother stared aghast as his sister bopped right into the danger zone with eyes for Danny and nothing else. Danny saw the boar's jaw drop open, maybe to say something, but it was too late. Nothing came out.

What happened next was so sickening, it defined the dream in an instant, Changing it from victorious to horrific so completely, Danny groaned in his sleep...

Duhamel staggered to his feet and with the last of his remaining strength pulled his intestines from the channel rent in his abdomen. Hand over hand he pulled them out of his own body, with the sound of wet tearing cloth. They were mottled dark grey, stinking, dripping black gore. Whirling them above his head like a lariat in an old western movie, he threw a loop with casual ease over Carrie's head and pulled her to him in an instant.

It was ridiculous.

It was repulsive, but he had her.

Screaming, she fought to remove the slick ropy coil from her neck and that's when he leaned in and just tore out her throat with his razor fangs. He let her trembling body slide to the ground as she bled out and sickeningly he laughed at Danny, howling and spraying her blood at him from his mouth as he did.

Mike-boar broke from his trance and roaring with rage so loud it hurt Danny's ears, he rushed Duhamel in a flash of hooves and rippling muscle. The ground shook. The werewolf went down under cloven hooves again and this time Mike-boar grabbed it's entire head in his jaws and crushed it with a powerful pop and a crunch of skull plates. The mess of it's head fit in his mouth neatly and he ate it right from the body, leaving a headless corpse that he trampled and pawed in a blind fury until there was nothing left but flattened skin and rent pieces of flesh in a large patch of black stinking grease, mixed with chunks of shattered ashphalt, the remains staining the road. From the porch Danny's parents cheered and clapped. He heard his mother console him over the loss of Carrie. "Don't worry Danny, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You'll find someone new." His heart imploded and he woke up sobbing and choking for a breath of air. His face still wet, but now with tears. The blood was gone and he told himself everything was okay. Just a bad dream. Carrie is fine. Safe and sound, sleeping peacefully in her bed. Unhurt and beautiful. He got up and drank some water from the tap. Peed and went back to bed with the light on. Relieved but horrified. It took several minutes to recover from the nightmare. Telling himself that everything was fine. Peachy keen and totally normal. Nothing was wrong and everything was right, for now at least.