Carnage

Wolf-Alex had been in wolf form for at least a week, although time tended to pass differently in wolf form. He had not felt safe enough to leave wolf form, as he knew that at least one named demon was out there, waiting for him. Most likely in an unusual form, just waiting to kill him like Wolf-Alex had killed all of his demon brethren. On'dul was the only one left, and he had been the leader of the whole operation.

He had haunted Wolf-Alex's dreams for days, when the wolf could actually sleep. It was usually curled up near a rock or under a fallen tree that Wolf-Alex slept best, when he had dragged piles of leaves or broken sticks around the perimeter so that he could be alert if On'dul came near him while he was unaware.

The dreams always started so wonderful. That's what sickened Alex the most. The demon had found and began to pervert the dream of the Great Mother and Great Father that he had had just two weeks ago. He began the dream running through the clearing, not blissfully happy, but not scared, either. And he would run in the same direction and he would find himself in front of the Gods, but every time, he would find them dead, or dying, or injured, or even worse, disappointed in him. These fake Gods railed at him for being a bad Guardian, a wimp, weak for learning to love, pathetic for letting the scientists down and letting the werewolves go. The dream always ended when Wolf-Alex finally came to realize that On'dul was controlling the "gods" in his dream, and they were not real. But then he was chased by On'dul, out of the clearing, and into a landscape that must've been where On'dul normally resided, black, and cavernous, and so full of danger.

Wolf-Alex could not even find a trail, a scent, even a memory of On'dul. He had no idea what the demon looked like, he only knew that each of the demons before had screamed On'dul's name as they were dying, as if to give him a head count. They had taken the form of anything and anyone Wolf-Alex had loved. When they had run out of real loved ones to mimic, some of the more creative demons decided to imitate his favorite television characters. And all of them got into his head and realized that he was most disgusted when he watched the demons change, zipping out of the old skins, covered in slime. Although some had variations on this theme, Wolf-Alex had began to ignore the change, instead opting to dispose of them before they completed their change to a human form.

He hunted today on the northern edge of the preserve. Somehow, some way, the barrier had held. Alex had hidden all of his keys -- he had left them on the outside of the magical barrier. In essence, he and On'dul were [both]{.underline} trapped in the reserve, caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse until one of them finally made their move. Unfortunately, at this point in time, Wolf-Alex didn't know if he was the hunter or the hunted. Wolf-Alex knew his limits, and knew that if On'dul was in the Red Rock Caves, he would have to out-wait the demon. He could not maintain his advantage in the dark, slippery caves that stretched even into the restricted area, but he knew that the demon could not escape through those secret entrances: the barrier was designed to keep the demons in, and was an orb-like cage that extended both into the air and well down into the ground. No, On'dul would meet his death soon. He had to, or the rangers and others would return to chaos.

#

The two weeks passed quietly on the mainland. Ranger Phelps enjoyed his vacation, but when nothing came across the radio, and the time grew closer and closer to Alex's self established deadline, he knew that he had to go check things out. With a heavy heart, he kissed his wife goodbye, in case a demon decided to eat him. Ranger Phelps had never even seen the bodies of the demons, but he had seen Alex after particularly bad fights, and he had seen the photographic evidence, and the historical documents. He had seen the way that his predecessor had introduced him to Alex, and how Alex never seemed to age. And he had seen Alex morph effortlessly into his wolf and back.

He had seen Alex's change first when he came to the island, and again, when he had agreed to shoulder the responsibility of the werewolves on his island. Alex had changed so that the ranger -- all of the rangers -- could see the difference between him and the werewolves. So that they would not accidentally shoot Wolf-Alex if the werewolves penetrated the barrier.

Jon did not bother to wake the ferry operator. He instead chose to take a power boat, one that could move quicker and quieter. A one- or two- person vehicle. After all, if something had happened, Jon didn't want the escaped demons to be able to commandeer the ferry and take it all the way to the mainland. He made it to the island as the sun was just beginning to peak up over the mountains. The ferry dock, ranger's jeep, and road were all untouched. It looked exactly as he had left it when he was the last one to leave on the eve of the third night. Minus the eerie red glow that had begun to fill the sky. That was thankfully absent.

The day was already warm, as Jon stepped off of his power boat and strengthened the ties to the dock. He pocketed the keys, hoping that they would not fall into the wrong hands. Then, he took the jeep keys out of his pocket and walked over to the jeep. Yes, completely untouched. Not even Alex had moved it in the two weeks. He zipped the windows shut and climbed in, putting the keys into the ignition and locking the doors behind him. Just in case, he thought. Better safe than sorry.

His drive around the island revealed nothing special. A few branches lying across the road, but that was normal, especially with the winds that the island would get every few days. Without the rangers to move the branches, and too distracted to do it himself, Jon simply ran them over as he made his perimeter. He also saw no signs of hikers. He was sure they had gotten all of the hikers off the island, but this was good confirmation.

No volcanic eruption, either, Jon realized, although he hadn't really been expecting one. The threat of death and destruction had been enough to get everyone off the island. Except Alex, who was like the island's version of Jesus. As he made his way back towards the dock, he realized that he would have to go check the barrier, as well, and make sure that it was up. He would not venture into the area without backup, but he could see enough from the sidelines. It could be that Alex was resting after his altercations, or cleaning up the mess he had made. Only time and observation would tell.

Circling around the dock's loop, he made his way to the back road which lead to the restricted area. He got out of the jeep only to open the gate to the back road, then continued his journey up to the second gate -- this was the one that he could not yet travel through safely. He got out of the jeep more hesitantly this time. The barrier was announcing that it was still secure, which meant that it had not been broken. Whatever happened, it had happened inside the restricted area.

Ranger Jon could see splatters of blood on the dirt road that led into the reserve and towards Alex's cabin. It could be nothing - remnants of demons, for example, but the spattered dark brown was still an ugly contrast to the light and sandy texture of the road. There were no recent vehicle tracks, that he could see. Wherever Alex was, he hadn't left the restricted area in the two weeks.

Jon looked down at the ground to either side of him, trying to decide which way he should travel, and he realized that Alex's access card was lying in the grass next to the fence. He crouched down to pick it up. Alex must've locked himself in with the demons, to prevent any possible escapes. They were trapped inside until someone came to search him out. That is why they had heard nothing from him.

Jon was both angry and relieved. Angry, because Alex had not shared this part of the plan with him; but relieved, too, because it meant that there was a good chance that Alex was just fine, and waiting for the rangers to come get him out of his self-locking jail cell.

Jon looked back up and in the distance, saw Alex's wolf form moving across the road. At least, he thought it was Alex's wolf form. He could not tell from that distance. Why was he still in wolf? Though Jon supposed that it could've been one of the werewolves. He would find out tomorrow. Alex had plenty of food inside there. It could wait.

#

The scientists and the rangers gathered the next day. Jon had called the ferry operator, and in the early morning, they all boarded. They were the security check, and if all went well, the hikers could return the next day, although some had already packed up to leave, their vacation time running out.

The ferry docked when the sun was high in the sky, and each scientist partnered with a ranger. Haywood had agreed to travel with Ranger Ray Johnson and scout the southern side of the island for Alex. Jon had explained to everyone on the trip over that although the island was safe and the threat had passed, Alex had not been able to contact them, meaning that he could be hurt, and they needed to search for him.

Ray was an older, friendly gentleman, and Haywood and he passed the time in comfortable silence, walking the trails and searching for trails or signs of Alex anywhere.

"Why did Alex stay?" Haywood eventually asked. "And why are we not concentrating our efforts where he most likely is -- in the restricted area, with the wolves?"

"Well, technically, we are. Remember, Rangers Phelps and Burns took one of you. It's just that the restricted area is so small, that we shouldn't need more than three people."

"But they can't separate, right? Because of the wolves. So it's still just one group in there." Haywood shrugged. "Eh, whatever. I'm not the boss, obviously. Jon knows best."

"We're all in radio contact." Ray said, smiling. "We'll know the instant anyone finds anything."

"True. This place looks untouched." Haywood commented as he looked around. "Our plant diversity plots are untouched -- over there, see the flagging tape?"

"Yeah."

"It amazes me that you guys managed to keep all of the large herbivores off the island. Its done wonders for the plants that flourished, historically, without the large predators."

"We import deer for the wolves, but we make sure they all go into the restricted area. The occasional deer that manages to escape -- usually because of a fallen tree -- gets shot and used for dinner. It's brutal, but it works."

"I'm sure you guys love those days. Nothing like a little venison to complement the store-bought meat. And hey, they're guaranteed pesticide and growth hormone free, right?"

"Exactly." Ray laughed. "So, have you guys found anything interesting here? I know you had the... thing with the wolves. We all feel so bad about that. They should've never gotten out. But science wise?"

"We think we found a couple of new species. We've been spending our time at the hotel pouring over botanical books and internet archives, and haven't been able to find specimen with these exact characteristics."

"Have you checked the library in the field station? That has some of the older descriptions of species on this island."

"We've checked some, but not all of the records. We also haven't been in the herbarium yet, up at the ranger's station We're hoping to get in there and check the records before we take off back to Wisconsin."

"That'd be cool, if you found some new species. What about the insects? I know you were netting some during your first few weeks here -- I saw you one day while I was on patrol."

"I don't have the expertise to identify insects down to species. Not easily. So I have most of them in the freezer, although I've pinned some, and I'm going to bring them home with us for our resident entomologist to identify. He knows the records much better than I do."

"Very cool. I'll be excited to know what you guys find out. I've always said, for example, that the mosquitoes on this island are exceptionally bloodthirsty and simply cannot be related to the mainland ones."

"They might be. I'll have to catch a few of them before we head back." Haywood laughed as he followed Ray down the trail, eyes scanning the distance for something, any sign of life.

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