Wolf Man

Rangers Phelps and Burns took lead on the way into the restricted area, while Ivy followed a good way behind. Jon had decided to bring Ivy along in case Alex was alive but unreachable. He knew that Alex and she had some sort of weird connection. What Alex was going to do about it when they rescued him, Jon had no idea. Jon also knew that of the scientists, Ivy would be the most understanding and able to keep a secret if they found Alex in wolf form.

Burns, also, knew the truth -- most of the rangers did, although he was unsure of why Jon had chosen to bring a scientist into the mix at all. Ivy did not have a gun, for example, and so, became a security risk, should they run into anything that didn't want to back down. All she had was her trusty field knife, which Alex had gifted back to her, freshly sharpened, after her incident with the werewolves.

Jon was unsure about the werewolves. He normally only saw them when he was interacting with them through Alex, and although Alex had warned the werewolves not to touch humans, it was clear that in the end, those nasty creatures made their own decisions. But three human adults could take on the mild-tempered werewolves, who were more interested in playing games than killing people.

As they passed deeper into the restricted area, Jon began to see bones. Small bones at first, bones that neither Ivy nor Ranger Burns notices, but soon, they came across what looked like a very human skeleton. Picked clean, but left intact. Ivy stared as Jon bent down to pick it up, and she reached tentatively for her radio, but Ranger Burns stopped her.

"Trust us. Wait on calling it in. Nothing is ever quite right here." He explained, and she nodded, taking her hand away.

Jon picked up the skull, and seemed to struggle with the weight of it. "Not Alex. Not human." He announced, gratefully, and dropped the skull. It shattered into a million pieces.

"See? It wasn't real." Burns said gently. "That's the thing about this... thing. I don't know how much you know, but... it takes some getting used to."

"Thanks?" Ivy asked and Ranger Burns laughed, re-holstering his gun. He had drawn it warily as Jon had bent to examine the skeleton, fearing an ambush.

"Alright. Let's keep moving. He's gotta be around here somewhere." Jon said. He left the remainder of the skeleton uncrushed, and Ivy shuddered as they walked by. It looked so real, exactly like the skeletons that had hung in the biology classrooms and closets.

"So Alex left us a fake human skeleton? Is he fucking with us?" Ivy asked Jon as they moved forward.

"Not exactly. This place is sort of... damn it, I bet Alex wants to explain it to you. Let's call it a hub of supernatural activity, for now. That's why I needed more than just me to investigate. In case something happens."

"He can explain it a lot better." Ranger Burns chipped in, offering a wry smile. "He's the only one that [can]{.underline} explain it and make it believable."

"So the things that attacked me..."

"They really are wolves." Jon said. "Alex said you were suspicious. And yes, they are a little... different. They're like... super wolves. But they are still wolves."

"Why are they here?" Ivy asked.

"The U.S. Government needed a place to keep them."

"I sense a conspiracy." Ivy said, and Ranger Burns smiled.

"See? That's why we need Alex. He can explain it all perfectly. Every time."

#

As they walked, they found more and more skeletons, all of them shattering as Jon picked up a bone and dropped it. The skeletons were mostly human, but in some cases, looked like midgets, or even children. There was the occasional skeleton that they could not make sense of, usually seeming to be a cross between several mammals at once. Jon guessed that those skeletons were of the demons that hadn't chosen to take a human form. The carnage, or lack thereof, was astounding.

The most important skeleton they found, however, still had meat and fur attached to it. Dark fur. Jon walked up to this one, too, to investigate, and this time, Ranger Burns held Ivy back as she went to follow. This part -- the part where Alex may or may not be able to turn into a wolf, Ivy knew, and she did not like the wolf-like carcass one bit. After a moment, Jon stood, worried.

"This one is real." He said, and Ivy turned away, hoping desperately that the next words out of Jon's mouth did not concern Alex. But, they did not. Jon said nothing, for a moment.

"Probably one of our wolves." Ranger Burns said, looking to Jon for confirmation. Jon nodded, slowly, and as Ivy could not see either Ranger, Burns mouthed the word "Alex?" towards Jon, and Jon shrugged. He could not be sure. There was not enough of the carcass left to make a positive identification. Ivy turned back to the rangers, fixing her eyes on Jon's face instead of the grisly scene behind him.

She had just realized that the ground she had been staring at to stop the tears from coming down, had been stained dark with wolf blood. None of the other skeletons had evidence of blood around them, she realized.

"He's been gone for a day or two." Jon said. "I don't know which of them it was. We'll let Alex know when we find him." The last part was said a little too firmly, as if by saying it, Jon had tried to make it true. They [would]{.underline} find Alex. They had to.

"It's not Alex?" Ivy asked Jon, and he gave her a surprised look. Jon had not known that Alex had told her of his power.

"So he [is]{.underline} a shapeshifter." Ivy said triumphantly, momentarily forgetting that it could be his body laying on the ground behind the two men.

"Um." Jon stalled, looking at Burns.

"I saw him, sort of. My concussion. He says it was my imagination, but frankly, I know what I saw." Ivy explained before Jon could try to cover up his surprise and his ass. Jon shrugged.

"When we find him, we'll all sit down and have a long talk about this. But let's focus on the facts for now, okay?"

"Okay." Ivy said. "Why aren't we calling out for him?" She asked suddenly.

"Because we don't want to attract anything that we can't handle." Ranger Burns said. She nodded. That answer would have to suffice for now. They walked past the wolf carcass and continued their journey west.

Ivy tried her best to not look back at the carnage that they were leaving behind. After they found Alex, she was sure that they would go back and take care of the body. Perhaps they would bury the wolf. She wasn't sure if this one -- the dead one -- was one of the ones that tried to rip her throat out, but with the way it obviously suffered, she wished that it had died at least a little faster. Nature could be so brutal.

#

A few minutes later, they were on the far side of the boggy area where Ivy had first found the pitcher plants, before she had almost died trying to make it to the muddy safety of the bog. Jon stopped and held his hand up, to motion for them to stop, too. Ranger burns and Ivy stopped obediently, and Jon whispered urgently,

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ranger Burns asked, and Jon responded.

"I thought I heard a call for help." He said. "But I don't hear it anymore. It came from over on the other side. Near the perimeter. It could just be the other rangers." Jon barely finished his sentence before a loud yell got their attention. Across the boggy clearing, they saw a man standing and waving his arms.

"Is it Alex?" Ranger Burns asked happily.

"I'm not sure." Jon said. "I can't see him doing that, can you?"

"Maybe." Ivy said anxiously. "Maybe he's hurt."

"We'll go check it out. Just be careful." Jon said, and took the lead, beginning their wind around the boggy area.

"You guys should consider constructing a walkway through this area." Ivy suggested as they walked quickly towards where the man had been. "It would facilitate research. There could be some crazy stuff in the middle of this bog. You just can't tell until you get down into it."

Ivy was desperately trying to distract herself from her excitement that they may have found him. The sun was high in the sky, and she wasn't sure how long they had been out there, but she was beginning to get hungry and sore. Though, of course, if this man was some trick of the restricted area, they would keep looking. They needed to find him, and he could be hurt. [Or dead]{.underline}, her mind told her, but she blatantly ignored it. He could not be dead. Not when she finally had found someone that she enjoyed spending time with. Not after so many years of being single and lonely.

He hasn't even asked you out on a date, she pointed out to herself, and the part of her that wanted Alex like plants wanted sunlight told her pessimist side to go fuck itself. The pessimist shut up.

"Do you see him, still?" Ivy asked Jon. She could not see beyond one of the swampy trees.

"No, but I'm sure he's nearby." Jon assured her. As they grew closer, she noticed the men both unholster their guns silently. It would not do to be caught unawares if it was not their Alex. Perhaps it was one of those skeletons which crumbled when thrown. What were these creatures, anyway? Ivy wondered.

They finally rounded the corner and were able to see the man again. He waved to them, smiling, but he didn't move. It was Alex. Ivy's heart leapt into her throat. Finally, they had found him!

Then, Ivy watched in horror as a silver wolf bounded out from the woods and leapt on Alex's back. Blood spurted from what used to be his eyeball as the wolf tore into the man's skull. Ivy screamed and began to run towards the wolf, knife out and brandished, but the two rangers caught up to her and held her down.

"Stop. Stop. Stop." Ranger Burns said. "It's not Alex. We know its not him. He would've known. The wolves would've never attacked him. You know that. Listen to me. Calm down." Ranger Burns soothed her, but did not loosen his grip. She looked up at where the freshly fallen body lay, oozing it's dark blood into the grass.

Jon let go of Ivy's arms and rose, slowly, gun still in hand. He aimed it at the wolf, which was ravenously eating the head of the monstrosity that looked like Alex. As Jon drew closer, he realized that the look-alike didn't look at all like Alex. The wolf glared at him from bloodied eyebrows. Alex waved the gun at the wolf, whose fur was matted with blood and guts.

"Don't make me shoot you, Alex." Jon warned as the wolf left the body and began to walk with purpose towards Jon. "It's me, Alex. You know it's me. You know Miriah is pregnant. I brought Ivy and Burns with me. Do you remember Ivy? They're behind me." Jon cajoled the wolf, who approached him steadily.

"Was that the last one?" Jon asked the wolf as he kept his gun steadily trained on the bloody wolf. "If it's the last one... you can come back to us now. Its safe." Jon had a feeling that as long as he kept talking to the wolf, it wouldn't rip his throat out.

Ivy and Ranger Burns were frozen behind Jon, and he motioned to them to come closer.

"See?" Jon asked the wolf. "They can't make three of us at once, right? No demon can do that. It's really us. You can change."

The wolf sat down a couple of feet ahead of Jon.

"Are you hurt?" Jon asked the wolf. It laid down. "He must be hurt, somewhere." Jon said. "Or exhausted. Either way, we need to get him home. I think it's safe, or he would have warned us off by now."

"That's Alex?" Ivy asked incredulously, and Jon nodded.

"Those are his wolf form markings. I can see them through the blood." Jon affirmed. "It's Alex. I don't know if he remembers right now. But its Alex."

"Wow." Ivy said.

"What should we do, boss?" Ranger Burns asked, always the practical one.

"We need to go get help." Jon said. "But at least one of us needs to stay here with him.

"I can stay." Ivy said, moving closer to the wolf. Jon did not put his gun away until she had crouched beside him and was petting him gently. "You said it's safe, right?"

"Yes." Jon said, hesitantly. He knew that Ivy's presence might help Alex remember, but he didn't want to leave her entirely alone. "Burns?"

"If it's safe, I'll come with you. We need to radio the search parties back, and get the truck out here. That takes two people."

"Ivy..." Jon was still hesitant.

"I can do it. How hard can it be to sit with a wolf-man for twenty minutes? You guys need to go do the PR and get him the help he needs. I'll stay with him."

"If you need anything. Radio us." Jon said. "Here. Take my gun."

"I don't know how to fire that thing. I'd just end up shooting myself. I have my knife. Keep it." Ivy was putting on a brave face, but Jon was too preoccupied to push and insist that she take his gun. Alex would protect her if something came. And the wolves would be too concerned about their alpha to try to tear the poor girl to shreds again.

"Okay." Jon agreed. "We'll be back as soon as we can be. Fifteen minutes tops. See if you can talk him out of... that. A wolf will be much harder to explain to the hospital than an injured ranger, if you know what I mean."

"I'll try." Ivy promised, and Jon and Ranger Burns walked towards the closest perimeter gate.

#

"I warned you, back, before we left this island. I begged you to come with us, and you told me 'no.' This is something you have to do. I don't know why you felt it necessary to try and get yourself killed."

Ivy was just babbling at the wolf, who had laid his head amiably in her lap. She could tell he was tender in many places, but other than being stuck in wolf form, she wasn't sure that Alex was hurt at all. Just a little lost.

"And you just wait until you come out of this." Ivy threatened, continuing her conversation with the wolf as she absently scratched the space between his ears. "You could've just admitted to being a shapeshifter. Instead of beating around the bush with all of that crap about my hallucinations and head injuries. And when you [did]{.underline} start to tell me about stuff, you couldn't even give me an answer. Not to save your damned life. You were all like, "I'll tell you later" and "soon." As if I should operate on your time schedule. Do you [know]{.underline} how disruptive this entire trip has been? Do you?"

Ivy could feel the wolf relaxing, despite her tirade of accusations and told-you-so's. Encouraged, she continued.

"We haven't been able to get anything that we planned on doing, completely. You let me set up stuff in here and then kicked us all off the island so you could go on a murderous rampage. And what was with all of the skeletons? I mean, obviously, that dead guy over there... That's where they came from. But they aren't human, are they?"

Ivy paused a moment, thinking. "They said supernatural things. The rangers wouldn't tell me any more, those stupid heads. They said that you would tell me, when we found you. But here we are, I found you -- well, we found you, and you're still silently obstinate, as always."

"Do you remember the first time we met? The first word you said to me. I tried not to show it, but you scared the crap out of me when you just walked up behind me and said "Wolves" like it was the most natural thing in the world for someone to walk up to a random woman in the woods and start talking to her. I don't even know how I managed to let you under my skin like that. Normally I'm much more composed and less suspicious. Maybe it was because you snuck up on me, you just activated my guards. I didn't trust you. Not one bit. Had it not been incredibly rude, I would've called you a stinky and filthy liar right then and there."

As Ivy said the last bit, she scratched the wolf's head just a little harder to emphasize the stinkiness and filthiness of his lies. The hair came off in her hand, and she looked down, startled.

It was no longer a wolf that lay motionless in her lap. Nor was he motionless. Alex's body was naked, reflecting the sunlight with a ferocity only slightly dulled by the numerous bruises all over his chest, arms, and legs. His face was surprisingly clear, but Ivy had a feeling that his scalp was also tender.

"Alex?" Ivy asked hesitantly, and a moan crossed his lips. He was human, he was alive, and she needed to find something to cover him with.

She shrugged out of her canvas field shirt. Luckily, she had a tank top on under the shirt, and she was able to donate her shirt. She gently, awkwardly, reached forward to place her shirt over his buttocks and private areas, hoping that she wasn't upsetting him, but she figured that he'd rather be embarrassed in front of just one person instead of fifteen.

Although, sneaking a quick peek, Ivy knew that there was nothing for Alex to be embarrassed about. Not at all. His ranger shirts had hidden his chiseled biceps and smooth stomach, the hard, chiseled triangle leading down to his groin. Everything about him screamed healthy and fit, except for the blotchy bruises spattered across his skin. What had happened to this man?

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