The Wendigo

        Silas McCain needed a vacation. After having to mediate the war between the vampires and the werewolves he was damn tired. Centuries of hatred and mistrust accumulated in multiple deaths on both sides. He finally convinced Lord Vlad and King Boris to put thier mistrust and their misgivings aside to come up with a solution that would benefit both sides. They both acknowledged that their little war had come to the notice of the humans. Both knew that once the humans become aware of their existance is that their existance would be in jeoprady. He was glad that reasonable leaders had come to this conclusion. If not, he would still be there and in danger. Checking his emails at his residence in the Catskill mountains of New York he flipped through the usual request for his assistance and he was in the process of prioritizing them.

        One email he notice came from the cheif of the Askwasawsee Indians of the Iroquios tribe. They had heard of him and they were sending a brief description of their problem. They had hikers and workers in the forest disappearing without a trace. Silas thought to himself that maybe people go camping without being prepared for the harsh winter conditions and had vanished due to starvation and freezing to death. The other thought he had and he shivered as he thought of it was they had a wild animal problem and if so the humans could take care of it themselves or...they had a Wendigo problem and that's where he came in. He was hoping that there was no Wendigo and that he would get the rest he so sorely needed. The tribe had left a phone number and he picked up the phone and called them. He was put in touch with Chief Songbird. She had described the problem to him and reluctantly he decided to have a meeting with her. He was worried. He had never dealt with a Wedigo before and he hoped she was wrong.

        The trip to Massena New York was actually quite calming for him. For the first time in a long time he was not in danger. He listened to the current Rock N Roll songs on the radio and hummed to himself. Some of it was good and most was bad. But he didn't care because was safe. Massena, New York was a quiet little town that had an older population and a minimum of crime. Just outside of Massena was the reservation. Gambling and cigarette sales dominated the society and they pretty much lived in harmony with their non-Indian brethren. As he drove into the Askwasawsee Tribal headquarters he took a breath to steel himself and walked through the door. There was bored secretary chewing gum and looking at her iphone for email and texts. "Excuse Me" he mumbled feeling kind of annoyed that he had to interrupt her. She looked up with a look of distain upon her face and  said in non cheery terms "May I help You"?. "Yes" said Silas. "I have an appointment with Cheif Birdsong" said a openly annyoed Silas McCain. "Who may I ask is calling"? she said. "Silas McCain" said the big man. Her attitude changed to one of urgence and apology and led him to the office of the Chief. 

        The Chief was woman in here early forties. She had been pretty much born into her postition. She had to delegate the rivalries between the waring factions of her tribe. Half the tribe wanted to sell cigarettes and promote gambling to the whiteeyes and the the othe half wanted to go back to the traditional ways of their forefathers. She prefered the casino option. In America money meant power and she wanted it more then she wanted to go back to living like savages. But here worries became compounded when people started disappearing on her reservation. A lot of people disappear but not at a rate of about 4 a month. The old one's were starting to talk. They had claimed the Wendigo was responsible for these disappearences. She was a modern woman and she did not believe in such things until...it peeked into her window one night. The yellow eyes and fangs will forever haunt her. Being th chief she had an alarm system in her house. The loud sounds must have scared it away. Or perhaps it would come back for her another time. She had done research on this creature. It is said by the old one's that Wendigo was human once. It is also said that to become a Wendigo a person must consume human flesh.

And that it must spend it's existance in a state of unmanagable hunger. It will eat just about anything including another Wendigo. But it liked human flesh the best. It was starting to become brave. She even considered calling the hated whiteyes State Police. One day she read an article on the internet. There is a man they call the Roman. She even found an ad that he had placed. It read "are you being accosted by monsters and no one believes you? I will believe you. Call me at 555-0240". She had made the phone call and the man responded. The man standing in her office was almost as scary as the Wendigo. He medicine man was not fond of idea of inviting an outsider but when she told him the name of the help he merely smiled and agreed. "I take it you know this man" said the Chief. "Yes" was the lone reply as he went about his business. "Strange" thought the Chief. She was going to have to keep a close eye on this one being worried about the cure being more dangerous than the disease.

        Her office wall was littered with Indian artifacts and awards on the wall. Silas was greeted by a woman in her midde forties dressed in a business suit. "How times have changed" he thought to himself remembering the days before the whiteman "civilized" the Red race. She reached out and shook his hand. Her hands were rouch and not soft and feminine like he expected. "She has done hard labor in her life" thought the big man. "Please have a seat Mr. McCain" she pointed towards the chair. "Let's get down to business shall we?" She hit the intercom button and said "Sharon, hold all my calls". "Yes Ma'am" came the reply over the intercom. " You have a Wendigo problem" said the big man straight to the point. "Yes" she said looking a little uneven. "And you have proof of this?" he said hoping that she didn't. Wendigo's are awful creatures. "Yes" she said. "I have seen it. It looked into my window" "Hmmm" said Silas. "Usually Wendigo's are not so bold" he said. "I know what I saw" said the Chief with a hint of irritability in her voice. "usually these creature tend to be hidden in the shadows. This is why I asked the question I did". "The problem here" she said "is that no one believes in it and it probably has come to the conclusion that it roam freely and feed whenever it feels like". "We have whatever fee you wish to incur". "I usually don't take money for my work but I am strapped for cash at this time so I will make an exception" said the big man. We have a shaman who is going to help you" said the Chief. Silas frowned he didn't like help when he did these tasks remembering poor Claudia. " I don't think that will be neccesary" and she cut him off. "He says he knows you" said the Chief. Silas McCain's eyes lit up when she said that. "Yeah, Who?" came his reply. "His name is Daniel Summertime" she said getting a look at this big man's reaction. Silas smiled. "Yes, he will do". "I am going out now to investigate this Wendigo. Now, if you'll excuse me" he stood up and shook her hand again. There was a commotion in the outer office. A woman with tears in her eyes was demading to see the chief. " My son and his scout troop is out there" she wailed. "They were supposed to be back two days ago" she said as she fell into the arms of the receptionist Sharon. "Great" thought Silas. "Victims I have to worry about" mumbling to himself as he set out on a winter's day to solve the problem of the one of the most feared creatures in the Northern Hemisphere.

        All along the perimeter of the town he had found footprints. Footprints too big for a human to make. "Maybe it's just a Sasquatch" he thougt to himself. Sasquatches were pretty much benign creatures that only wished to be left alone and therefore were not a danger to society. He had dealt with these creatures in his past and hopefully this was the case. A closer look at the tracks made his spine tingle. Instead of footprints that were like that of Bigfoot they had claws. His heart sunk. This was not a bigfoot. "No, it is not a sasquatch" came a voice from behind. He felt him before he heard him. Silas turned to face voice and looked into black eyes that had seen many moons. "Who are you?" said Silas. "Allow me to introduce myself" bowed the figure in the shadows. "My name is Daniel Morningstar" he said with a wave. "I am your guide to stopping the Wendigo eat another day". Silas could tell right away that this Iroquios warrior standing before him was just like him. "You are old like me" he said to a skeptical Silas McCain. "Well, did you think you were the only one?" laughed Daniel Morningstar. "There are many like us, every belief and culture in the world has their immortal heroes. You are the Christian warrior. And I, am the warrior of the Great Spirit". "Are we kind of like the show Highlander?" asked Silas. "No" said Daniel shaking his head. "We, unlike them can coexist with each other and one day we are going to all that is left." "I am supposed to vinicated when Judgement day comes" challenged Silas. All Daniel said is" God is not what you think God is" said Summertime. "You will see, you are young" he said with a laugh. "I have heard of this Wendigo and I've been called her to rid your tribe of it" said Silas. " I have dealt with many Wendigos" said Daniel. "Ok" Silas said with skepticism. "Why do you need me then?" said Silas with hint of venom in his voice. He did not like his time wasted and it was beginning to look like it was. "The Wendigo is a strange creature. It is not like your werewolves and vampires" said Daniel.  Silas gave him a look. "Relax" said Daniel. "I have been around long enough to be aware of the creatures of your religon."  "The Wendigo is one of the creatures of mine". Most Wendigos are hunger driven and desperate." he said. "This Wendigo on the other hand is calculating and smart. This Wendigo is more dangerous then the others. He must have been an evil person in his past life. This Wendigo likes to play with it's prey. This Wendigo will last a long time and eat many victims" said Daniel with a darkness creeping over his face. Silas knew the Wendigo liked human flesh. "Have you ever killed one of these creatures"? asked Silas. "Yes" said Daniel. "Allthough, I try to not to. They are magical creatures created by evil magic. They were human once and I try to retore them back. There are times though when that is not possible. Sometimes I have to kill them" said Daniel. "And this one?" said Silas. "This one...We are going to have to kill". "Oh, and another thing" said Daniel. "We have opposites. There is an evil immortal for each of us. "Yes" thought Silas thinking of Vlad............

                                                          The Hunt

        Silas was thankfull for the snowboots he had bought up by Watertown. The boots were made by the Army to resist the cold. Their soldiers wore them in the wintertime and they were quite warm. He and Daniel were in the forest now. It looked like any other forest in the Northeastern part of the United States. Lot's of pine trees and a variety of Maple and White Birtch also dominated the area. It was quite beautiful and Silas felt a sadness that he could not enjoy it. They had walked for about 6 hours and had found the trail of the young scout's camping party. They had traveled a long distance and doing so was going to make the rescue that more perilous. Even if they had found the boy before the Wendigo did, he and Daniel would a have to protect them on the long trip home. The Wendigo was  good tracker. It didn't want to get you immediatley. It would follow their prey for days. He would do subtle things like letting it's prey get a glimpse of it. It would circle thier campfires at night and "soften" up thier prey. By the time they got to the prey they were so wraught with fear that they offer little or no resistance and the Wendigo will have a good meal. The tracks of the scouts had lead north. There were about 8 or 9 of them. There was a bigger set of prints that Silas assumed was the scout master. "We need to check for predator prints" said Daniel. "The Wendigo being in town to harrass the chief means that he probably had not made it to the scouts yet." Silas. "Don't be so sure" said a worried Daniel Summertime. "They move fast and they are knowledgeable of the woods" his frowning face exclaimed. Daniel took the south side of the tracks and Silas took the north. Sure enough they had found Wendigo tracks. A chill went through Silas's heart. He and Daniel had to move fast. The Wendigo was closing in on it's prey.

        Jon Morningstar was a good scout master. He had led many a expedition in these woods. He felt his boys needed a vaction from the life at the reservation. He and his boys had waited a year to get the ok from the Boy Scouts to autherise this trip and he was not going to squander it because of a few wives tales. He had set up camp and the boys were learning winter survival skills. It was a good trip so far. One of the boys in the group started claim to hearing sounds in the bushes and the surveying cliff that rose above them. Nathaniel was a whiner. He was one of the boys that he had to watch closly so the other boys did not abuse him too much. He was listening to them "Nathaniel saw a monster" laughed on of the bigger boys named Ernie.  Rubbing his eyes like a baby crying he taunted" the big bad monster is going to get us" and the other scouts laughed. No one believed Nathaniel. Not even Jon Morningstar. Until...they were  sitting around the campfire that night doing what boyscouts do. Telling ghost stories and roasting marshmallows. They were laughing alot and being boys. Jon looked around at the night and took in the view with a sense of gladness. He loved the forest. His eyes came upon an abnomality. He could have sworn he had seen a set of eyes in glow of the moonlight. "Probably a wild animal" he thought and put his concern aside. He knew that campires kept the wild animals away. At the end of the night while they were all sleeping he had heard foot steps. These footstep were behaving in a way that sounded like something was circling the camp. It would walk and stop. Walk and stop. Wolves hunted like this and he would ready himself. And then he heard the breathing. He got up immediatley and picked up shovel. He got outside his tent and found nothing execpt... footprints of a bi-ped circling every tent in the camp. The forest was silent. No animals made noises. No bullfrogs croaking and no birds with thier noisy escapades at night. All he could hear was the boys crying in their tents. A chill ran through the boyscout master heart. They were being stalked by something. In the morning Jon Morningstar had told the boys to pack up. They were not laughing at Nathaniel now. He had a triumphent look upon his face. He was right and they were wrong.  But soon his triumph would turn to fear once more. The monster he had seen with the yellow eyes was coming to get them.They were walking back the way they were and one of the boys screamed for everyone to look to the left. Up on the ridge. A creature with white fur and hot yellow glowing eyes walked beside them. It has a hungry look and was keeping pace with the party. When they got the scoutmasters attention to see what was up on the ridge the creature as gone. Everyboy in the party started to cry and that was when Jon Morningstar knew he was in a bad position. The boys were tired and scared and traveling was not an option anymore. All Jon had with him was shovel .He cursed himself for not bring his rifle. He had decided to stand guard for the night. He was bound and determined to get these boys home safely.

                                                         HUNGER

         Daniel and Silas had made camp. A roaring fire brough warmth to the cold man named Silas McCain. Daniel had formed a circle around the camp. Using a stick he wrote symbols in the snow. He explained that they were shaman symbols to ward off the Wendigo. " I can get him with this" said Silas with a shake of his sword. "This is not a normal monster we are dealing with Silas" said Daniel. He is a magical creature and beyond the power of your God" he said. While Silas made the fire Daniel started chanting an Iroquois spell. And for a second Silas could see a glow in the circle that Daniel had created. Daniel Summertime was indeed a powerful Shaman. Silas was glad to have his help.

        As they sat around the campfire Silas and Daniel exchanged stories. Daniel had known of him when Silas had come to Philadelphia in the 1700s to chase down a pack of vampires. "I remember" said Silas. "They captured me a fed off me for awhile" he said with a bad taste in his mouth. "My blood is like gold to them" said Silas. "One drink of my blood and they don't have to feed for a month." "Interesting" said Daniel. "I assume that they would like to do the same with my blood" he nodded. "I hear you make deals with these creatures" said Daniel. "Believe it or not they have orginization. The werewolves are tribal and the vampires have a leader. In order to get what I want. I have to help them from time to time. As they say, hold your friends close and hold your enemies closer. We pretty much keep and even balance. And they know better then to piss me off." he said with a grin. "Interesting" said Daniel. Maybe one day I will hang out with you when you deal with these creatures. "Why wait"? said Silas. And he proceeded to make grunting and mewling sounds like that of a wolf. All of a sudden a figure came out of the darkness. It was a wolf walking on two feet. It didn't take Daniel long to figure out that this was a werewolf. "Human form please" said  Silas. The werewolf kind of growled and slowley transformed into a human. He has a human helper that handed him clothes. " I was wondering if that was you in this forest" said the man/wolf. "There's a wendigo in the forest and I'm here to save a troop of young boys". We have seen them" said the wolf named Joshua. 'We have seen traces of your Wendigo but have yet to lay eyes on the creature". "So the boys are safe at the moment?" "Yes, as far as I know he is" said Joshua. "This is your business and my clan does not wish to involve itself in it. We have enough problems with the hunters." "Dimitri owes me a favor you know" said Silas. "Yes, he does" said Joshua with a look of distain. "Be carefull what you ask" said the werewolf. "Once the debt is paid you become fair game again. You know this right?". Silas sighed. These stupid carnivores are all the same. He pulled his sword half way out of his hilt and showed the werewolf. The man/wolf with a shot of blood in his eyes made a move towards the duo. When he got to the point of the cicle he was repelled. A smile came over Silas McCain's face. "Works on these guys too" he  muttered to himself. He would have to get the spell and put it in his memory banks. The angry werewolf turned into his lupine form and growled at the pair by the campfire. "You need to watch out for that one" Daniel said when the werewolf left. "You think"? said Silas and they laughed.

        Ernie was dragged away in the night. Johnny Mentuso who was in a ball of sobbing fear watched it happen. A white furred creature with scary yellow eyes came out of the darkness and grabbed Ernie and dragged him off to the woods kicking and screaming. That being bad enough they could hear the creature eat Ernie. Every bite the creature took Ernie scream in terror and agony. You could hear the creature scream in delight as it tore Ernies flesh and devoured it. For what seemed like eternity the creature fed on Ernie and Ernie screamed and screamed and screamed and then it stopped. Ernie must be dead now. And you could hear the creature smack and suck. You could hear him break the bones as the smacking and sucking sounds got louder and louder. And it was all silent. Not a bird in the tree nor a scurrying squirrel. Total Silence. The only sound in the forest was that of 9 boys crying and a counseler trying to calm thier fears. Silas and Daniel heard these sounds and made a bee line to it. It was time.

                                                 Confrontation

        The creature was back. They could hear it circling the camp. It poked it's head out with bloody teeth and sneering yellow eyes. The boys had started to pray to God. They cried and screamed and begged for thier lives. The Wendigo shouted in glee. It had it's quarry right where it wanted. The taste of the last victim was still in it's mouth and that mouth watered. The boys and the scout leader hugged each other and waited for the end. They started to push a boy towards the woods. The screaming boy fought them every step of the way. Daniel and Silas came upon the eaten boys body and a look of urgecy came across both of thier faces. The creature had started to eat. That meant that it would be feasting on all of them in a frenzy. They had to move fast.

        The Wendigo jumped out and headed for the screaming boy. All of a sudden an arrow came out of nowhere and hit the Wendigo in the shoulder. It was the arrow of the Iroquis nation. Daniel Summertime jumped out of the wood and the biggest whiteman they had ever seen stood between them and the Wendigo. Daniel formed a circle around thier camp. In haste, he  made symbols around the circle. Silas grabbed the screaming boy and threw him into the circle. The Wendigo, sensing that his prey was taken from him rushed the big man. The Wendigo was fast.  Faster then Silas anticipated. This one wasn't driven by just hunger. This one was driven by sheer blooddesire. It took a bite of Silas's arm. Ripping away it's eyes got big. It had never tasted an immortal. Grinning with evil delight the creature leapt as Silas. The bite hurt alot. It had just started to heal when the creature attacked again. This time he avoided the hungry mouth and with a swipe of his sword he severed the creatures right hand. This time a look of shock and pain crossed over the Wendigo's face. Screaming and shrieking it came after Silas. It pushed him back towards the fire. It was biting and tearing flesh. Silas McCain was in trouble. This thing was an eating machine and he was the main course. Their momentum. carried them to the campfire. As soon as Silas crossed the inner circle the attack stopped. The Wendigo stood outside of it and yelled in pain and frustration. Daniel chanted even louder. This Wendigo was powerful and Daniel  didn't know how long he could keep it off. The Wendigo screamed it's rage and the spell started to weaken. "Silas" yelled Daniel. "He is very strong and I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on". Silas rolled in pain and blood. The Wendigo had taken many bites out of him. The wounds started to heal. But not fast enough. The old Indian looked like he was about to pass out. His spell was wearing off and soon the Wendigo will go on a bloody rampage. Swearing to himself he let out howl that shook the very trees around him. The woods started to buzz. Snorting and growling were coming closer and closer. Cofused the Wendigo looked to see what it was and Silas came out of the circle and swiped it's arm off. In a rage the creature turned and about 20 werewolves jumped out of the woods and attacked the Wendigo. The Wendigo shrieked trying to fight them off but there were too many for him. The werewolves were getting the best of it when all of a sudden a glow came up from the Wendigo. The host body was dead. Killed by the werewolves. What Silas was looking at was the windwalker itself. It looked upon Silas and came for him. All of a sudden Daniel Summertime pulled out an aincient bag and spoke a series of words. The bag started to glow and like a vacuum cleaner sucked the spirit into it. Having trapped the creature Daniel immediatley threw it into the fire. The spirit in the bag started to scream and all the forest was alive with screams of the dying spirit. The animals in the forest came out of their hiding place and listened. The werewolves put thier hands over thier ears due to the fact of thier canine senses. And then the screaming ended. The spirit of this Wendigo was gone.

        The werewolves turned to Silas McCain. "Our favor is completed Roman" said the one named Joshua. "Now we owe you nothing" he growled and jumped towards the wound Silas. As shock of light pushed the werewolf back. Danile Summertime was chanting. "I will tell Dimitri his debt is paid in full" said Silas. "I will also discuss to Dimitri what whould happen if you should one day decide to take me out" he said with grimus and a brandishing of his sword. "There will be alot of death on that day" he said through his teeth. "You're lucky you have the old Indian with you" Joshua said as he turned to leave. The other werewolves tuned to leave with him. As they reached the edge of the woods Joshua turned and said "Remember" as was gone. They had gathered the remains of the dead boy and put it on a sled for the walk back. Hoarding frightened children was like hoarding cats. Very difficult. The scout master had formed somewhat of a bond with the old Indian. "Maybe another disciple" thought Silas. They were almost to the reservation and Silas relaxed for a moment. His wounds had healed now but the pain in his memory will not be forgotten for a long time. As they turned to step into the crearing of freedom Silas looked back at the eyes that had followed him throughout the whole journey back. "Remember" said the eyes. And they were gone.