The first part of the story...
Chapter 1: Christmas Detour
The snow covering the ground was still thin, falling slowly in thousands of tiny white specks. Here it was, Christmas Eve, and she was walking down the road after closing up the shop. It was dark out, but the street lamps kept it lit bright enough, reflecting off the snow, both on the ground and as it fell. She thought it was rather lovely. In her mind, she began to compose a poem about it, determining that she would put it to paper as soon as she got back to her flat.
She almost had the poem finished in her head when a noise interrupted her. Elise Poisson moved the earmuffs off her ears so she could hear better, moving her curly brown hair in the process. It had sounded almost like a man yelling, but now all she could make out was a gurgling sound. It was coming from the alley just ahead of her, and she was afraid for just a moment of what could be down that alley.
As she looked around the street, Elise saw that she was pretty much alone, the occasional car passing in either direction as she walked. She didn't live far from here, the shop where she worked only a little over a mile from her flat. It wasn't a dangerous part of London, but for a 22 year old woman, alone, the point could be argued.
The gurgling grew suddenly louder, and then stopped abruptly. Elise's curiosity got the better of her, and she approached the corner leading into the alley with care. The soft crunch of snow under her boots wasn't very loud, but still she tried to quiet it. If there was something of a hazard within the alley, she didn't want it to know she was there.
She peaked her head around the corner, but couldn't see anything. It was lost in shadows beyond where the streetlamps could reach. Still her curiosity pushed her forward, and she moved slowly into the alley. She could see a dumpster ahead to her left, pushed up under a fire escape. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light in the alley. She could see something.
It looked like a man in some sort of custodial uniform. She could see the keys where they had fallen from his hand when he landed as he was now, flat on his back. He had short brown hair, and his eyes were dull and glazed over. He was dead. But that was not the most notable feature.
What had killed him was still there.
Elise quickly jumped into the shadows of the alley behind the dumpster. She could only do so much to hide herself, and still watch what was going on. Elise knew she'd have to paint a convincing picture, even to make herself believe. She slowly moved her head out from behind the dumpster she'd chosen to hide behind.
It was a gruesome picture to paint, she immediately realized. There was a creature, about six or seven feet to the shoulder, standing on it's hind legs. It had claws, now dripping with the blood of the man it had just killed. It had fur, thick fur over it's entire body. The head looked like a twisted version of a wolf's, a long snout ending in a black nose, pointed ears set near the top of it's head. It's mouth too was covered in the same gore that was on it's claws. Elise thought it may have ripped the man's throat out using it's teeth. It used it's tongue to roll something to the back of it's mouth and swallow it.
She nearly gagged. Quickly, she covered her mouth and suppressed the urge. She couldn't afford to be heard, and knew she was lucky to be sitting next to this pungent dumpster. So long as it covered her scent, she had a lower chance of being spotted. Of course, she couldn't believe what she was thinking. This thing couldn't possibly be real, could it?
She looked again, and still it was there, carefully poking at the corpse of it's former prey. Was the creature checking it? Making sure it had killed it? That didn't make much sense. As she thought this, the thing grabbed the body by the foot, beginning to drag the bloodied thing behind it.
Where could it be going? This was question the Elise most wanted answered, for despite her dread at the idea of following it, she could not help but to pursue. Her curiosity was much too great.
"This is a terrible idea," she whispered, pulling out her cell phone. She quickly snapped a picture of the creature walking away, and sent it to her friend with a message: "Heading north, alley off 21st."
It would have to be enough. The thing was dragging the body too fast for her to sit here and wait for help. She started to give chase, glad that she wore something more sensible than her pumps, but unhappy that she'd decided not to wear her sneakers. She was careful to keep close to the wall, avoiding any of the larger pieces of trash and the debris that could break and give her away.
There was no way to avoid stepping in the blood. Every time she stepped in a small pool of it, she nearly lost herself. Occasionally there were other bits, scraps of flesh where exposed parts had caught on the asphalt. She could have screamed, but bit her hand instead. She had to go forward. Had to follow this thing, find out exactly what was going on.
Part of her mind was screaming the impossibility of this situation. That this had to make some kind of sense, and that what she saw wasn't really the truth. A huge wolf-like creature tearing a man apart and dragging his remains down a back alley...
...And into a sewer. This was not what Elise wanted to happen. She watched as the creature, all fur and muscle, dropped the corpse and reached for the grating that covered the sewer entrance. It lifted the metal grate without any effort, almost as if it weighed nothing at all. The thing tossed it to the side. It stopped and looked around, watching the shadows that Elise was hidden in quite intently.
It didn't seem to notice her, which brought a quiet sigh of relief from her. Elise then wondered what she was thinking, relieved that it didn't see her. She shouldn't be following it in the first place! She should be calling... Calling ...Who? The police?
She somehow didn't think they would believe that a seven foot tall wolf-like creature had killed a man and drug him into the sewers. After all, she was here following the thing and she could scarcely believe it.
She brought out her phone, knowing she could get a better shot of it here, if she hurried. She clicked the picture, silently sending another message out. "Heading into sewers. Call police. Wish me luck."
The creature lifted the man's body as if it were nothing more than a child's doll, and tossed it into the sewer. It breathed in, almost as if it were sighing, and jumped down the whole after it.
This was it. The moment of truth, and Elise's last chance to stop following it.
Before she so much as thought about what she was doing, she jogged over to the opening and checked to make sure it wasn't waiting for her.
Author's Note: This is a bit of a rewrite from something I did a couple days ago. The original is pretty much unchanged, it's just a bit longer. I'd say about double what it was, maybe more. I don't know that I'll ever write part 2, or what is going to entail, should I do so. What I'm going to try and do is write all of it tomorrow, clean it up, and have it up by Saturday. Then hopefully a part 3 on Monday or Tuesday... Assuming I can get part 2 done in the first place.
Will: Shut up, I know, there are probably grammar errors, I'll fix them eventually.