Jacob and Lydia arrived home and greeted Malia. Then, Jacob headed to the kitchen, where he found Cogman cooking and singing a depressing British war song.
"Cogman, hurry up and finish cooking, we have work to do." Jacob said. "And please stop singing that horrible song."
Cogman stopped cooking and looked at Jacob with excitement. "What kind of work are we talking about, sir?"
"The kind you love." Jacob replied.
Cogman's eyes lit up. "What are we killing tonight?"
"A family of wendigos."
"Then let's go now! You can have dinner later, sir." Cogman urged, already moving to put the food away.
Jacob held up a hand. "Either you feed me, or we are not going. And we're not leaving until 10:30. We'll pass by the Argents' house first, then we'll go after the wendigos."
Jacob left the kitchen, leaving Cogman to cook in a suddenly good mood, now humming a happy tune.
After dinner, Cogman drove Lydia and Jacob to the Argents' house. Arriving there, Jacob contacted Allison telepathically. [Allison, we are outside. Are you guys ready yet?]
[We are. Just five minutes and we'll be out.] She replied. [Are you going to ride with us or take the Rolls Royce? I think you should ride with us; the Royce is too eye-catching.]
[Alright, we'll ride with you guys.]
Five minutes later, the Argents emerged. Lydia and Jacob rode with Allison and her parents, while Cogman rode with Kate in her car—an arrangement that made her visibly nervous.
After a short drive, they parked a fair distance from the wendigo family's house.
"So, what's the plan now?" Jacob asked.
Chris said. "We'll go and knock on the door and force our way inside after they open it."
"That's it?" Jacob raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were going to disguise yourselves as a lost couple or salesmen or something. This is just boring. You guys suck."
Allison shot him a glare.
He raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. I'll shut up."
Jacob looked out of the car window and spotted Sean on his bicycle heading toward his house. "Wait here." He said. "I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?" Allison asked.
"Just wait."
He got out of the car and, after making sure no one was watching, used his super-speed. He caught Sean, dragged him into a dark alley, and dropped him on the ground.
Sean was startled; everything happened so fast. Before he could react, he found himself in a dark alley on the ground. He stood up and looked at Jacob. "Who are you? And what do..." He recognized Jacob. "Wait, I've seen you in school before. What do you want?"
Jacob didn't bother to answer. His hand moved in a blur, catching Sean by the throat. He inserted his claws into the back of Sean's neck and began reading his memories.
When he was done, Jacob's eyes glowed golden, his face a mask of rage. He choked Sean and slammed him against the wall. "You damn monster! How many people have you and your family eaten?"
Sean, dazed from the forcible memory reading, looked at Jacob with terror. He shifted, his eyes glowed white and his teeth became sharp and yellow. He struggled violently, trying to free himself from Jacob's grip, but he couldn't move Jacob's arm at all.
The moment Sean shifted, a horrible, rotten smell hit Jacob like a physical punch. Disgusted, Jacob punched him, knocking him unconscious and nearly breaking his skull. He watched Sean shift back to normal after losing consciousness, spat to the side, and muttered. "Disgusting bastard."
Then he dragged Sean's limp body back to the cars.
Allison and the others saw him coming and got out.
Lydia looked at Jacob, concerned. "What's wrong? You look pissed."
"I read his memories." Jacob said, his voice grim.
Allison asked. "What did you see?"
"Their basement is a cold room… filled with human bodies. Hanging like butchered cattle."
Lydia's eyes widened. "How many bodies are we talking about?"
"Sean doesn't know the exact number." Jacob said grimly. "But he knows there are more than twenty. His parents and older brother hunt outside of Beacon Hills to avoid suspicion, driving to other towns and cities to find their victims. Then they bring them back here. Sometimes they bring their victims alive so they can kill them slowly. They like fresh blood."
"Damn those monsters." Allison muttered, her voice shaking with anger.
Jacob added. "And they have guests tonight." He then looked at Kate. "Remember the alpha wendigo we talked about?"
Kate's eyes widened. "One of them is an alpha wendigo?"
Jacob nodded. "Yes. Sean's grandfather is an alpha wendigo, and his grandmother is almost an alpha, too. Apparently, for a wendigo to reach alpha status, it needs to eat the organs of other alpha creatures. According to Sean's memories, his grandfather ate two alpha werewolves and an alpha weregator to become an alpha. His grandmother has only eaten one alpha werewolf, so although she is stronger than normal wendigos, she hasn't become a full alpha yet."
Victoria said. "That is going to be a problem."
"There is no problem." Jacob stated firmly. "You guys take care of Sean's brother and parents. Leave the grandparents for us. Now let's go. They caught a guy for dinner, so we better hurry—we might be able to save him."
As they walked toward Sean's house, a System window appeared in front of Jacob's eyes:
[Available Sign-In:
- Location Sign-In: Host can sign in inside the wendigo's basement.]
Jacob thought. 'Finally, a location sign-in! System, let's not talk about event sign-ins, but why didn't you give me a quest or a location sign-in opportunity when I went to Vegas?'
[Host can only get quests and location sign-ins from events and locations related to the Teen Wolf series canon.]
Jacob complained internally. 'You are too cheap, System.'
---
Inside the Walcott House
The air was warm and filled with the savory, herb-laden scent of a home-cooked meal, yet beneath it lay a thick, coppery undertone of blood and the faint, sickly smell of decay. A "Welcome Home" cross-stitch hung on the wall beside a framed family photo where everyone smiled a little too widely, their eyes a touch too hungry.
In the dining room, Christina Walcott, a woman with a kind face and a floral apron, placed a large platter of oven-roasted ribs on the table. The meat was glazed and beautifully presented, but to a trained eye, the bone structure was unnervingly, unmistakably human.
David Walcott, the picture of a proud father and husband, leaned in, picked up a rib, and took a hearty bite. He chewed thoughtfully. "As expected from you, Christina, the taste is great." He said, smiling at his wife. "But these ribs are a bit too lean. You know how my mom loves juicy meat."
Christina wiped her hands on her apron and gestured with a nod towards the corner of the room, where a terrified fat man was tied to a chair, gagged, his face pale and slick with sweat. "Aren't we eating him?" She said sweetly. "He is juicy enough."
David chuckled. "True, true."
Their older son, Michael, entered the room, his eyes scanning the table. "Mom, did you make me my favorite?"
"Of course, honey." Christina beamed. "The meatloaf is in the kitchen. I made it from the thighs of that girl you caught yourself."
Michael kissed his mother's cheek. "You're the best."
At the head of the table, the grandfather drummed his fingers impatiently. "Where is Sean? I'm starving." His voice was a dry rasp.
"I talked to him ten minutes ago." David said, checking his watch. "He said he was on his way home."
Just then, a knock echoed from the front door.
"See? That's him." David said. "Michael, open the door for your brother."
Michael jogged to the door and pulled it open, a greeting smile on his lips that died instantly. It wasn't Sean.
Cogman stood on the doorstep, impeccably dressed and wearing a serene smile. "Good evening."
Michael's eyes darted down and saw his younger brother, unconscious and being held up like a sack of potatoes by the cheerful butler. Behind Cogman, he saw a crowd of grim-faced strangers—Jacob, the Argents, and Lydia.
"Who are you people?!" Michael snarled, his eyes beginning to glow a sickly white. "What did you do to Sean?!"
Cogman's smile didn't falter. "He is fine; he is just unconscious. As for us," He said, his voice dripping with fake politeness. "we are here to have fun with your family."
Before Michael could process the statement, Cogman's fist shot out with piston-like force. It connected with his face with a sickening crunch, sending the young wendigo flying backward through the entryway. In a flash, Cogman was on him again, delivering a brutal kick that launched him into the dining room to crash against the table.
Plates and cutlery clattered to the floor as Cogman stepped calmly into the room.
Jacob and the others entered the house, closed the door behind them, and followed Cogman into the dining room.
The moment David and Christina saw their son Michael crash into the dining table and their younger boy, Sean, limp in Cogman's grip, their human facades dissolved. Their eyes glowed a sickly white, their teeth sharpened into yellowed, jagged fangs, and the disgusting, rotten scent of their true nature flooded the room.
But they didn't get a chance to attack.
Victoria, Chris, and Kate raised their silenced weapons and fired. David, Christina, and the dazed Michael were shot between the eyes and dropped dead to the floor.
Simultaneously, Cogman looked down at the unconscious Sean in his grasp. With a casual motion, his hand shot into the boy's chest and emerged clutching a still-beating heart. He dropped the body with a dismissive thud.
The two grandparents, who had been frozen in shock, snapped back to their senses. The grandmother shifted with a guttural snarl. She was far stronger than her children; her eyes blazed white, her face elongated into a deer-like visage, and her fingers sprouted into long, razor-sharp claws. She lunged at the nearest threat—Victoria.
Victoria raised her gun, but the wendigo grandmother was impossibly fast, dodging the silenced shot. She closed the distance, her claws poised to slash Victoria's throat.
But a powerful gust of wind erupted from Allison's mouth, slamming into the wendigo grandmother and sending her crashing into the far wall. Allison stepped forward, her eyes glowing green, and the air around her hummed with energy.
"Mom, let me take care of her." She said, her voice steady. The katana, Shusui, materialized from her space ring into her hand. As her fingers closed around the hilt, a swirling coat of green wind sheathed the blade.
The wendigo grandmother scrambled out of the shattered drywall with a furious roar and charged again. Allison was ready. She met the charge with a single, fluid slash. A streak of green light followed the blade's path, and the wendigo's arm flew from her body, landing with a wet thud. The creature staggered back, shrieking in agony.
A low, bone-chilling growl filled the room. The grandfather was shifting. His body expanded, cracking and stretching until he stood nearly eight feet tall. His head transformed completely into a white deer skull with jagged antlers, and his eyes glowed red. With a speed that turned his huge body into a blur, he launched himself at Allison.
Jacob watched, arms crossed. He decided to let Allison defend herself.
Allison reacted instantly, raising her free hand. A shimmering energy shield materialized in front of her. The alpha wendigo's massive claws slammed into it with a sound like shattering glass. The shield cracked violently but held, the force of the blow causing Allison to grit her teeth and slide back a few inches.
The alpha wendigo reared back for another strike, but Jacob had seen enough.
In a burst of motion, he appeared between Allison's shield and the wendigo. He leaped, his own hand closing around the base of the wendigo's antlered skull. With raw, overwhelming force, he slammed the massive creature face-first into the hardwood floor. The impact was thunderous, splintering the boards and cracking the bone of the wendigo's skull.
A pained, gurgling roar escaped the wendigo.
Jacob stood up, dusted off his hands, and delivered a brutal kick to the monster's side, sending it skidding across the room to stop at Cogman's feet.
"He is all yours." Jacob said calmly.
Cogman's eyes lit up. "Thank you, sir."
"And, Cogman." Jacob added, his voice dropping to a cold, flat tone.
Cogman, who had just punched the struggling wendigo back to the ground, looked up. "Yes, sir?"
"Make his death as painful and slow as possible."
Cogman gave a deep, theatrical bow. "With pleasure, sir." He grabbed one of the wendigo's antlers. "Let's have some fun." With a sickening crack, he broke the antler off and immediately drove the sharp, broken end deep into the wendigo's chest.
Jacob waved a hand in front of his nose. "Cogman, drag him to another room and have all the fun you want with him. He stinks."
"Of course, sir." Cogman began dragging the shrieking, struggling alpha wendigo away, punching and kicking him as he went. The angry, pained roars of the wendigo echoed from the hallway.
The grandmother, clutching her severed stump, saw her powerful alpha husband being dragged away like a toy. Knowing she was doomed, she made a desperate attempt to escape, turning to sprint towards the nearest window.
Allison didn't even move from her spot. She simply gestured with her free hand, and two razor-sharp wind arrows shot forth. They struck the grandmother, embedding themselves in the back of her knees. The creature crumpled to the floor with a cry.
She turned her deer-like face toward Allison, a final, hateful growl rumbling in her throat.
Allison responded with two dismissive flicks of her wrist. Two crescent blades of wind shot from Shusui, slicing through the air and through the wendigo's body with a sickening, wet sound. The creature fell apart into several cleanly severed pieces.
Silence descended upon the ravaged dining room, broken only by the wet, choking screams and the sound of splintering bone that continued to emanate from down the hall.
Chris looked at Jacob and said. "Your butler is a psychopath."
Jacob nodded his head, a faint, grim smile on his lips. "Yeah, he is. I almost feel sorry for that poor bastard he's having fun with."
To be continued... 😊