Rise of the Fallen: Ascensionis
Chapter 4

David Stubbe is attentively researching werewolf conspiracy theories on his laptop. He reads an article on Brian Gunn’s website and takes a moment to chuckle at the so-called eyewitness accounts. If they had really come across a real werewolf, such as himself fully changed, they would not have escaped alive to tell the tale. On the same website, there is a breaking news report concerning a UFO sighting in the peaceful township of North Brunswick, New Jersey. He shakes his head and smirks as he views the clip which was recorded with a cell phone by one of the residents.

“Nicely done, Ludwig.”

David glances at the time at the lower corner of the screen. Seven-fifteen. Twenty more minutes until the complete emergence of the supermoon. It is at that moment that the moon is closest to Earth and his fury is at its most vicious. He shuts down his laptop, finishes his beer in a couple of gulps and makes his way toward a wall with Salvador Dali’s self-portrait from 1921 hanging on it. After admiring it for a few seconds, he removes the painting revealing a panel with a numeric keypad that was hidden underneath. This is the location of his panic room. A titanium steel-reinforced compartment he uses to imprison himself during his werewolf phase thus preventing the possibility of endangering the public.

David enters the security password using the keypad. His heart drops and he becomes pale at the sight of the red light flashing which indicates that the password was not entered correctly. How can that be? As he tries again, a bead of sweat trickles down his forehead. Unfortunately, the result is the same. He stares in confusion at the keypad and is very certain that he, himself, did not change the security password. He bites his fingernails while trying to replace a solution to his predicament...then quivers with fright as he sees the hair on his arms begin to grow thicker.

Sajjad stands next to Dr. Frankenstein and notices him in a state of deep contemplation. He uses his inhaler and says, “Doctor. Was it not Eleanor Roosevelt who said ‘We must do that which we think we cannot’?”

Dr. Frankenstein gives him a warm grin and replies, “Yes, indeed, Sajjad. Thank you.”

He suddenly becomes startled by the unmistakable guttural growl of his friend as he undergoes transformation.

“David? Why on Earth aren’t you inside of your panic room? The supermoon is completely visible!”

“Rrrrrr...no..shit!!!”

It is now that Dr. Frankenstein believes that someone has tampered with David’s access panel to the panic room. The culprit may very well be an undercover operative following the orders of a StarSun executive. This is a warning.

“Try to remain calm, David. We’re on our way.”

David screams in pain as his knees crack as a result of both of them repositioning themselves. The back of his shirt makes a ripping sound and splits to reveal black fur growing in a rapid manner. Then his face becomes elongated to form a snout and his teeth take the shape of sharp fangs with drool hanging off of them like slimy strings. Upon completion of his transformation, he lets out a terrifying howl and leaps out of the apartment window.

Dr. Frankenstein urgently asks Indrid while standing beside her, “Where is he right now?”

“David was on West 26th Street and is now heading south on Avenue of the Americas. In his present state, Ludwig, the restraints on the ship will only hold him for a short period of time. What do you recommend?”

“The supermoon augments his strength, speed and stamina to such a level that it would take an army to even slow him down.”

Joshua is driving along 8th Avenue on his way to Westchester County when he sees a commotion several blocks away on what looks to be West 18th Street. He gasps at the sight of a van getting hurled straight up into the air and smashing into a nearby building. He tries to focus his eyesight and whispers, “What the fuck is going on?”

A curious spectator on 18th Street is thrilled at the sight of a humongous wolf-like creature on a rampage in New York and decides to record the uncommon event with his cell phone. ‘This shit is guaranteed to go viral on YouTube’ is the thought that comes to his mind instead of the instinct of survival. The shiny object captures David’s attention and he lunges at the mesmerized owner of it. The spectator does not make any attempt to move at all and continues recording. David grabs him with one of his monstrous hands and sinks his fangs into his head easily penetrating the skull. The sound of an agonizing scream is heard followed by the grotesque scene of flesh and bone getting ripped off of the young man’s shoulders. He sniffs the air and catches the scent of something that makes him feel challenged. It’s coming from further down the street. This makes him angrily slam the corpse on the street making blood and gore splatter everywhere. He then begins running toward the source of what he feels is threatening him.

Barbara watches in horror at the crowd of innocent people running for their lives. The level of insanity escalates to the point that some are trampling over those that have tripped and fallen. She can’t just stand there and do nothing! She walks away from the cockpit and says, “I can’t let this go on. Send me down there.”

Dr. Frankenstein looks at her as if she has just lost her mind and shouts furiously, “No! David will rip you apart, Barbara!”

“Does it look like I’m asking for permission? Do it now or I’ll tear my way out of this ship.”

Indrid observes David as he runs at the speed of a cheetah and her eyes widen at the sight of Joshua’s vehicle right in his path. Without hesitation, she initiates the teleportation device and Barbara gets surrounded by the light.

Joshua sees something black and furry hopping from car to car approaching him. It looks like some kind of crazy dog. Does it have rabies or something? Suddenly, he gets briefly blinded by a bright flash, similar to what he experienced at his grandfather’s house, and hears something heavy land on the rear of his Silverado. The force of the impact makes the entire pickup truck bounce on its tires. Once he regains his senses, Joshua takes a look back to replace a woman with one half of her hair being dark brown while the other is blond. Another weird thing is that her facial skin tone seems to be lighter on one side than the other! She screams at him, “Get your head down now!”

There is a strange sound of a large animal breathing hard in front of Joshua. It makes him turn his head slowly to look at the windshield. He replaces the most terrifying thing he has ever seen. The gigantic head of a black wolf staring at him with glowing yellow eyes. It opens its ferocious mouth and growls while the drool gradually drips down on the glass. Barbara screams louder at him, “Hurry! Duck and stay down!”

Joshua lowers his head just as David punches a hole through the windshield and avoids coming into contact with his fist. He feels the shards of glass fall on the back of his head and decides that it may be safer to hide under the dashboard. Is this really happening or is this some kind of lucid nightmare? The cuts on his fingers answers that question.

Barbara watches David grip the edges of the windshield with his burly hands and forcibly remove it from the pickup truck. She replaces herself momentarily shivering with fear. Does she really stand a chance against him? Too late to change your mind now, girl. The boy needs you. She hops on top of the Silverado and kicks David as hard as she can with both of her feet. David yelps like a wounded dog, flies through the air and hits the rear of a taxi cab with his back so hard that the metal crumples inward while also shattering the rear glass. Barbara jumps off of the pickup and lands on her feet. She glances at what she has done and is impressed with herself!

“Whoa. I did that?”

David pushes himself to his feet while snarling at her. He whimpers as he yanks a long shard of glass from his arm. Barbara looks behind her to see Joshua taking a small peek and yells, “Don’t move, kid! Stay where you are!”

She watches David get on all fours and he then slowly starts to circle her waiting for the perfect time to strike. Her hands tremble uncontrollably and her teeth begin to chatter as she dreadfully anticipates his attack.

“David. Don’t do this.”

He jumps at Barbara at such a fast speed that she really has no chance of dodging the attack. She gets the wind knocked out of her as a result of getting tackled by him and, afterwards, feels the sharp pain in her back upon hitting the brick wall behind her. She collapses to the sidewalk and uses her instinct to roll out of the way. A wise move because David slams both of his fists where she used to be which cause huge cracks to form on the pavement. She uses her hands to push herself up to the air, lands on her feet and chunks of concrete go flying in different directions as she yanks a metal pipe out of the sidewalk. Barbara grips it tightly like a baseball bat and says, “Fine. We’ll do this your way.”

David roars wildly at her while he attempts to hit her with first his right fist followed by his left. She ducks to avoid both strikes and uppercuts him with the pole breaking apart the remaining concrete. This hard blow stuns him and causes him to stagger from left to right while holding his head. Barbara formulates a plan to neutralize David without killing him. She swings the pole as hard as she can and strikes his stomach with such force that all of the air escapes from his lungs with a tremendous gasp. She then flips over him, places the pole across his throat and applies pressure on his back with her feet thus eliminating his ability to breathe.

Joshua can’t help but watch this seemingly superhuman woman trying with all of her might to overpower the bestial monstrosity. He squints when he sees David ram himself backwards against the brick wall imagining the pain that she must be experiencing. Barbara coughs up blood from the impact but refuses to release him. She grunts when David’s full body weight falls to ground on top of her.

“Will you pass out already?”

After several desperate attempts to reach for her, David finally becomes limp and loses consciousness. Christ! He weighs a ton! Unfortunately, Barbara is in too much pain to push him off. It hurts when she breathes so it may be a broken rib. She looks at Joshua standing there beside her in a state of shock and denial.

“A little help here, kid?”

He snaps out of it and rushes to her aid. He leans against the wall and pushes David with both of his feet. Both he and Barbara yell as they use all of their strength to push him aside. Joshua kneels down and notices that she is trying to gasp for air but replaceing it extremely difficult. She grabs his wrist while telling him with a raspy voice, “I think I broke a rib.”

“I’m no good with wounds. What should I do?”

“It’s okay. Doc? Get us out of here.”

They both close their eyes as soon as the bright light surrounds them. Joshua begins to panic and tries to run away but Barbara does not let him go. He looks into her eyes with a high degree of anxiety. She says softly to him, “Trust me. You’re safe.”

A few seconds later, the threesome appear on Indrid’s ship. Force field restraints are immediately tied around David’s body while Barbara is laid down on the floating glass table. She is holding herself and moaning with discomfort. Alexandria stands in front of a very confounded Joshua and grins while saying, “Welcome back to the ship, Josh.”

“This is where I met you?”

Dr. Frankenstein is heard replying, “That is correct. I decided to wipe your memory for obvious reasons. This time, however, I will not. Perhaps you can be of assistance to me, my dear boy.”

He glances over at Barbara squirming on the table and says, “I shall explain it all at a later time. For now, there are more important matters to deal with. Indrid?”

“Setting course for Area 51, Ludwig.”

Barbara has tears running down her cheeks from the unbearable pain in her chest. She looks up at Dr. Frankenstein and, even though it hurts to speak, she says, “Not one of my better ideas.”

He places his hand on her forehead and replies, “Try not to talk. I’ll give you something for the pain.”

Barbara feels a needle get injected into her skin which results in a soothing relief that disperses from her arm then throughout her entire body. It is at this point that she cannot resist the temptation to fall asleep. Before doing so, she gazes over at the unconscious David still in his werewolf form. Her vision becomes blurry until there is nothing but darkness.

Indrid emerges out of the black, empty space and slowly makes her way towards Barbara. She arrives and simply stares at her for several minutes. Is this a dream? She finally asks Barbara, “Are you...comfortable?”

She can, of course, read her mind and know the answer to the question...but chooses not to. She recalls that she made this promise to Ludwig. A person’s mind is, in a certain way, a sanctuary. To enter it without permission is a violation of privacy. Perhaps a nice view of the moonlit ocean can put Barbara at ease? Barbara asks, “Are you inside of my dream?”

Indrid grins as she looks at her and replies, “Yes, I am. Would you like to accompany me somewhere, Barbara?”

She nods while at the same time feeling unsure of her decision. Indrid takes her hand and, in an instant, the view of the luminescent moon can be seen as they fly above the clouds. This reminds her of Peter Pan; one of her favorite stories from her childhood. They land on the edge of a high cliff overlooking the moonlit ocean below. As if following a routine, Indrid sits down and wraps her arms around her knees; like she did inside of her bubble during her childhood years. Barbara sits next to her and whispers, “This is beautiful.”

As the wind whips her hair across her youthful looking face, Indrid says, “This is my escape. I have never shared this with anyone. Not even Ludwig.”

“Thank you. Indrid? What ever happened to Chad?”

Without looking at her, Indrid replies, “I fell deeply in love with him three months after my premonition of the Silver Bridge disaster. I developed such a trust with Chad that I decided to reveal my secret to him shortly after we shared a moment of intimacy.”

Barbara can sense her disappointment and sorrow. “He became afraid.”

“Yes.”

Barbara is grateful for Indrid’s willingness to share her innermost feelings and puts her arm around her. She ponders for a moment and asks, “We can cause so much hurt. Are we really worth it?”

Indrid confesses, “If not for him, I would have never felt compassion nor emotional pain. So, to answer your question...yes.”

They share a moment of silence. All that is heard are the ocean’s waves as they crash onto the large rocks below. Barbara thinks to herself how much of a tremendous burden it must be to possess such powerful abilities as Indrid’s, and having the decency to not abuse it.