SCI-FIFROM

THE ROCKlEGACY OF THE FULL MOON

Published in Canada by Engen Books, St. John’s, NL.

ISBN 978-1-926903-09-5

NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING AND RECORDING, OR BY ANY INFORMATION STORAGE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR, EXCEPT FOR BRIEF PASSAGES QUOTED IN A REVIEW.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Distributed by:Engen Books38 Pearson Street, Suite 149St. John’s NL A1A 3R1www.engenbooks.cominfo@engenbooks.com

First mass market paperback printing: April 2010 First Digital Printing: May 2012

Cover Image: Matthew LeDrew

Legacy of the Full MoonSteve Lake

As Ryan Murphy approached the mansion he pulled his trench coat tighter around him. Not because he felt cold, he was a vampire and didn’t really feel the effects of the weather anymore. No, he pulled his coat tighter because when looking at O’Connell Place, you couldn’t help but feel a chill.

Built some three centuries ago by the founder of that proud family, the mansion had once been a cheery place, but had fallen into shadow in recent years. Once lush and manicured grounds were now fields of yellowing unkempt grasses, separated from the world around it by a ten foot concrete security fence that enclosed the entire estate. Windows that had glowed like inviting beacons to weary travelers in years gone by now stood dark and empty, save those of the apartments of the current resident.

That man was a recluse, and was not known to suffer the company of others lightly.

Liam O’Connell was the last of his family, and had spent many a year secluded in his ancestral home. Local rumour claimed he was already dead and that it was his ghost in the house, too stubborn to move on to the afterlife. Still others reported that his corpse walked those hallowed halls and just hadn’t taken notice that he was dead. Those rumours and more passed through Ryan’s mind as

he reached the wrought iron security gate, the only breach in the otherwise impenetrable wall.

The gate was covered in various signs. Private Property

Keep OutNo Solicitation Post No Bills

Beware of Dogs No Trespassing - Violators will be shot - Survivors will

be fed to the houndsThe last one certainly wasn’t the most inviting

of the lot, but Ryan’s prescence had been requested here. Mr. O’Connell had some business that required the services of a private investigator. Had asked for Ryan specifically in fact, though he offered no explanation or additional information other than to come to the estate for the meeting at midnight.

Ryan stepped up to the gate, took a moment to straighten out his shoulder hoslter for the gun, then pressed the button on the intercom and waited.

“Can’t you read?” yelled a voice from the crackling speaker. “I don’t want a magazine subscription, I’m diabetic so I don’t want your cookies, and I don’t care about hearing the good word. Now leave before I set the dogs on you!”

Ryan sighed, then pushed the talk button on the intercom again. “Mr. O’Connell, my name is Ryan Murphy. I’m a private investigator here by your request. You contacted Gravest Investigations about retaining our services.”

“Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” said the disembodied voice as a buzzer sounded from the lock on the gate. “Come up to the house, I’ll be at the door in a minute.”

This should be interesting. Ryan thought as he pushed open the gate and made his way onto the grounds.

A gravel path led from the gate up to the main door of the house, and as Ryan followed it he couldn’t help but be impressed by the sight of O’Connell Place. Even though it was dark, his vampire eyes could see that the house once held a certain proud majesty, now faded by weather, time, and neglect by the current owner. As these thoughts crossed Ryan’s mind the large oaken front door opened and there stood the man himself framed by the light from the foyer.

Liam O’Connell looked to be a man in his forties. His mane of shoulder length red hair was turning white at the sideburns, framing a weathered and well lined face. Piercing green eyes looked out from under shaggy eyebrows that were pulled tight, leading to the overall impression of a perpetual scowl. A neat goatee, the same colour as the hair on his head, framed a mouth that seemed to be pulling down into a frown at the corners. Standing a few inches over Ryan’s six feet of height, he cut an imposing figure. By the way his well tailored suit hung, Ryan judged him to be in excellent physical shape. Ryan took in all these details as he reached the top step and extended his hand in greeting to his host.

“Good evening Mr. O’Connell,” Ryan started. “Thank you for the invitation to your lovely home.”

“Welcome to O’Connell Place Mr. Murphy,“ Liam said as he reached out and grasped Ryan’s offered hand. “We have much to discuss this night.

Come into the warmth of the house, your hands are almost freezing.”

“Thank you, it’s a cool night, and the wind cuts right through a person.” No sense in giving too much away, Ryan thought to himself as Liam stepped to the side and ushered him into the foyer.

“Right this way Mr. Murphy, can I call you Ryan? Right this way Ryan, we’ll be more comfortable for this interview in the den.”

Liam led the way down a darkened hallway and into a large and comfortably lit room that resembled both a of study and a den, with walls of books and comfortable armchairs in front of a large fireplace. There was a liquor cabinet on the sideboard. Next to it sat a computer and hanging over the fireplace there was a new flat screen TV, modern convenience having intruded on old world charm.

Ryan made his way to the armchairs as Liam moved to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of amber liquid. “I’m enjoying some whiskey, would you like something Ryan?”

“No thanks.” Ryan said. “I never drink this late.”

“Well, to each their own.” Liam said as he took a seat and motioned to the opposite chair.

Ryan nodded gractiously and sat.“Should we get right down to business then?”

offered Liam. “I’m sure you’re wondering what an old hermit like me needs with a detective agency.”

“The thought had crossed my mind.” Ryan said, throwing his coat over the back of his chair and taking a seat. “But we cater to a wide variety of clients with different privacy needs. Besides, in

my line of work, direct questions about a person’s business aren’t always answered, or welcomed. I’ve learned over the years to just sit back and accept any information a client is comfortable sharing. Above all, we honour and respect our client’s privacy.”

“The very reason I chose to deal with you and your partner, Ryan. Your reputation for discretion precedes you. I am counting on absolute privacy and secrecy in this matter and I was assured that you are among the best.” Liam let his praise sink in, then continued. “To be blunt and to lay the facts bare to you Ryan, I am old.”

Ryan started to speak up to protest, but a raised hand from Liam stopped him.

“No, no I am old. Far older than I look I fear. I have seen some seventy four winters come and go in my life, and though I have had a good life by most standards there are some things that are missing. Yes, business was good and I want for almost nothing that material wealth can provide, but I never took the time away from business to develop a personal life. Now what do I have to show for it... a crumbling estate, my family all but gone, and no mate to share my twilight years with. I never ‘settled down’ as they say... never raised a branch of the family tree of my own. That’s what I’m after most of all, Mr. Murphy. Someone to leave my affairs with, someone to carry on the family legacy. I need to find an heir.”

“Okay,” Ryan said as he started making a mental checklist of the places he’d need to start his search. “So we’ll start with hospital records, then move onto adoption agencies, orphanages...”

“Oh no, you won’t need to go to that trouble.”

Liam said, interrupting Ryan’s train of thought. “There is no child to search for, no wayward pup to track down.”

“But you said you’re searching for your heir, I’m afraid I don’t understand. Shouldn’t we be looking for what happened to a child of yours?”

“Not in the least, and I can clear up your confusion with some explanation. I never, oh what’s the term? I never ‘played the field.’ My brothers and I were raised to have much more respect for women than that. Each of them found and married their first and only girlfriends and started families with them. I was always too busy with my hunt for success to be bothered to settle down with anyone, and this is where it has gotten me. My brothers passed away a long time ago, and thanks to some bad luck and some hunting accidents their children are long gone as well. There remains only me... I am the last of the O’Connell line. I will find and name my heir, and they will get the full O’Connell family inheritance, though they will not exactly share the family birthright.”

“Okay, what type of person are you looking for in an heir?” Ryan asked as he opened a notebook and searched for a pen. “What criteria have to be met for you to consider someone? We can start to build a profile so we can get a better idea of how to find someone suitable to be named your heir.”

Liam held up his hand to interrupt Ryan a second time. “Again, you need not concern yourself with a search, though I do appreciate your enthusiasm to help an old man like me. No, I don’t need to do any more searching, I have already found the man who will carry on my family’s legacy.”

“Well then,” started Ryan, “To put it bluntly Mr. O’Connell, why did you need a detective’s services if you’ve done all the legwork already? There doesn’t seem to be much for me to do.”

Liam took a sip from his drink and smiled. “Well Ryan, to be honest it wasn’t your detective services that prompted me to invite you to my home, but rather you as a person that I’m interested in.” He reached for a stack of papers on a table to the side of the chair. “This is my will and in it I have instructed that everything I have, all of the O’Connell family fortune will be left to one Mr. Ryan Murphy, private investigator. I have named you as my heir.”

“You’ve named me as your heir? Wow... I mean... wow. That’s something I didn’t expect to hear. I’m honoured, really.” Ryan said, laying down his pen. “But I’m no one special, and I mean I’ve never even met you before tonight, and you’re telling me you’ve set things up so that I inherit the O’Connell family estate?”

“Yes, that’s it exactly.” replied Liam. “You see, I’ve done some research on various people and you seem to fit the profile that I’m looking for better than anyone. You’re young, you have no family to speak of, you accept cases of a paranormal nature and clients of a preternatural nature. Also the virtue of your business, as you mentioned earlier, means that you’re good at keeping secrets and being discreet.”

“What does my being discreet have to do with being your heir?” asked Ryan.

His smile widening, Liam leaned forward and looked Ryan in the eye. “The O’Connell family legacy, of course.”

“What is the O’Connell family legacy?” pressed Ryan. “You’ve mentioned it as a birthright that has something to do with the family.”

Liam finished his drink and laid the the glass to the side, then spread his arms wide. “The entire family, from my Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather Pádraig O’Connell to my poor deceased nieces and nephews have all been werewolves!”

Ryan sank back into his chair as Liam’s declaration sank into his mind. “So, your whole family carried this curse? Everyone? How was your condition passed through the generations? Don’t tell me the children were just bitten and not even given a choice or say in the matter. How does an entire family get cursed like that?”

Liam frowned as Ryan spoke. “That is a common misconception. My condition, as you call it, is not the result of a gypsy curse or some blood born disease I contracted through a bite. I am a pure blood. I was born a wolf among a family with a proud lupine heritage passed down through generations. Unlike the pitiful excuses for werewolves running around these days, ungrateful about the gift they have been given, I have always known what I am and have revelled in it. I am not a man cursed to turn into an animal during the full moon. No, I am first and foremost a wolf, blessed with the ability to transform into a man.”

“That’s incredible.” remarked Ryan. “I’ve never heard of an animal-to-human shifter before. The life you must have led before the first change to a man, what you must have thought trying to get used to a human form after being a wolf from birth. Are there more like you out there?”

“There may be other animals who can assume human form but sadly, as I have pointed out, I am the last of my line. I have not seen or heard of another shifter such as myself in almost forty years, and I have spent a significant amount of time searching. For all I know, I am the last of my kind. I would have liked to pass on my fortune and estate to a pure blood, instead of doing what I must now do.”

Ryan paused, turning his head slightly at this.“We’re wasting moonlight talking about this,

we can always iron out the details after.” “After?” asked Ryan. “After what?” “The O’Connell family has always been wolf.”

Liam laughed. “As my heir, Ryan, a wolf you will be!”

With a snarl that was more animal than human, Liam leaped from his chair and dove at Ryan. As his body propelled forward it also started to change. His face stretched and there was a loud crack as his skull broke and reformed into something more lupine. His nose and mouth extended, developing into a snout as new sharp teeth broke through his gums ready to bite and rend. His existing hair lengthened as more started to cover him from head to foot. Claws broke through the tips of his fingers and toes as they elongated, bones breaking and rearranging under skin as it rippled like liquid. As his new form took hold he grew in size until his clothing split and shredded, too small now to cover a figure it could no longer contain. The change took the span of two heartbeats to complete and in place of Liam the man, a half man/half wolf creature with red fur the colour of flame now lunged at Ryan.

Liam the werewolf collided with Ryan, carrying him and the armchair he was sitting in backward, both crashing into a heap on the floor.

Ryan felt the creature’s hot breath on his neck, then pressure and pain in his shoulder as its maw closed over and clamped down. Those razorlike teeth ripped through his jacket, shirt and skin, sinking in deep enough to scrape bone.

Eyes wide, Liam suddenly pulled free, jumping back and howling as Ryan screamed in pain. Looking down at Ryan’s prone form, he spoke in a deep, gravel filled version of his human voice. “You! You’re a... a vampire!”

“Well it wasn’t my idea!” Ryan countered as he rolled to the side and regained his feet. “I didn’t ask for it, but I’ll take it now cause one of the perks is that bite is already healing. Speaking of you biting me, what the hell?!”

“We.... are... a... family... of... wolves.” Liam growled. “To be family, you must be wolf, but a dead thing can’t be turned.”

“Hold on a minute, you can still talk like that?” asked Ryan

“Yes.” Liam answered. “Only those born wolf can talk and keep their minds, others become just animals.”

“Well then, I’ll take being dead over going through that change once a month. I went through all the changes I needed when I went through puberty. Can’t imagine growing all that hair once a month.”

“You are unclean, unworthy of this honour. Wolves and vampires are old, old enemies. I don’t want to do this but I have to.” Liam seemed to be

getting angry now. “I... have... no... choice...” “No choice in what?” Ryan asked, as he

cautiously moved into a defensive stance. “It’s simple. You stay here and I’ll go, and we’ll never meet or speak of this again. See? Simple.”

“Even simpler than that!” said Liam as he crouched low, his legs starting to quiver with building energy. “Now you must die!” he howled and sprang forward, extending his claws to strike.

Ryan fell backward as the wolf grabbed him by the shoulders and dug its claws in deep. He grunted away the pain as his back smashed into the floor and brought up his feet into the wolf’s abdomen, propelling it over his head. The creature’s own momentum carried it over and it crashed down behind Ryan, the flip causing it to lose its grip on his shoulders. Swinging his legs around quickly, Ryan caught the wolf’s head between his legs like scissors before it could recover. As he started to squeeze, he used his own iron-hard nails to rake the wolfs left arm, and watched in horror as the bloody tracks healed almost as quickly as he’d made them.

Pinning the arm beneath his torso, Ryan curled himself toward the wolfs body and struck out with two punches. He felt ribs break, the organs behind them shifting.

The wolf exhaled sharply as a lung collapsed. He smiled at the damage he’d inflicted, but his

elation was short lived. There was a squelching sound and a loud, grating noise as the organs shifted back into place and the ribs knitted back together, followed by a pop as the healed lung reinflated.

Despite Ryan’s legs squeezing its throat, the wolf was still drawing breath. He released the

hold and kicked the wolf in the snout, feeling bone snap as the lower jaw shattered and swung free of its hinge. Rolling over to straddle the wolf, Ryan grasped at a leg of the broken chair he’d been sitting on and used it as an improvised dagger, driving it deep into the wolf’s chest.

Blood spurted out around the wood, and Ryan felt resistance as it connected with the floor beneath the creature.

The wolf thrashed about and let out a howl so loud that likely echoed in heaven and hell, then stopped moving. Its head and arms fell back limp. Ryan climbed to his feet holding a breath he didn’t need and stared at the body on the floor, watching for any movement. A minute ticked by on the mantle clock, then another, and still the wolf didn’t move. Gaining confidence with every second that ticked by, Ryan smiled.

Stab anything in the heart and it’ll die. He thought as he leaned down to check for breathing.

At that moment the wolf’s eyes popped open and its left hand shot up and grabbed Ryan by the throat.

“Stakes through hearts kill vampires.....not werewolves.” the wolf growled as it grasped the stake with its right hand and slowly pulled it free. There was a sickening slurping sound as the stake cleared the already healing wound, and the wolf tossed it aside.

Still holding Ryan by the throat, the wolf that was Liam O’Connell stood up and started shaking him from side to side. “It... takes... more... than that... to... kill... me!” He growled through gasps for breath, his body still healing some of the damage

Ryan had inflicted. “Now you will feel pain!” the wolf declared,

drawing Ryan back and throwing him through the door to the den.

Ryan skidded along the hardwood floor, finally coming to rest about twenty feet down the hallway. He rolled over to see the wolf standing in the shattered door frame. It let out a howl of triumph and started to charge.

Acting purely on instinct, Ryan drew his Desert Eagle from inside his jacket and fired three rounds into the charging wolf’s head. There was a yelp, and then the wolf crashed hard into the floor five or so feet from Ryan’s prone form.

This time it lay very still. “A stake to the heart may not stop you,” Ryan

spat at the corpse. “But silver does the trick every time.”

Being a private investigator who often dealt with ghosts, ghouls, and were-creatures, Ryan had learned a long time ago to be prepared for anything. Regular bullets stop regular people, but silver ammunition stopped not only the regulars but was also effective against preternatural foes.

Even if he hadn’t been a P.I., Ryan would still have known what would happen next.

Shunned as Liam was by his neighbours, the sound of gunfire had surely drawn someones attention to the mansion. It was a safe bet that the police would be arriving at the scene any moment.

Making his way back into the main hall, Ryan picked his coat out of the remains of his chair and took one last look around the room, confirming to himself that he had touched nothing and left no

trace of himself. He then checked the body, which in death had completed the transformation into a large red-furred wolf that even now was starting to show signs of decomposition to his vampiric senses. With no human body in the house, Liam O’Connell would be treated as a missing person and the police would be looking for Ryan once they read Liam’s will. Noting that everything in the house was as good as it was likely to be, Ryan dissolved his body into mist and slipped out through the window jam, drifting down over the grounds.

He solidified back outside the gate and paused for a moment to wipe his fingerprint from the intercom, then broke into a run at a speed that only a vampire could muster and headed for the city’s downtown core.

Buildings seemed to pass him in a blur while pedestrians appeared to be standing still. In the blink of a mortal eye, Ryan reached his destination and smiled to himself as he opened the door to a pub some ten miles from O’Connell Place, where his partner Frank had been waiting.

Frank paused, raising an eyebrow as Ryan sat down next to him and let out a long sigh. “I assume you did need an alibi after all?”

“No idea what you’re talking about.” he said flatly, as he motioned to the mug of coffee in front of him. “Mine?”

Frank nodded. “Liam O’Connell?”Ryan put his hands around the cup and smiled,

enjoying the warmth as it seeped into his hands. “How could I have had anything to do with Liam’s disappearance when I was having at drink with a friend at the time?”

ABOUT THEAUTHOR

Born and raised in St. John’s, Steve Lake became a fan of Science Fiction the first time he saw the Transformers. Giant robots gave way to Starships and that opened up a universe of alien creatures, including vampires and werewolves.

Steve has always had an overactive imagination, an almost insatiable thirst for knowledge and a natural curiosity led to a love of reading. Reading led to writing; essays, poems, short stories or even random thoughts just to get them on paper.

A lifelong nerd, his day job is tech support and in his free time he’s always scribbling or typing something. Legacy of the Full Moon is his first published work and he hopes to continue exploring the Vampire character he has introduced.