The Wolf That Lives In Me

NIGHTMARE

- 01 -

The darkness and silence of the dawn are broken by a deafening roar followed by a long and sinister howl making Daniel jump from his calmness into an inferno. The dense forest surrounds him from all sides, lightning and thunder at the same time that helps him to locate himself with brief flashes in the darkness scares him with terrifying roars. Something moves slyly in the bushes in front of him, drawing his attention. Daniel feels the heartbeats reach his mouth. He starts to look for breath in the bottom of his lungs, tired of the nicotine. His wide eyes are about to jump out of his orbit when he sees a pair of yellowish eyes appear among the leaves shaken and humid by the storm. He loses the strength of his body. He can't feel his legs and arms anymore. The nervousness with extreme fear makes him feel that he is about to have a heart attack. The yellowish eyes come closer, and a flash of lightning reveals part of the body of a huge black quadruped creature, its back hair standing up, totally shivering, showing all its impetuosity and fury, its clenched teeth are on display amidst trembling lips of rage while gooey saliva drips from its mouth dripping on the ground. Daniel, with no strength, starts to scream for help as loud as he can, his roar is deafening, and as he can't get out of the place and run, he struggles frantically while the monstrous creature gets closer and closer. At a glance facing the beast's eyes, he sees his best friend Caleb's face mingling with the creature's and screams even more desperately.

"Dani! Love!" - Kamille wakes up, startled by the screams and the scene she sees, "Wake up, my love, it's just a bad dream." - She tries to wake Daniel up by all means, even climbing on top of him as if riding a horse, in her attempt to hold the man's arms she involuntarily receives some slaps on the face and arms, he struggles disorderly. "Please, Dani, wake up!

Not knowing what to do, Kamille tried a last strategy and released her body over his, holding him so that little by little, Daniel was getting tired and struggling less until his nightmarish trance ended. Slowly he was opening his eyes. Kamille was crying in despair and felt that all that wetness on his body wasn't just his fiancée's desperate tears. He realized that he was almost completely wet with sweat. His body relaxed, and his frantic breathing, as did his heart rate, resumed its normal rhythm.

"Love?" - He was trying to communicate with Kamille as she cried, "It's okay."

Holding her by the arms, he pulled her away from his chest and could see his beloved's eyes tangled in tears.

"Kamille, I'm fine now."

"What happened, Dani?" - She was still confused. She had never witnessed such a situation before. "Are you okay?"

"I think so, love. I had a horrible nightmare." - Daniel felt a strong headache coming in the front of his skull like deep stabs. "I need an aspirin."

Kamille recovered herself, wiped her tears with her arm and fists, got out of bed, and went to get some medicine for him. As she walked around the room, he watched her feeling very ashamed of that situation. He felt vulnerable without being able to care for himself and protect his beloved. He stared at Kamille's physical details, her whitish body that contrasted with his dark skin when they touched, the curly blonde hair that fell over her back to her waist. "I don't deserve this wonderful woman." - He thought as he blamed himself for scaring her with another one of the nightmares he'd been having the past few nights.

The digital clock on the silent servant marked 4:18 am. Soon the sweat of the nightmare was leaving his body cold, his hands were shaking, and the images of the nightmare still passed in flashes in his mind. His fiancée approached him with a glass of water and a pill. Her angelic face and the worried look disassembled him. He felt guilty for scaring her like that. He took the medicine and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you, my love, for being here by my side." - Kamille received the thank you in silence. "I am embarrassed. I feel vulnerable and dependent on you".

"Please, my dear, just rests." - She knew he had been having nightmares often. However, until then, she did not know how serious these nightmares were. "Go and shower while I change this damp sheet."

Daniel got up and obeyed Kamille, got into the shower, and stayed there for 20 minutes. When he got out, the bed was already made up. He dressed and met his beloved in the kitchen, where she was preparing breakfast. Already recovered from the horrible nightmare, he could now more calmly observe the details of Kamille's body, which was wearing only pink panties and a transparent jumper. The pheromones kicked in, and Daniel slowly hugged her from behind, kissed her on the shoulders, and climbed up her neck with his lips until he was close to her ear. Kamille instinctively stopped what she was doing and surrendered to the lust that took over the couple, and they had sex right there in the kitchen.

The day is cold, and with a light drizzle typical of the city of São Paulo, Daniel leaves the garage with his black 1981 Alfa Romeo. When he gains the street, he sees in the living room window the silhouette of Kamille, who stayed to tidy up some things in the house before going to the zoo where she worked as the veterinarian in charge. He gave a light tap on the horn, and she reciprocated by waving while holding a cup of coffee with the other hand. On the way from his home in the East Zone to the city center, he smokes his red filter cigarette and listens to a collection of rock'n'roll songs. While Survivor - Broken Promises was playing at full volume, he cut through the Radial Leste Avenue, worried about his nightmares that were becoming frequent. Maybe it was time to seek a professional to understand what was happening with his mind. Part of the problem, Daniel knew what it was, was the damn weight in his conscience with what had happened years ago. He knows that his mental sanity is fundamental in his profession as a police investigator, and he needs to find a way to control his nightmares and guilt.

DILACERATED

- 02 -

At the cold dawn, the clouds were moving and colliding before an enormous full moon that shone in the center of the sky of São Paulo; Maria Elizabeth Callucci woke up and saw that her husband Italo was in a deep sleep; she got up and walked to the kitchen of the mansion, she didn't know exactly what she wanted, she opened the freezer and admired it for a few minutes, closed the door and walked slowly to the living room stopping in front of the bar, the environment was lit only by the light of the full moon that oscillated with the moving clouds, A chilly breeze drifted in through the half-open windows, slowly moving the thin fabric curtains. Finally, Elizabeth made up her mind; tiptoeing to reach a bottle of vodka, she poured a shot of the drink into a glass and then added cranberry juice, mixed it all, and tried it out, confirming that the taste of her Cosmopolitan was just right. Sitting down, she settled down and leaned her neck on the armchair to stretch her neck as if massaging it; she stayed for a few moments relaxing and looking at the huge crystal chandelier on the ceiling. Suddenly the dogs of the mansion started barking frantically, leaving her worried; after it was the day off from the guards that made the mansion's security; besides the electronic system of alarm and cameras, only the Dobermans and German shepherds were watching the house that night. She was very relaxed, and just as she was convincing herself to get up to see what the dogs' commotion was about, the barking ceased, and a grunt echoed outside the mansion. The woman's eyes widened in fright, and in a fraction of a second, a creature with substantial yellowish eyes appeared, bursting through the balcony door of the terrace and invading the room. Elizabeth was still conscious and feeling great pain; her eyes stared at the colossal creature approaching. With her throat wounded, Elizabeth couldn't sketch any cry for help; the place she had fallen was filling with blood, and the woman felt her life draining. The creature came closer and bared its huge sharp teeth while the woman had no more strength to react. The creature's saliva ran through its teeth and dripped onto Elizabeth's chest, and moments before she fainted, the beast struck her again, tearing her head off. The blood splattered all over the place; each blow splashed fillets of blood on the wall and nearby furniture, pieces of her internal organs spread throughout the house, and the bitter blood of the victim marked the crystal chandelier and the ceiling. To finish the carnage, the creature growled loudly and echoed a long terrifying howl.

Italo woke up scared. He took off his eye patch and realized he was alone in bed; the full moon was completely covered by clouds, leaving the room completely dark; he immediately lit the lamp beside the bedside table and called for Elizabeth. Without reply, he got out of bed and carefully walked down the corridor until he reached the stairs, he stopped for a moment and watched the downstairs of the house to see if he could find anything or see anything strange, but the darkness and silence were absolute, when he thought of going down the first step, he heard a loud shattering of glass that petrified him, then along with the sound of glass shattering he listened to a loud growl, then shouted.

"Beth! Is that you, my love? - At this moment, he was shaking like a green stick. "Are you all right, darling?" - The dread was so great that he didn't bother hiding the fear gripping him.

Faced with the disturbing silence, he decided to go downstairs and slowly gained the lower floor of the residence; with a trembling hand, he palpated the wall and found the switch, which was pressed several times, but the house was without electricity. He took two more steps towards the room, slipped in a pool of blood, and stumbled on the floor. He tried to get up and sank again, falling into the muddy blood. Italo felt the smell of blood and death, panicked, and skated across the room. Trying to balance, he leaned on the balcony door frame, stumbled on the pieces of wood that were scattered on the floor, and went out on the balcony; at that moment, he preferred not to have gone out of the house; he found himself face to face with the dogs ruined by the lawn of the garden.

The man knelt and began to cry, understanding that what was inside the house was his beloved Elizabeth in the same situation as his guard dogs. A craving dominated his stomach, and he began to vomit right there without the strength to react. Fear and horror defeated him, and he started to scream in desperation, looking at his hands and pajamas full of blood.

An hour later, a security guard started duty at the guardhouse of the mansion; when he arrived, he followed his routine, checked the equipment and the automatic gate was not working, checked the intercom, and then still concerned that the gate that was not working went to the security monitors, the tension overwhelmed him to find that the cameras were off. The lights at the guardhouse did not work, so he took a headlamp and inspected the house to find out what was happening. It was already 4:50 in the morning, and the sun would emerge only after 6:15 am, followed by walking by the house's entrance. When he arrived in the garden was horrified by the scene, the dogs dismembered with their pieces scattered all over the place. Immediately it drew its weapon, and the tension dominated him/it, with the revolver in rise hand in trembling hand, he followed walking, and when it glanced at the lamp on the balcony, he saw Italo fallen, covered in blood. Wasting no time, he ran across the street to the neighboring residence, where he knew the security guard on duty to ask for help, and from there, he called 911, calling the police. In a short time, the police took over the front of the mansion, police officers surrounded the place, and an ambulance was available to attend to the victims; soon, the delegate in charge announced Elizabeth's death to the officers. The mansion was utterly isolated from there, waiting for experts and investigators.

While parking his Alfa Romeo in the garage of the Campos Elysios police station, he switched off the cassette player, and automatically, his Bosch stereo started broadcasting the local news radio.

"Tension in the Falkland Islands could end later this week when the English government expects to receive a truce request from rival Argentina."

Daniel let out a puff of nonconformity.

"Crazy people, fighting over a piece of the island." - Before he could completely turn off the radio, the device began frantically spitting out the tape inside, Daniel was trying to hold on and stop his k-7 video from chewing it up the whole, but it was an effort in vain. "Shit! Shit! Fucking sound!" - He punched the device twice, which stopped utterly and switched off; he grabbed his belongings and got out of the car, wholly annoyed; as it was still raining, he put on his overcoat to walk across the car park yard. As he walked, he still felt the bitterness of the nightmare in his throat, a bad feeling that tightened his chest. While waiting for the lift in the building's hall, he met the investigator Rodrigo Belfort, his partner in investigations, and together they entered the lift.

"All right, Belfort?"

"Yes, that's fine, but what brings you here so early?" - It was unusual for Daniel to be in the police station office at 7 am.

"I'm fine, I'm up early, and I'm going to take the opportunity to catch up on some reports."

They got off the lift and headed for the pantry together, where they had a coffee to energize the start of the workday.

"I have a bad feeling today" - Rodrigo was the kind of person with some strange spiritual sensations that were difficult for Daniel to understand, and usually, the things he said sooner or later happened.

"Please, Belfort, today is Monday; leave your feelings for midweek." - Daniel spoke in an ironic tone. However, he realized that his friend was serious.

"Today is the heaviest day of the week; you know that."

They took their coffee and went to their tables facing each other, they had been partners for five years, and they had solved many cases together.

"Good morning." - The female voice cut through the sound of electric typewriters reverberating through the room. Sheila Manzinni, a rookie investigator still learning about the department's routine, assisted the investigators. She had medium height, short red hair, and her snowflake white skin contrasted with her plump, red lips. 'We are being called to a barbaric crime that happened this early this morning, but the Chief is there and he will delegate the investigation himself. Belfort looked at her with a flustered expression, they were starting a case, and the investigator was passionate. Before Daniel could say anything, a door clicked with a loud thud at the department entrance.

The investigators were doing their bureaucratic jobs, and other agents were already immersed in their tasks when they were interrupted by shock. It was Police Station Chief Fausto Rangel, a short, bald man, who entered the room puffing his cigar like a smokehouse, slammed the door, and shouted like an enraged animal.

"I want the whole team in the boardroom immediately!"

Quickly all the officers there left what they were doing and headed for the meeting room; Daniel and Belfort were the last to leave their duties, showing great despondency; they headed for the room; they knew that everyone there would hear many complaints from the boss.

"I just got a call from the regional superintendent; it's about a barbaric crime that just happened," - Rangel skillfully threw the cigar from one side of his mouth to the other, showing all his nervousness. "I want the whole team to get involved in this case, it is about big figures of São Paulo's high society, and the Governor and the Mayor are already calling me for answers." - The Delegate looked at Daniel with an enraged expression, and added. "I want you in Morumbi in 30 minutes, and don't come back here without news". - He then looked horizontally at the team and determined. "I want everyone involved in this case to assemble a cohesive team and bring answers." - He left and slammed the room door, leaving the investigators perplexed and looking at each other.

"Yeah, my man, good luck! - Belfort knew that meant a lot of work; he would have to go to the scene of the crime that was already contaminated and try to find some clue in the middle of the mess, then give satisfaction to the journalists that probably would already be at the scene like vultures in the carrion and then go to the coroner's office where he will be grudgingly assisted to follow all the work, in a morbid and cold environment.

"Good luck to us, my chap!" - Daniel was sarcastic. "You're the only expert in forensic psychology and my subordinate, so don't even think about refusing this sub-order."

Moments later, the duo crosses the lobby of the civil police building, and Belfort doesn't hide the dissatisfied expression on his face; instead of Daniel following to the car park, he goes ahead and leaves on the pavement; his partner remains stopped by the Alfa Romeo looking perplexed trying to understand what Daniel was doing. After walking through almost all the pavement of the police district, he arrived at a bakery with a newspaper stand. Daniel greeted the newsagent.

"Good morning, Mr. Quinzinho! - The years of working alongside the police department meant that Mr, Quinzinho made friends with almost all the police officers, and with Daniel, this friendship was even more intimate as they both had the same administration for vintage cars."

"Hi, my friend! I'm fine, yes, and you?" - The newspaperman loved Daniel like a son.

"I'm in a hurry, Mr. Quinzinho, but I'll drop by some other time to catch up.

"I understand, my dear man! Rest assured, and hunt down those damned margins that destroy our city."

While they were talking, Daniel's eyes were roaming the comic book shelf; with quick gestures, he removed from the display a comic book of the Mônica's gang and another of Recruit Zero, left the money on top of a newspaper that the newsagent was reading and suddenly stopped, he stood still for a few moments staring at the headline in the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo:

"Brazil politically is a powder keg about to explode for the democracy incarcerated during the military dictatorship."

Daniel left the newsagent and was soon in his Alfa Romeo; he took the wheel and started the car, throwing the comic books on the back seat; he looked at Belfort, who stared at him in disbelief and gave a mischievous wink.

"You still have this comic book mania?". - Belfort spoke, stretching his neck and looking at the car's back seat where he saw a countless pile of comic books of the most varied characters. "Do you collect all this crap?".

"Let's say yes."

"Shall we say yes? You're kidding me." - Belfort grumbled as he swayed inside the car, speeding towards Morumbi.

"Don't fill it up, buddy; I buy the comics as an excuse to snoop through the papers at the newsstand."

"Why don't you simply ask Mr. Quinzinho, he is a good person, our friend, and he knows we are always plugged into the criminalist headlines."

"I'm loath to ask; regardless of our friendship, it's his livelihood.

"Then pay for the paper; it goes the same way."

"Okay, I confess." - Daniel takes a deep breath. "I love comic books." - The vehicle stops at a red light, and Daniel takes the opportunity to stare at his partner, who also stares at him with a beastly expression. "Are you going to look at me like that, analyzing me with that face?

They both let out a loud laugh, drawing the attention of the drivers of the other vehicles, the traffic light opens, and Daniel steps on the gas, heading for the Callucci mansion.