• A light breeze sprang up from the coastline. The sun shone brightly, and very few clouds dotted the light blue sky. The happy laughter of kids could be heard as they played in the park. Adults sat on the sidelines, supervising their children as they talked among themselves in a joyous manner.

    Further downtown, people bustled in crowded streets to shop, get home, or get to work on time.

    In Japan, many people walked because trying to drive a car on the road was just about the pace of a snail, sometimes slower on most days. Even thought the walkways were crowded, walking was ten times faster than driving.

    Just north of Kakashi Street, one of the less crowded streets, Reita and Suzuki walked out of the small restaurant they had gone to for lunch. They had been friends ever since they were little kids, but they still didn’t agree on some things.

    One of those things was debating which mythical creature was the best of them that they favored most.

    “The shishi are pretty mystical if you ask me,” Suzuki said as he walked beside Reita. “I mean, why would a dog want to be a lion? It just doesn’t make much sense.”

    “I know, that’s why I like the gamas the best. Most people think sages are always evil, but when a gama is mentioned what comes in mind is benign being.”

    “Gamas are the sages that know everything about magic, pills, and drugs, right?” Suzuki asked quizzically, looking at his friend in a bewildered way.

    “Yeah,” Reita yawned, looking up at the sky, nearly freezing in his tracks. “It’s starting to get dark, Suzuki.”

    Suzuki glanced up at the sky, looked at Reita hesitantly, then the two of then hurried to reach Suzuki’s house before night fell.

    By the time they reached Suzuki’s house, both men were breathing hard from running. The sun was nearly out of sight as they entered the house and turned on the lights. The two friends collapsed onto the couch, trying to get their breaths back.

    Originally, they had never been afraid of the dark. No one in Japan had been really afraid of it. But that all changed just a few weeks ago.

    It began during the day almost exactly three weeks ago. There was a soft breeze, the sun was shining brightly, and the sounds of kids playing could be heard. It was just about the perfect day to do what one wanted to do without delay. But what the playing kids and chattering adults didn’t know was that, at the beginning of night fall, they were going to be in mortal danger of the monsters of the night,

    There was a basement type of room that measured ten feet by ten feet, a perfect square, down in the ground in an old cemetery that no one really visited anymore. People have avoided it on account that it seemed to be haunted. Near midnight strange noises could be heard from the depths of the underground room. Some say the noises sounded like something was growling. Others say the noises sounded like chains being strained upon. Ever since the noise began about twenty years ago people have started to avoid the thousand year old cemetery.

    What the people didn’t know was that avoiding the cemetery angered the beats even more than being chained underground.

    As darkness began to blanket Japan, the strange noises in the cemetery started, soft at first but steadily growing louder.

    Ancient bones creaked as the creature stirred. The very thick chains binding it clinked against each other. Metal bands were located on each of the creature’s four legs, and one around the being’s throat. The ends of the five chains were spiked deep into the ten foot thick concrete behind the creature. The creature faced some stone steps that lead up to the medium sized fold in door, which was closed.

    With a low growl, the creature stirred again. Its blazing red hues opened, seeing everything in crystal clear detail even though it was pitch dark inside the room. Besides it and the chains, nothing else was in the room as of right now. This angered the zombie wolf greatly for no apparent reason.

    Her voice ragged with in use, “Come forth, my servant, and aid me.”

    As soon as the words escaped her mouth, a small side door, just big enough for an adult to go through opened to the wolf’s right. A few seconds passed before a half decayed hand reached out, pulling a decaying head and body after it. The zombie wolf watched the being as it stood up to its full height of just over five feet. A slight growling laugh escaped the wolf’s throat.

    “Come and aid me. Infect those who will be my new slaves!”

    The decaying male lurched forward to stand directly in front of the she-wolf. In response, the wolf sank her fangs into his shoulder. He made no noise of pain as venom spread from wolf’s hollowed fangs into his veins. After a couple of seconds, she released him. Once he was released the male lurched up the stairs, opened the door, and started preying on humans to infect them with the wolf’s disease.

    At the time when the first attack occurred, and the decaying being dispersed into dust to allow the bitten human to start to either capture or kill people, Suzuki, Reita, and their friend Clitose were quite close by the attack. The three men were walking down a dark side street to avoid the over crowded main street. They weren’t talking much as they walked. Just as they were to reach the other end of the street, a figure stepped into view, right in front of them. They didn’t notice them at first, but as the trio drew closer, the man suddenly turned on them, its blazing red hues piercing the darkness.

    Reita, one who could basically befriend anyone, stood at 5’ 8”, was skinny with a soft muscled look, had blonde and brown mixed hair that was a length of six inches, gray eyes, and was dressed in casual clothes.

    Suzuki, sarcastic at times but meaning good, had raven black hair that was an inch past his shoulders, green eyes, and stood at exactly six feet. He, like Reita, was skinny, but he had a bit more muscle. He was more outgoing than the three of them out together. He was wearing baggy black pants and a black shirt that had the words Gaze Rock written in white Gothic letters.

    Clitose, highly loyal to his friends and family, stood at 5’ 7”, had fiery blood red hair that was in seven inch, semi flattened spikes. He had emerald green eyes that sparkled in a mysterious way. He was currently wearing dark gray leather pants, a silver chain around his throat, and a green shirt that had the Japanese symbol for friendship.

    Reita was the first to realize something was wrong as the man ran at them, its elongated fangs flashing. Giving a short yell, Reita dodged to the side, dragging Suzuki with him. Clitose went in the other direction. The man sped past them, halted in his tracks from a few feet away, and suddenly whirled around to attack Clitose. Clitose reacted by roundhouse kicking the man. The air seemed to have left the man’s lungs for he fell over backward to land heavily on his back. Clitose scoffed and shook his head.

    “I thought he’d be a better fighter than that,” he said I an arbiter way.

    He was suddenly knocked over by another man that also had red eyes. Clitose gave a yelp as he hit the ground hard. The man dug his fangs into his shoulder and started twisting his head this way and that as if he were a dog. Reita and Suzuki immediately jumped in to help their friend from the deranged man. Suzuki gave the man a swift kick in the head, making him release Clitose and howl in pain. Another being, this one being female, suddenly joined in, attacking Reita from the side. He jumped away just before she could grab his throat. The man that Clitose had roundhouse kicked got to his feet and tackled Suzuki to the ground. They rolled as Suzuki let his fists fly at the man's head.

    "Man, I don't hit girls!" Reita complained as he continued to dodge the girl, who seemed to be having fun chasing him around in circles.

    Clitose growled as he rolled over onto his back and kicked the second man in his chest with both feet. The man flew backward into a brick wall some five feet away. Clitose quickly sprang to his feet and advanced on the man, fists raised. The man staggered to his feet and glared heatedly at Clitose.

    The man Suzuki was fighting with managed to untangle himself and leapt to his feet. A second later, the three strange people turned tail and ran in the direction that the guys had come from. Suzuki got to his feet, and in a silent agreement, the guys followed the three people. They traveled down many streets, most of which were dark and deserted. They seemed to be avoiding the main streets where there were lots of people.

    Heading down one street, the guys stopped at the end of the street. Ahead, there was an old cemetery. Most of the headstones were crumbling; some graves didn't even have a headstone to mark them. Other headstones, the ones some what recent, had writing on them just audible enough to read. However, none of the guys could make out any words from where they were standing.

    Clitose stepped forward, off of the pavement, and onto the grass. Reita and Suzuki followed silently. They crept to where the three people had disappeared through a door that led underground. The guys paused behind a large, partially crumbled headstone. An unearthly roar issued up from the door, startling the guys from moving any closer.

    "What was that?" Suzuki whispered his voice barely audible.

    "I don't know, but I don't think we should get any closer, just in case," Clitose replied, peering around the headstone.

    In the room, the three infected people joined the twenty or so others in front of the she-wolf. Upon their arrival, the wolf had roared, straining against the chains that bound her. Her fangs were bared to their roots, thick saliva dripping from her jaw in thin strands. The wolf's muscles were in clear detail as they seemed to strain against the skin that held them in place. She snarled and snapped at the people in front of her, making them draw back from her fangs. A few lifeless bodies lay at the wolf's feet, drained of blood.

    The blood was the cause of the revival of the zombie wolf.

    Several cracks spread from the end of each of the chains connected to the concrete wall. The wolf backed up a foot, then lunged forward. With a loud crack, the wall splintered and broke, freeing the zombie wolf. Now she was able to turn her head and bite the chains off of her limbs. She bit most of the chain off that was connected to the collar around her neck.

    Satisfied, the she-wolf gave another ear-splitting roar and lunged straight through the closed door. It shattered as her 7' 3" tall body connected with it. The Infected trailed out behind her as she paced, restrengthening her muscles. She stopped and howled at the full moon, her fangs glistening wetly.

    An unfortunate young female had been walking past the cemetery when the wolf had suddenly made her appearance. Her eyes were wide with fear as she watched the huge wolf howl.

    "I am Chitose the Destroyer!" the wolf howled with malice, and before the woman could move a muscle, the wolf had sunk its fangs into her back.

    The girl wasn't even able tocry out as the wolf bit her, then almost immediately let her go. She fell to the ground, blood seeping from her back. Suddenly, the bit mark healed and the girl's once brown eyes turned red. She climbed to her feet and faced Chitose.

    Chitose growled, "You are mine to do as I say now."

    With that, Chitose suddenly bounded off down the street that Reita, Suzuki, and Clitose arrived from. The Infected followed, spreading out as they did so. Once they were gone, the guys came out from behind the headstone, slightly shaky.

    "We got to stop that thing from killing everyone," Suzuki said, punching his fist into his other hand.

    "Or infect more people so that it can use them like slaves," Reita concurred.

    Clitose shivered. "I fee very malaise all of a sudden." He continued when his two friends looked at him. "What I meant was if we do go stop that wolf, or whatever it is, how can we? Do we use silver to kill it like a werewolf?"

    "We could use silver, and if it doesn't work than we know it's a different breed of werewolf."

    "A zombie wolf. Did you see the way you could see past the fur to the skin beneath?" Reita asked. "It was as if its fur was translucent or something."

    "Yeah, let's just hope it having thin fur will make it easier to kill it," Suzuki said in slight despondence, "or we're in real trouble."

    Without another word, the guys quickly made their way to Reita's place to get some six foot chains, then went to Clitose's for the steel samurai he kept. They put on metal chest plates for armor. Afterward, they headed out to track and kill the wolf. They hadn't gone ten paces before screams could be heard from the end of the street. The guys sprinted down the road, but the only thing they found was a few streaks of blood. Clitose cursed.

    "There is sure to be an apocalyptic, and soon," he stated coolly.

    The guys followed the blood streaks until they came to a dark alley. Suzuki groaned. He didn't like small spaces much and just the thought of having to go down there made him shiver.

    As it turned out, they didn't have to go down the alley at all.

    A sudden snarl made the guys jump backward as the she-wolf leaped out at them. She landed on all fours, gave a snort, and turned to face them, teeth bared. She growled before going for Reita. Reita flicked his right wrist, sending the six foot silver chain he was holding at the wolf's head. Chitose snagged the chain in her jaws, giving a hard twist of her head. Reita felt himself flying forward to land at Chitose's feet. Suzuki casted his chain and got it to go around the wolf's neck. Chitose freed Reita's chain and went for Suzuki instead. Clitose stepped in and swung his five foot samurai at Chitose's legs. The sharp blade made contact right above the wolf's knees. Chitose snarled and turned to face him, only to be distracted as Suzuki jerked on the chain around her throat. Reita had clambered to his feet and was now coiling the chain around her left ankle of her foreleg.

    The wolf began to thrash, but when she tried to attack Clitose, she stumbled. The cuts on her back legs ha been deep, and it only made her more ticked off. Blood oozed from her wounds as Clitose struck at her side. She kicked out at him before falling over onto her side. Clitose went flying as a clawed foot connected with his shoulder. His shirt ripped and blood began to flow from the slightly deep wounds. He landed on his back and laid there panting. Part of Chitose's long fang tooth skittered past him on the ground as a chain caught her in the mouth. She howled in utter pain as blood dripped thickly from her mouth.

    "You will never conciliate me!" she snarled.

    "Oh, your vice will end soon enough!" Clitose suddenly sprang to his feet, and with the samurai's poignant tip, drove it up into Chitose's chest as she tried to rise.

    She gave a roar that would have awakened the dead. It was enough to make the guys cover their ears. It was after Chitose collapsed dead that the guys noticed her Infected. They were walking slowly toward them, about thirty in all. The guys prepared themselves for another battle, but just as the nearest one was twenty feet away, all of the Infected stopped walking. Clitose jumped back as Chitose's body suddenly dissolved into dust, which was then blown away by the sweltering breeze. The Infected suddenly weren't infected, but back to normal. They looked around in slight confusion, not really understanding what had happened. They dispersed quickly to join the crowd in the main streets. Clitose grabbed his samurai and put it back into its sheath. Reita and Suzuki were practically jumping up and down with joy.

    "Come on, Clitose! Show some exhilaration!" Suzuki exclaimed happily.

    "Eh, I just feel tired. Maybe if I can get some sleep I'll be happy and joyful."

    The guys head home then, knowing that they would never want to stay out during night again. They didn't want anything happening like the experience they had tonight ever repeating again, or to anyone else.