Debbie Moon (Wolfblood) will be tweeting along to her episode of Cops and Monsters: Uprising at 7pm GMT on Friday 3rd of April.
To join her, follow her on Twitter at this link and watch the episode below:
Debbie’s opening episode will be followed by FIVE brand new episodes of the show, completing series 2. We have scripts penned by Laura Anne Anderson, James T Harding, Simon Underwood, Philip Lawrence and Fraser Coull.
We have shot scenes from a few of these episodes whilst making Debbie’s episode but we need YOUR help to complete them. We require at least £2000 per episode to hire our cast, crew, locations, makeup, costumes, visual effects, practical effects, fight co-ordinators, props, editing, sound design, mixing, music and grading. For just £5/$5 a month you can join us on Patreon where we will be sharing behind the scenes photos, videos, updates, with access to completed episodes before they are released on Amazon Prime and Google Play, short stories and more. Click HERE to visit our Patreon page and find out more.
And now we have a brand new short story, “The Way Back”, an official prequel to “Remembrance”. We hope you enjoy:
Cops and Monsters:
The Way Back
By Fraser Coull
Alexis sighs. Sitting in the passenger seat of Maya’s car, she starts tapping on the dashboard.
It’s not long before she finds a rhythm. Tap, tap, tappy-tap. Faster and faster, she moves her head from side to side in time to her own beat.
Then comes a tap on the driver’s side window. A disapproving Maya stares at Alexis and mouths “What do you think you’re doing?” Alexis stops, folding her arms like a scorned child. Maya can’t help but let out a smile. She opens the passenger door.
“Do you want to get us some snacks?” Maya asks. Alexis looks playful.
“But I’ve ran out of pocket money.”
Maya lets out a giggle, reaches into her pocket and pulls out a credit card. She throws it to Alexis who catches it skilfully.
“M&M’s, right?” Alexis asks, knowingly.
“Yes, but no-”
“Peanut butter, yeah, I remember!” Alexis butts in.
Maya shakes her head.
“Well, we don’t want another Aberdeen bus stop incident again, do we?”
Alexis looks embarrassed. She thinks of something witty to say, but loses the train of thought. Something doesn’t feel right. “No, I’m being paranoid… at least, I think I am.” she thinks to herself.
She looks to Maya for guidance, but she’s too busy looking at the price of the petrol run up on the machine. Alexis shakes it off and heads inside the petrol station.
Once inside Alexis scans the small shop quickly. It’s in her nature to do so. She checks the doors. One. Two. Three… wait, there’s a fourth hiding behind the counter. Alexis sniffs the air. A bad smell shoots up her nose, and she’s desperate to get rid of it.
There’s only two other people in the shop with her. The sweet old man behind the counter, and a suave looking businessman. Even without her werewolf sense of smell, she almost gags on his cologne. But still, Alexis is sure she’s just being paranoid. Maya and her have had quite the adventures travelling up and down the country liberating vampires, werewolves and the occasional zombie in danger for the last six months. This is their holiday, their well deserved breaks. No fights, no guns, no fangs. Just beautiful scenery in the North of Scotland.
Alexis takes a deep breath. She looks out to the forecourt, seeing Maya still filling up the car. Passed that she sees nothing but green hills, trees, and beyond that the North Sea. The Cult would never let her out this far on her own. Not unless he had someone for her to kill. Some poor defenseless target he deemed a risk to his operation.
No time to think about him. He’s gone now. She made sure of it.
Alexis scratches her head and snaps back to focus, picking up crisps and chocolate. Lots of chocolate. God knows how long it would be before they could stop again.
Walking up to the counter, she waits behind the suave businessman. She’s carrying her weight in snacks, almost struggling to balance them all in her grip. The businessman turns around, looks her up and down, giving her a well-meaning, but unwelcome smile.
“Another lonely night in is it?” He asks, sarcasm in his voice.
“Actually, it’s for me and my girlfriend…” Alexis turns her head to the window and smiles at Maya, who is getting back into the car. The businessman’s smile quickly disappears.
“Next please?” a voice whimpers from behind the counter. The businessman turns around quickly, Alexis leans her head to one side to have a closer look. She sees the name “Davis” on the cashier’s nametag.
The businessman steps forward and starts about his transaction. Alexis still can’t shake a bad feeling. The hair on the back of her head starts to rise.
“Breaking News!” a voice bellows from above. Alexis can’t help but follow it. On a Holo Screen there is footage of Mr. Clark leaving his office to a barrage of press. Flashes of light go off as photographers grab their shots.
“Jonathan Clark, former Minister of Justice to Scotland and liaison to the Paranormal Investigation Team Scotland has formally announced today that he is throwing his hat into the ring for the upcoming general elections. Clark, 36, from Edinburgh, has always had a strong opinion on the supernatural community and helped usher in the new Supernatural Identification Executive Regiment here in Scotland, shutting down the PITS operation after 5 years in service.”
Alexis squeezes so hard on a bag of crisps that they pop open.
“You’ll need to pay for that!” Davis shouts from behind the counter as the businessman almost bumps into Alexis.
“Woah, sorry about that!” He cries out, stopping himself just in time. He leans down to pick up the stray crisps on the ground, pouring them back into the bag in Alexis’ hand. The businessman follows Alexis’ gaze to the screen.
“Well, well, about time too. Something needs to be done about those animals, right?” He smirks.
Alexis lets out a low lasting growl. The businessman slowly turns his head only to see Alexis’ eyes glowing a bright yellow, her skin transforming slightly.
“Is that right, is it?” Alexis snarls.
The businessman stops pouring crisps into the bag. He side steps Alexis and gets out of the shop as quickly as he can. Alexis continues to growl for a second until he leaves the shop, her eyes stop glowing and her skin returns to normal.
“Pay no attention to him my dear. He’s a prick. Now, what can I do for you?” Davis gestures for her to step forward, which she quickly does, trying to compose herself. Davis starts to scan the snacks, as the bad feeling comes over Alexis again.
“Any petrol today miss?” Davis asks sweetly, but Alexis doesn’t hear him. She’s too focused on the hidden door. It’s covered by shelves filled with bottles of water. But Alexis can sense it.
“Miss?” Davis asks again, just as sweetly. Alexis focuses. She turns to Davis.
“What’s behind that door?” Alexis asks, sternly. Davis looks taken aback, shaking his head.
“What door, dear?”
Alexis raises her hand, pointing to the door behind the shelves. Davis doesn’t look.
“Oh, that’s just an old storage cupboard, hasn’t been used in YEARS.” Davis insists. Alexis’ eyes start to glow again. Davis backs off, his hands held up.
“Now, now, there’s no need to go all…”
Alexis lets out a snarl, jumping on the counter. She reaches forward, grabbing Davis by the shirt and pulling him up off his feet.
“Don’t lie to me old man, what’s down there?” Alexis demands. Davis’ feet dangle in midair.
“It’s nothing… I swear… It’s just a little…” Davis’ eyes turn a dark yellow, his skin starts to transform. Alexis looks alarmed.
“You’re not the only one that can transform without the moon!” Davis snarls and slashes for Alexis, but he’s stopped by a tranq blast to his chest, sending him to the floor.
Alexis turns around, relieved to see Maya standing behind her, her gun held out in front of her.
“I thought we said no guns this weekend!” Alexis shouts.
“And I thought we said no fangs either… I guess we both went back on our word.” Maya smiles, holstering her weapon. Alexis lands on the other side of the counter, pushing the shelves to the side with ease as Maya walks open the door to join her. They approach the now fully revealed door and Maya opens it, hesitating slightly.
“You good?” Alexis asks. Maya nods her head, assuringly. “Good.”
Alexis heads in front of her, almost running down the stairs, Maya not too far behind. It’s dark and damp, the clanking of metal beneath their feet with every hurried step as they make their way down.
Alexis can’t help but sniff ahead of her. She looks concerned. Maya takes her gun again.
“What is it?” Maya asks, not sure if she wants to know the answer.
“Something… different.” Alexis replies as they reach the end of the stops, and another door. This one a dark, blood red. Claw marks protruding from the other side.
“Are you ready?” Alexis asks, with her hand on the door handle.
“I’ve got you, right?” Maya smiles.
The two kick the door with force, causing it to swing open and slam against the wall on the other side.
In the dimly lit room in front of them are cages, cages big enough to hold a human, or a werewolf each.
Alexis and Maya scan the room. They look horrified. They take a side each, examining the cages. Inside them there are young children, no older than 11 years old, in each cage. Each of them displaying werewolf features.
“What is… going on here?” Maya can barely get the words out.
Alexis places her hand on one of the cages, fighting back the tears.
“They’re pups…” she says.
“They are MY boys!” Davis cries out from the doorway. Maya whips round, pointing the gun at him. Davis is leaning heavily against the door frame.
“This is illegal!” Maya proclaims.
“It’s sick is what it is, it’s torture!” Alexis cries.
“It’s necessary!” Davis retorts. “They are my boys. Made from ME! They keep this godforsaken village safe from the fangs… those bloodsuckers that have taken up residence in the next town over.” Davis explains.
“You can’t keep them in cages! You need to let them out, now!” Alexis demands.
“Can’t do that my dear. Young pups like to run free, and if they run free, they might not come back… or worse, those fangs will get them. Can’t risk it. They need to hunt in packs.”
Maya pushes a button on her gun and it whirs. She keeps a tight aim on Davis, who takes out a black square control with just one red button on it. He waves it in front of him, shaking his head.
“One little push, those cages open and my boys come out to play. And trust me, they’re hungry. I make sure to keep them that way.”
Alexis snarls, her eyes glowing yellow, her skin turning grey. She steps forward, ready to attack but Davis raises his finger, wagging it back and forth.
“Just walk away, pretend you never saw it, and we’ll leave it like that, okay?” Davis asks. Alexis looks to Maya, pleading with her.
“Maya… please.”
Maya looks to the cages, then to Davis. She lowers her gun.
“Fine.” Maya relents.
“Maya!” Alexis growls. Maya slowly shakes her head.
“Good choice. I’ll see you out.” Davis smiles, stepping back from the door, pointing up to the stairs. Alexis is furious at them both. Maya shakes her head again.
“Come on Alexis… you know this is our only play here.” Maya tries to explain. She gestures for Alexis to walk out first, which she reluctantly does. Maya follows behind her and heads for the door.
As Alexis reaches Davis she looks back at the cages one last time, taking a deep breath.
“Now Alexis!” Maya commands. Alexis grabs Davis quickly and before he can push the button, she grabs it and then she throws him into the middle of the room with force. Maya draws her gun and shoots Davis in the leg. Davis lets out a scream of pain, waking up the children in the cages.
“What did you do that for? I was going to let you leave!” Davis cries.
Maya steps back to Alexis, carefully. Alexis holds up the remote control.
“You said you kept them hungry, yeah?” Alexis smirks, pushing the button. The cage doors slam open and the children start to crawl out. They snarl, growl and howl a little as they start to circle Davis.
Davis tries to drag himself to the door, reaching out to them, but Alexis and Maya just walk away.
The wolves pounce, letting out snarls and growls. Davis screams in agony as Maya and Alexis walk away.
Back upstairs, Maya and Alexis re-enter the shop, closing the door behind them.
“What do you want to do with them?” Maya asks.
“I’ve got some contacts not too far from here… they can take them, raise them properly.” Alexis smiles.
“Right, come on then.” Maya enthusiastically calls out. “We’ll wait outside for your contact, then off to the campsite. The holiday continues!”
Maya makes her way back through the door and out of the counter area. Alexis doesn’t move.
“We need to go back.” Alexis tells her.
“Are you sure?” Maya turns, a serious look on her face.
“PITS did all they could to look after us, our kind… the SPIDERS won’t. They’ll just let werewolves rot in cages. Unless we do something about it.” Alexis explains.
“You’re wanted for murder… it won’t be easy for you.” Maya warns her.
“Yeah, but you’re not… and Clark did say if you ever needed a job, he’d put in a good word for you, right?” Alexis reminds her.
Maya folds her arms. “Are you seriously suggesting I go undercover in the SPIDERS?”
Alexis nods her head, with a big smile on her face.
“Together. We’ll work together. You be the brains and I’ll be the claws.”
End.
