George Washington Werewolf (13 page)

“
What?
No! No!”

He thought of Alexander Hamilton. Perhaps he had come down here for some reason and had gotten too close to the cage.

“Hamilton!” he cried out. “Hamilton!”

Washington hurriedly got dressed. Then he opened the cage door and studied the blood for a moment longer before dashing upstairs. To his surprise the door was opened, and when he looked around he saw the destroyed padlock on the floor.

“
Burr!
” he said, the name spit out like an imprecation.

And then he heard boot steps on the porch, the front door swinging open.

“General!” Alexander Hamilton nearly gasped.

“Colonel, I am… pleased to see you!”

“And I you, sir, but... might I ask what…”

“It’s nothing, Colonel. But tonight I would like an armed guard placed outside on the porch, from one hour before moonrise until one hour after dawn. Can you handle this for me, Colonel Hamilton?”

“Yes sir!”

“And under no circumstances is he or
anyone
to come into the house. Is that clear?”

“Yes General!”

“Good.”

“And the padlock, sir?” he motioned to the lock on the floor.

“Shoddy workmanship, Hamilton… they don’t make ‘em like they used to.”

“Yes sir,” Colonel Hamilton nodded.

“
Flowers
, Colonel Burr? This is indeed a surprise!”

“I wanted to make up for the other night,” he explained, “for my rudeness.”

Nelle smiled to herself as she led him inside. Despite his horrible moods and the fact that at times he treated her abysmally, Nelle Watson still held out hope that one day, when this war was over, she might become Mrs. Aaron Burr.

“How’s
this?
” she asked, putting the flowers in a vase.

“Beautiful… like you, Nelle.”

“Aaron, I… It’s so good to
see
you like this. I… I’m so pleased!”

“I’m glad, because I want this night to be special. The most special night of our lives! Come here…”

Nelle obliged, and moments later they were in her room, naked in bed. And as Aaron Burr moved above her he kept stealing glances out the window at the night sky.

“Any minute now!” he said.

“Oh darling, can you go just a little
longer?
” she asked, as she looked up at his face. “You are
so
handsome! I do enjoy looking at your face!”

“I’m sure you do,” he smiled to himself.

Another glance outside. There it was, the full moon. He had never noticed how beautiful it was, and suddenly he felt as if he could make love to a
hundred
women!

“That’s it! Faster!” she said. “Oooh yes!” And she closed her eyes.

The change was exhilarating. His body infused with strength, power, and lust. He had become a kind of sexual engine moving above her, faster and faster, like a piston out of control.

“Oh yes!” Nelle moaned. “YES!”

And then she opened her eyes and saw his face.

“
Aaron!
What’s happened to your
eyes?
” she asked. “They’re… They’re
red!
”

But he was oblivious as the change had overtaken him, and Nelle watched as he mutated before her eyes. She tried to push him away but he was too strong.

“Aaron, what’s
happening
to you?”

And then the terror set in. She shut her eyes tight as if it were a nightmare, but when she opened them again he had become a monster, a wolf, but still inside her, still thrusting away. And then she heard the beast moan in a kind of delirium as she felt its tremor throughout her body. She hit it with her fists, she swung her arms with all her might to try and escape its grasp but it was too powerful. And then it turned its awful head and looked down at her—its red eyes like gazing into the depths of Hell—and Nelle began to cry. And then the beast opened its jaws. She felt its hot, foul breath on her skin.

After it was through the monster saw the full moon outside and it crashed through the window glass and disappeared. And what was left of Nelle Watson was scattered in pieces over the bed and the floor. But curiously, her face was unharmed, her lifeless brown eyes looking out at the clock on the dresser. 8:30. A single chime rang out but went unheard.

Morning came, and Aaron Burr felt on top of the world. He seemed to move across the camp with the strides of a Colossus. He remembered the flowers being put in a vase but nothing else and for a moment he was sad. He wanted to remember
everything
.

Valley Forge had never seemed so enchanting, and he imagined himself on a pleasant stroll through the park as he passed by some enlisted men and overheard their conversation.

“Her sister found her body.”

“When?”

“Today! This morning… what was
left
of it.”

“And this was in
town?
”

“Yeah. Her sister came to get her. They delivered milk to the camp.”

“No kidding? What did she look like?”

“Before or after…”

“Oh, you’re awful.”

“Don’t blame
me
. That’s what Culpepper said.”

“Culpepper?”

“And he heard it from Grimsby who heard it from one of the milkmaids who heard it from the
sister
herself!”

“Jesu Christi!” The private made the sign of the cross.

“
Jesu Christi?
”

“It’s Latin,” the private said.

And then they saw Colonel Burr and they gave him a salute.

“Colonel…” they both said.

“Privates…”

And Burr paused for a moment and smiled. But then his mood was instantly ruined when he saw Alexander Hamilton rushing towards him with a determined look on his face.

“Colonel Burr… General Washington would like to see you immediately!”

Burr let out a breath.

“Very well,” he said.

And moments later he was in the General’s quarters.

“Colonel Burr, how do you explain this?” Washington tossed the broken padlock from the Musgrave Farm onto his desk before him.

Burr was silent.

“Colonel, I think we’re beyond games of hide and seek now, don’t you?”

“General?”

“You were at the farmhouse the other night, weren’t you? The Musgrave Farm…”

“Yes General.”

Washington sat back in his chair.

“What did you see?”

“
This
, General…” And Aaron Burr rolled up his sleeve and showed George Washington his wounds, the bite marks on his arm.

“
Oh
…” Washington sighed deeply to himself and then turned away.

“We are brothers now, General… You and I… and Baron Von Steuben as well.”

Washington was at a loss. He took another deep breath and then looked back at Colonel Burr.

“Colonel…” he said.

“Yes General?”

A long pause as Washington looked into the young man’s eyes.

“That will be all, Colonel Burr.”

“Yes General.”

After Burr left the tent Washington took out a piece of paper and put it on his desk. He had to write a letter to his wife and tell her what had happened.

An hour later he was still staring at the piece of paper. “Dear Martha” was all he had written.

Since February, five hundred more soldiers had died of disease and malnutrition, and what little supplies had arrived had proven to be grossly inadequate. Washington had lost count of the letters he’d sent to Congress pleading for food and clothing, but today all that was going to change. Three wagons had arrived loaded with crates, compliments of the Continental Congress, and the General himself was the first on the scene to greet them.

It was a lovely sight, the many crates unloaded onto the ground, and General Washington felt something that he hadn’t experienced in a very long time—joy. The first crate was pried open and what they found were winter coats. Washington smiled at the irony, as it was now the first of May, so warm as to be almost balmy. The second crate was opened. Winter coats as well, and on and on until three wagonloads of crates were opened, all containing winter coats. No food, no weapons, no ammunition. Nothing but winter coats!

“GOD IN HEAVEN!” Washington shouted.

He drew his saber from its scabbard and held it out as if to slash at Fate itself, or perhaps to cut all ten thousand winter coats to shreds, all of which had arrived six months too late. This was the last straw, and that evening he called a meeting of a very select and exclusive group of men: Baron Friedrich Von Steuben, Aaron Burr, and himself.

“I’ve called you here because I am
sick
of this war,” Washington began. “I’m fed up with Congress with their thumbs up their arses while
we’re
the ones who are doing the fighting and the dying! If I asked them for
September
they’d give me
July!
” he shook his head.

“General,” Von Steuben said, “what can we do for you?”

“Yes General…” said Aaron Burr.

“I think you know why I’ve called you two here this evening. We three possess something that, while terrible and abhorrent, may in fact be used for some good. After all, what sense does
any
of it make? What sense is there that we receive 10,000 winter coats in
May?
I… I think we must decide what we three can do, possessing our special…
gift
if you will… What we can do to help bring this godforsaken war to a swift and decisive conclusion.”

“General?”

“Baron, you told me a story once of Frederick the Great…”

“I did indeed.”

“How do you think the three of us would fare against a company of British soldiers?”

“If we took them by surprise, as you did at Trenton... Attack them in the middle of the night when most of them are asleep or drunk and there will be great disarray. And
panic
, of course, once they realize what’s happening. I believe under those circumstances not a man of theirs would be left alive.”

Washington paused to take it in.

“And the gunshot wounds we will inevitably sustain…” Washington continued. “Colonel Burr and I are not knowledgeable as you are regarding what we can and cannot endure.”

“While painful, the wounds will not be life-threatening. Our healing properties are greatly accelerated, General. As I have already stated, the only way to
kill
us is through decapitation. But these are
soldiers
… British Regulars trained to load and shoot their muskets and pistols…”

“
Your
thoughts, Colonel Burr…”

“Thank you, General. I am in accord with Baron Von Steuben. I think we should act on this bit of good fortune.”

“An interesting way to put it, Colonel.”

“What I
mean
, General, is that since this… this unimaginable thing has indeed happened, that we should look to how it may be utilized for
good
. After all,
armat spinat rosas
…”

“The thorn arms the rose…”

“Yes, General. And if we truly believe in the beauty of our cause, of the sanctity of liberty, of our freedom from British oppression, then we must use these thorns to bring about the end of this war!”

“Yes, Colonel,” Washington nodded, “I’m afraid those are my thoughts as well.”

“So General,” said Von Steuben, “what do you propose?”

“The British will be coming out of winter quarters soon… if they can tear themselves away from their parties and gambling tables… We should strike at the next full moon.”

“That’s in two weeks, General.”

“Yes. So time is of the essence. I want you both to work out a plan of attack and bring it to me as soon as possible,” the General looked them both in the eye. “We’ll see if we can’t take what Fate has heaped upon us and use it to our favor. Let’s hope that tonight is the beginning of the end for the British.”

“
Hear, hear!
” said Burr and Von Steuben. “
Hear, hear!
”