Chapter 4: Marie Jeanne Confronts The Man Behind The Beast
The people of Gevaudan all gathered in the tavern of their town on the behest of Marie - Jeanne to honor the death of the hunters who met their unfortunate end in the hands of the beast.
MJ: "to honor the dead, I expect everyone to drink"
Marie Jeanne said as she and Orion passed the drinks to everyone which contained wolfsbane, also known as aconite or monkshood, an extremely toxic herb for Werewolves, Werecoyotes, and presumably Werejaguars.
Marie Jeanne is very determined to catch the killer today and get rid of it so that peace can return to the people of Gevaudan.
Even Sebastian and Marcel joined them and passed the drinks around and when everyone has gotten their shares, Sebastian raised a glass as he proposed a toast.
Sebastian: "to the dead"
Everyone: "to the dead"
Everyone had their drinks while Marie Jeanne looked around to see who would have any effect to the wolfsbane when she heard a glass falling to the ground and turned around to see Marcel bleeding.
She looked at Orion who nodded at her before she rushed over to Marcel.
MJ: "I have got him. Come, Marcel, out to the well"
Marie Jeanne held Marcel and ushered him outside and brought him to the well close to the Tavern.
MJ: "do you have any cloth? Something to wrap your hands?"
Marcel: "yes"
As Marie Jeanne was washing off the blood from Marcel, he pulled out a key and hand it over to her.
Marcel: "in the cellar"
There was a brief moment of silence as Marie Jeanne and Marcel shared a meaningful look together as they knew the other party must have known they know.
Marcel: "you will find what you are looking for in the cellar"
Marcel said while stretching the keys towards Marie Jeanne.
Marie Jeanne took the key from Marcel and walked backward so as not to give Marcel the chance to catch her unaware.
After creating some distance from Marcel, she turned around and hasten her steps to the cellar which was not far off from the tavern.
When she got to where the cellar was, she bent down and opened it and looked around her to see if anything out of the ordinary was around before going inside.
She took the lamp that was hung around the corner went deep into the cellar and saw something that terrified her greatly. She saw the dead bodies of victims killed and mutilated by the beast, all kept in the cellar as they rot there.
Marie Jeanne immediately ran out of the cellar and took her cross bow she kept around in case of something like this and immediately went to confront Marcel as she believed him to the beast.
Marcel with his head down and was still bleeding from his wound heard the slow steps of Marie Jeanne but he did nothing and wanted for her to do what he wanted her to do, killing him.
Marie Jeanne pointed the crossbow at Marcel and hesitated for a whileas she was the bow to raise his head to look at her, she wanted to look at him in his eyes and wanted an explanation for why he was doing that.
Marcel: "go ahead, release the arrow, do it, Marie Jeanne. Go ahead, let the arrow fly. Release it, Marie Jeanne, please. Release me"
Marcel seeing that Marie Jeanne was still hesitating on killing him urged her to the extent if even making her take some steps back.
Marcel continued urging Marie Jeanne which made her to remember the bodies of the dead she saw back at his cellar making her unconsciously releasing the arrow but she immediately regained her senses and change the direction of the crossbow.
MJ: "you are not the killer, you are covering for him"
Marie Jeanne said after she saw that his wound still hasn't healed which is not supposed to be so from the stories she heard from Orion and Henri.
Having an idea if who it might be, Marie Jeanne left Marcel and went back to the Tavern to confront the killer, her brother.
Back at the Tavern
Orion and Sebastian were having a staring contest because the latter saw the former saw him when he unconsciously shifted from the influence of the wolfsbane.
Orion: "so you are the killer, the werewolf terrorizing the town, why"
Sebastian: "because that's what I am, I am the demon wolf, it will be very degrading for my nature if I don't embrace who I was truly meant to be, the beast"
Orion: "you are a sick bastard that was even a killer before you even became a werewolf. Yes, I've done my research and I know about you, you are just a sadistic and psychopathic monster hiding in the flesh of a human and when you became a werewolf, you became a dog with no leash, you became uncontrollable and you did what you always loved doing, kill and kill because you now fear no one as you have the power no one else has"
Sebastian was surprised as to how Orion knew all that but he just shrugged it off as he believed he does not need to put such a low life in his eyes.
Sebastian: "I don't know what you are talking about"
Orion: "denying it I see, well someone else could have bought it but you say, I'm not someone else. You see, I have been studying about your kind for years now which means even before you became one, I know the myths and legends about the supernatural and let me tell you one interesting one"
Orion smiled as he moved closer to Sebastian and whispered his next sentence in his ears.
Orion: "'the shape a person takes reflect on who they are' so Sebastian, who do you think you are"
Orion said before he walked off as he saw Marie Jeanne walking towards Sebastian with anger in her eyes.
Sebastian who was still thinking about what Orion said was caught off guard by his sister who appeared by his side.
MJ: "you have killed children"
Sebastian: "I kill whatever dares to cross my path"
MJ: "why?"
Sebastian: "that's who I am, that's what I've become, you've heard of the old story of what happens when someone drinks rainwater from the paw print of a wolf, you become the Demon Wolf"
Sebastian fully embraced his true nature and told Marie Jeanne without any shred of humanity, even to his own sister. If she dares to stand against him, then she will leave him no choice but to kill her to and just add it to the list of people he had and will kill.
Marie Jeanne was devastated as the man whom she called her brother was no where to be seen, only a monster and a demon, that's all she could see. Her brother is gone and now he is just the Demon Wolf.
Marie Jeanne looked at the magistrate and everyone in the tavern and contemplated on whether to tell them or not.
Sebastian: "go, go ahead, tell them it's me and watch me tear them them apart in matter of moments, every lasts soul in this place"
MJ: "you are a monster"
Sebastian shook his head as she called him a monster.
Sebastian: "beast, Marie Jeanne, The Beast"
Sebastian said as he stood up and made his way out of the Tavern leaving the devastated Marie Jeanne alone not before he said his final piece.
Sebastian: "you won't catch me and you won't kill me, we are family, Marie Jeanne, we're family"
He said as he finally left the Tavern under the watchful eyes of Marie Jeanne.
Orion watch all of this and sighed before he made his way to Marie Jeanne together with Henri.
Henri: "so what now, Marie Jeanne, we have found out who is the man behind the beast, what should we do now?"
Marie Jeanne cleared her tears and stood up with a new found resolve and looked at her two companions.
Marie Jeanne: "we hunt him and kill him"