Blood and Beasts (4 page)

I realize that. You don
’
t have to shout,
Francesca retorted.

Sorry. This is just so weird.
Which one of us do you think is doing it?
She asked, and the werewolf
seemed to think about that a moment, a comical sight to see.

Maybe it
’
s both of us? Maybe all magical
creatures can do this if they touch each other,
she suggested.

But what about before? When we
were just friends? We never had these discussions in our minds,
Seph
pointed out, and Francesca had to agree with that too.

Maybe it
’
s because we
’
re both changed now, and maybe it
’
s also because I
’
m in my werewolf form
? She added, and Seph thought about
that.

Then you would be the one with
the ability to do this,
she thought slowly, trying to hide her twinge of
jealousy; telepathy would be so cool.

Stop it. We don’
t know that. When I become human
again, we can test it out,
Francesca said, clearly reading Seph
’
s
feelings, which was annoying.

So, I haven
’
t seen you for the past two months
because you
’
ve been… changing into a werewolf
every full-
she was
cut off by the
SNAP!
of a twig, resonating through the clearing.

Instantly, she dropped Francesca
’
s paw, breaking their telepathic
connection. She needed both her hands to properly defend herself. Her
hypersensitive eyes scoured their surroundings to the left, where the sound had
come from, where her foster home was, about three miles back.

“Something
’
s coming. It
’
s about a mile away, or was,” she commented, and
Francesca nodded in agreement.

She paused to think a moment. They
needed to hide. They would scare any human… and anything else, for that matter…
A werewolf and a vampire, united together. How strange… Well, if they were
going to have to fight then they could find a better place than this open
clearing to do it. The old shed! There was an old shed hidden back in the woods
that she and Francesca used as their clubhouse… She and Francesca and Nate…
They just wanted a place of their own to hang out in when Francesca
’
s parents were too busy or when Nate
and Seph
’
s foster parents were being
particularly mean or aggravating. It was nearly directly between their two
homes, seeing as Francesca lived exactly five miles east of them. So, she
calculated, they were about half a mile from it, and it was a little south from
their current location. How she knew that, she had no idea.

“Francesca, the shed,” there was a
moment of listlessness on the werewolf
’
s
face before sudden recognition struck it.

It nodded its great shaggy head at
her, on all fours again and ready to sprint. There was another snapping twig
behind them, not half a mile away now, and they both turned towards it. They
needed to leave now.

“Let
’
s go,” Seph urged, and they took off.

Francesca was fast, nearly as fast
as Seph as she whizzed in and out of the trees. They stood out before her as
though everything were swamped in bright daylight instead of total darkness, a
light mist rising up with the gentle rain. It should have picked up by now, the
storm. It felt like it was just waiting for the right moment to strike, or
maybe it was not going to be as strong as the wind had insinuated, or maybe it
had moved on. She did not know much about storms. All she knew was that her
hair was drying now as she whistled through the trees, Francesca not two paces
behind her. She wondered which of them would be faster in an all-out race
across an open plain. She and Francesca always had a slight, friendly rivalry
between them, not that either of them would admit to it. It would be
interesting to find out… Who was faster? Who was better? Who was… more or less
of a monster?

They arrived at the shed in a
minute flat. Both circled the shed once, ensuring that nothing was lurking
around for them. They stood in front of the door, waiting with bated breath.
Seph
’
s eyes scrutinized the emerald-green
forest, bathed in silvery moonlight. She rested her hand on the great werewolf
’
s shoulder as it paced the ground on
all fours, halting its actions.

Francesca, what are we going to
do? I
’
m pretty sure whatever is coming
after us isn
’
t exactly human and isn
’
t exactly animal. I think it
’
s something magical, just like us,
she said, and a low growl rumbled
from Francesca
’
s throat.

We fight until we can
’
t fight anymore
, Francesca snarled feral-like, and
Seph had to wonder just how much of Francesca was speaking and how much of the
wolf spoke.

Our true selves will come out
with our magical selves, Seph. I
’
m
a bit more vicious now, but, you gotta admit it, I always kinda have been. You
’
ll be more vicious too. You just
changed, so it
’
s not as obvious… yet,
the werewolf shrugged its massive
shoulders, and Seph sighed.

She was right. It was going to
slowly change them, their new natures. For good or for worse, she did not know.
She could not help but wonder, as she pondered over her new vampirism, if
werewolf blood tasted any different from human blood, because that blood had
been really good.

Ew, gross! Seph! I
’
m sure my blood tastes just fine,
but you
’
re not having any! Whose human blood
did you drink anyway?
Francesca asked, and Seph tried so hard not to think his name, not to think his
name, that she thought his name.
Nate! You drank from Nate?!
Seph looked
away, properly embarrassed. Francesca just stood there, clearly waiting for an
explanation.

Before that particular conversation could go on any
further, the sudden flash of headlights stopped them. Francesca rose to her
great height, arms out aggressively as she snarled. Seph mirrored her stance,
arms out also, hissing menacingly. The car, the same sleek car that had been at
her foster home, now stopped on the old road that led to the shed. How had they
known?

“Telepathy, age-old tracking,
surveillance. That
’
s how we knew,” the man with the
salt-and-pepper hair fluidly emerged from the car promptly, his voice carrying
an essence of authority and elegance to it.

“What do you want?” Seph literally
hissed before quickly hiding her astonishment at the ferocity in her own voice.

 Francesca was right about their
changing…

“We just want to talk, Persephone.
I can see that you are a little startled as is your friend, Francesca. We have
been searching for her most adamantly these past two days. We are from-” Seph
cut him off.

“Searching for? She
’
s been at her house this whole time.
You didn
’
t think to knock?” She asked him
impertinently.

She did not trust this man. She did
not trust this man as far as she could throw him, although that might be a
considerable distance considering her new skills and powers. Francesca leaned
against Seph in order to project her thoughts to her.

I haven
’
t exactly been living at home these
past two months, Seph. I
’
ve been living… somewhere else, and
for the past two days, I
’
ve been living here, which is probably
why they knew where to find us. I
’
m
willing to bet that they finally managed to track me down here,
she admitted, and Seph sent her a
sideways glance, still facing their entourage.

Why haven
’
t you been at home?
She asked curiously, wondering if
her friend had been in trouble this whole time and had not gone to her for
help.

For the same reasons that you
left your home,
Francesca began when flashes of Nate
’
s bloodied neck and her screaming siblings crossed both
their minds. The two mystical creatures shuddered at the shared memories.
Well,
not exactly. You
’
re going to have to explain to me
what happened with Nate later. Right now, we need to take these guys out before
they take us out,
Francesca said, and Seph interrupted her, although she noted in the back of her
mind that Francesca had not answered her question really.

What about what he
’
s saying? Maybe he can help us. He
said he just wanted to talk,
but
Francesca was shaking her head, noticeable to the observant beings before them.

Letting them talk to us will
just let them come closer to us and lower our guard. We need to attack now,
girl,
she urged, and some of Francesca
’
s offensive manner flooded from her brain into Seph
’
s, invigorating her.

Alright,
she commented,
hissing aloud.

Let
’
s do this,
Francesca snarled as more people
flooded from the car, and the two men from Seph
’
s house earlier emerged from the forest.

“I do not think they are going to
be cooperative,” the man with the long hair said with a slight sigh.

He first glanced at the two men
Seph had seen earlier, the huge, dark man with the light hair and the
evil-looking man with the closely shorn hair. Then the man looked to his other
side at the three people lingering there, wielding chains in their hands. How
had she missed those? They glinted silver in the light of the night. There was
a redheaded woman, a redheaded man, and a blue-haired man with strange,
lavender eyes. The two redheads had to be related, probably brother and sister.
The woman looked a little scared as the red-haired man tried to put a brave
face on for her. Seph could hear his thudding heartbeat though, hardly slower
than the woman
’
s quick flutter. The blue-haired man
appeared bored, slowly circling the chain around one balled fist. What were
they going to do to them? Did they plan to torture them or something?

“
Alistair,
” the dark man spoke to the
evil-looking man now in a deep, gravelly voice. “Would you like to do the
honors?” The evil-looking man, Alistair, nodded, smiling maliciously, as though
he were going to enjoy this quite a bit.

Seph
’
s eyes zeroed in on his ivory fangs. So he was a
vampire. She would bet her own pair of teeth that the dark man was a vampire
too. What were the others though? She knew uncannily that they were not like
her, but they were not wholly human either. She doubted they were werewolves
with the full moon out. That left… wizards? Witches?

“Let
’
s go,” the blue-haired man said to the two redheads,
taking a step forward.

The next few events happened in a
blur. One moment, Alistair had been taking a step towards her, and the next, he
was flying through the air, landing right on top of her. She had no idea how
Francesca was faring as her back thudded against the ground. Her acute ears
picked up slight grunts and growls to her right, but she was a little
preoccupied. She and the strange man rolled over a few times until he managed
to pin her down, struggling with her arms as she attempted to claw his face,
snarling. He snarled right back, fangs extended.

She did not allow her shock to show
as she easily managed to roll him over again. She was not the only monster in
these woods tonight. Perched above him, she lunged for his throat. Startled by
her aggressiveness, he shoved her off him with an immense, adrenaline-packed
strength. Seph was propelled backwards in the air, slamming roughly into the
shed
’
s outer wall. Although the throw was
jolting, she managed to land on her feet and not crumple to the floor in a
heap.

Before she could even recover
though, he was beside her. He grabbed her throat and shoved her against the
wall again. The wound on the back of her head had started healing, but his last
shove reopened it, hot, sticky blood trickling down the back of her neck. He
leaned in close and sniffed her throat as she beat at his arm fruitlessly,
struggling for breath.

“Nothing smells better than fresh
blood,” he murmured, baring his fangs like a cobra.

“You
’
re right,” she snarled and slashed him across the face
with her nails, which were more like claws now.

She shoved him back and followed
after him. She backhanded him strongly and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled
backwards once more. Before he fell to the ground, she darted forward at
incredible speed and caught him. She turned his dazed head, baring his throat,
and moved to bite him.

Two hands roughly seized her
shoulders, pulling her backwards. She dropped Alistair, who crumpled in a
graceless heap to the ground before her, just as she felt the twin pinpricks of
fangs piercing her own throat. Alistair stumbled to his feet, rubbing his
chest, where she wagered she had broken a few ribs. Hopefully she had cracked
his sternum, she thought viciously, even though her thoughts were coming full
and far between now.

She found herself completely
paralyzed and in a fog as the blood was slowly drained out of her. She glanced
over at Francesca, noting the dark hands on her own shoulders. They had to
belong to the tall man she had momentarily forgotten about, the other vampire.
Last time she made that mistake, she thought with irony. She blinked several
times as a light fog covered her eyesight.

Francesca was howling in a rage as
silver chains were lashed around her, mostly by the blue-haired man. The
red-haired woman was clutching a slashed and bleeding arm to her chest while
administering to a head wound of her redheaded brother
’
s. Francesca had put up a good fight, just like she
had. She reconciled herself with those thoughts.

Slowly, her legs gave out as she
lost all control of her limbs and body. The dark man caught her, keeping her in
a standing position. Darkness began to eat at the corners of her vision before
enveloping it, unconsciousness sweeping over her…

Seph awoke, completely confused. She
was staring at unfamiliar walls, unfamiliar lights, and an unfamiliar bed.
Where was she? What had happened? The lights seemed to be swirling all around
her. She attempted to move, and pain rushed through her body agonizingly.
Everything hurt. Her head hurt. Her neck hurt. She was feeling exceptionally
dizzy and lightheaded. The room
’
s walls seemed to be pressing in on
her as everything pulsated. What was going on? Where was she?

In one quick movement, she stood up
and nearly passed out again as darkness swept over her vision. She definitely
should not have moved that fast. Dragging her feet, she trudged to the heavy,
velvet curtains surrounding her cot. Something tugged on her arm, and she
turned. She paused, slowly registering that it was an IV hooked to her arm,
pushing something red constantly into her body. What?

Without a thought, she ripped it
out. She sensed a presence in the cot to her right, shielded by the heavy
curtains. She could not focus on anything. Everything was blurry. Everything
was moving. She stumbled out past the curtains impulsively to find herself in
the center of an infirmary. There was a door. She walked out of it.

She found herself in a huge
hallway, relatively empty of people. The few persons that were milling about
sent her some peculiar stares though. At least, she got the impression that
they were staring at her oddly, but their faces were hardly distinguishable
from one another. What was wrong with her vision? Was she going blind?!

She trudged through one of the
hallway
’
s open archways into a courtyard.
Moonlight spilled liquid silver over the greenery of it. She walked around in a
daze. Where was she? She stared up at an indigo sky studded with diamonds.
Lavender crept at the horizon. Dawn was nearing, and she knew that she did not
want to be outside at that time. Was it the same day? The same day as what?
What had happened?

A growl rumbled from behind her.
That reminded her of… something. Some thought or memory nibbled at just the
edges of her consciousness. Slowly, very slowly, she turned around. She could
not restrain a gasp. A huge wolf was standing before her, but it was not a
wolf. It looked like a wolf spliced with a man. It was huge, standing on its
hind-legs, and it had jet-black fur. It was a werewolf. She knew that because
she had seen one before. Where had she seen one before?

It snarled again and took an
aggressive step towards her. Its fur glowed with the moon, tinting the black
with silver, but its eyes were gold, huge, gold spheres. She took a step back.
What was one supposed to do when encountering a werewolf in the wild? She felt
so weak, so puny, so… human. She was a human, wasn
’
t she? Doubt niggled at the back of her mind. What was
wrong with her memory?!

The huge werewolf drew a claw back
to maim her. She took another frightened step backwards. It swung, and she
instinctively back-flipped out of its reach. Landing on the balls of her feet,
she and the werewolf gave one another strange looks. It roared. She hissed. Why
was she hissing? The werewolf launched itself at her, but she was ready, settling
her body into a fighter
’
s stance.

 She dove beneath it, and it flew
over her. They faced each other again, circled each other. It growled again.
She snarled again.
HISS!
Seph froze at the vicious sound coming from
behind her. She turned to face whatever it was. The werewolf sprinted towards
her. She drifted off to sleep again… Have I turned evil? Am I bad? What have I
become? Am I a monster now? These thoughts swirled around and around in Seph
’
s brain. What was wrong with her?
What had happened?