Lycan Fallout: Rise Of The Werewolf (12 page)

“Wait! Wait!” I heard from behind the gate. I turned
as one of the women from the wall came running out.

“Lana! What are you doing! Stop immediately.”

She came running out to me; long, red hair trailing behind her. She was younger than I had originally thought – probably why she came out the gate – she hadn’t lived long enough to truly distrust people. She’d learn.

“I didn’t want you to think all the people of Denarth were rude.” She handed me a sack sitting atop a small pile of clothes that looked like they’d been made from burlap.

Yeah, that was going to help the old road rash
, I thought sourly.

“I brought you some bread and cheese,” she added.

I opened the bag. It smelled heavenly; the bread had just come out of the oven. I was taking in the smell when the wind kicked up, her soft hair floating up into the breeze. The delicate curve of her neck quickened my pulse. I could feel the beat of her blood as it slid by just underneath her skin. I recovered as her hair fell back into place.

“Thank you for this,” I told her, wanting to leave her company as quickly as possible.

“Did you truly fight a Lycan?” she asked, eyes large.

“I did.”

“And you won?”

“I did.”

“How?”

I looked at her for a moment. I thought about telling her, but there were already enough monsters in the world. Why did she need to know about another one? “Grace of the gods, I suppose,” I told her instead. “Listen, if what my friends have told me is true, then Lycan are coming
. You need to convince the chancellor that what you have isn’t adequate to stop them. They are planning a war.”

“I will try. Father can be stubborn. Thank you,” she said as she gripped my hand. She pulled back quickly from the contact. I looked down to her hand, and with that, I left.

***

“Dammit, Michael,” Azile said with the same far away stare.

“What’s the matter?” Tommy asked, pulling up alongside.

“That man! He’s like trying to catch falling leaves in the winter.”

Tommy sat back not sure how to respond. “Azile, there are no leaves in the winter.”

“Exactly,” she said, exasperated. “He went off the pathway.”

“Should we go get him?” Tommy asked.

“No, for whatever reason he left, it must be important. We will continue on.”

&nbequize="+0sp;

***

I walked away from the fortress happy to have some food. I alternated eating bread and cheese, always giving Oggie a piece of whatever I was having. Normally he liked to roam around, but he was hanging pretty close since we started eating. I found a small copse of trees and removed my destroyed clothes. I enjoyed the feel of the sun on my skin and actually took a moment to lie down. I had to admit, there was something extremely primitive and inviting about being this close to nature. I let my eyes close. Oggie was sniffing around the bag.

“We’ll eat more in a minute,” I told him groggily.

I heard him go bounding off. I think Oggie took the
minute
part literally I heard him come traipsing back much quicker than I had anticipated, or I had fallen asleep and more time had elapsed than I thought. I sat up when I realized those weren’t the sounds of paws on grass, but rather, shoed feet.

Nothing makes you feel more vulnerable than nudity, and besides some clinging twigs and leaves, I was as naked as one could get. I was staring at the clothes Lana had given me; I reached out and snagged them. My hand nearly
rebelled at the feel of the scratchy Rayon-Burlap hybrid. I think I would have put my shredded clothes back on if I hadn’t shed them back at the opening to the copse. There was no way I was getting into a fight with my talliwacker flapping about. I had just pulled the rough material over my head when I heard her.

“Sir,” Lana called out.

“You’re kidding right?” I said softly, ducking down and putting my arms through the torturous sleeves as quickly as I could. “I’d rather wear rusty armor,” I said as I pulled the pants up. My socks were a lost cause and I had discarded them with the rest of my previous clothing. The boots could use a thorough rinsing, but they were in great shape. I put them on, foregoing tying them for the moment.

“What are you doing here?” I stood up. She had gotten a lot closer than I had expected and gasped in surprise
when she saw me.

“I told my father. He did not believe me that a war is coming. My father said that you were just trying to scare us because we would not let you in.”

“So how did coming to find me seem like a good idea? You have no idea who I am. I could very easily be the monster your father believes that I am. Or worse,” I added, bending over to tie my boots. The wind had kicked up exposing that damned delicious looking neck again.

“This a test, God?” I grumbled.

“Excuse me?” Lana asked, thinking I was talking to her.

“Nothing.” I told her, thankful her hair had dropped back down. “Go home, I appreciate what you’ve done for me, but there’s nothing except danger out here.”

“Where are you from...really?” she asked, completely blowing off my warning.

“I love teenagers, such a uniquely obstinate being.”

“Your clothes, I couldn’t tell from the wall, but I knew they were different. And then when I saw your boots, I knew you weren’t from idten’t Maine and you have an accent I’ve never heard before. It’s so exotic.”

“You’ve never heard a Bostonian accent before?” I asked.

“Where? Are you from across the ocean? Father told me that people used to travel over the waterways covering vast distances.”

“I’m from...” I let it t
rail off, Massachusetts would mean as much to her as Boston would.

“And more importantly,” she pressed on, “
What are you?”

“What?”

“I touched your hand…you are no man.”

“You have no idea what I am or where I’m from, and you come out alone and unarmed. And they say I have the dumbs.”

She looked slightly crestfallen. If she had lived during my times, though, she probably would have been a cheerleader with how quickly she rebounded.

“You are no Lycan like my father believes.”

“How do you know that?” I asked in between whistles for Oggie.

I wanted him to come back quickly so we could leave before her father sent out a brigade of men to hunt us down. And truth be told, being alone with a teenage girl scared the shit out of me. Not because I felt like I would commit any impropriety, but rather because like I’ve pointed
out in other journals; the female teenager may be the most foreign creature on this planet. That includes zombies, vampires and now even Lycans and werewolves. They were an emotional bundle of drama, and I dreaded being around the ticking time bombs.

“You are not Lycan because they nearly burn to the touch. That is why I grasped your hand. I had to know.”

“Have you ever heard the phrase, curiosity killed the cat?”

“Many times,” she replied.

“Apparently that didn’t resonate with you, I’m thinking.”

“What is your name?” she asked, completely ignoring me in a perfect teenage fashion.

“Fine, I’m Michael Talbot.”

She let that roll around in her head for a moment before she spoke. “Again, sir, you are no Lycan, and I do not believe you to be any ordinary man. You are cold to the touch, but do not show any signs of hypothermia. My original question stands.”

“Listen, Lana, go home. Do whatever it is teenagers do during this time.”

“Teenager?”

“A person of teen years. You know fifteen, sixteen, etcetera.”

“Middling, you mean?”

“Sure, take your middling ass and go home. Your father is going to want my head now, and I’m very attached to its present location.”

“I am nearly an adult. I will do as I please!” she informed me in no uncertain terms.

“Great really, but go rebel somewhere else.”

“Why are you avoiding my questio, cg my quns?”

“You will not like the answers.”

“I know more than you think I do.”

“Most teen...middlings do.”

“I can sense something in you. Are you attracted to me?”

“Listen, Lana, you really don’t want to be around me. I don’t know what you sense or why you feel the need to be here. I may be attracted to you, but not in any way that is flattering.”

She looked at me crossly, my words confusing her.

I laughed, before realizing my folly. “Where is that damned mutt?” I asked impatiently wanting to extract myself from this socially awkward situation.

“You’re laughing at me? Is something about me funny to you?” She was truly angry now.

Poked a bear, wonderful. “Lana, I am many years your senior and have been in a time vastly different from this one. I find humor wherever I can get it. Go home, find someone you love to be with. Enjoy him while you can. Love hard, life is fleeting.”

“Why is there so much sadness around you?” she asked, stepping in closer.

Oggie finally trundled up. He was all wags and kisses to our new guest.

“Great of you to finally show up. We’re leaving, pooch,” I told him as I grabbed my meager supplies. I walked out of the copse and back towards the roadway. Lana did not immediately follow. But she would. How did I know that? Because what middling isn’t defiant?

“Don’t make me carry you back!” I shouted into the woods behind me where she trailed by a couple of dozen yards.

“You cannot see me!” she shouted in reply.

“I’m no woodsman, but a bear in heat would make less noise than you.”

“I want to see the world. I have only been out of Denarth once, and I was still within sight of her walls.”

“The world sucks, Lana. There’s all manner of unsavory things out here. “Even right here.” I mumbled that part. “Your father was wise to keep you inside.”

“A life half lived is not worth living,” she said as she approached.

“Why are you so desperate to cut both of our existences short?”

“My father will understand,” she said, coming abreast of me.

“No, he won’t. I was a father once.”

“Once?”

“Last chance, Lana, I have to catch up to my
friends
. (For lack of a better term.) Where I go I do not foresee a rosy ending. I have done things in this life I must atone for, and I have a fate to fulfill. And apparently it starts with these clothes. Are they used as some sort of punishment?” I asked, pulling the shirt away from my chest where it was abrading my many wounds.

“I have a salve I can put on those.” she said, realizing my discomfort.

“NO!” I said much too quickly.

“I think I frighten you, Michael Talbot.” She laughed.

“You have no idea.”

“What happened to your children?” she prodded.

“Time,” was my solemn answer.

“Surely you are not old enough to have outlived them.”

I stopped and turned to look at her. “You are a smart one, aren’t you? Fine, this may be the only chance I have to be rid of you.” My pupils dilated as I opened my mouth, long canines pulled down pointedly, my heart raced as I felt the beat of her heart. The delivery of so much blood quickened my pulse in return.

“What are you?” she cried, pulling back.

“I am the worst of what this world has to offer,” I told her truthfully as I wrestled to regain control of my emotions. Oggie stood and watched purposefully. I wondered what he would do if I attacked the girl. He had seemed to grow fond of her, and I can’t imagine he would stand idly by as I devoured her. “I am a vampire, Lana.”