Melabeth Forgive Me, For I Am Sin! (29 page)

“I love you too.”

He pulled free, “I must go. Good luck, I am sure you will make me proud.”

“Goodbye,” had barely left my lips as the cloud of smoke vanished and once again I stood in the forest alone.

I turned and once again headed toward the cabins. I prayed that I might finish this one way or the other, for now I had goodness that needed working on.

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I moved once more toward the cabins.

I moved faster now, without making a sound. It was late afternoon when I arrived at the cabins. My talk with Nicks had taken a little while. Now I wondered if I hadn’t missed them all together, but my fears were gone when I reached the first cabin. On the other side of the cabin I could make out voices speaking in the clearing. It took me a moment to realize they were arguing and judging by the conversation it had been going on for some time now.

It took ten long minutes to make sure that all three men were there. Brandon hadn’t spoken nearly the whole time; his brother was still arguing with Alex on how to go out and hunt us. Judging from what he was saying it sounded as if Alex’s plan was for the brothers to go out and risk their lives while he stayed behind where it was safe. The brothers weren’t buying it for even a second.

Frustrated, Alex told the brothers, “If we all go out, my protective circle will fall apart. You may not kill them all, and then at night, where would your dumb asses hide?”

One of the brothers replied, “We may be dumb asses, but not as dumb as you think.”

I believe Brandon spoke next, “Shut up, you’re not helping. Alex, after last night do you even think they will come back?”

Alex answered, “I cannot tell, but the fact they came out into the woods against so many of us… well I think we must plan as if they might return. Randy, can you get my bag out of
the cabin?  If none of us is going to hunt them down, then I better start casting some more spells.”

Randy responded to Alex, “I’ll grab your damn bag…” under his breath as he headed toward the cabin he added, “Lazy wizard.”

As my luck would have it, he was heading toward the cabin that I was hiding behind. I looked up at the closed window. If I could kill him before the other two knew I was here, I would gain the advantage. I reached up and tested the window with my long fingers.  My luck held; it was unlocked. Randy was making all kinds of noises as he slammed things around looking for whatever Alex sent him for. I slid the window up, and the wooden window frame made an awful noise. I froze, waiting for the inevitable yell that would let them all know that I was here.

It didn’t happen; Randy had been making too much noise, and it covered my entrance. I quickly crawled through the window and into the cabin, landing on a small bed that was located inside a tiny bedroom. There was hardly room for the bed. I moved to the open door and watched Randy stomp to the front door of the cabin.

He held the door open as he yelled out, “I can’t find your dumb ass bag.”

I swiftly moved up behind him without a sound. I could hear Alex yelling at him about being useless, and did he check under the bed, but before Randy could turn around, I attacked.

Using my left hand I buried my claws into his spine as my fingers slipped in between his ribs. My right hand sliced below his rib cage and into his lower back. I reached up and tore his heart clean out. With my left hand I held him in front of me, keeping his body from falling to the ground. His body shook as muscle spasms spread across his body. It would take a second or two for the rest of his body to catch up with the fact that he was dead.

I bit into his heart and let the warm blood flow down my throat. I could feel night closing in; I tossed the empty heart behind me like an old apple core. A smile spread across my lips as Alex approached the cabin saying, “What is wrong with you? Must I do everything myself you useless animal.”

He came to a sudden halt about fifteen feet from the cabin. At this point I could hear his heart accelerate; he knew. I tossed the body to one side so I could see my next victim face to face. He stepped back, and, with a dark calm about him, said, “It is time… let’s finish this, shall we?”

I smiled, “You don’t have to ask me twice.” I attacked.

I lunged forward; Alex ran backwards. I had just started thinking that I had forgotten something.

I remembered what I forgot when Brandon slammed into me from my side. He was already a wolf man; he clawed and bit at me as we fell upon the ground locked in combat.

The werewolf was strong, and I fought to keep him from getting a hold of me. His claws ripped into the flesh of my arms more than once. The overcast sky kept my blood from bursting into flames right away, but about the time my wounds closed my blood set on fire. I managed to put my left arm out, as the wolf’s teeth lunged for my throat. I shoved my right arm between me and the wolf and at the same time my left hand was quick enough to grab his neck and keep him from biting me. The fire from my right arm caught hold on the wolf’s chest hair; he jumped off of me to put himself out.

Being that it was still day, I couldn’t flash, I was at a disadvantage. My large claws cut him several times as I got to my feet. Using my speed I dodged his attacks, but he caught me with a backhand. He hit me so hard that I felt my body leave the ground.

I felt the cabin wall as my body smashed into it. The wood cracked as I bounced off and landed on the ground. My shoulder was injured; I had landed on my feet. The werewolf was upon me, giving me no quarter. I slipped under his attacks and got behind him.

My shoulder kept me from using my left arm so I clawed him with my right. Four deep slashes down his back as crimson red poured free. The wolf howled in pain as I kicked him into the wall of the cabin.

The wolf fell to the ground momentarily stunned. I used this time to see what happened to Alex. I turned to see him standing once again in his protective circle. He was chanting with both hands out before him. Blue light emitted from his hands as the sky darkened. Black swirling clouds that looked no higher than the tree tops, moved in circles above my head.

With my second sight I knew that the wolf had recovered and was now on his feet. I turned around and jumped into a flip, dodging the animal’s latest attack. It was hard to worry about Alex’s spell when I was so busy fighting the werewolf.

I saw it with my second sight, objects falling from the sky.  The first few hit the ground around me and I could see what they were. Large blue white shards of ice were sticking out of the ground, with many more on their way.

The ice storm hit all around as I dodged the large sharp icicles. The wolf was still attacking until one of the icicles hit him in the shoulder. Cutting him deep, the wolf howled once again in pain, but before I could celebrate my victory an icicle found my shoulder.

With my second sight I could see above me and there were icicles coming down by the thousands. They were crashing into trees and smashing through the cabins’ roofs. I wouldn’t be able to dodge the falling ice forever. The wolf was hit again, and I had an idea.

I jumped forward and grabbed the werewolf by the shoulders; kneeing the wolf hard in the gut, I pulled back at the same time. The wolf fell forward landing upon me; he growled and looked as if he might bite, but then he screamed in pain. Icicle after icicle crashed into the werewolf’s back slicing into him as his body protected mine.

The wolf tried to break free, but I refused to let him up. His tough body was protecting me from the storm of ice. A piece of ice crashed into the back of his head and the
werewolf
stopped struggling. The wolf melted away; I was now looking upon the face of Brandon. His lifeless eyes stared at me as blood ran around his head.

The storm stopped as suddenly as it began. I tossed the dead body off of me and quickly rose to my feet. The world sparkled with shards of ice sticking out of everything. I looked over at Alex who was now pulling out a stone. I knew what the stone was for; it was for teleporting.

I wasn’t about to let him get away. I pulled the icicle out of my shoulder, and in one motion I let it fly through the air. My aim was true as it collided with Alex’s hand sending the stone flying through the air; at the same time, Alex screamed in pain while clutching his now bloody hand. The stone landed outside of his protected circle and into a large bush.

I wasn’t about to wait around until Alex cast another large spell. I ran across the icy ground to a tree that stood between two of the cabins. The tree was an evergreen about fifty feet tall with an eight inch base. I swung my claws at the base of the tree. First my right hand, then my left, each hit resulted in wood chips flying through the air. It didn’t take me but a minute for the tree to start cracking and groaning and finally falling. I stepped to the side as the tree fell to the ground.

I gave Alex a grin as he looked at me in confusion. I reached down and grabbed the tree by its trunk. I held the tree out in front of me like a spear. Realization washed across Alex’s face at the same time I charged him.

He wasn’t quick enough to move as I hit him with the end of the tree. I pushed him across the ground with the end of the tree as he fought to get free from all the branches. The magical circle is what finally stopped me, but Alex had been pushed clean out the other side. I wasted no time by running around the circle.

By the time I made it to the other side, Alex had gotten to his feet. He said some words as he waved his arm. I was running at him, trying to close the distance, to rip his throat out before he could cast a spell. I wasn’t fast enough; the spell he cast was apparent as my legs sank into the ground.

I was only about five feet away from him when the quicksand pulled me into the earth. I was sinking fast; the sand was quickly approaching my chest. Alex chuckled, “The sun is almost set.”

Why he chuckled over that confused me. I informed him, “And when it does, I will have all my power.”

Alex didn’t answer me, instead he slowly stepped away walking backwards and never taking his eyes off me. He put his hands together and began to chant. I mumbled to myself, “Oh great, what now?”

I felt it; the sun fell below the horizon. The cloud cover and the forest hid the sun from my view, but I knew when it had set. I made myself weightless as I carefully started lifting myself from the quicksand. As I did, dark shadows formed around Alex, and then he grew in size. His hands and arms were being covered by a black liquid that moved across his whole body. The liquid dried and hardened, and it appeared to be some kind of hard black rock. As he moved, the black cracked and underneath was red, but not blood, just light. His now monster face came to life with red eyes; his mouth opened with black yellow sharp teeth, and the same red power seemed to rise from his throat.

I had pulled myself free and floated through the air. Landing softly on the ground that had not been affected by the quicksand spell; he roared, and I hissed back.

We charged each other. I was now able to flash; my strength was greater and yet my hands stayed the same. They were large with huge claws that I used to rip at my foe. He was much slower than me, but appeared to be stronger. I wasn’t about to let this fight turn into a contest of strength.

When my claws hit his new skin, they made a horrible noise. His skin was as hard as it looked, and more than once, one of my finger nails would catch a crack. When that happened they would rip off. It hurt like crazy, but they grew back fast enough. It was the first time he clawed me that I knew this would be harder than I thought. His fingers raked across my skin, but instead of just cutting, they burned.

I had a hell of time healing the wounds. This dark spell must only work at night; no wonder he was happy about the sun going down.

We fought into the forest; I used the terrain to my advantage. I could flash and attack him from the rear or jump from tree to tree, yet the whole fight seemed to be a standoff.

He backhanded me sending me into a tree, but before he could hit me again I kicked him with enough force to send him to the ground. He jumped up quicker than I thought he could; he came up swinging. I dodged the first two and deflected the third. I dropped down and swept his feet out from under him, and once again he landed on the ground.

As he rose from the ground, I flashed behind him. I grabbed his throat and squeezed with all my might. Alex struggled to get me off and growled with anger. He ran
backwards and slammed me between him and a tree. With the sudden impact I lost my grip.

With a quick twist of his body I found myself on the ground. I was fast to get up, but not fast enough. He slammed into me, knocking me onto the ground and landing on me. His hands secured both my wrists; he pulled my arms together and was able to lock both of my wrists in one hand. Shoving my hands right above my head he pinned me down with one free hand to boot.

He shoved his hips in between my legs. With a growling voice that was not his own, “I always thought you might come back for more. Seeing as you enjoyed it so much the first time.”

I struggled and fought him not only physically, but the panic was setting in. It was strange what memory surfaced into my mind.

*                    *                   *

Alice was busy discussing doll history with the clerk. The clerk was utterly surprised on Alice’s knowledge of dolls. I never knew there were custom doll shops that did nothing but sell dolls. There were custom dolls, antique dolls, and entire lines of clothes and accessories.

I blurred out their conversation while I looked upon the dizzying amount of dolls. It was hard to see the trees through the forest; this store was packed. The owner had them shoved everywhere on overloaded shelves. I could have been at a hoarder’s house. I wouldn’t have noticed the difference.