Wolves among men (17 page)

“
She told us a woman named
Cordillia was with him and she left in this direction in a truck
that looked a lot like the one in the back there.” He pointed to
the trail and my heart stopped for a moment. How in the hell was I
going to explain that.

“
Tell me, brother, do you
know who owns that vehicle?” he asked me. I paused and thought for
a moment. Why was Cordillia the one with the gift for
fallacy?

I couldn’t think of anything to say but
before I could gain control of myself, I spoke against my own
wishes, “Why do you want her? You never did answer my question.”
His stance hardened and I was sure I had given myself away.

“
A human can’t kill one of
us, not without help. If she is one of them, the treaty is broken
and we have the right to attack. I will ask you again, brother, and
it is in your best interest to be honest with me. Who owns that
truck?” I stood and without even thinking, began to pull my shirt
over my head.

This was it and I wasn’t even sure of what I
was doing. His gaze met mine and I saw an intensity burning behind
his eyes. The younger pups stood and moved behind him never taking
their eyes off of me. I didn’t even have to speak to be sure that
he knew who I was.

“
Where is she?” He growled
as my shirt hit the ground. I shook my head and began to prepare
myself for the change. His face grew angrier and the pups seemed to
pick up on his temper. “I was wrong. You are not my brother, dog.
Who are you?” I smirked and hardened my stance, shaking my head as
I smiled up at him.

“
I am afraid that is none
of your business, at least not as far as I can tell,” there was a
small voice telling me that making fun of the man who you were
about to fight to the death with was not exactly the best idea. But
the small sense of satisfaction it brought me seemed to be well
worth the danger.

Before my eyes had time to register it, one
of the smaller pups had changed. He was dark gray and stood a head
shorter than his leader. His eyes burned yellow as he growled and
barked at me. It wasn’t long after the other one followed suit.
Just like they were before, they mirrored each other perfectly.
Jonathan smirked and I could see his bones moving under his skin.
The cracking of his body was sickening as it changed from a human
and took the form of the beast. He somehow grew at least three feet
and his fur was jet black. He stood on two legs that didn’t seem
like they could hold his massive frame and his teeth shined as he
snapped at me, getting closer to my face than I would have liked.
His shoulders were massive all the way down to his hands. I was
sure that he could crush my head with just the smallest amount of
effort.

Change! Dammit
change!
I screamed at myself internally.
It wasn’t until I thought of Cordillia that I began to feel my body
burn from within. All I could hear was the sound of my own screams
and my bones changing shape as I felt myself grow and the anger
intensify. The pain was almost unbearable and I could feel
everything that made me human give way to the beast.

Before I had the chance to catch my breath
or even look up, I felt my back hit the ground. One of the younger
ones was on top me snapping his teeth just inches from my face and
I pressed my hand into his throat, holding him at bay as I regained
my composure. I knocked him off me and to the ground quickly,
standing up faster than I otherwise would have been able to
manage.

Before I had the chance to balance myself, I
felt the searing pain in my back as the other pup dug his claws
into my shoulder and drug them down as he fell. He was still
attached as he hit the ground and I howled as he used me to pull
himself back up.

He wrapped his claws around my neck and I
had him. I grabbed his arm and threw myself backward at the ground
landing on top of him. I heard him yelp and the sound of a break as
we hit the ground. I stood and made a running leap at the leader. I
thought I had him, my claws outstretched but as quick as lightning,
he dropped and his foot connected with my stomach sending me
flying.

Landing on my side, I felt the pain in my
chest as I broke another dammed rib. It would heal, I thought as I
stood. But the pain was worse than before. I looked down and
noticed that it wasn’t just broken but the bone was sticking out
and I winced as I pushed it back in as best I could. Almost
instantly, I could feel my body begin to heal as another pup came
running at me.

Does this guy ever fight
for himself?
I thought.

As the pup flew at me, I grabbed him out of
the air and threw him into the ground. I pinned his shoulders and
as I went to take his head, the only way I could be sure to kill it
when I felt its brother land on my back. He clawed and tore at me
like a rabid dog as he barked and snarled. I screamed as the pain
tore through me and I could feel his claws digging deeper. My
senses began to dull as he tore and thrashed at me and I screamed
again as the one under me freed his head enough to take a chunk out
of my arm. He ripped his mouth to the side and everything went
white as the pain seared through me. They were tearing my body
apart and I was trapped.

And then, I felt nothing. Nothing at
all.

All I could smell was blood and I felt the
pressure of their claws, the yank of my skin as they bit and
scratched but there was no pain. My vision went dark and suddenly,
the tearing stopped. I opened my eyes and saw a mass of shapes
blending into one another and I heard yelping and growling from
somewhere far away. I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. I felt
warmth pooling around me and the smell of blood overpowered
everything as I closed my eyes and the world around me stopped.

“
Ethan!?
Ethan!?”

“
Oh God no!”

These were the last things I heard, blood
was the last thing I could taste as the world went dark and simply
ceased to be.

Chapter
Eleven

It’s funny how when you’re awake, time is
such a relevant thing. Days, week’s minutes... We count them, we
save them, we use them and we regret them. But when our eyes close
and were no longer open to the perception of time, it ceases to
exist.

This is me unconscious. Asleep, healing,
dying... I don’t know. Time has stopped, no one exists anymore and
I am alone with my nightmares, where they take hold of me in there
torturous grip.

The first thing I notice is the smell of
death. Poisoning the air, assaulting me where I stand. As I open my
eyes and look around I find myself grateful that death is not what
surrounds me. But it doesn’t take long for fear to set in as I scan
the unfamiliar forest I find myself stuck in. I start walking
slowly without the benefit of light and realize that not even a
single cricket is singing and what I thought were live trees are
nothing more than dead wood. I scan the area around me and find
myself frightened, after all I’ve been through being scared is a
funny idea to me. The next thing I notice is that I am not
alone.

A familiar shape stands before me and I find
myself comforted at its presence. I walk over to him slowly careful
not to make a sound, careful not to disturb the strange woods that
surround me. Dead as they may be, that’s no reason to make myself
known. As I come to recognize the person in front of me I realize
that he’s not looking at me at all. Rather staring off into the
night, a worried look crosses his face as I reach out to him.

“
Robert?” I ask in barely
more than a whisper. He turns to me, his eyes full of fear and yet
something behind them, something older than the form itself stares
back at me calmly.

“
Listen.” Is all he says.
There’s a long silence between us as I try to hear what he hears.
Nothing, just like before not even a cricket dares sing its
song.

“
I don’t understand,” I
whispered as my heart raced and my thoughts stood still. He puts
his fingers to his lips and I close my eyes. The night air feels
cool against my skin, the smell of death has dissipated enough that
I breathe in the scent of pine and life around me. My peace is
disturbed only by the sound of a sharp scream from somewhere in the
distance.

Before I have time to register what’s
happening my legs begin to run, carrying me off into the night,
away from my friend, away from my place of comfort. I hear her
scream again and my only thought is to find her now, to protect
her. Save her. My lungs begin to burn as the icy air fills them
over and over faster and faster. I can feel my heart pounding in my
chest as I break through the forest and into the light of an
unfamiliar clearing.

There’s that smell again, death. This time
its stronger, enough to make me sick.

I see a figure standing in the clearing and
my body takes over, dragging me against my will toward something I
instinctively fear. My legs stop as I near them. A tall man, rugged
in style stands before me. He’s dressed from another time, his face
unshaven and his eyes a piercing, putrid shade of yellow. His arms
are wrapped around her, a knife to her throat as he smiles at me
despite her pleas for freedom.

“
Let her go!” I roar as a
strange sense of confidence washes over me. He chuckles at me and
shakes his head as he pulls the knife tighter to her throat making
her gasp. I watch as the tears flow down her face, her eyes begging
me to help.

“
Now why would I want to
do that?” He smirks as he stares down at me. I stammer and stumble
trying to think of something anything to say.

“
Please,” was all I could
choke out as the tears began to fall down my face. He laughs
cruelly as I sob, shaking his head and sighing.

“
No please, don’t lower
yourself to this. Look I’ll tell you what, it’s simple. I’ll let
her go and all you have to do is stop this nonsense.” I stare at
him, confused and frightened as Cordillia shakes her head at me. I
wished I knew what was going on, what to say to make this nightmare
end. I stood there quiet, unable to think of a simple thing to say.
Somehow I knew silence wasn’t my friend in this moment.

“
I don’t understand,” I
choked out as I stared into his cold eyes. He smirked at me as he
gripped her tighter.

“
Look around you, boy.
This is your fault, all of this. You claim to be different, better
than we are but as far as I can tell you’re no different.” There
was a long pause as I did as he said and scanned the clearing
slowly.

The smell of death returns to me as I took
in the sight of the various hills and valleys of the clearing. In
the day light I was sure this place would be more than beautiful.
Green and lush filled with something other than fear. As my eyes
adjust, I realize that what I thought were hills were body’s
scattered here and there. I can smell the blood that surrounds them
and the fear of the battle that took place here. .

My stomach starts to turn as his words swim
through my head, my fault. All my fault. What happened here? Did I
cause this? Oh God please tell me what’s going on, if it is that I
really want to know.

I try to speak but the words catch in my
throat, making me gag. Making me sick. I hear his cold, cruel laugh
again as Cordillia screams out, his blade cutting in to her pale
and delicate skin.

“
Don’t hurt her!” I scream
as a thin line of blood trickles down her neck and pools at her
collarbone. He looks up at me almost bewildered.

“
Now you care? You didn’t
show the same affections to the dead that surround you but this
one,” He pauses as he sniffs her hair gruffly “This insignificant
girl means so much to you?” Her face twists into a grimace as his
face comes close to hers.

A few months ago the only thing I was
worried about was making the rent and taking care of my sister. I
always said I would do anything to protect her but I never thought
that those words would be so true now. I found myself caught in the
middle of a Hollywood horror without the benefit of a script or any
clue as to what was happening around me. I felt my body shaking, my
eyes burning as the tears streamed down my face, I couldn’t lose
her. Not now, not like this. And no matter how hard I tried, the
beast wouldn’t come. I was weak, helpless as his blade sliced her
throat and her body fell to the ground.