Chapter Five Tears of the Wolf

Chapter Five

Tears of the Wolf

 

 

The school was in shambles when we arrived. Walls had been torn down and someone had obviously set fire to it. Bodies were scattered across the parking lot, lying in pools of their own blood. Some were still breathing. I fought the urge to turn and run back to the cottage that was now the only safety I knew.

Mark looked back at me, concern etched into his features. “Are you ok?” he asked.

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

He walked over and pulled me into his arms for a comforting hug. “You can go back to the cottage, if it’s too much for you,” he offered gently.

I shook my head against his chest and felt the icy tracks my tears had left on his shirt.

“Nobody will think badly of you.”

I shook my head vehemently. I wouldn’t leave him to face the dangers that awaited us within the charred walls.

“All right,” he sighed. “If you’re sure.”

I nodded and started to pull away from him. He tightened his arms around me for a second before gently letting me go.

I took a couple of deep breaths and started toward the door we’d escaped through before.

“No,” he warned. “It’s a trap, they know we’ll try the doors. If we so much as open one, we’re dead.”

I jerked back as if the doorknob I’d just touched had been red hot. It would have been so easy for him to have simply let me open the door and be killed. An obvious accident. He could have said he was around the corner, or he had looked away and not realized what I was doing in time to stop me. I would have been out of his way. Why had he warned me? There would have been no more competition for alpha. Maybe that’s what it was. Maybe he wanted the competition. If he could win, wouldn’t that prove that he was capable and the ideal choice for alpha? It made perfect sense when I thought about it that way. I knew I would probably do the same thing, were the roles reversed. I couldn’t let him know I was onto him though. If he thought I knew what he was up too, I would be dead in an instant, no matter the original plan.

“We’ll go through the roof. It’ll be easier that way,” he suggested thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” I said sarcastically. “I’m going through the roof.” The stupid dress was not going to allow that.

He glanced at my dress and chuckled. “You’re right there,” he agreed. “You look for survivors out her and I’ll search inside.”

I nodded and started to walk away from him, toward the first of the kids lying on the ground. I could not allow myself to be too strongly affected by all the death. I wouldn’t make it through this if I did.

He watched me for a minute before turning and heading around to the back of the building.

I knelt beside the first person, a girl of about thirteen with wavy, raven black hair. She was dressed as a genie. I felt for a pulse and was saddened to find that she was dead. Tears welled in my eyes, but I had to keep going. I had to find any survivors.

The next six I checked were all dead as well. The ninth kid I checked was a boy of about fifteen, his hair was a deep cinnamon color. The wings of his costume were huge. He had to have a wingspan of at least twelve feet. They looked so real. Deep crimson feathers interspersed with fiery orange. I reached to stroke the soft feathers, his wings were so beautiful, and jumped back in surprise when he gasped suddenly. His eyes flew open and I was staring into the most beautiful soft brown eyes I had ever seen.

“Help me,” he pleaded softly.

I didn’t know what to do for him. He was hurt so badly. He was dying. What do I do? I panicked. I didn’t think I could stand it if I saw him die, if I couldn’t help him.

“The bullet,” he panted.

I looked at him, confused.

“Take the bullet out.”

My eyes widened in shock and horror, he couldn’t be serious. How I could I take the bullet from his chest without killing him?

“Now,” he rasped. “Before it does permanent damage.”

What did he mean before it did permanent damage? He was dying. Didn’t he realize that? I decided that I should at least try and do as he asked. Try to give him some small comfort as he died. I looked for anything that could help me get to the bullet. I remembered the pocketknife Mark had insisted I take the moment we’d entered the cottage. I pulled the knife quickly from a cleverly hidden pocket in the skirt of my gown.

My hands moved shakily toward the gaping wound in his chest. I held still for a moment, the knife poised over his chest, trying to calm myself enough that I wouldn’t accidentally kill him.

“Now,” he ordered.

I brought the knife slowly down, willing my hand to remain steady through this. I didn’t know what I would do once I had the bullet out, but I had to do this. I had to try.

I almost stopped when I heard his sharp intake of breath as I sliced through the already torn flesh, but I knew that would only make it worse, so I continued. I silently prayed that I wouldn’t kill him, that I could do this. That even if he died it wouldn’t be because of me.

I soon learned that the cutting wasn’t the worst, nor the hardest, part. I next had to remove the bullet. How I managed to dig my hand into his chest, hear his pained moans, and feel the blood and flesh around my hand, without passing out, I don’t know, but I did. I pulled the bullet from his chest and tossed it to the side, wondering what I was supposed to do next. I was shocked to see that the wound was healing itself rather quickly. It still looked ragged and gaping, but not nearly as bad as it had moments earlier.

That disconcerted me. How could anyone heal that quickly? It wasn’t even possible. Was he a wolf? No. That couldn’t be it; he had wings. Were the wings even real? They looked real. The whole thing was freaking me out. Where is Mark? I wondered. Could he explain this to me? Would he even know what’s going on? I couldn’t help but believe that he would know something about this strange boy.

Moments later the boy sat up.

I just stared disbelievingly at him.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Yo… you’re…welcome,” I stammered. He was seriously freaking me out.

“My name is Michael,” he continued.

“Aly,” I answered automatically. I wanted to ask him what he was, but stopped myself before the words could leave my mouth. I didn’t want to insult him.

He smiled at me. “Would you like some assistance?” he offered.

“Um… Yeah. Sure. Ok,” I answered stupidly. I shook my head quickly. “Sorry,” I apologized quickly. “Yeah, that’d be awesome, thanks. I’m just looking for survivors.”

“I know,” he smiled, moving toward the next blood drenched person sprawled across the asphalt. How could he be so calm about all of this?

 

We found only one other survivor, a teacher, unfortunately, there was nothing we could do for her. She died moments after we’d found her.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, tears streaming freely down my face. Everything I’d gone through in the last two days was piling up I didn’t know how much longer I could take it. How much longer I could last.

We moved around to the back of the school and saw dozens more people scattered across the back lot. Same as it was in the front. There was so  much blood everywhere. I started to get dizzy, I couldn’t take much more of this. The blood, the dead kids and teachers, the people I’d hardly known a week. They were dead. All of them. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Carrie, the first person I’d met in this horrible town. She was the daughter of the real estate agent who’d sold us the house. She was only fourteen. I started to hyperventilate, increasing my dizziness. I felt strong arms wrap around me, supporting me, and looked up to see Michael looking at me in concern.

“Are you ok?” he asked worriedly.

I nodded and tried to regain my balance. I couldn’t seem to. I was too freaked out and I didn’t know what to do.

He frowned. “No, you’re not,” he disagreed.

“What’s wrong?” I heard a familiar voice ask. I tried to turn to look at Mark, but Michael wouldn’t let me.

“I don’t know,” he answered coldly.

Mark reached toward me and Michael folded his wings protectively around me.

“I’m not going to hurt her, Michael,” Mark said indignantly. “I came with her. Actually, she came with me.”

Michael looked at me. “Is that true?” he asked, eyeing Mark skeptically.

They seemed to know each other, but Michael didn’t trust Mark. Was there a reason to distrust him, or was Michael just being cautious?

I nodded. I couldn’t speak. I was shaking too hard and I knew I couldn’t trust my voice right now.

Michael nodded and gently released me. I stumbled back a couple of steps into Mark’s arms. I felt his arms go quickly around me.

“Shh,” he murmured, gently stroking my hair. “Shh, you’re ok, you’re ok.” He looked at Michael. “What happened to her?”

“I don’t know,” Michael answered. “She was ok one second, the next she’s like this.”

Mark turned his attention back to me. “What happened?” he asked, gently tilting my face up so I had to look at him.

“C… C… Carrie,” I sobbed.

“Carrie?”

I pointed toward where she was laying, her mahogany hair splayed out around her in a pool of her own blood.

“Oh no,” I heard him say.

He turned back to me and pressed his lips gently into my hair. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured into my hair. “I wish you hadn’t had to see that.”

“No more survivors out here. How about inside?” Michael said suddenly from beside us. I jumped and whimpered.

“Shh, it’s only Michael,” Mark said soothingly.

I nodded. I was over-reacting to this. I had to stop being ridiculous.

“Nobody,” Mark answered Michael’s question.

I glanced up at him, “Chris?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I couldn’t find him. Nearly everything was burned  beyond recognition.”

A single sob broke free and I knew I couldn’t keep it together anymore. I collapsed against his chest, sobs wracking my body. I felt his arms tighten around me. I pressed myself closer to him, needing the comfort and security I felt in his arms. I couldn’t even hate him right now; I needed his strength too much for that. He pulled me away from the school and toward the woods. I tried to walk with him but I was too shaky, I couldn’t even stand up on my own.

He looked down at my face and gently swept me into his arms before running into the woods.

Once we were far enough into the woods that I couldn’t see the school anymore he stopped and set me down beside a fallen log, keeping me wrapped securely in his arms.

 

I looked up him, confused by his actions.

“Are you ok?” he asked again, the worry clear in his eyes and voice.

I nodded, feeling the icy tracks my tears had left on his shirt for the second time in one day. “I’m ok,” I answered.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it was just too much. All those people.” The tears were streaming down my face again and I couldn’t stop them.

“I know, I’m so sorry,” he said gently. “You should never had had to go through that. Seeing that much blood, that many lost lives. It’s not right.”

“Why did they kill all those people?” I asked. I wanted to know, to understand the reason behind the brutal murders, no matter how much it hurt.

“Because they discovered werewolves, vampires, and other mythical creatures living in their town. They see us all as a risk because we’re different. But our kind weren’t the only ones killed last night; there were dozens of other people killed for various reasons. Some were killed because they were African American and others because they were Hispanic. There were so many people killed because of racism. Our town is well known for that, despite the best efforts of the pack.”

I remembered everything I’d read before moving here. He was right. I hated that the town I now lived in was this way. I would do everything in my power to change that. Hopefully I would be better able to when I was alpha. I suddenly realized that my reasons for wanting to be alpha had changed. Before I had wanted to prove to people, my father especially, that I could be a good alpha. But now, all I really wanted was to change the way this town thought and to protect everyone I possibly could. I wondered what made Mark want to be alpha so badly. Were his reasons the same as mine now were?

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I have to change that.”

“We have to change that,” he corrected.

I smiled slightly. I suddenly realized I was still in his arms and started to pull away. He smiled and let me move away from him.

“Thanks,” I said, looking down in embarrassment. Why had I allowed myself to get so emotional? Maybe I wouldn’t make such a good alpha after all. I felt my shoulders slump at the thought.

“What is it?” Mark asked, the anxiety returning to his voice.

“Nothing,” I answered.

I could tell he didn’t believe me. I was surprised when he let it go without argument. I knew he would interrogate me about it later. Maybe later I would be prepared to answer his questions.

“Ready to got back?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I guess I am.” I couldn’t wait to leave here and return to the safety of the cottage.

“Ok,” he replied.

I couldn’t have been more surprised when he took my hand and started to walk.

Michael caught up with us in seconds. “Everything ok?” he asked.

I guessed he had been trying to give me some time to recover.

“Yeah,” Mark answered. “We’re going back to the cottage. You coming?”

I stared at Mark in shock. He was telling this guy where we were going? What if he wanted us dead too? How well did Mark actually know this guy?

“If that’s ok…” Michael answered hesitantly.

“Of course,” Mark said, looking almost offended that Michael even asked. “You’re part of the family.”

“Huh?” I asked. “Part of the family?”

Mark chuckled. “Yeah, he’s kinda like a brother to me.”

“Oh,” I said. I still didn’t understand, but if Mark trusted him that much, I could only hope that trust wasn’t stupidly misplaced.

We started back toward the cottage, the tears still running down my face. I had seen too much death today. And my friend was dead. His body had vanished into thin air. Where could he be? What had they done with his body? Was it some kind of morbid proof that they had succeeded in their attempt? Would we ever find him? And if we did, what kind of condition would his body be in?

 

 

♠♠♠

 

 

I stopped short in front of the cottage door.

“What’s wrong, Aly?” Michael asked from right beside me. He’d evidently been paying close attention to me.

Mark turned to look back at me. My hand was still clasped gently in his, though he’d moved ahead of me by about two steps.

“I don’t want to be the one to tell Kat about Chris,” I answered. “I can’t.”

“I’ll tell her,” Mark said, the sympathy and concern written all over his face. “Wait here.”

“I’ll stay with her,” Michael volunteered. I wasn’t sure how much I really liked that idea, but if Mark was willing to trust him with my life I guess I could try to as well.

I was almost certain I saw anger flash across Mark’s face, though I couldn’t figure why.

“Fine,” he agreed. For some indiscernible reason he seemed bothered by that. He turned and walked into the cottage to talk to Kat. I wanted so badly to turn and run. Run away from this place filled with so much pain and go back to New York, where I wouldn’t have to go through this pain. But I knew that if I did, I couldn’t leave the pain behind. It would follow me everywhere I went. I also knew that I couldn’t leave. I knew I had to stay here and help my friends. And enemy. My mind whispered, flashing an image of Mark across my memory. But he’s not necessarily my enemy. He’s been so kind to me.  Another part of my mind argued. I didn’t have the energy to argue with myself right now. I would worry about that later, when I wasn’t hurting so much.

“We should go in now,” Michael said softly, placing his hand lightly on my arm.

I pulled away from him, though I’m not sure why I did, and walked into the cottage. I wished I would never have to face Kat and the pain I knew she must have been feeling. I wanted to help my friend, but I didn’t think I could right now. I was sure I would go crazy if I had to deal with anything else today.

I walked toward the bedroom, just wanting to be away from everyone for a little while.

“You ok, Aly?” Mark and Michael asked together. I almost smiled when they glared at each other. These two were absurdly over-protective and wary of each other.

“Fine,” I answered. “I need to be alone.”

They nodded and let me go.

 

 

♠♠♠

 

 

Hours later, after I’d cried more tears than I’d even thought possible, I lay there, trying to think of nothing. Trying to block out the horrible images burned into my mind.

There was a light tap on the door for the second time in a day. I hesitated, I didn’t want to talk to anybody, but I knew I needed to. Especially if it was Kat outside of the door.

“Come in,” I answered.

“Hey,” Kat said, peering around the door. It looked like she’d been crying ten times as much as I had.“Can I talk to you?”

“Of course,” I said, sitting up and trying to regain my composure.

She came in and sat on the side of the bed, “I’m sorry about today, you didn’t have to go with Mark. I would have,” she said.

“I know, but you didn’t need to see that.”

“Neither did you.”

“No, but I thought I could handle it, and I was pretty sure you couldn’t.”

“Could you?”

I hung my head, “No,” I answered. “I couldn’t. It was too much for me.”

She touched my arm sympathetically. “I’m sorry. Thank you for trying to protect me. Remember, it’s impossible to keep so much death from getting to you. The fact that you broke down because of it doesn’t make you weak, or mean you’ll be a bad alpha. It means that you care about people. That’s always good and an excellent trait in a leader.”

 “Mark managed,” I  pointed out.

“He’s seen a lot more death than you have, he’s lived here all his life and seen more people die than you can imagine. It gets easier to keep the feelings pushed back for a while when you need to. That’s the only way he could handle it today, you should have seen how much he cried after you’d come in here.”

“Why did he hide it?”

“He wasn’t hiding it, really, he was taking care of you first. Other people are always his priority, no matter what’s going on for him.”

“I should have paid more attention, I should have realized.”

“No,” she smiled. “You needed someone and he was there for you. Another time he’ll need someone and you’ll be there for him.”

I nodded.

“Where’s Chris?” she asked me, suddenly changing subjects. “Mark wouldn’t tell me.”

I felt the tears well in my eyes again. I had to tell her we hadn’t found him. Why, oh why, had Mark left that to me?

“I’m sorry, Kat,” I said slowly. “We didn’t find him anywhere. Someone burned the school, but his body wasn’t there. We don’t know where he is.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?”

“Being honest.”

“You’re welcome,” I shrugged. “I would want to know the truth, no matter how much it hurt, and I figured you would too.”

“Yeah, I did. Thank you for that.”

“I’m sure we’ll find him.”

“Maybe,” she said, the sadness in her eyes was overwhelming. Tears started to fall from her eyes and I knew it was time for me to leave.

“I’m sorry,” I said as I walked out of the room, pulling the door closed behind me.

 

Chris

 

The pain was unbearable, searing through his chest and sides. He’d been shot. Better to go down fighting than to surrender and die a coward. He thought to himself.

He’d seen Mark pull Aly out the side door. Did they make it to the cottage? He wondered. Kat. Did they take Kat with them? He was positive Mark would have taken Kat with him, he’d promised to protect her. He’d been surprised when Mark had taken Aly with him. But more surprised by the fact that Mark had come back, searching for her. He knew Aly and Mark didn’t get along. Most of their arguments stemmed from the fact that they were both headstrong, independent, tenacious, and determined to prove they were capable of being alpha. They would both make good alphas. They know what they want and how to get it. They just need to figure out that they want the same thing. He decided. If they would just realize that, they’d be ok. They could work together and make things better than they have ever been before.

Chris was surprised to hear a sudden flapping of wings and whooshing of air. He waited silently and nervously to find out what was causing the sounds and saw a girl land gracefully beside him. Her wings were a shining navy blue. He stared in awe at the girl. She couldn’t have been more than thirteen.

She knelt beside him, her long, soft brown hair falling over her shoulders.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Men…” Chris tried to speak.

“No, no, don’t speak,” she interrupted quickly. “I can hear your thoughts if you want me to. Just tell me that way.”

Chris looked at her disbelievingly, but complied.

About a hundred men barged into the school during the Halloween party. They started grabbing students and dragging them out every possible door and shooting them.

“Why?” the girl asked aloud.

I can’t say for sure, I think it was because so many of us are werewolves, vampires, or other mythical creatures.

“And they shot you in here?”

I resisted. I wouldn’t let them take me outside to kill me.

“Why didn’t any of your friends help you?”

There’s nothing they can do for me, and I want them to be safe.

“I can help you,” she offered. “For a price.”

Chris groaned internally. A price. What kind of price would she demand?

What do you want?

“Safety. I want a safe place to hide,” she answered simply. “For that, I will help you.”

Chris thought for a moment. Did he dare take this strange girl to the only safe place he knew, the place his friends were hiding? She was probably in as much danger as they were. The ten foot wingspan told him that much. All right, he conceded.  I’ll take you to a safe hideout. But if you cause harm to come to anyone I care about, you will pay with your life.

She nodded, smiled at him, and knelt to tend his wounds. She swiftly removed the bullet from his chest and removed a vial filled with a clear liquid from the pocket of her jeans.

What’s that? Chris asked cautiously.

“Tears I cried when my mother was killed yesterday,” she answered simply. “The tears of a phoenix heal, that’s one of the things passed through my bloodline. My tears heal, same as any other of my kind.”

Chris remained thoughtfully silent as she poured the tears onto his chest and the burning sensation calmed and he felt the wounds begin to heal.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured when he winced in pain.

No problem. He answered. Thank you.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled.

Minutes later Chris’s wounds had healed, though he was weak and needed help getting anywhere.

They moved quickly into the woods, away from the school.