by Chase Connor
“It’s as safe as anywhere else, I guess.” I shrugged. “But why do you need your phone?”
“Maybe I can call mom or dad.” He explained. “Maybe they will—”
“Maybe they will what?” I turned my head to look at him, urging him on with my eyes.
“Shit.” Lucas winced. “Rob. Look.”
“What?” I turned my head to look out of the windshield.
Red and yellow light was what I saw before I realized I was looking at flames shooting into the sky ahead. Something big was on fire. And there was only one thing at the end of the dirt road that was big enough to create a fire massive enough to be seen that far away. Lucas’ house was on fire. Surprisingly, Lucas didn’t punch the dashboard or bang his head against his window. He didn’t show any signs that what we were about to drive up on had affected him in any way. As we drew closer to his property, and we pushed past the line of trees, we could finally see the base of the fire. Lucas’ beautiful home on the lake was an inferno.
“Oh, shit, Lucas.” I moaned as I slowed the car to a stop, at least thirty yards from his house. “Oh, fuck. I’m so sorry. What—”
“Jason.” Lucas’ eyes were like daggers as he stared out of the windshield towards his burning home. “His fucking pack did this.”
Fire danced and flickered in Lucas’ eyes.
I wanted to tell Lucas that maybe he was overreacting or just making assumptions based on anger. Instead, I nodded firmly. He was right. We both knew that Jason’s pack had done this. A knot in my stomach made me wonder if Oma’s house wasn’t also one big bonfire. For the briefest of moments, I felt guilty for being so angry with the woman who claimed to be my grandmother. Hopefully, she hadn’t been in the house if it had been set ablaze. Something told me that if Jason or his pack snuck onto the property, though, the house wasn’t what got set on fire. A devilish smile curled up the corner of my mouth as I stared out at the flames licking off of the roof of Lucas’ home.
“Shit, Rob!” Lucas gasped. “Look.”
“What?”
Lucas was pointing out at the scene before us, his finger nearly touching the windshield.
“They’re still here!” Lucas announced in a panic.
Finally, my eyes landed on what Lucas had seen. Four men—conspicuously wearing only pants—were dancing jubilantly around the fire they had obviously started. The two of us watched as the four men danced around the house, howling up at the flames that licked towards the sky, proud of the destruction they had caused. They were far enough off that I had to focus my eyes, but I finally was able to see that Jason was not with them. It was just four members of his pack.
“Get us out of here, Rob.” Lucas hissed. “Let’s go.”
“Okay.” I nodded furiously. “Okay.”
“Go, go, go!” Lucas urged me on. “If they see us—”
As I moved to put the car in reverse, so that I could creep away from the fiery scene on Lucas’ property, two things happened. My hands slipped, and I simultaneously hit the horn, a brief, barking blast emanating from under the hood, and I accidentally flipped on the headlights.
“Jesus Christ, Rob.” Lucas groaned.
“Sorry! Sorry!” I gasped, reached for the gearshift.
Once I had the car in reverse and had eased off the brake, about to give the car gas, my eyes shot up to look out of the windshield once more. All four of the pack members had spotted us—obviously—and were running at full speed towards the car.
“Oh, fuck.” Lucas groaned. “Floor it, Rob!”
My foot hit the gas, and the car shot backward. There wasn’t time to react in any other way, to devise any other plan. As I slammed on the gas and the car lurched backward like a slingshot, I felt, more than saw, the first of the wolves jump on the hood of the car. The passenger side window shattered inwards, and Lucas bellowed loudly.
Chapter 4
Screams reached Jason’s ears as he stumbled out of the circus tent, clutching his bleeding arm, breathing raggedly, his eyes out of focus as he did his best to stay on his feet. CARNAVAL was in full swing, the rides—sans riders—swooped and swirled, their lights shooting a dazzling array of lights into the night sky. The screams of the two boys were getting further away. Freshly popped popcorn, fresh cotton candy, funnel cakes, corn dogs, and other carnival treats perfumed the air as Jason fells to his knees, his vision like that of a person underwater.
Why did he hurt so bad?
He’d just been bitten once.
Before he got away.
Jason gasped and clutched his chest as a sharp pain shot through his body like a lightning bolt. He bowed his head, trying to focus on the ground, doing anything he could to clear his vision.
What had happened? He suddenly couldn’t remember.
Shaking his head and trying to clear his thoughts, he did his best to let his mind ride the waves of pain shooting through his chest.
Something was wrong.
He’d been bitten.
By a…wolf?
Where’d the wolf come from?
He’d been watching the circus performers. Why had there been a wolf in the freaking circus?
The posters.
On Main Street.
They’d been everywhere.
The carnival—CARNAVAL—had come to town. They had set up fences and rides and stands and tents out on the old Owens’ land by the lake. The posters had invited all high school-age children to come participate in the carnival for free. Jason had gotten a few of his friends together, and they all decided to go check it out. They were the only students to show up…except for that Lucas kid who was just starting out in football. And that other kid…what was his name? Robbie. That was his name. He had shown up last. They were watching the acrobats and clowns…and…the ringmaster.
Something had happened. There were wolves suddenly. They had attacked everyone.
Jason coughed violently, holding his chest with both hands, doing his best to not topple headfirst onto the trampled down grass before him.
When his coughing fit past, he leaned back on his knees, looking up at the sky, watery stars and moon blurry in his vision. The screaming of the two boys—Lucas and Robbie—had suddenly gone. Had a wolf gotten them? Jason panted heavily as another wave of pain, and also nausea, coursed through his body. He looked toward the gates that led out of CARNAVAL. Maybe he could get up…get help. Get away from the wolves. Fear shot through his body, realizing that any of the wolves might stray from the tent and the easier prey…and come after him again.
As he looked toward the gates, even with his blurry, watery vision, he could see the figure coming towards him. He could just make out the red coat and black top hat. It was the ringmaster. Jason panted harder, clutched his chest tighter, as the man approached him at a leisurely stroll. When the ringmaster finally stopped before him, nearly close enough to reach out and touch, yet not quite, Jason looked up at him, his vision suddenly clear.
“Well,” the ringmaster—Richart maybe?—said, “they were faster than they appeared, I’m afraid. Just disappeared. Strong magics, I assume.”
The ringmaster laughed bitterly.
“Fucking Oracles and Guardians.” He ‘tsked.’ “They always ruin a good time, you know?”
“What?” Jason gasped, his fingers clutching at his chest.
Richart bowed ever so slightly, his eyes boring into Jason’s.
“No matter.” Richart sniffed the air. “You’ll do. I’m going to give you a choice, Jason Morris. You must make the right decision. And you must do it quickly.”
Jason shivered at the sound of something with more than two legs sauntering out of the tent.
“I need your allegiance.” Richart smiled wickedly.
Lucas yanked the sleeve of his shirt from the wolf’s teeth as I spun the car around. I wanted to help him, but I couldn’t drive the car and also fight the wolf who was trying to yank him out of the car. For once, I was going to have to trust that Lucas could handle himself. Besides,
when I looked up, throwing the car into “Drive,” my eyes locked on the red, glowing eyes of a wolf clinging to the hood of the car. How the fuck was it holding on without human hands? The screech of metal let me know that a werewolf’s claws were good for finding purchase on almost anything. My lip turned up in a snarl as I hit the gas again, flinging us forward like a cannonball.
“Fuck you!” Lucas bellowed.
I saw him fling an elbow towards his window. A crunching sound let me know he had connected with the jaw of the wolf. The sound of a large animal rolling across the dirt road made me smile as we were propelled forward. The wolf clawing the hood and glaring through the windshield at me was a little tougher than the one who had tried to pull Lucas out through the window.
“Hold on!” I screamed before slamming on the brakes.
My car shuddered violently along the dirt road, skidding to a stop. The suddenness of our deceleration took the wolf by surprise, and it rolled from the hood of the car to land in a heap in the road before us.
“Seatbelt!” I screamed as I reached for mine and latched it quickly.
The second I heard Lucas’ seatbelt click into place, I heard and felt something leap onto the back of the car. The wolf in the road before us was drunkenly stumbling to its…paws? Gunning the car again, I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles were white, my teeth clenching as I aimed directly at the wolf before us. Lucas screamed out—either in fear or victory, I wasn’t sure—as the front of my car plowed into the werewolf. A loud crunch and a strangled yelp reached my ears as blood splattered the windshield. I didn’t take my foot off of the gas. As if going over the world’s boniest, fleshiest speedbump, we were launched a few feet upwards before the car crashed down on the road once more.
“Flat meat,” I stated simply as I kept my foot on the gas, urging the car away from Lucas’ property.
“Rob!” Lucas gasped as he turned his head to look behind us. “There’s one holding onto the trunk!”
“Why wouldn’t there be?” I grumbled. “Hold on!”
Again, I slammed on the brakes. The wolf holding onto the back of the car with its claws smashed into the back window, splintering the glass, nearly sending it through and into the backseat. But its claws were pulled from the hood of the car as the stop jerked its body forward. Lucas yelped as I hit the gas again, sending the wolf rolling away. I was breathing heavily, my heart beating in my throat as I pushed my foot to the floor atop the gas pedal. Lucas had smashed one in the jaw. I had run one over. We had just seen another fly off of the back of the car, totally dazed and bloody.
Just as I expected, the fourth wolf made its presence known.
My window shattered as the wolf ran up alongside the car and threw its body against the moving vehicle. Lucas and I both screamed out in terror as glass shards rained inwards, and the car lurched up onto two wheels for a brief second.
Goddamnit, these guys are big.
And fast.
I had to keep my hands on the steering wheel to have any chance of keeping us on the bumpy dirt road, and the werewolf was running up alongside the car once more. Any second, I knew it was going to shove its jaws through the shattered window and bite me. Game over. I had no idea if I was immune to werewolf bites like Lucas—but we didn’t have the time or desire to find out. Just as the werewolf came up alongside the car, panting and huffing, running at top speed—way too fast for any animal—it turned its head. I saw a flash of glowing red eyes as it lunged. Lucas’ hand was suddenly on my forearm, and he was leaning across me, toward the window, one of his hands outstretched. He screamed out animalistically as magic coursed through my arm and into him, and fire erupted from his hand, a column of heat plowing into the werewolf, setting it ablaze and sending it tumbling away into the darkness.
My eyes shot over to Lucas as I thought of a burning pile of werewolf tumbling into the woods.
Fuck it. I thought. Let the entire town burn down. I’m not turning into a werewolf today. If I can…
“Go, Rob!” Lucas yelped as he positioned himself back in his seat. “Just go!”
“All right.” I swallowed hard, keeping my foot pressed to the floor as I turned sharply off of the road to Lucas’ house and onto the main road.
Pulling onto the main road that led out to Lucas’ lands, I didn’t let up off of the gas. Screaming down the road in the middle of the night in my busted-up car would surely attract the attention of any cop that might be out and about, looking for drunk drivers or someone else to ticket, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to stop until I was certain we were far enough away from the wolves. There was no point in keeping ourselves near an unsafe situation for fear that the cops might pull me over. With the mood I was in, and considering the adrenaline pumping through my veins, I would likely fight any cop that tried to stop us. Especially Sheriff Dennard.
“Damnit, Rob.” Lucas bellowed to be heard over the wind whistling through the broken windows. “I’m bleeding.”
Shooting a glance at Lucas, I mostly kept my eyes on the road ahead of us as I navigated the mostly straight, yet narrow two-lane road. There was no point in getting away from the wolves only to crash my car and have us out in the open like sitting ducks with no working vehicle.
“What?” I screamed back. “Did you cut yourself?”
“I guess one of ‘em bit me.” He returned. “Probably the one that I bashed in the face with my elbow.”
He tried to twist his body so that he could show me that his right elbow was soaked in blood. I grimaced as I looked at his elbow, then realized his face was ashy-white. Nodding at him, I knew that we had to tend to his wound before we did anything else.
“Let me find a safe place, and we’ll pull off, okay?”
“Okay.”
For a few more miles, I skirted the northern perimeter of the Point Worth city limits, looking for somewhere secluded and hidden so that I could pull off of the road. A place where no one who might happen by and see the car easily. Finally, as I drove along, I noticed a break in the tree line. An old service road to one of the many unused boat docks that dotted the shore of Lake Erie. I eased the speed of the car and slowly turned onto the road, killing the headlights. Slowly, I eased off of the gas as we drifted down the road, disappearing amongst the trees that lined the old road. Finally, when we were far enough within the trees, and far enough away from the road, to where I felt that we were safe, I brought the car to a full stop and put it into park. It took quite a bit of willpower to force myself to turn the car off, but I finally flicked the key. Suddenly, we were greeted by silence and darkness.
Both of us took a moment to stare out into the inky darkness before us, our breaths ragged and sharp, filling the interior of the car with the sounds of sheer adrenaline. Briefly, I wondered if the wolves wouldn’t happen by, hear the sounds of the thundering hearts in our chests and the sounds of our breaths floating from the broken windows of my car, and search us out. Of course, I knew that to be ridiculous. One, the wolves were not likely to regroup and follow us so quickly after Lucas set one of them ablaze, and I had run one over. Two, they would most likely be running, and they would never hear our breathing as they ran along the road. Though our breathing sounded thunderous to my ears in the confines of the car, outside of the car, it would be hard for anyone to hear. Paranormal or not.
“Okay.” I unsnapped my seatbelt and turned gently in my seat, trying to get my breathing and heartbeat under control. “Let’s see your boo-boo.”
Lucas smiled pitifully as he unsnapped his seatbelt and turned towards me.
“Sorry, babe.” He grumbled. “I know this isn’t the best time, and—”
“If he had pulled you out of the car, I don’t think he was going to tie you to a football field goal post, Lucas.” I shook my head. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, babe. You were defending yourself. And me. It’s not your fault he got you. And, even if it was your fault, fuck it. The rules don’t apply when you’re fighting for your life. You’re allowed to
be clumsy.”
“I know. I know.” He shook his head as he fought to not smile as he stripped his button-down off. “That was intense.”
Watching Lucas undress always had an effect on me. One that was not appreciated when we had just been fighting for our lives. So, I swallowed down those feelings and simply waited as he stripped off his shirt and turned his body so that he could present his elbow. Nearly in total darkness, there was still enough light for me to see the small gash on Lucas’ elbow and the darker area that was seeping blood. I couldn’t help but wince at the sight as I held his arm in mine, cradling his elbow.
“Well, okay.” I shrugged, still holding his arm gently. “Do it.”
“Do what?”
“The thing where you borrow some of my magic and heal yourself.”
“Why don’t we just find something to bandage it with?” Lucas suggested. “I’m not going to bleed out, babe.”
“Why not heal it while we have a moment, ya’ know?”
“I don’t want to use your magic.” Lucas shook his head.
“You just did.” I chuckled. “To set furball ablaze?”
“That was life or death.” He said. “This isn’t.”
“Why are you giving me crap here?” I teased him. “Just do your little trick, and we won’t have to worry about this any—”
“Don’t you feel that, Rob?” Lucas cut me off, his voice a whisper. “Haven’t you been paying attention at all tonight?”
“To what?” I asked, still examining his wound in the dark.
Lucas looked around, as though expecting someone to jump out of the velvety black woods that surrounded the car and pounce on us.
“Can’t you feel it all around?” He asked again, his voice even lower. “Something is changing. Shifting. Point Worth doesn’t feel the same since we first tried to drive out of here last night. It feels…emptier or something.”
“Emptier?”
“Like that thing that made Point Worth…Point Worth…is slowly draining away. I feel like…”