by Laura Wylde
It was only another half an hour before we were on the dig site and I went to my knees, finding a rock that was sharp and moving the dirt with it. The anticipation was back, and I was almost excited. This is what I needed to finally fix my life. The life that had turned into such a shitshow. I hated to say it like that, admitting such a thing, but it was true.
The coins had wiggled free from the cloth that I’d wrapped them in. I took a few more minutes to dig them all out, or at least enough. I couldn’t believe that I had them back in my hands. It was all starting to look up now.
I handed them to him to hold on to. He had more room in his pack and the metal was quite heavy.
“Do we have everything we came here for?”
“Yes!”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and thanked him for being such a big help. I knew that I couldn’t have done it without him, even more than that, I honestly didn’t know if I would still be alive and that was no exaggeration.
“It's nothing.”
“It's not nothing. This is going to save my life. You have change everything. You changed everything for the better. I want you to know that Connor. I will never regret meeting you, any of it.”
He looked skeptical, but that didn't really matter to me. It was the truth as I knew it and whether he felt anything about it or it meant anything to him, was not business. I just wanted him to know that was what he’d done for me. I didn't even want to think about what would have happened if he wouldn’t have taken the job and called. I know for a fact, that I would be a completely different person.
We were on our way back out of the cave and we had to go back the way we came. There was a lot that was going on and all of the different chAnnas, and we didn't want to get lost. It would have been very easy to get lost in the maze and never get out. I was low-grade worried that something like that would happen.
“Do you know how to get out of here?”
“Yeah, we're not too far from the opening.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. We are only about twenty more minutes from it.”
“You don't know how bad that sounds.”
He did not seem so happy to be leaving and I asked him why he looked so out of sorts. I wasn’t used to Connor being more than just a guy that seemed to wing it through life. His worry, was quickly going to become my worry.
“Because out there we have to worry about the guys that were trying to shoot us last night. As much as I would like to believe it, I don't think that they just went away. So, even though I want to get out of this cave and get the sun back above me, I’m not looking forward to a shoot out, especially when I don’t have a gun.”
I could see that he was bothered by it and in truth, I was as well. I was quite scared, but I knew that the only way out, was out. We were going to have to go outside of the caves and hopefully. They would not be able to get ahold of us. I just couldn’t believe that we had made it all the way here, got the coins, everything, only to get shot dead by some people hidden. It didn’t seem right.
“Do you think we should wait for nightfall? Then they wouldn’t be able to see us to shoot us. I am surprised they didn’t get us before. They must not be very good shots.”
“As much as I would like to do that, I think the best thing for us to do, is to just go. It would be easier that way and I don’t like the idea of waiting for them to get here and try to shoot us at a closer range. They would probably be a better shot then and we’d have less places to go. Those tunnels are narrow back there.”
“And what if they're out there and they start shooting at us again?”
“We have to just consider the fact that they are. And then from there, we will be able to handle whatever comes next. You’re just going to have to trust me Anna. I’m going to get you out of this and keep you safe.”
“You don't sound all that sure.”
He didn't answer me, only pulled me close for a kiss, before releasing me a little shaken.
“Trust me Anna. I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
I told him that I knew that was true and I meant it. There was a reason that I felt safe around Connor.
“Even though everything is crazy right now and really scary, I'm not as afraid as I should be. I should be terrified, but I know that you're going to keep me safe.”
By the time they got to the entrance that they went in the night before, I had almost convinced myself that everything was going to be fine. I wasn’t necessarily trying to be positive, but it was the only thing that made me not so afraid. I didn't like being scared. I actually hated the feeling.
He smiled at me from where he stood in the opening and assured me that we were going to get through this. It felt like the whole world was crashing down around my head. It didn’t feel fine all of a sudden. I felt impending doom and tried to pull him back. Something bad was going to happen, I just knew it. I could feel it.
He was about to step out and I stopped, giving him a kiss because I needed it more than he did. I said that it was for luck, but really it was for my own peace of mind. He assured me again that everything was going to be okay and I really wanted to believe it. The alternative was not something that I wanted to think about.
Then I heard it, the sound I had heard the night before, but this time it was closer, and I knew immediately that one of the bullets had found its mark. There was blood showing from underneath his shirt. What had just happened? Had he really just been shot? How was that even possible?
Instead of moving back into the cave like she wanted him to, instead he pulled her out. She was surprised that he could even move, obviously being shot in the stomach. It had to hurt, but she couldn’t see the pain that she knew was supposed to be in his eyes.
“Come on we have to get out of here. They know that we're here.”
Everything was wet and muddy, and it was hard to walk, let alone run. I was scared of falling and getting shot up the same time. I was afraid for Connor and what a shot to the stomach meant for him. Could he survive something like that?
I was nothing but fear at the moment, fear of how everything was going to turn out. At the moment, it certainly didn't feel like it was possible for it to have a good outcome.
We made a few mad dashes from rock to rock. We were hiding behind a bunch of boulders, when he said something about me running off in the other direction. He wanted me to go off back towards where we’d parked so long ago and I didn’t want to.
When I was about to ask him what he was talking about, but then a strange look went over his face and I knew that something was happening. I just didn't know what it was and he wasn’t telling me.
Then he was shifting into a big ass wolf, clothes ripping off of him and his pack lay on the ground with everything else. I was standing there shocked, never having seen such a thing before and even though I knew it was possibility, I still couldn't believe that I had actually seen it. He had actually turned into a wolf. The man I was with the day before, was now a snarling beasts that freaked me out. It had his eyes, with a body that was surely only seen in scary movies.
It felt like he was trying this tell me something, convey a message that I didn't understand. He kept nudging me and pushing me forward. Surely, he didn't want me to run, not when there was men with gun shooting at us. Besides, where was I supposed to go?
Again, Connor nudged me and then pushed on the bag that he had been carrying the artifacts and coins. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that he wanted me to take off and take that with me. But once again, where was I supposed to go? It's not like there was safety anywhere. We didn’t know where the men with guns were, so where could I go?
“I don't know what you want me to do Connor.”
He growled at me and I picked up the bag. He touched me again and then growled a little bit lower. It was a scary sound and I practically jumped hearing it. Even though I said that I didn’t know what he wanted me to do, I did. I just didn’t want to do it. That’s all.
“I don't want to go out there.”
There was no way I was going to be able to stand and stay where I was behind the rock with him. He didn't want me back there with them, though I don't know exactly why that was. All I knew for certain, was there was something going on, something that I didn't want to exactly think about. A nudge came from Connor again and when I ignored it, he bit me. It was a little bite, a nip really, but I made a sound in shock and he growled again. He wanted me to leave and it was becoming pretty clear, that I didn't have a choice in the matter.
Even though I knew that he was a shifter, it didn't mean that I was prepared to be treated in such a way. I was scared to death of being shot, and I was just waiting for the moment that the bullet was going to hit me. I didn't have a choice though. I needed to run and there was nowhere else to go but down. Maybe I could get down this mountain, away from the people that wanted to shoot me. From there, I don't even know what came next. Get help?
But who do I call for help?
13
Connor
I saw that Anna was upset. Worse than that, I saw that there was fear in her eyes and it really made me feel like shit. I hadn’t wanted it to be that way, but I didn't have a choice. She just kept coming.
So, I had to do what I had to do, to get her to go. The only way I was going to be able to take care of multiple people that were trying to kill us, was to not have to worry about her in the middle of it. She had already been hurt. I couldn't let anything else happen to her.
It took her longer than I would have liked to get the picture and when she finally took off, one shot went towards her and without really thinking about it much, I just went towards where the shot had come from. That was all that I was thinking about now. Someone was trying to hurt her, and I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that they didn't succeed.
Anna was running a one way and I was heading towards the shot and the other. The shot had come from not too far away and when I got there, I saw the first of three bounty hunters that had been stalking us. They had been waiting to hunt us down and now I was going to spend my time hunting them. It wasn't something that I usually did, especially when it wasn't even a full moon.
When I got to the one that had shot at Anna. The first thing I wanted to do was kill him. If we didn't have a long-standing agreement with humans to not kill any of them, I would have done so immediately. It was still hard not to, even knowing that it would cause complete chaos. At the moment, I guess I really just didn't care.
It wouldn’t have been much problem. He did not even know what he was up against, until it was too late. He was knocked out and it had taken everything in me, not to finish him off completely. I’d had it out with many men like them in my time. They were merely humans that took care of the dirty work for other humans. I of course, could relate to that very easily, but that didn't mean that it made it any less a pain in the ass when I was the one that had to deal with it.
After the first hunter had screamed when I came upon them, the other ones were not so easy to find. I had to use my senses to figure out where they were going. It came down to a game of cat and mouse, and I can't say that I was too horribly offended by the situation. It gave me something to do, something to look forward to, as I followed the humans through the deep forest.
The second one was a little bit more work. He quickly came at me when he saw me, and it looked like he was prepared for me. He has a weapon that was not usually used on humans. That told me that somehow, he had known that I wasn't human. It was not something that I liked people to know about me, because then they could use my weaknesses against me.
The weapon shot something out that wasn’t a bullet and I didn’t get a good look at it, before I was moving towards him. The shot in my stomach still hurt, the bullet still in there, but I was healing quickly in this form. It was why I was likely pushed into it. For what I was currently doing, it was the perfect way to be.
When I pressed on his neck with my paw, I was face to face with one of the shooters. His dark, beady eyes were looking around wildly, trying to find some saving grace that would save him from getting his face eaten off by a wild animal. Secretly, it made me smile inside. I loved the fear that went over him, through him, it was almost like a drug and I was sad when he was out of consciousness. It was just one last toy to play with.
The third hunter wasn’t too hard to find. I found him because he shot me. It was the sort of weapon that the second had had. Obviously, this guy knew to much. The weapon set off a chain reaction in my body. I was electrified somehow and all those muscles that kept my wolf form moving, was now paralyzed and I hit the ground.
The third man came towards me, after he thought I was down. He looked down at me, my body writhing in pain. I couldn’t stop the contractions of my muscles, so I tried to force out the electrified barb that was still in my leg.
“Dumb mutt. Did you really think that we wouldn’t know what you were? We could smell you in the fly-over. You aren’t as smart as you think you are. You can’t even kill me.”
Something came over me. Maybe it was the sound of the man, or the way he thought that he had won. It wasn’t going to make a difference what he said. He was right. I couldn’t kill him, not like this anyways. There would be no body found with it’s throat slashed out. There would be a body, but it would be killed by way of my hands around his neck.
Shifting back to my human form, pushed the thing out of my leg that was incapacitating me and before he could get another shot off, I came towards him. Knocked him down and chocked him out with my bare hands. I know that there were rules, but I didn’t care. All I cared about, was ending the person that had almost killed me and tried to kill Anna. He couldn’t live.
It took some time, much longer than most people would think. Several minutes passed, before I saw the light leave his eyes and I was satisfied that he was dead. It wasn’t enough to think that he might be dead. He had to truly be dead, for me to have that feeling of security back.
When he was, I stood up and looked at the tattered clothes that I was wearing, as well as the dried blood on my skin. Once I knew that the bounty hunters were gone, I knew that I had less to worry about, but I still had to get back to Anna. I would imagine that she was all kinds of freaked out and who could blame her? It was a crazy situation that I was still trying to go through mentally in my mind.
I went to a creek that I heard babbling and rinsed off. I also took off the clothes of the third guy, the one I’d killed, because I needed something to wear. I hadn’t planned to lose my shit and change in front of her or at all. I hadn’t been prepared.
I picked up the woman’s scent and made my way towards the parking lot that we’d parked in. Had it only been one day ago? How things had changed in such a short amount of time. It was really amazing and a bit scary.
It had been a long time since I’d killed someone as well. There were a lot of first since I’d come in contact with Anna. She’d flipped my world all around and it was all because I’d answered one ad. I knew that I was going to have to thank Jack for all of this. Thank him and choke him out as well. It was a mix bag, this job I’d agreed to.
I went back to the rock that we’d been behind when I’d shifted, and found most of my clothes and stuff still there. Anna had taken then artifacts, which made me feel better. I knew that she was going to be safe and we wouldn’t have to go back up this hell mountain, to get anything else. I never wanted to go up there again.
First though, I had to make a call and I was rather surprised that my phone even worked after it fell and was apparently stepped on. I called the one person I needed to talk to. Jack had connection and he would figure it all out. I was just going to give him the basics. I wasn’t the detail man. He wasn’t either, but he paid people well to do it for him. I was going to use that.
“Hey man, where are you?”
“In the middle of the woods, a few bodies to take care of.”
“Bodies?”
&nb
sp; “Well, one body and two that are going to be sleeping for a while.”
“You killed a human?”
He wasn’t happy, but I knew that he would take care of it. I had made sure that there wasn’t proof of shifters there. It looked like a man got strangled and his clothes stolen. There was probably going to be some speculation about it all, but that wasn’t my problem. It was about to be Jack’s and I was thankful to have a friend like him at the moment.
“Had to, it was a matter of self-defense.”
I wanted to say more, but I didn’t have time. I needed to go find Anna and make sure that she made it to the truck okay. I was also a bit worried about it, because I still had the keys. I had dropped them when I shifted, but it meant that she had no way to even get in for safety. I had just needed her out of the immediate danger she was in. I hadn’t really thought it through more than a few moments. I had just been thinking about getting her back to safety.
“I hear you. How bad is the body? If it’s too bad, I guess we can just get rid of it altogether. We don’t like to sully our hands in that way, but for you, I guess I will make an exception.”
“No need, choked him out as a human.”
“So you could have stopped and left him like the other two?”
It was a question, but then not a question. He already knew the answer. I could have stopped just shy of it if I had wanted to. He was out of it when I kept pressing, just to make sure that there was no way for him to ever draw another breath. I don’t know what had came over me, but I know that it had ended quite violently.
“Like I said, I did what I had to do. I wanted you to take care of it if you could. Some questions might be asked and you will probably have to give them some of that ‘no-remember juice’ that you like to dole out to the commoners.”
He chuckled. “Alright. I haven’t heard from you in a couple of days. I was going to tell you what I’d found out about your client. She is just as good and sweet as she looked on paper at first glance. She’s taking care of her ailing parents. Has been for years, though I don’t know how with her finances.”