"I'd 'a take her feet, but she's kickin' up a storm," Myra said and ran ahead to hold open the door.
"Celia, I'm going to throw you down the damn stairs if you don't stop thrashing around." Lucy was breathless as she wrestled the half-crazed woman into the stairwell. The permed strands of Celia's bleach blond hair whipped Lucy's face.
"I don't think she should be in that much pain yet," Imogen said softly. Lucy slipped on the fresh blood at her feet, nearly taking them all down the stairs together.
Celia went rigid. Her head dropped forward, revealing a thick swath of dark brown roots, and Lucy felt the woman's skin go clammy and cold from one second to the next.
Lucy expected Celia to turn into a Werebeast at any moment, but instead the woman crumpled in on herself, eyes rolling back in her head.
Imogen, Myra and Lucy barely managed to get the nearly catatonic Celia down the stairs and through the outer doors. While the others had abandoned them, they had thankfully left the security doors to the outside propped open.
The larger group hadn't gotten far. They stood in the middle of the grass area of the main yard, unable to move forward or cross back. A number of regular male inmates in orange jumpsuits — at least a dozen — circled them while letting out threatening hoots and hollers.
Rivers thrust out her baton to ward them off. Quick as lightning, three aggressive attackers dove for the guard with the riot gun.
The men looked almost human but for the razor-sharp claws on their hands and elongated feet.
His teargas cartridges spent, the Asian guard swung the gun and connected with the head of one of the feral men. The two others rushed the guard, threw him on the ground and bit into his face and body savagely.
They fight like dogs not men.
Lucy's fingers went numb, and her knees felt watery.
Officer Diaz screamed at the pack to get away. A few of the women prisoners broke from the circle and ran to the far fence.
Before Lucy could react, Celia heaved, slipping from her grip, and hit the ground with all fours. She vomited violently, and her body lurched forward. Myra grabbed Celia's back and held her without hesitation.
"We've got her!" Imogen yelled to Lucy. "Go!"
Lucy sprinted toward the fight in progress. People and Beasts now ran from all directions. Ear-shattering sirens sounded with overlapping double and triple blasts. Lucy ran at the pack ripping at the downed guard. She couldn't tell if he was still alive.
"OFF!" she yelled, throwing herself at his assailants. To her complete shock, they backed away immediately and looked at her with inhuman eyes.
Before Lucy had time to adjust, chilling howls from the side of the yard spun her around. Four Werebeasts of the gargantuan variety came across the grass at a dead run.
"Get 'em!" Lucy called out, taking a chance. Most of the jump-suited men surrounding her took off to meet the four Beasts head on. Far outclassed in size and strength by the Beasts, the man-creatures nevertheless fought with the fierceness and intelligence of pack predators.
Still working against shock, Lucy snapped her head to check on the small group of women left in the middle of the field. Officer Rivers kneeled on a woman prisoner in mid-transformation, smashing her baton down into the contorted Beast face.
"The chapel!" Officer Diaz shouted out. She shepherded her remaining prisoners in the direction of the grey granite chapel behind the fenced workout area.
Lucy returned her gaze to the downed guard, noticing the blood splattered grass all around him. She bent down to help him, but as she had feared, the guard was dead. Only now did she see the nameplate dangling from his shredded uniform shirt — Chu.
She picked up his riot gun.
Lucy looked back for Imogen and Myra, but the main yard had filled up — bodies running every which way — and she couldn't spot either woman. She had turned around again when a powerful blow to the back of the head sent her flying forward, knocking Chu's gun to the ground and almost laying her out.
"Bitch!" Peklar spat.
The surprise attack didn't slow Lucy down. She jerked to the side, barely avoiding the man crashing into her.
"No cunt prisoner kicks me and gets away with it!" Peklar seemed crazed, his face beet red and spit flying from his mouth.
Lucy squared her shoulders, ready to take the man on, when a robust Werebeast in a pink jumpsuit flew at him. The creature dug sharp claws into his thigh and threw open her jaw for a fatal bite. A shot rang out and then another. The female Were dropped, the second shot having ripped through her head. Peklar sunk to the ground, groaning in pain — not from a gunshot but from her bites.
Lucy caught sight of the shooter in the guard tower just as an ungainly shape fell on him as well. Not waiting any longer, Lucy broke into a desperate run toward Greystone Chapel.
The gate separating the chapel from the workout area with its colorful exercise apparatus swung wide open, nearly ripped off its hinges. Lucy saw Rivers and Diaz run between the granite pillars and duck through the chapel doors.
The yard had transformed into one giant Blood Alley between raging Werebeasts, crazed feral men-not-men, shooters on the guard towers and regular prisoners taking advantage of the chaos. Lucy heard the airship above before she could see it and knew the riot would be contained soon.
If I can survive that long.
The first thing Lucy saw when she came to a halt in the church was a giant weathered mural above the altar.
The Last Supper.
Lucy had heard about the magnificent replica painted by an inmate long ago, but she hadn't seen it before.
She scanned the room. Women and men crowded into the pews, either sitting in chairs or on the floor. Rivers and Diaz had stationed themselves at the doors, whether to keep prisoners in or creatures out Lucy couldn't guess. An eerie hush filled the room, as if every person — on an instinctual level — had acquiesced to paralyzed silence.
Good. Silence means survival.
A heart-stopping scream shattered the illusion of safety and pulled Lucy's attention to the back corner. Imogen and Myra kneeled over Celia who lay with her back flat on the cold ground, her mouth wide open. Celia screamed and screamed and screamed. Her belly had grown enormous since the morning. She was covered in blood and grime. Myra tried to hold Celia's shoulders to keep her from smashing the back of her head on the stone floor as seizures jolted through the pregnant girl. Imogen straightened the corner of a white sheet she likely had ripped from the altar to cover the woman's lower body and legs. Clorox white material contrasted Celia's bright blood and the dark chunks of fetid gore.
"She isn't dilated," Imogen said. "I need something sharp."
This can't get any worse.
The chapel doors flew open and a slew of Werebeasts flooded in.
Crap!
A colossal reddish creature indiscriminately tore through Rivers with mighty claws while the rest of the Were pack rampaged towards the pews. People ran, screamed or tried to fight, but the Werebeasts were faster, stronger and far, far more motivated.
Desperate for a weapon, having lost Chu's gun on the yard, Lucy dove toward Rivers' fallen body and snatched up her baton.
"OFF!" she yelled and faced the red Werebeast. The creature towered over her by a foot. It was beyond muscular, making Gabe's Werebeast form seem slight. It took a step back, but she thought it was only to get a better vantage. Keen predator calculation flashed through its eyes, seemingly assessing the risks and rewards of killing Lucy.
The instant it lunged for her, Lucy pivoted to the side and smashed her baton into the back of its knee. It faltered momentarily, allowing Lucy full access to its back. She grabbed a handful of its thick shoulder fur, pulled herself close and brought her baton down on the back of its head. The Werebeast screamed, its rage hitting a peak, and threw Lucy off like a rag doll. She crashed into a wall, dropping her baton, the breath knocked out of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blur of wild dog-men tear through the chapel doors.
&
nbsp; Ferals!
The red Werebeast reared on her, slavering and growling in the back of its throat.
"To me!" Lucy yelled, completely panicked. The Werebeast moved closer. She could feel its breath on her face.
"Get it!" She screamed and jabbed both fists into the creature's eyes.
The Ferals turned from the chaos in the chapel and rushed the red Were as one, covering it in a cascade of punches and bites. The Ferals fought the Were like a pack of dogs would fight a bear. The group gripped its legs and arms, while one dashed straight at its throat and held on with iron jaws.
Lucy pulled herself to her feet and grabbed the baton. She lunged for the red Beast, but the sound of shots fired stopped her short. Everyone in the chapel turned to the entrance, which was now lined with officers in riot gear. More shots rang out, and Lucy saw one of her Feral protectors go down.
"No!" Lucy threw her body in front of the pack still engaged in taking down the red Were. "Don't shoot. They're helping."
Her words were useless in the mayhem.
A rubber projectile smashed into her side; pain spread like fire and she stumbled, her bare feet scraping on the stone floor.
Abruptly a knee came up into her face, connecting with her jaw. It would have floored her, if a hand hadn't viciously grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up, almost off the ground.
"Where is Dr. Friel?" A guard in full riot gear bellowed into her bruised face. He grabbed both of her shoulders and shook, leaving Lucy dazed and seeing bright flashes. Weakly she lifted her hand and pointed to the corner. He turned his head to look. Instantaneously, she shot her other hand up under his protective mask and then drove her palm into his nose. The awkward blow brought pain, and he let her go abruptly. Scrambling on her hands and feet, Lucy scurried in the direction of Celia. She didn't get far when vice-like arms clamped around her waist and pulled her up.
Ahead she saw Imogen standing still against the granite wall, the bloody white sheet bundled in her arms. Guards encircled Imogen, protecting her. Lucy struggled in the painful grip, kicking her feet high in the air for leverage. Pain shot through her body, enraging her further.
"To me!" she roared, sensing the rush of Ferals struggling to come to her aid. The guard let go when the first Feral crashed into him, and she bolted toward Imogen. Lucy didn't care what happened in her wake.
On the stone ground — a disquietingly serene look on her face — lay Celia in a virtual lake of blood, dead. Her body looked as if it had been shredded, flaps of flesh dangled from within. Myra knelt beside her, rigid. A guard held out his hand to help the nurse to her feet.
Imogen put a conspiratorial finger to her lips, urging Lucy to keep silent. Confused Lucy stumbled forward, but a team of six guards headed her off. In rapid-response-team-style, they grabbed her arms, her legs and her head. Lucy felt all fight leaving her. Going quiet, she surveyed the aftermath in the chapel.
Her Ferals had been beaten down and cowered by the door. The guard they had attacked on her command lay on the ground. The Werebeasts were strewn around the chapel, all dead — shot or bludgeoned. As the team carried Lucy out of the chapel, her eyes went again to Imogen holding the bundle.
The white sheet moved. Black fur dropped into sight. Imogen carefully hid it away.
Lucy's body jerked involuntarily. Hysterical laughter took hold of her. She shook and cried manic tears. A baton cracked down on her head.
Chapter 29
ORACLE: Grabbed him but got away. Cornered him in the high school.
OMEGA: withdraw immediately
ORACLE: Situation escalating. Going in.
OMEGA: NO!
Empyrean was just waking up, the good folk either heading to work or dropping their children off at school.
Lucy accelerated down Main Street past the venerable used bookstore, when she spotted Hanna's truck in the parking lot of Molly's Diner.
"Let's stop here and get Hanna." Lucy turned into the lot and parked close to the building. "She can help us find Kai."
"I don't want to waste any time." Xochitl jumped out of the car. "If Hanna won't help right away, then fuck her."
"Fine." Lucy locked El Gallo. "We'll file a police report."
Xochitl snorted. "As if la chota's gonna help find a Hound boy."
"Hey, this isn't L.A." Lucy pulled open the door to Molly's Diner. "People are nice here."
Molly's Diner hadn't changed since Lucy was a kid. They'd never eaten out much when Lucy was growing up, but as a special treat Mama would let Lucy have a piece of Molly's famous blueberry pie.
Molly's was a cozy country restaurant with wood paneling and comfortable booths. Pretty flowered curtains framed the large windows.
A small breakfast crowd went about their morning business of guzzling coffee, munching on bacon and waffles, reading the Empyrean Post and gossiping.
As Lucy and Xochitl walked through the door, all activity and conversation ceased. The handful of seniors, teenagers late for homeroom, farmhands and soccer moms all stared at them in utter silence. A very uncomfortable moment passed, leaving Lucy wanting to joke, "As you were."
Xochitl elbowed Lucy. "Friendly you say?"
The activity resumed, but Lucy still felt eyes on her. When she looked to catch someone glancing at them, they quickly looked away.
Hanna sat in the booth by the one open window that looked out to the parking lot. The curtains had been pushed all the way to the side, letting in the cool morning breeze.
Hanna, dressed in nothing but a tank top and jeans, was obviously enjoying the cool air. She fussed with her phone while shoveling a massive breakfast burrito down her throat. A nearly empty pot of coffee sat on the wood table next to a brown mug and beside that, pushed slightly out of the way, rested a pancake easily the size of a manhole cover. The giant pancake was covered in syrup and topped with a mound of whipped cream.
Hanna clicked off her phone, picked up her fork and speared a piece of the gooey pancake.
Lucy slid into the booth across from Hanna, followed by Xochitl who only paused to swipe another mug from the bar.
Hanna didn't seem surprised to see them and scooted her pancake out of the way before Lucy could stick her fingers in the whipped cream.
"It's a reflex," Lucy muttered. "We don't have time for food."
Xochitl snatched up the coffee pot and poured some into her mug. "This is sustenance, not food," she answered Hanna's raised eyebrow.
"Somebody took Kai." Lucy didn't hold back. "Help us find him."
"Are you sure he didn't just run off." Hanna didn't seem impressed. "Ferals are like that. No loyalty." She gave Xochitl a wry smile.
"Lupe saw—" Lucy started, but the clatter of a coffee mug being slammed down in front of her stopped her from continuing.
"You wanna order?" The waitress stared at Lucy, completely ignoring Xochitl. Lucy heard giggling from the booth behind her.
"Sherry?" Lucy asked, recognizing the heavy-set teenage waitress as Molly's daughter. "Blueberry pie would actually be great."
"So, you have time for pie?" Hanna quipped.
The girl scoffed and folded her arms in front of her chest. Lucy remembered the stubborn gesture, usually accompanied by foot stomping, from when Sherry was little.
Lucy and her mama had been Sherry's favorite babysitters many nights when Molly was busy running the diner on her own. The ranch had been a second home to so many of Empyrean's children and adults. Ellie welcomed everyone. And everyone had been their friend.
"I don't think your mom would be happy to see you being rude to customers," Lucy remarked as gently as she could.
"Yeah, and I guess your mom isn't too happy you killed her, you murdering slut!" The girl spun and fled before Xochitl could grab her arm. Xochi rose to go after her.
"Leave it," Lucy said, in shock.
"And this is why I asked you not to go into town," Hanna hissed. "These folks loved Ellie," she explained to Xochitl who looked outraged.
Hanna's phone buzzed
with a text. She glanced at it and slammed the phone on the table facedown.
"What's going on?" Lucy asked, but before Hanna could respond an older woman strode up to the table, followed by a grey haired man in a matching Hawaiian shirt.
"Lucy Lowell. How dare you?" The woman looked familiar, though her blue-tinged, old lady Q-tip hairdo was new.
"Janice?" Lucy greeted the woman who had been on the town council with her mama.
"Mayor Welks," Janice's husband Gary corrected.
"Lucy Lowell, I never thought you'd have the nerve to show your face in town again after what you did," Janice said, looking prepared to spit in Lucy's face. Lucy shifted her body forward. More giggles came from the other booth.
Backing up, the mayor waggled her finger at Lucy and Xochitl. "The Werewolf Whisperer doesn't belong here!" She turned to her husband. "Tell them, Gary!"
Gary put both hands squarely on the table, flexing fairly impressive old man muscles. His arms, exposed by the short sleeves of his shirt, were exceedingly hairy. He looked right at Lucy, but spoke to Hanna.
"Hanna, do you need this jailbird trash removed from your place?" He pushed down on the table, making the coffee mugs jump.
Lucy was starting to find humor in this grotesque situation.
"Is this ancient pendejo threatening us?" Xochitl sounded truly puzzled.
Again, a response was impossible as a shrill, but familiar wail cut through Molly's Diner. Every head turned to the front door.
Screaming at the top of her lungs, little Lupe stood next to the entrance, her hand trapped in the chute of a vintage gumball machine. Imogen, now swathed in an elaborate Renaissance cloak, leaned into Lupe and spoke to the child in short syllables.
"Just...let...go." Imogen tried to appease the girl, but Lupe only screamed louder. "Honey, I don't have change. The machine wants a quarter. I don't have a quarter. Let go. I'll buy you all the gumballs."
Imogen waved to Sherry who sulked behind the bar. "Hi, excuse me. I need change for a hundred."
"You don't belong here, Lucy Lowell." A trim woman with a bleach blond pixie cut leaned in to their booth on Hanna's side.
The Werewolf Whisperer (The Werewolf Whisperer Series Book 1) Page 33