by Lynn Veevers
“Can you see her or just sense her,” Kaya asked.
He scoffed at her and said, “I can see her in this form, but barely. She looks almost invisible in this lighting. It needs to be darker, but even if it were she’d be hard to see. The red light in my room would definitely help clarify her form.”
“What do you mean?” Kaya asked him, confused.
“If I were in Pure Form then I would be able to see her like you do, but in Human Form, the lighting has to be just right. It was obvious he wanted to see her and said as much, but there were also just as many obvious reasons why this was not the time or place.
Kaya’s mother took her leave and she assumed he knew it because of his “sixth sense”. Kaya started in on the second salad with vigorous enthusiasm when Kenneth gave her a critical look.
“I’m sure after four days with no solid food that stuffing your face at such a fast pace is a bad idea,” he warned.
She laughed at him.
“Says the guy who wolfs down his food…literally.”
He sat on the edge of her bed, took her hand, and smiled in his easy way. “She’s got jokes,” he said halfheartedly.
“Kenneth, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kenneth said sarcastically. “I just came way too close to losing you. I should have just told you why you could trust Josh and Anissa. This would have never happened if we hadn’t fought and you hadn’t run off.”
Kaya got the feeling it was supposed to be some sort of apology, but couldn’t help feeling agitated because it also sounded like he was blaming her. In hindsight, she did see the error in her rash actions, but was convinced it was not all her. She just didn’t have the energy or the desire to fight with him, so she decided to take it with a grain of salt. The fact that she’d made it through this nightmare in one piece made her count her blessings.
“Well, Miss Hunt,” the doctor said as he walked into the room. “You are a lucky girl. The forensic labs came back and it would appear you were not attacked by a bear like we initially assumed, but by a Felis Concolor, a mountain lion. That surprised us all because a mountain lion sighting in your part of the state is almost unheard of. Also, your puncture wounds and lacerations were large, even for a mountain lion. This mountain lion must have been a beast of an animal. It cannot be left to roam your area, so we have contacted the wildlife department and they will find a desirable solution to the problem. Once they find the animal of course.”
Kaya was pretty sure they wouldn’t believe their eyes if they saw her attacker. She had been nothing short of surreal. The doctor gave her a look-over and examined bandages she hadn’t realized she had.
“Well, you are coming along nicely. If you stay on this track, you will be able to leave Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Of course, you will need to make a follow-up with your primary doctor. Do you have any questions for me?” the doctor asked.
She told him she didn’t. He gave her a nod and a smile, then left. Silence fell and for a moment Kaya wondered what to say.
Kenneth was the one who broke the silence. “Your attack was no coincidence. We still don’t know who was behind it or why. I would be relieved if I could say it was just Afflicted pack hunting, but they usually don’t run in packs. They have been known to kill their own kind in order to syphon the remaining remnants of the last absorbed core,” Kenneth told her.
She cringed inside at the sheer backstabbing nature of these creatures. They were truly without compassion or empathy. Kaya had not thought before to give specifics on what her father had told her. She hadn’t meant to withhold the information, it had just never occurred to her to divulge something as simple as the name of the Afflicted who was tracking Kaya and behind the attempts on her life. Only, if she understood this situation correctly, Senka did not want her dead. She wanted her alive so she could extract Kaya’s core. Only the she-cat was prepared to go against this Senka character and kill Kaya for her own purposes. Well, that had certainly not ended well for her. Kenneth started talking again.
“The danger is still close, and more than likely imminent, unless we take precautions to keep you safe. Afflicted have rank and file just like any other species so it is definitely going to be a more powerful alpha Afflicted after your core. It is older, and has established a stance of fear among the Afflicted population. This Afflicted will be stronger, faster, and smarter than most others. The lower Afflicted will either comply or die. When you are an Afflicted Lycan, the longer you live, the bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter you become. Their sheer dominance earns them the ability to control others of their kind, almost like minions. So the dominant alpha would send these minions out to scout, capture, and return you to them rather than hunt you themselves. You next to never see an Afflicted alpha, period, and they are extremely hard to kill,” Kenneth finished.
“Makes sense. The she-cat said someone named Senka had sent her to retrieve me. So your assumption is right and this is not over. But what’s more is my father mentioned the same name when he told me about the Afflicted who killed them. They had said they were hunting me,” Kaya said with a shiver.
“Your core is unique. It drowns out every other core because it is so potent,” Kenneth said.
Kaya sighed in resignation. So this had become the reality of her life. She knew that this would never end unless Senka was tracked down and destroyed. Not only was she killing innocent people, but Kaya herself was at the top of Senka’s wish list. As far as Kaya was concerned, killing her would be a difficult task if she killed Senka first. She realized in order to avenge her parents and stop the threat to her own life, she would no longer be able to sit idle and wait for Senka to come to her.
Oh no. She’d have to hunt Senka down.
“I’m sorry, Kenneth, you are right…again. I suppose maybe I should start listening to you more often,” Kaya admitted.
The look of disbelief he already wore became more intense as Kaya spoke of his right-ness and her need to follow his advice. She could tell he was itching to comment on it, but he bit his tongue instead.
“As long as I or a member of my pack is present here with you, an Afflicted will think twice about coming after you in your weakened state. I haven’t left your side since Anissa tossed you into me. I have seen her in action when she is truly ticked off. She was merely irritated with you. I wouldn’t mess with her, even in Pure Form. The way she can maneuver is unreal. She stayed here for the first twenty-four hours or so until she was satisfied you’d live,” Kenneth told her.
“I have been unconscious for four days, so today is Tuesday, which means you have been missing school because of me,” Kaya said with a hint of guilt in her voice.
“It’s not a big deal, sweetie, I have Josh gathering my work for me and Dad has talked to Mrs. Harris about your “accident”. The school knows I am here with you and not skipping. Oh, and Kays, it is Wednesday not Tuesday,” he corrected her.
Kaya stared at him, confused. She was sure her math was right, but just to make sure, she went over it again three more times in her head.
“Well, that means I was out five days, not four Kenneth,” Kaya said.
“No, it is four, because it was early morning hours on Saturday when you were airlifted here.”
She nodded in understanding and he kissed her hand, then told her everything was going to be OK.
“Is sweetie my new nickname?” Kaya asked with a yawn. She was still weak, not to mention tired, and the exhaustion her body insisted on having was starting to drag her under again. The last thing she remembered was Kenneth leaning in and answering her question.
“You are my sweetie, Kays, but more importantly, you are the love of my world and I will never let anything hurt you again.”
She woke to the sound of growling. Kaya glanced over to see Kenneth asleep, but clearly he did not sleep soundly. He was dreaming about something, and it couldn’t be good because his growl was loud and menacing. She was not aware he could sound like that in Human Form.<
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Whatever was going on in his head had him pawing at the side of her bed. She reached over to stroke his hair in an attempt to calm him. He lashed out, grabbed her by the arm, and yanked her toward him. His face was barely an inch from her’s, his eyes angry yellow orbs in his head. She could tell he had not completely exited his dream state because he growled even louder and his canine teeth elongated to a terrifying length. Her side ached from the sudden movement and now she could feel his claws bite into her flesh.
Kaya yelped in pain and that was all it took to snap him awake and aware. The angry yellow fled from his eyes, his claws retracted, and his growling ceased. Kaya could see the moment realization dawned in his eyes. He immediately released his hostile hold and replaced it with a suffocating embrace.
“Ow,” Kaya squealed and he let her go and started apologizing in an insanely annoying fashion. He was in the middle of his apologetic rant when Kaya interrupted him.
“Kenneth! For the love of my sanity stop it!”
His ramblings came to an abrupt halt and he just stared at her.
“Kenneth, you were dreaming. I know you didn’t intentionally hurt me.”
“Well, either way I am sorry, sweetie,” he said, sitting back in his chair.
He looked rumpled and exhausted and she told him as much. She was rewarded with a hiked eyebrow and him informing her to take a look in the mirror.
“I got attacked by a vicious predator and nearly died. What’s your excuse?” Kaya retorted.
He chuckled and she could hear the exhaustion in his voice.
“Hopefully we’ll get some good news later on today. I am ready to go home,” Kaya announced.
She waited with her eyes closed for him to comment. When he didn’t, she stole a look at him through squinted eyes and saw he had already zonked out. Kaya closed her eyes again and after a few moments, the sound of his soft, almost inaudible snoring reached her ears. Kaya smiled and followed his example.
8
Mixed Emotions
“Kenneth I can walk! Why do you insist on pushing me along in this stupid wheel chair like I am some kind of cripple?” Kaya complained indignantly.
He pushed her along with an air of smugness that made her want to slap him. The sun was a bright, a hot ball high in a cloudless sky. The breeze was slight and the temperature was just barely bearable to Kaya’s Washingtonian blood.
It started creeping over her when they entered the long, cool shadow of the parking garage, and she recognized it immediately.
“Kenneth, stop!” she half squealed in fear.
“Way ahead of you,” he said, scoping the area out.
“I can feel them watching me. What are we going to do, Kenneth?”
The feeling was becoming stronger by the second; it was almost suffocating to her. The parking garage was eight stories high, made of solid concrete, and reinforced with steel beams. Just inside the entrance, lurking in the shadows, were four sets of green, glowing eyes. If Kaya squinted and focused hard, she could make out the silhouettes of their observers.
“It is broad daylight. This makes absolutely no sense!” Kenneth exclaimed.
The Afflicted were poised and waiting for an opportunity to strike.
“Why does it matter if it’s daylight?”
“Afflicted Lycans have a much tougher time maintaining their Human Form. As a result, they tend to favor a nocturnal schedule due to their preferred Hybrid Form. Seeing how they have come out during the day, it must mean they are willing to risk about anything to get their paws on you.”
“I think I am going to take a flying form,” Kaya told Kenneth.
Before he could protest, she took to the sky and their living nightmare commenced as the Afflicted came sprinting out of the garage in Hybrid Form. Kaya watched as Kenneth pivoted and took off running in the opposite direction. He headed toward the small wooded area near the hospital. In two short strides, he had taken on Pure Form and was booking at insane speed across the pavement. He stopped briefly at the edge of the pavement, then plunged into the overgrowth of the wooded area.
The enraged beasts followed him in hot pursuit. From her vantage point in the sky, Kaya could see through the branches of the trees. Kenneth had already dispatched one and was struggling to fight off the other three. Kaya’s predatory eye discerned that all four attackers were male; no females this time.
The smallest of the remaining three lunged forward and caught Kenneth off guard, knocking him flat on his back. The other two saw opportunity arise and the dogpile commenced. From the bottom of the pile of flying fur, Kaya heard Kenneth yelp in sheer agony. She concentrated on making her flying form nine times bigger than the animal’s natural size. She made a California condor look small. Kaya circled once to get the best possible angle and then dove for the topmost of the attackers. She felt the air rushing over her wings as she positioned them to obtain maximum velocity.
By the time she came into striking distance of her target, they had spread out enough to have Kenneth pinned with one of the bigger Afflicted on each side and the runt on top thrashing wildly. Kaya made contact and dug her talons into the back of Kenneth’s crazed assailant. She swooped back into the air. Up, up she went until they were so high the trees resembled pixels on a television screen. The runt was flailing madly in her grasp.
Satisfied they were high enough, she released him and tucked into another dive. Kaya noticed Kenneth was no longer in either Pure or Hybrid Form. One of the two remaining Afflicted lay sprawled on the ground, head and spine ripped from his corpse. Kaya came out of her dive and landed on the ground next to Kenneth and resumed her Human Form.
“Kenneth! Where is the last one?” she shouted.
“He decided his chances of coming out alive were waning fast and decided to retreat, but it sounds like he is coming back.”
He turned rigid and his stance suggested he was prepared to rumble again. Kaya quickly grabbed his hand and shot them about twenty feet into the air. The Afflicted came stampeding through the area below them, a fiercely fast Anissa right on his heels. She came to an abrupt stop and spun around, and the Afflicted arched his back in obvious pain ten feet in front of her. Before he could fall forward to hit the ground face first, Anissa discharged another sai.
She threw it with so much force that the Afflicted went flying into a tree directly in front of them. The sai cut cleanly through the Afflicted and drove its point into the trunk of the tree, pinning him to it. She then proceeded to casually walk to where the Afflicted was and effortlessly removed her weapon. The injured creature crumbled to the ground and she shoved him with her booted foot, rolling him over onto his back. With one quick movement, she dropped her knee into his sternum. The Afflicted wailed in misery. Anissa pushed the length of her blade ever so slowly toward his throat.
“Where are they, you wretched piece of filth?” she said in a deadly quiet tone.
He fixated his eyes past her right shoulder. Slowly, he raised this hand to point in their direction. Anissa pulled a matching sai from her belt and Kaya noticed the sides of the center post where tapered and sharp like a sword. Rather than look where he was pointing, Anissa finished off the threat the best she could, flipped backwards off the Afflicted, and throwing her sai into the tree in a show of skill. Anissa placed a hand on her hip and looked up.
“Well, are you going to let me do all the work? This one may look dead, but he isn’t. Kenneth, if you could do the honors, I would appreciate it,” Anissa said, not looking the least bit exerted.
Kaya had Kenneth and herself making contact with the ground in just a few seconds. Kaya knew her eyes were probably bugging out of her head but she didn’t care. What just went down was not something you saw every day.
“Hey Kaya, how are you feeling?” Anissa said it like she hadn’t just killed something that, by all rights, would devastate an ordinary person.
“I am a little drained after all that but with all things considered, better than I thought I’d be. How did you know
Kenneth and I were in trouble,” Kaya asked Anissa.
“I followed the sound of the yelping into the woods and ran smack dab into the Afflicted that was running away. I think it threw him for a loop when, instead of retreating, I charged him screaming. Well, you saw what happened after,” Anissa said.
They had just about made it to the edge of the woods where the trees met the pavement when Kaya heard the sound of Kenneth finalizing Anissa’s kill. Right in front of them, sprawled on the curb in the shade of the trees, was the Afflicted Kaya had dropped from the air. It was seemingly dead, but they knew better. Kenneth’s footsteps could be heard approaching on the few leaves that had already fallen from the trees. Anissa took one last look at the pitiful creature sprawled on the ground. In his terror of being dropped from such a high altitude, he had somehow acquired his Human Form on impact.
Kaya’s heart twisted in her chest; he was just a boy no more than eleven or twelve years old. Anissa shouted at Kenneth over her shoulder. “Kenneth, there is one last one right here for you to finalize.”
She regarded Kaya with sympathy and understanding. “Kaya, the Afflicted kind have no preference on the Gnáths they change. They are not bias or prejudice to any age, race, or gender. They are cold creatures who thrive on carnage. They didn’t see a child when they turned this boy - they just saw prey they decided to spare and have join their numbers. Numbers, I might add, that have been growing significantly in the last year according to a source I have,” Anissa said, trying to make Kaya feel better.
She took Kaya’s arm and turned her away from the poor child who had met an unfair end. They walked once again toward the concrete parking garage. Anissa didn’t seem bothered in the least bit. She was spinning that yo-yo of hers in circles. Kaya, however, couldn’t get past the visual burning in her mind of a little boy lying lifeless on the ground.
“Don’t beat yourself up over him, Kaya. He may have looked like an innocent boy on the outside, but the truth of the matter is this, every last trace of humanity he processed was stripped from him when he became Afflicted. What you saw was a monster,” Anissa said, her voice devoid of even the slightest trace of sympathy.