by A. M Martin
There’s a slight pause in his words and my eyes flicker and latch onto a yellow and black butterfly just beyond his body.
“It’s sleeping pills.”
I look back to Jeff.
“They,” He gestures to himself, “We didn’t want you to.” He stops tiring to find the right words. I save him the trouble.
“You don’t want me to freak out,” I say plainly.
He nods, a grimace on his face.
My eyes latch back onto the butterfly as I hold my hand out. I wonder what it would be like to have wings and fly where ever you wanted to go.
My eyes go back to my hand when I feel two pills fall into it. The pills are dark blue and no bigger than my pinkie nail. It’s amazing how two small little pills could do such damage to a human body. I toss them back without water watching light blue and dark red flick around Jeff. He’s upset and very pissed off.
The ribbons disappear as we step through the automatic glass doors leading into the tiny airport. A gust of stale air swipes me in the face as I walk through.
There’s not much here. A small waiting area with dark blue chairs. A little café to the left and a check-in desk to the right. That’s it. Small, right? Is that normal for private flights? I have no clue.
A lanky man comes through the door off to the left side of the desk. He scrambles to the counter, his wide eyes land on Jeff, “Mr. Blackwell Sir.” The man inclines his head at Jeff.
I watch the frenzy of dark gray ribbons that surround the man’s body in a tiny funnel. He’s afraid of Jeff, terribly so.
I don’t hear what’s being said as my eyes start to drop watching the flurry of dark gray ribbons. My body is getting heavier and heavier by the second, feeling like a ton of bricks. My mind-clouding up. That was fast.
I start to lean off to the side. I don’t want to hit the hard-polished wood floor.
“Jeff.”
My voice comes out a weak whisper. My eyes no longer wanting to stay open. I hear a harsh, “Damn.” Then those little blue pills finally pull me under to a world of darkness.
________________________________________
I come to slowly. My eyes blink and blink. I feel cool leather under my hands. I wiggle my toes and fingers. Crack my neck. Nothing hurts. Jeff must have caught me in time.
“Ah, I thought you were going to sleep the day away.” Jeff says prompting me to keep my eyes open, “We’re almost there.”
I sit up better in the seat, my back being a little stiff. I think I’m in some SUV thing. Don’t ask me what kind. I don’t know cars all that well.
It’s done in black with silver trim and has one of those touchscreens in place of a standard radio. I shift on the leather seat to look out the window.
Trees. All I see is trees and more trees. And gravel. I look out Jeff’s window, and you guessed it more trees. Big leafy trees. I’m in the middle of nowhere.
We come to a stop in front of a tall black iron gate, at least eight feet tall. I squint my eyes. There’s an outline of a wolf in the middle of the gate. I look left and right. The gate extends into a solid fence on either side going further than I can see.
Another cage. Is it to keep people in or out?
Hearing beeps, I turn back towards Jeff.
He’s typing on a keypad embedded into the little box that stands window high. The gate slowly opens. An undertone of a sound reaches my ears as it glides across the entrance.
“I’ll write down the code for you later,” Jeff says driving through the gate that closes just as quietly as it opened.
I give a small nod, my fingernails clicking on the door. Jeff won’t give me the code, at least not right away. I’ll be watched closely for a while. More than likely I’ll never get those numbers. Which is okay, I don’t plan on going anywhere.
The tires crunch over the loose gravel as the car moves further away from the gate. Further into my new prison. At least it seems to be open. Trees and open spaces.
The car crunched along the gravel making turns and going up and down hills. I finally spot a turnoff to the right, and Jeff drives on by it. There’s several more turn offs appearing randomly on both sides of the gravel road, but no house, none that I can see. Just lots of trees.
Thirty minutes later he takes a right turn off, following the gravel road that twists and turns around the trees. Soon the narrowed road turns into a full gravel lot. He parks, smiling at me as he gets out of the car. I follow suit. Opening the door and stepping down onto the gravel.
The first thing I notice is the grass at the edge of the lot. It’s such a bright green. It looks like something out of a fantasy movie. I shut the door moving up onto the grass.
I’m in a wide clearing with trees surrounding it. It looks to be a perfect circle. The trees are standing guard over the enormous three-story cedar log cabin sitting pretty in the middle of the clearing. It has a massive front porch. Big Bay crystal windows along the right side of the cabin. A second-half porch on the third floor. It’s a beautiful place.
My feet move following Jeff to the smooth pebbled sidewalk that leads to the porch and seems to branch off on either side of the cabin.
“Lots of room,” Jeff says cheerfully, his steps picking up speed.
He must be happy to be home.
A tiny scream has my head jerking towards the front of the house.
“They’re here. She’s here.”
A little girl in a pink dress barrels down the porch steps. Brown pigtails are flying about her small head. Before Jeff has a chance to stop her, she slams her tiny body into my legs. Her little arms locked tight around my knees. She lets go instantly, a small whimper coming from her mouth. She takes several steps back standing off to the side of Jeff.
Her sweet little voice comes out in a confused whisper, “What’s wrong with her daddy?” Her big brown eyes are never leaving my face.
Jeff sucks in a startled breath, shoots me an apologetic look and squats down eye level with his little girl. “Nothing’s wrong with her sweetie.”
She shakes her little head slowly, “But daddy there is,” She insists, standing on her tiptoes, “There’s nothing there. She’s hollow like the chocolate bunnies I get for Easter.”
Jeff gives me curious look laced with caution.
I tilt my head to the side, looking at his daughter. Wondering what she knows and how.
He turns his blue eyes away from me and back to her, “She’s fine sweetie. Go find your mommy.”
She nods, giving me one last questioning look and runs back the way she came.
“Sorry about Lilly. She’s heard a lot about you and was just excited.”
I hum watching the now empty porch. She’s just a little kid. Kids speak their minds. But what does she really know?
His hands rub across his face, “Come on. Let’s get you settled in.”
I step up onto the porch, getting a full-body shiver. Goosebumps break across my body as laughter reaches my ears. More people. Sigh.
A deep growl comes from Jeff. He turns facing the trees to the left, stepping in front of me. He growled. Like a dog would. I eye the back of his head. Why would a grown man growl like a dog?
I hear muffled voices in the yard becoming stronger; I lean a little to the side of Jeff till I’m able to see.
Three guys step out of the woods. One seems to be limping, and the others are laughing at him. The limping one’s arms fly. He’s raving about something.
“Oh, Jeff your home already.” The guy with the short brown hair says uneasily with blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah.” The one in the middle which happens to be the same one who’s limping squeaks out. He has a cut above his right eyebrow. Blood is slowly dripping down into his eye. He swipes at it with a shaky hand.
“When did you get back?” A gruff voice comes out from the left.
Tingles, feeling like sparks start racing down my spine and across my skin. What the hell?
You know the feeling you
get when your arm or legs fall asleep after setting certain ways. It tingles, shooting through your whole body. It's not painful neither is it comfortable. That's what I'm feeling, just my entire body is nothing but those spikes of tingles.
I step all the way out from behind Jeff, where his wide body is no longer hiding me from their view. All three guys take notice. They promptly hush up and straighten out like soldiers, the one in the middle not doing such a good job. He looks pretty banged up.
"Just now." Jeff bites out looking at me. I give him a shrug, turning my gaze back to the newcomers.
Cocking my head to the side, I examine them more closely. All three look to be built like Greek gods. Tall and muscular. The one with the gruff voice has dark black hair and thundercloud gray eyes. There's something in his eyes I don't like. He’s also the only one who doesn’t seem to be hurt.
The one in the middle with the bloody face and limp is a little shorter than thunder eyes and not as built muscle wise. But still taller than me. His warm brown eyes have a shine to them like he’s always holding a secret, his hair is a sandy blond. He looks to be the roughest of the bunch.
The last guy on the left is taller than thunder eyes is with a lean build and, dark brown hair and playful hazel eyes. And he’s smiling at me with blood trailing from his mouth down the left side of his face.
The tingles come back making me want to run my hands up and down my arms. While all three stares at me.
"Not the time boys." Jeff's voice booms out with a slight growl.
They give a small nod. Eyes still locked on me.
The Sandy hair one takes a small limping step forward, "Is that..."
He's interrupted by a fourth guy stepping into the yard. The guy immediately locks eyes with me. The tingling increases. I can see his muscles locking up with stress or maybe uncertainty. He's intimidating, slightly taller than the others with forceful bright jade green eyes and luxurious brown hair. His gray shirt is torn on the side with blood melting into the white color of his shirt, and he has a small cut on his cheek.
Jeff growls again throwing his hands up in the air “Do I even want to know what happened this time.”
They shake their heads no.
Jeff snarls, barking out, “Stay put.”
He turns around towards the glass door calling over his shoulder, "Come on Avery."
I linger a little longer. As the fourth guy moves up, Standing next to the one on the right. My eyes bounce back and forth between the two. I think they might be brothers.
I rub my hands down my arms as the tingles seem to take over all other physical feelings, buzzing in my blood.
Looking at all four guys, watching them, watching me. What makes them different from other people I wonder as my head once again tilts. Hazel eyes move, taking a step closer and opens his mouth. I turn around passing through the doorway before he could utter a word. I'm curious about what makes them seem different but not enough to stay and talk.
Kayden
“Ah man, I think I broke my ribs.” Camron Jones moans out holding onto his side as he climbs out of the back of the wrecked Hummer.
“You, I broke my damn nose!” Nick Simons yells out, his voice muffled, leaning against a tree watching Cam fumble his way out of the broken back glass window.
Camron wipes at his eye and looks down at his hand. A smear of glossy blood shines on his tanned hand. “I’m bleeding.”
BAM!
Both boys jerk around at the loud noise. Aden Callister pulls himself out of the now doorless back seat.
“Why’d you do that for?” Cam whines, sitting on the ground looking at an unruffled Aden. “And why ain’t you hurt too.”
Aden smooths down his dark blue button up and looks at Cam, a smirk forming on his thin lips, “Seatbelt.”
Cam grunts, rolling up his right pant leg. He winces as it rolls above his knee. He frowns and pokes at his black knee.
“Shit!”
Cam looks up at Nick’s bellow of pain; blood pours out of his now straight nose, black and blue bruising cover the sides.
“Tip your head back, dummy,” Cam grumbles leaning his head back against the tree closing his warm brown eyes. “We’re so dead.”
“Kayden is dead. We’re the victims.” Nick mutters.
I groan painfully, coming awake from the inside of the Hummer. My ears are still ringing, but the guys muffled words filter through. Damn. I frown looking at my door; it’s crushed in. Crawling it is then, I brace myself knowing this is going to hurt with a grimace of pain I crawl across the middle console head first. I stop with my hands on the edge of the passenger seat. There’s no graceful way to do this. I grunt taking the pain and fall out the passenger door, hitting the hard ground with a thud. My lips curl at the corners, and I shake my head. What was I thinking?
“I told you that wouldn't work,” Cam says eyes still closed.
My chuckles turn into a grunt as I climb to my feet. My breath catches as a sharp pain pierces my side as my body straightens up. I frown down at the red bleeding through my white shirt, taking both hands, I rip the hole open bigger. The gash is two inches wide and four inches long on my right side and down to my hip bone. The wound will heal in a couple of minutes, but the echo of it will be there for at least a day. A slight sting on my right cheek tells me I got cut there too. Not so bad, it could have been worse.
My hands go to rest on my hips, and I turn around looking at the White Hummer. The whole left side is smashed in when it hit the line of trees, and the glass is busted out in the back window.
I run my fingers through my shaggy hair, “We’re dead.”
“Nope. No way.” Cam grips, climbing to his feet, “You're dead.”
Aden chuckles following a limping Cam towards the Alpha’s house.
“And I need to see Doc,” Cam yells over his shoulder.
I frown at Cam and Aden and look to Nick. They can’t make me take the blame for all of this.
“Nope, you’re on your own.”
“Nick, come on man.”
Nick just shakes his head, wiping the corner of his mouth with his shoulder. When Aden set his nose, Nick bit his tongue, and it's bleeding like a mother.
I jog to catch up with the three, “So that’s it. After everything we all been through you guys is just going to throw me under the bus.”
Cam snorts, “Yeah, because it was our idea to go Dukes a hazard.”
“Hey, it would have worked if that bird didn’t fly out in front of me.”
“Come on. There was no bird Kay.” Nick says wading through the creek.
A shiver climbs up my spine, stopping me in the creek. Cold water soaks through my boots. My head slowly falls to the side.
What is that? My blood feels like it's igniting, warming my body. My hand goes to my chest as my heart starts pounding. I shiver again, my skin rippling and my eyes take on a glow.
Aden pulls up short, finally noticing something is going on. We share a look of confusion.
Nick groans falling to the ground, his knees buckling from the unknown power.
Cam screams, flat-out falling on his face. His body withers on the ground. Small cries are coming from his clenched lips.
Aden stumbles forward grabbing hold of Cam’s shoulder, siphoning the emotions from Cam. Aden groans as the emotions run amuck in his system.
It’s over. Just like that. Whatever it was, is left or disappeared.
“What in the wolf howl was that?” Nick gasps, still rocketing from the wave of power that came and went.
“Nothing.” Cam gasps, climbing to his feet with Aden’s help.
“It was sure as hell was something,” Nick shouts.
“No,” Cam shakes his head, “I meant it felt like nothing. A cold black hole. I lost myself for a couple of seconds.”
I listen as each one of them talks, my eyes narrowing at what they say. It didn't feel like nothing to me. It felt like I found myself but also not. Like I found something that heats my blood.
> “Hey, you coming?”
I shake my head no at Nick. That feeling still thrumming through my body.
Nick shrugs his shoulders, and the three continue walking.
I bite my lip and tilt my head back trying to catch a scent on the wind. There’s something there. Something cold yet warm. I can’t put my finger on the scent. My body recognizes it as something important but what I don’t know.
I shake it off and break into a run, moving in out of the trees. I break through the tree line in no time and come to a halt. A girl is standing behind Jeff on the porch.
I move slowly up to the rest of the guys, who are standing ramrod straight. I need hold myself in place when I come to stand beside Nick. My body wants to keep moving forward. To the sickly-looking girl on the porch. My blood heats among other body parts. I grimace never looking away from the girl’s dead ice colored eyes.
What is wrong with her, I think looking at her sickly face. Her cheekbones are showing loud and clear, black rings under her eyes. Even her long black hair looks lifeless and yet I still want to go to her and wrap her up in my arms and never let go. What is the matter with me?
Jeff growls, throwing his hands up in the air, “Do I even want to know what happened this time.”
I shake my head no; Jeff really does not want to know I totaled the Hummer. I can’t seem to pull my gaze away from the girl that my every fiber of my being is telling me to go. To claim.
Jeff snarls, barking out, “Stay put.”, turning around towards the glass door he calls over his shoulder, "Come on Avery."
Avery. I say the name rapidly in my head. Avery. My heart jumps in my chest as my breath catches. Avery.
I watch Avery looking over each of the guys with her dull eyes, taking each guy in from head to toe. I feel my wolf perk up at her attention on them and not me. A low growl starts to build in my chest. I don’t like how she’s looking at the others.
I watch as she rubs her pale, frail hands along her slim arms. Something is bothering her, and for some odd reason, I don’t like that either.
I see Nick moving out of the corner of my eye while I’m still watching Avery. Her cold eyes go to my brother, the dull even more with a sneer on her face, she spins around on her heel walking into the house, closing the door after her.