The Guilty Innocent

by D N Simmons

  “I waited a long time for this.” Sergio said, a wicked smile began to spread across his lips. “Tell me wolf, do you have the balls to do this all the way or are you really a bitch?” Sergio asked cockily.

  “I will kill you and you know it!” the wolf said arrogantly.

  “Do you have the balls or are you neutered, answer the fucking question, Gregor!?” Sergio demanded. Gregor's lips turned up into a sneer as he glared at Sergio. I could feel Devin's grip tighten around my hand and I leaned over to him.

  “Ouch!” I whispered and he looked at me.

  “Oh, shit! I am so sorry, I hope I didn't hurt you,” he apologized.

  “I'm okay, don't worry,” I lied. My hand was aching, well at least now it matched my ankle. I turned to face the showdown before us.

  Gregor looked around the courtyard, then laughed. “Very well, we'll play this your way, what do I get when I kill you?” Gregor asked.

  I followed Sergio's gaze as he looked around the courtyard, there were dead bodies strewn about, which was an extremely disturbing sight to me, some were dismembered. I tried not to look at them, I had seen enough horror for one night.

  Sergio smiled, then turned to face Gregor. “We'll let you go,” he said cockily, Devin grunted and stepped forward, but Sergio held his hand up and Devin stopped instantly.

  “Sounds like a deal,” Gregor said as he smiled wickedly.

  He began to remove his clothes. Sergio, who was already naked as the other captives were, had kneeled on all fours, his body began to sweat, his skin seemed to stretch as he began to change forms. Gregor had kneeled and begun his change. This was the third time I was witnessing a shape-shifter change forms. The first time I saw a shape-shifter change form, he was dying and returning to his human form. The second time was in the hallway, when Devin had to change back into his human form. But never had I seen a shape-shifter change from his human form to animal, and I watched, transfixed by the spectacle of it all.

  Fur began to pour out of their pours with rapid speed, their heads grew larger, their mouths began to elongate, their teeth growing sharper and longer. I watched their hands become wider, their fingers receded to form into paws. I was speechless. Some time had passed before their transformation was complete, though it felt as if it were only seconds. The two shifters began to growl at each other. Slowly, they started walking towards one another, a beautiful silver wolf and a gorgeous black leopard. Each circled the other, inching closer and closer every round they made. They snarled and snapped at each other, then Sergio stopped circling, and lunged. Gregor tried to go for Sergio's throat, but Sergio whipped around the back of the wolf with his catlike agility, clawing deep bloody gashes into the wolf's left hind leg. The wolf growled and bent his body around to bite Sergio on his left thigh. Sergio let out a menacing hiss and scratched at the wolf's head, taking off the tip of his ear. Gregor yelp in pain and lunged for Sergio. The wolf managed to climb onto Sergio's back. He bit deeply into Sergio's neck, blood bubbled up from the fresh wounds. Sergio let out a ferocious hissing growl and tried violently to shake the wolf off but Gregor locked his jaws and appeared to be grinding his teeth deeper into Sergio's neck. If I did not know any better, I would have thought that Gregor was trying to snap Sergio's spinal cord. It was a savage thing to watch, it reminded me of a few animal attack documentaries I'd seen on the nature channel...only more vicious.

  “He is trying to snap the bones in Sergio's neck!” Devin said through gritted teeth.

  Well, I was right. This fight was bloody and dangerous and I was really fearful about the outcome. Sergio rolled over on his back, pinning Gregor under his weight. Using his catlike reflexes and agility, he began to twist out of Gregor's mouth. When he got his neck halfway out of the wolf's mouth, his right paw slashed across the wolves abdomen, opening him up, spilling out his intestines. I felt my stomach lurch again and a dry heave rippled through my body. Before I knew it, Xavier was standing beside me.

  “Are you alright, darling!?” he asked concern.

  I swallowed hard and nodded. I wrapped my arms around him and he held me. I looked over my shoulder at Sergio, who had begun to rip at Gregor's stomach. The wolf released him and rolled over, he began to whine like a wounded animal...I suppose he was. That did not stop Sergio. Sergio attacked the wolf, his claws dug into Gregor's flesh and began to rip large pieces of flesh away, the wolf gave one last gallant effort to survive and bit Sergio on his left front leg, his teeth ripping away pieces of fur and skin. Sergio darted away, then lunged forward one last time, his head ducked under Gregor’s throat, his teeth bit into the flesh and he jerked his head away quickly, ripping out a large portion of Gregor's throat. Blood splattered Sergio's face, coating his fur. He plunged his face deeper into the gash for more. I quickly turned my head only to see Devin panting with what I assumed was the bloodlust and excitement of the battle. I looked at Elise, and even she seemed aroused by the duel between Sergio and Gregor. I looked up at Xavier because his chest began to heave slowly. I saw in his eyes that he was fighting his bloodlust. Devin began to change forms and I quickly stepped away from him, dragging Xavier with me. Xavier pulled me behind him, guarding me. I watched as Elise, Devin, Carmen, Rachel, Miranda and Daniel all changed forms. Once their change was complete, they joined Sergio in the feast as they devoured Gregor's body. I turned away again, I did not want to see anymore of it. I looked at Nagesa and Adrian, they too looked as though they wanted to join the feeding frenzy. Adrian was holding onto Lidiya, his eyes were glazed over as he watched the others feed, then I saw him turn away abruptly, taking deep breaths. He began to walk over to us with Lidiya in his arms..

  “Let's go inside, we have to find those papers you wanted.” Adrian said when he approached us. His breathing was slightly ragged.

  “Yeah, let's go inside.” I said as I pushed past them as fast as I could, nearly running into the mansion. The lights were back on and a few minutes later, the other vampires and Nagesa walked through the door. They all appeared to be fighting their blood hunger. April and Annabelle began to look at me rather lustfully and I did not like it. I moved closer to Xavier and he turned around to look at me.

  He must have seen the fearful expression on my face, because he frowned. “What is the matter?” he asked softly.

  I gestured with my eyes towards the two female vampires, Xavier turned around to look at them.

  “Annabelle! April!” Xavier snapped. “You had better avert your eyes, she belongs to Darian and me, you touch her and I don't think I need to explain what your fates will be!” Xavier's voice was commanding. The two women seemed to cringe as they backed away, nodding their heads.

  “I'm sorry!” they said in unison. Xavier flashed them another warning look, then turned to face me.

  “You have nothing to fear. Were you injured?” he asked as his eyes trailed over my body, taking in my appearance.

  “Well, I twisted my ankle, but that's it. What about you?” I asked, concerned. Last time I saw Xavier, his throat had been clawed and his stomach had huge slashes on it and both wounds were bleeding profusely. I looked at Xavier's shirt, it was bloody and torn to shreds. I looked up at him, my expression full of worry. Xavier smiled and kissed me on my forehead.

  “Baby I'm fine. I did lose a lot of blood, but I quickly replaced it. Don't worry, I'm not going to die anytime soon. See...” He said, then he opened his shirt and revealed his perfectly healed muscular chest. There was dried blood still plastered to his flesh, but he was healed nonetheless. I was finally satisfied, I looked up at him and smiled. “See, as good as new.” Xavier said, then he winked.

  “We need to wake her up to find out where the list is hidden, not to mention the other information.” Adrian said as he walked around the mansion, inspecting the decor. “This place looks like a shit-hole compared to my father's home, some people have no taste!” Adrian shook his head. His companion Nagesa said something to him in Japanese and he responded in kind. I wished I knew what they were talking abou
t, it annoyed me that I didn't.

  “You're right, why don't you wake her up,” Xavier stated. Adrian nodded and looked down at Lidiya's face. He held her with one hand and began to lightly slap her right cheek with the other, forcing her to wake up. Her eyes slowly began to open and she looked at Adrian. A string of harsh sounding Russian words came spilling from her lips, and Adrian laughed.

  “I'm afraid you're mistaken, you're the one that is dead meat, not me. Some people want to ask you a few questions, answer them and you won't have to be tortured.” Adrian informed her arrogantly.

  I looked at Adrian, he was no doubt a sexy man, completely commanding. I found it hard to picture him and Warren together as a couple. Adrian was a little too controlling, maybe even overpowering. Warren is assertive and somewhat headstrong. But he could also be very patient and tender. Nevertheless, they were an odd couple.

  Lidiya began to speak in Russian and Adrian interjected. “Un-un, English, so that everyone in the room can understand you.''

  She threw him a disdainful glance then gestured to be let down, he put her on her feet and she turned to face us. “I will not tell any one of you freaks a fucking thing!” she spat at us, her thick Russian accent making each word acidic. Oh, she pissed me off, I had had enough of their bullshit and I put my foot down.

  I walked up to Lidiya and stopped only two feet in front of her, looking her dead in her eyes. “Look here, bitch,” I started, there were a few gasps from the others, even a chuckle or two, but I kept my focus on Lidiya. “You are going to tell us what we want to know, or so help me God!” I said, my hands balling into fists. My breathing had increased and I could feel my temper rising. She looked at me and laughed, I felt the alarms go off in my mind and before I knew it, my fist made contact with her nose. She cried out and fell to the floor, staring up at me in shock.

  “You fucking bitch!” she said vehemently.

  And I responded in kind. “You do not seem to understand your predicament, if you do not tell us where that fucking list is at, your death will not be fast, it will be slow and painful, we showed your comrades mercy but you won't be so fortunate!”

  I walked towards her and stood over her as she sat on the floor, staring up at me. “If you do not tell us what we want to hear, then you are useless and better off dead!” I said coldly.

  The tone of my voice frightened me, I did not know this part of me existed! I wanted to scare her enough to believe that they would torture her to death. I had no doubts that one of the others would not be able to follow through with the threats, but I preferred that it would not reach that point. I stared down at Lidiya, and she appeared to be contemplating. She looked at the others in the room and frowned.

  “If I tell you what you want to know, will you let me go?” she asked. I looked at her, my mouth opened to form the words I wanted to say, but Xavier interjected.

  “Yes,” he said as he walked up to stand beside me.

  I turned to look at him, shocked and confused. I did not want her to get off, she killed Annette and set up Darian! For all we knew, setting Darian up was probably her idea! Xavier took my hand into his and squeezed it gently, but I pulled my hand away and walked towards John. Xavier looked at me, his expression blank. Vampires seemed to be well skilled in the “poker face” which annoyed me at this point. I wanted to read his expression, what was he thinking? Surely he would not let her go...surely!?

  He turned back to face Lidiya. “If you tell us what we want to know. I will let you live,” he said.

  Her eyes studied him. “But will you let me go?” she asked plainly.

  Xavier looked at Tony, they appeared to share something that the rest of us was not a part of. Then he looked back at Lidiya and nodded. “If you tell us everything you know, everything about your boss and lover, the illegal activities, we will make sure that he takes the fall, but we need to know where he went and we need the list of politicians and any other information you might have that could help us free the man you set up!” Xavier said, then he kneeled down next to her and peered into her eyes. “We want you to admit this in court, free of will. You do this, and I will let you go.”

  “Can you guarantee that I will go free, that I won't be locked away!?” she asked worriedly.

  Xavier nodded. “I can and I will, but I need your word,” he said as he peered into her eyes.

  She closed her eyes, then nodded her head. “My boss's name is Eremei Andreev, he is in his secret hideout in northern part of Moscow. The grocery store is the front, you'll find the hideout in the basement, I can get you in. He has the politician list and everything else you need. Ivan Dorofei is with him, he is the leader of those shape-shifters.” she said then she swallowed and looked at the rest of us. I was so angry I was seeing red, I looked at her and could not hold my tongue any longer.

  I walked over to her, pointing my finger in her direction. “And when you take the stand, make sure you tell them how you murdered my best friend, a kind and beautiful woman! You aren't even worthy enough to walk this earth with you bitch!!!” I yelled, my voice was so shaky! John pulled me away and took me into his embrace as I cried angry, frustrated, and heartbroken tears.

  Lidiya laughed. “Oh, she was your friend? She was just a pawn, no hard feelings. Killing her was a simple act, we just drained her blood to make it look like a vampire did it.” She said smugly as she looked at Xavier, then back to me.

  Before I knew it, I had lunged for her and John had to hold me tight to keep me from committing a crime against man. I heard angry guttural sounds come out of me and I knew that I was livid beyond all reasoning.

  “Take her out of the room.” Xavier told John, who followed orders. He dragged me out of the mansion with ease as I struggled wildly. The cold biting air helped me to calm down, and I ceased my struggles. It was useless anyway, John's grip was like a titanium vice. I looked at Elise and her Pride, they had dressed, all except Sergio and Devin. They were headed towards the mansion. Each of them silently glanced at John and me as they walked inside. Elise stopped to ask me what was wrong.

  “I'll be fine in a minute, just go inside, you'll see for yourself why I'm upset,” I told her. She nodded and without another word, she followed the others inside. I looked up at John, he was collected as his blue eyes peered at me behind the veil of blonde bangs.

  “Why is he going to let her go!?” I asked angrily.

  “Because, we need her to testify in court, without influence. We need her to tell the court everything so Darian can be set free. We can not do that if we use mind tricks on her, or if she is dead.” John was sounding very level-headed at this point. “Which is why Xavier will not hypnotize her or read her mind. He wants it all to come from her free of will.”

  What he was saying was making sense to one half of my brain, but the other half wanted revenge. I have never felt this way before and I did not like feeling this way. I did not like hating someone so much that I wanted to see them dead. I gazed up at John and I felt myself grow weaker, both mentally and physically and my knees buckled. John caught me in his arms and held me close to him.

  “I just want this all to end,” I sobbed into his chest. I could feel his hands stroking my hair softly.

  “Natasha, Xavier knows exactly how you feel about all of this and I promise you, she will not be getting away with this. But I do not want to tell you any more.”

  He raised my face to his and looked into my eyes, I looked up at him, his pretty blue eyes locked onto mine, in a movement too swift for me to react to, his lips were sealed to mine in a passionate kiss. Then he pulled away. He moved away from me, his face reddening, his breath quickened.

  “Natasha, I am sorry, I had no right!” he said apologetically, he appeared to be ashamed of himself. “Please, forgive me, I-” he started, but I had walked up to him and placed my fingertips to his lips. His eyes settled on mine and he remained silent.

  “I am not upset that you did that, I know that you care for me. We will just keep this to ourselve
s.” I gave him my sweetest smile. He seemed to relax and he smiled. “At least I'm not as upset as I was five seconds ago,” I said lightly.

  He chuckled. “Glad I could put you at ease.”

  The others began leaving the mansion. I watched Lidiya being held closely by Adrian while Tony led the way. Xavier stopped between John and myself and his gaze shifted towards John. John lowered his head, a fearful expression in his eyes, he bowed before Xavier. Could Xavier had known about what John just did?

  “I am sorry! Please forgive my indiscretions!” John begged. I suppose Xavier did know, so therefore, I was not going to stand by and watch John be punished for a minuscule act of weakness, John kissed me because he cared for me, there was nothing else to be derived from it.

  “Xavier, please do not do anything to him, please!” I pleaded. Xavier turned to me and he took my hands into his and kissed them.

  “I would never do anything that would displease you...if I could avoid it. Please understand Natasha, that this situation with Lidiya must be done. But trust me, she will be dealt with for the what she has done.” He paused and looked at John's kneeling form then turned to face me, a smiled played on his lips. “How can I blame him for stealing a kiss from the most passionate, courageous and exquisitely beautiful woman in the world,” he whispered seductively.

  I wouldn't go that far, hut it was damn nice to hear!

  Then he turned to face John. “Stand up, you are not in trouble.” Xavier said. John rose, a look of relief swept across his face. The others were walking towards the trucks, John, Xavier and I followed them.

  When we reached the truck, Lidiya climbed into the back of the truck I was going to ride in. I didn't want to ride in the same truck with her, but I had no choice. Xavier must have sensed my discomfort, because when the other truck pulled up beside ours, he suggested that Adrian drive and he asked Carmen and Miko to switch with us. Miko exited the truck and walked towards ours. Carmen looked towards Elise for her word, Elise nodded her head, and Carmen opened the door, then climbed out of the SUV. Xavier and I sat in their vacant seats as Nagesa drove. He followed the first truck that was now being driven by Adrian. Those two shape-shifters definitely proved why they were the enforcers of their Pack. I have never met Warren's Pack master and foster father, but I would like to thank him personally for sending help when all this is over.