“I’m glad you’re starting to understand.” There was a pause as Cordillia stood up and tussled my hair. I smiled as she walked off into the kitchen to greet Logan who was working on another course of food.
“So what now?” I asked looking back over at Sam. She smiled at me and shrugged.
“Well, at this point we’re sure that he knows what happened and he would be gathering others to…” There was a pause as she looked down at her hands nervously.
“Get us out of the way?” I asked. She nodded shyly and looked at me, the nervousness and fear in her eyes more than obvious. I shrugged.
“Okay so I guess that means we do the same.” Matt laughed loudly from the chair and we both turned to face him as he shook his head.
“I like the way you think.” he smiled.
“It’s not that easy, Matt, and you know that. Look, Ethan,” She turned her gaze to me. “it’s not like we can just go somewhere fight a war and come home, this is something that’s going to take time, planning and numbers and we just don’t have it. He’s already sending people out to fight as we speak and the only way to stop this once and for all is to get rid of Malik. Ethan, he’s over three-hundred years old. That more than tells us it’s not an easy thing to do.”
“All we have to do is get a jump on him, right? How hard can it be?” She shook her head and sighed.
“Ethan, listen to me. Don’t you think that in all this time that someone had to have tried that at one point? It’s not numbers and it’s not brains that are going to get to him. And besides all of that he never fights for himself. He sends others to do it for him so finding him is a whole other ball game in itself.” I chuckled and rested my head on the back of the couch as she lectured me.
“Look, it’s not that we don’t appreciate the enthusiasm it’s just that we have been at this for a long time. We know where he’s been but not where he is. Fighting his minions is all well and good but it doesn’t change things and it doesn’t solve the problem. What would have happened to you had we not shown up when we did?”
That was a stupid question. I was amazed I had survived even though they did. There was no doubt in my mind that I never would have made it without them, not to mention what would have happened to Cordillia. I looked over at her.
“You know the answer to that.” I sneered.
“Exactly, now imagine that our numbers are small and his are great and even then he would never ever leave himself out in the open and vulnerable. He sends ambush parties like the one that attacked you. Look at this.” She stood, walked over to the kitchen table and pulled a newspaper out of a large leather bag. I walked over to her and took a look at the front page.
Second Hiker Goes Missing This week
Police urge caution when entering the woods.
I scanned the rest of the article quickly my eyes returning to the picture of the missing boy.
“Toby, age nineteen goes missing in what appears to be another bear attack in the Oregon woods just three days after the first victim’s camp site was discovered,” I read aloud. “I know this boy.”
“You met both of them.” She added as I dropped the paper on the table and met her gaze. “He sends one out to gather new pups, feral wolves to fight for the general so to speak. We’re not the only ones in danger, Ethan. A lot of people will get hurt or worse.”
“So what do we do?” I asked as the room went quiet and a sort of sadness washed over us. She shook her head as she put the paper back into her bag.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” I walked back over to the couch and sat down with a loud sigh. I wanted to help, wanted to stop this but I was just as stumped as they were. I felt her sit slowly next to me, a heavy feeling washed over me as she sighed. “We will figure this out, you have to know that.” She smiled as my eyes met hers. “For now we’ll just keep low and try and come up with a plan.” I just smiled half halfheartedly as my head swam with options, ways out of this mess.
I sunk into the couch and covered my eyes with my arm as the others continued their conversation around me.
“James, is there any telling where he might hit next?” She sighed after a moment of silence and without looking up at his reaction I knew that the answer was a no.
“I could make some calls. Maybe see if some of the packs up north might know something.”
“Please.” I felt her fall back next to me and the sound of a book being slammed shut was the last thing I heard before I fell into an uncontrollable bout of soft laughter. I could feel them staring at me as my laughter grew louder and in a way it felt good.
“Something on your mind?” Logan chuckled as his footsteps echoed across the hard wood floor.
“Oh no.” I smiled as my hysterics began to calm. “It’s just that,” I shook my head as I sat up and leaned forward on my knees. “none of this would have happened if I hadn’t forgotten my wallet.” I chuckled as they looked at one another in confusion.
“What?” I looked over at Matt as sank back into the chair he had claimed. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“The night Sam found me,” I motioned toward her. “I was mugged, stabbed and she changed me to save me but none of it would have happened if I’d had my wallet.” I dropped my head to stifle my chuckle at the end.
“Oh wow!” Matt groaned. I looked back up as he ran his hands over his face and smiled. “So all of this over a couple of bucks?”
“People have killed each other over less.” Cordillia smirked as she sat down on the floor next to me.
“That’s very true.” He smirked for a second. “That is also very sad.”
“So there is something I was curious about.” I turned to Sam, hoping to change the subject from my momentous stupidity to something of a little more value. “Why do you think Jonathan would have been sent to find me?”
“You started this, isn’t that enough of an explanation?” Logan piped up as he took a seat next to my sister and handed her a glass.
“Well sure but doesn’t it seem like a waste of time and resources to go looking for me?”
“Maybe he wanted to thank you,” Matt offered from his chair.
“What?”
“You know,” He shrugged. “Shake the hand of the man who set him free.”
“Oh please.” I smirked. “He could have come out of hiding at any time. He didn’t need me to set things in motion.”
“Well he didn’t need you but you sure did make things easy on him.” She looked over at me with a smile.
“Maybe I’m reading you all wrong but none of you seem to terribly upset about this.” Sam shrugged and the others followed suit.
“If you ask me,” I turned my gaze back to Matt as he cracked his neck loudly. “It’s about time we just take him out.”
“Matt…” Sam cooed and crossed her arms over her stomach.
“Look I don’t want anyone to get hurt either but I’m tired of being afraid of this asshole.” Sam sighed and shrugged. “We’ve been hiding from him for nearly a century and every day it feels like he could come out of nowhere and destroy everything we have built for ourselves.” She nodded with a sigh and I watched as everyone turned their eyes to the ground. “I’m tired of waiting for him to make his move.” He turned his gaze to me and smiled. “I know you don’t see this as anything close to a good thing, Ethan, but thank you.”
“For what?” I asked softly. Matt sighed heavily and smirked.
“We don’t have to wait anymore. It’s done, we can end this.”
“I never thought about it that way,” Sam offered thoughtfully as she nodded. “We have a lot to lose.”
“And we’ve just been sitting her waiting to lose it,” the room went silent as his words hung in the air and a heavy weight fell on us all. I ran through everything I had been told in my head. I was happy, excited even to have people like me for a change. To feel normal and to feel welcomed since this whole mess had begun.
But a bigger part of me was scared
. Scared of what all of this meant and for the first time it wasn’t Cordillia I was so keen on protecting. She was a part of it sure but it wasn’t just her life that was on the line anymore. My momentary lapse in control had put a lot of people in danger, had started a war and now it was just a matter of time before all hell broke loose.
Thinking about it in terms of the bigger picture made me feel small and helpless but it didn’t take much more than a glimpse around the room into the faces of my new friends to bring me back to reality and put the pieces where they belonged.
As time passed the conversation grew lighter and laughter invaded the room. Everyone was smiling and that was a sight I was dying to see. There was no fear in this room, no stress and no worry. Just us enjoying the time we had together and the company we shared.
The next morning I woke and before I had a chance to really register what was going on I jumped off of the couch and to my feet. That smell, it was everywhere and as if on cue I heard footsteps behind me as Sam stopped at my side.
“Where is it coming from?” I growled as Matt sniffed the air from behind me. She just shook her head as she scanned the room slowly. “Where are the others?” I asked as quietly as I could.
“Shush.” She hissed as she moved from my side and began to circle the room carefully. I watched her glide slowly across the floor with a sort of grace I had never seen before. She didn’t make a sound and I was amazed at just how fast she could maneuver. Before I knew it she was back at my side, Logan and James behind us.
“It’s fresh, they’re probably still here,” she whispered to Matt. He nodded as she turned to the other two. “Get your things quietly and meet back in here as fast as you can.” She turned to me quickly, the usual sweetness in her face gone and the look of a warrior stood in its place. “You too, Ethan, go.”
I turned and headed down the hall looking into each one of the rooms as I passed them. Logan was throwing clothes into a rather large backpack. James had what looked like an entire library shoved into a suitcase amidst a few T shirts thrown in where they would fit. Matt saw me and shut the door as I was passing but there was something missing I thought as I stopped at the doorway of the last room.
I pushed the door open as I tried to figure out what it was that seemed out of place and as I got a glimpse of the room it hit me like a ton of bricks.
It was destroyed. The nightstand had been knocked over, the bed tossed and the window broken. Her things were still here but she was nowhere to be found. I ran back down the hallway and toward the living room. My heart raced and my mind began to think the worst as I found Sam standing near the window peering out into the woods that surrounded us.
“She’s gone!” I screamed.
“Ethan, what’s-”
“She’s gone, the rooms destroyed and I can’t find her. We have to find her!” I shouted. I could feel the tears behind my eyes as she put her arms around me gently and led me back to Cordillia’s room. Matt was already inside by the broken window as Sam walked in front of me and started to slowly search the room.
“There’s no smell in here,” Matt spoke softly as he looked out into the clearing. He turned and began to sift through the mess. He moved the quilt off of the bed and my heart sank as the smell of blood filled the air.
Chapter Thirteen
Sam looked over at me as I stared down at the lingering red pool on the mattress. I could feel their eyes on me but my mind couldn’t pull itself away from the steady stream of thoughts that fueled my anger. What had happened? Why hadn’t I been there? Where was she? I felt myself losing control I felt the monster tearing at the edges of my sanity, threatening to break free and tear apart everything that stood between Cordillia and I.
“Ethan, get a hold of yourself,” I heard Sam’s voice calling out to me. Just like that my focus changed from my thoughts to the searing pain in my hand and the large hole I had made in the wall next to me. I felt a scream escape my chest as I began to tear the room apart. I ripped my hand out of the wall and landed another hit, another and then another. I was angry, scared and hopeless and this was all I could think of as I destroyed the once beautiful bedroom. My body grew hot and my pulse raced but before I had a chance to change I felt someone grab me from behind and knock me to the ground.
“Ethan!” I heard Matt scream into my ear. I thrashed and roared as I tried to get out from under his hold.
“Let me go!” I roared as I struggled under his weight.
“Ethan! Listen to me!” I heard him scream again. I didn’t want to listen. I wanted to fight, to find her and end this. He lifted me off of the ground and pulled me out of the room as I struggled against him.
“Let me go! Get off me!” I screamed as he drug me down the hallway. I felt a sharp pain in my head as he threw me to the ground and pinned my arms to my chest. I tried to free myself but he was stronger than I could hope to be in that moment.
“Ethan, calm down and listen to me, man,” he begged as I struggled and writhed against his grip. I was beyond pissed off and he was standing in my way. “We’ll find her!” he screamed. I went limp in his hold and looked up at him as I struggled to catch my breath. “We will find her,” he spoke carefully as I began to calm. I looked around at the worried faces that peered down at me and somehow I knew it wasn’t a false promise. In that moment he was being as honest as he could with me.
“Are you alright?” Matt asked as my eyes returned to his. I nodded and took a deep breath as he let me go and got to his feet. He offered his hand to me and I took it graciously, brushing myself off as I steadied myself and turned to face the others.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Logan nodded.
“Yeah, I’d be pretty pissed too,” James offered. I nodded in appreciation before turning to Sam.
“What now?” I asked coldly as I cracked my neck slowly. Before she had a chance to speak a beautiful scream broke through the silence that surrounded us.
“Ethan!” she shrieked. I bolted for the front door almost instinctively and ripped it open to see nothing and no one there.
“Cordillia?” I shouted into the open space. I didn’t care who might be there or what danger I might find. I heard her screaming for me and all that mattered now was finding her.
“Ethan, get back here.” Sam hissed from the doorway.
“No! I have to find her!” I screamed as I took off down the driveway searching frantically for any sign of her. I ran around to the back of the house as fast as my legs could take me and just as I made it around the corner to the clearing I saw her scared and beautiful face. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at me helpless and afraid, a deep gash on her left arm had stained her pajamas with blood but thankfully the bleeding had stopped some time ago.
My eyes shifted focus to the man that held her still. Dirty and disgusting he sneered at me as she fought against his grip. His clothes were torn, his hair in knots and dirt covered him from head to toe. His black eyes stared back at me as I stood frozen in place and unable to do anything to save her.
The back door creaked open and somehow I was aware of Matt and Logan as they rushed to my side.
“Let her go!” Logan screamed. I watched as the man pulled her tight and she shrieked under the pressure. He started laughing a sick sinister laugh as he shook his head.
“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen.” He growled as he stroked her cheek. She grimaced and turned her head away from him as he laughed.
“There are three of us and one of you, think about this before you do something stupid,” Matt growled. The man looked back up at us and grinned.
“That’s where I’m afraid you’re wrong.” We watched as the shadows behind him began to move and one by one more of them came into view. Some new, some old, some feral and some civilized. They laughed and shrieked as they lined up behind him and glowered at us. I stepped back as more and more of them came into view. Our once peaceful clearing had been overrun by beasts and monsters alike. I counted
thirty men and women standing in support of the one that stared down at us, amused at our helplessness.
Wolves among men Page 15