Get Bent!

by Rick Gualtieri

  We were about halfway across my front yard when I swung my legs back, planted them on the ground, and lifted.

  Dad’s momentum sent him airborne over me as we skidded to a halt and then I dropped down, planting his face onto the ground via a DDT that would have made Vince McMahon proud.

  I wasn’t about to let go, either, as Dad tried to squirm out from under me. I held fast, putting on the pressure in an attempt to choke him out. Silver might have been their Achilles heel, but so far as I was aware, the need for oxygen was pretty much universal for all living things.

  I briefly considered shifting my grip to try and snap his neck in one quick clean move, but hesitated. This was still my Dad and, despite everything, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  My compassion was my undoing.

  Dad managed to roll, dragging me along for the ride until he had his feet planted under him again. Much as I had the advantage in leverage, he was just too big. It was nearly impossible for me to maintain control when my arms just barely fit around his neck, much less the rest of him.

  He managed to gain some purchase even as I squeezed harder – cutting off his air and the supply of blood to his brain. I only needed a few seconds more before he dropped, assuming the normal rules applied. If not, then I needed to...

  I screamed as he planted his massive hands on either side of my body, the pain from my earlier injuries flaring up and making me loosen my grip.

  That was a mistake, potentially a fatal one, as Dad reared up to his full height, taking me with him. He shoved me away, breaking my grip, and I found myself airborne again. I watched as my front yard sailed past below me, almost in slow motion, and then I was falling, headed straight for our driveway. Strange how that part was anything but slow.

  I landed face-first on the asphalt and lay there panting, the impact enough to have rattled every bone in my body. My gas tank was on empty. Whatever strength I had left seemed focused on keeping my insides from leaking to the outside. Pity that my opponent wasn’t anywhere near close to quitting. I’d gotten a few good shots in, but I’d squandered my opportunities to win this. Much as I wanted to think I was a badass, deep down I was still daddy’s little girl, no matter what skin he was wearing.

  A massive hand grabbed hold of my shoulder and flipped me over onto my back. It would seem I was the only one in this fight burdened by love. I wasn’t sure whether he was angry at what I’d done, or if his sense of pack hierarchy overruled all other instinct in his wolf form, but it really didn’t matter.

  The killing blow was his to take. All I could do was lie there and hope it didn’t hurt much.

  CHAPTER 41

  One of Dad’s hands, or paws – I still wasn’t really sure what to call them – wrapped itself around my neck as he bent down over me until his muzzle was mere inches from my face.

  He opened his mouth and I watched with growing horror as I realized what he intended. But, rather than tear my face off in one bloody chunk of bone, muscle, and meat, he grumbled something unintelligible.

  “Yerld!”

  The hand around my neck had me pinned down but wasn’t gripping hard enough to cut off my air. I allowed myself one last moment of defiance, something for the masses to remember me by. “Sorry, but I don’t speak asshole.”

  Dad narrowed his eyes and snarled. He lifted me up a few inches and then slammed me back into the hard ground, doing a damn good job of silencing my snark. He coughed, almost sounding like he was clearing his throat, then leaned in again. “Yield.”

  What?!

  He must’ve seen the dazed lack of comprehension on my face, because he lifted his other fist high, as if to pound my skull into a pancake, then repeated the word.

  Was that even an option in a fight to the death?

  Dad locked his eyes with mine and I realized the clock was ticking. This didn’t appear to be one of those decisions I was allowed to sleep on, at least not if I wanted to wake up again.

  My choices seemed fairly limited. I might have been able to mount a small bit of defense, but doubted it would be enough to keep him from cracking my skull like an egg. It was either tap out or die. I couldn’t say either really appealed to me, but at least the former offered the possibility for a rematch.

  It was the state championship all over again, and once more I was coming in second fucking place.

  “I yield,” I whispered. “You win.”

  Dad growled at me, to which I repeated myself, louder this time. “I said, I yield!”

  With that, he let go of my neck, stood up straight, and threw his head back to howl at the blood moon shining down upon us both.

  Another wolf joined in, then another. Soon, the entire pack was howling, a sound which almost certainly carried all the way across town, possibly further.

  What now? Had I doomed High Moon with my weakness? Would the rest fall upon me in a feeding frenzy, leaving only a pile of bones for when the sun rose again?

  After what seemed an eternity of howling, Dad leaned down again. I guess he was ready to dish out whatever death he thought I deserved. Fine. I balled my fists, having had a moment to catch my breath. I might have tapped out, but that didn’t mean I was going down without at least one sucker punch. Sportsmanlike conduct be damned.

  Before I could take a swing, Dad’s face shimmered. His muzzle retracted maybe about halfway, and his features became somewhat more human-like. I’d seen them do this before. It was easier to talk this way without sacrificing a lot of their power.

  “Stay down,” he growled, baring his teeth. “Don’t move and don’t look. I mean it.”

  I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but the part about not moving was at least easy to follow.

  He disappeared from my line of sight and I heard him walking away, toward the street, his footfalls growing less heavy with every step.

  I was tempted to incline my head to see what he was doing, but he’d warned me not to look. Rather than disobey – yet anyway – I decided to give him a moment, see what happened next.

  “The hybrid is defeated!” he cried, his voice sounding like its normal self.

  Howls and a few human cheers rose up into the night, but they didn’t last long. Apparently Dad wasn’t finished yet.

  “Our leader is dead and I have vanquished his usurper. As is our right of combat, I claim the title of alpha.”

  More howls came, a few perhaps with questioning cadence, but they mostly seemed cool with his proclamation.

  “As for the hybrid, she is no threat to us or our power ... my power. She has yielded to me and as such is now under my command.”

  A human-ish voice rose up. “But...”

  “But nothing!” Dad shouted with an authority I’d never heard from him, not even when Chris and I were being total pains in the ass. “I declare this! The hybrid will follow our rules, be subservient to our pack. She will do this or she will die. Does anyone challenge my proclamation?”

  I was tempted to raise my hand but managed to refrain. At least he hadn’t promised my hand in marriage. At the same time, he also hadn’t reversed Craig’s decision to invade...

  “Our war here is finished,” he continued, and I could have sworn I heard a few chuffs of relief from the rest. “It’s time to go home. We have no further quarrel with this place or its people. No harm shall come to any human who does not stand against us.”

  My head was still facing our house, but I heard what sounded like the padding of feet, lots of them, and they were heading away. It wasn’t long before the sound of footsteps grew faint.

  I attempted to push myself up so as to take a look around, but my body didn’t seem to like that idea. Instead, I tried to roll over, and that’s when something caught my eye. It was the goddamned gnomes in my mom’s garden. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but I could have sworn I saw them turn as one to follow the sound of retreating footsteps, almost like they were watching to make sure the wolves were really leaving.

  One of the freaky little things
glanced back toward me, as if aware it had been seen, and actually winked.

  Needless to say, of all the strange events I’d witnessed that night, that was by far the creepiest.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  I was still staring at the gnomes, waiting to see if they’d do anything that might warrant smashing them into itty bitty pieces, when the entire lawn seemingly lit up.

  What now?

  For a moment, I wondered if maybe I’d triggered some new security lights, but then I realized it wasn’t coming from the garage. Individual gouts of flame seemed to shoot up from the ground around me. Before I could properly pee my pants, they coalesced into more solid shapes ... albeit no less terrifying.

  They were people, but at the same time more so. Their eyes were ablaze with power, and though the night was still, wind seemed to whip around their bodies and...

  Hold on, I’d seen this before. Back when Mom...

  “Look! There she is!”

  “Oh, my darling baby girl!”

  I turned my head and saw my mother racing toward me with Aunt Carly by her side. Energy crackled around both of them, but then Mom held out a hand to her sister.

  “I’ve got this. You and the rest form a perimeter. Keep an eye open for any pedestrians who might see us.”

  “But she’s...”

  “I said I’ve got this.”

  There was something in Mom’s voice that caused my aunt to cease her protests and go do as she was told. As she and the others fanned out, Mom dropped to her knees by my side.

  I expected her to say something to echo her earlier concern but, rather than speak, she reached into her pocket, pulled out something small, then proceeded to shove it into my mouth. Before I could protest, she whispered, “Swallow it. Trust me, it’ll make you feel better. Don’t argue with me, Tamara.”

  That last order was a familiar one, ingrained into my head like a Pavlovian response. I dry swallowed almost before I was aware I was doing so.

  “There,” she said. “Just give it a few minutes.”

  “All clear,” Aunt Carly said, walking ... or more like gliding back over to us. “Looks like the mutts high-tailed it out of here.”

  “They must have smelled us coming,” Mom replied, confidence practically dripping from her voice.

  My aunt dropped to her knees on the other side of me. “How is she?”

  Mom smiled, then took hold of my hand. “She’s a bit banged up, but she’ll be okay.”

  “What the hell was that bastard Craig thinking?”

  “Thinking was never his strong suit. And besides, I don’t think this was him.” She turned and pointed. I didn’t need to incline my head to know it was in the direction of where a large furry corpse lay cooling on the front lawn.

  “Is he...?” my aunt started to ask, but then her voice trailed off, probably because the answer was obvious. “Do you think Curtis did that?”

  “Looks that way.”

  “Finally grew a set, did he?”

  Mom shrugged as if she didn’t care. “I’m less concerned with him and far more concerned with Tamara right now.”

  “Which one do you think did this to her?”

  “Does it really matter? They’re lycanthropes, Car. Once they change, they’re capable of anything. You know this.”

  Aunt Carly made a sound of disgust. “We should wipe them out to the last pup. They’re too dangerous to let live.”

  “Table it for another day. For now, I want you to gather the coven. Find any survivors. Save anyone you can. I have it on good authority there’s a bunch over at Saint Matthews on Elm.”

  Saint Matthews? How does she know?

  “Should we blank them?”

  Mom nodded. “Every last one. Go door to door if you have to. Nobody can be allowed to remember what happened here.”

  “So not only do those mutts get to live, but we have to clean up after them, too?”

  Mom locked eyes with her sister. “You know as well as I do it’s not that simple.”

  After a moment, Carly nodded and glanced back down at me. “Her, too?”

  “Yes, her too.”

  “Sorry, sweetie,” Carly said as my stomach suddenly lurched, and not in a pleasant way. Then she turned toward my mom again. “Need any help?”

  “I’ve got this. Get started with the others. Half the night is already gone. We don’t have any time to lose.”

  Carly nodded and stood up, but before she walked away, she looked down at me. “Feel better, Tamara. You won’t remember this in the morning, but know that your aunt loves you.”

  “Love you, too,” I whispered just as my guts tied themselves up in knots again, causing me to curl into a fetal ball.

  Once my aunt was out of earshot, I looked up at Mom. “What ... was that about?”

  “We need to wipe everyone’s mind. Make them forget this happened. Oh, don’t look at me like that. It wouldn’t work on you even if I tried.”

  “But all those people who died...”

  “I know. We can’t bring them back. The best we can do is conjure a memory, a different tragedy, one people can more easily accept.”

  “I can’t believe...” I closed my eyes as another spasm hit my stomach. “...Uncle Craig did this.”

  “I can,” she replied. “He was an asshole ... was being the operative word. Your doing?”

  I nodded.

  “Good. He had it coming.”

  “But Dad...” I almost had to choke back tears. Now that the fight was over and the adrenaline was wearing off, everything was starting to hit me. “He...”

  “Shhh, darling. I know what your father did.”

  She did? “I’m sorry. I must have pushed him over the...”

  “You did nothing of the sort. He played his part just as he was supposed to.”

  “What? As he was...?” The question fell off my tongue as my midsection clenched up, making me want to hurl.

  “Your father and I aren’t stupid, dear,” Mom replied, putting a hand on top of my head. “We know our own daughter.”

  “But...” The nausea was getting worse. I knew this feeling. It was the same I’d felt whenever I’d taken my...

  “That’s enough for now, Tamara,” Mom said. “Let your meds do their job and we can talk about this later, after this mess has been cleaned up. Trust me, it’s for the best. You don’t want my family finding out about you, especially not in your current condition.”

  I would have argued with her, but she was probably right. Besides, I was too busy lying there in the driveway of my home, being sick as a dog.

  CHAPTER 42

  Sometime around mid-afternoon I woke up in my own bed, having apparently slept through the majority of the day. I was wearing pajamas and the lacerations I’d suffered the night before had all been cleaned and bandaged – albeit they still hurt like hell. Unfortunately, it seemed my so-called medicine robbed me of my enhanced healing as well as my strength. The worst was probably behind me, considering I was no longer bleeding out, but it was going to be some time before I’d be up for a night of clubbing.

  Mom was waiting for me when I stepped out of my bedroom – a warning on her lips to play dumb in case anyone asked, and pills in her hand which she insisted I take.

  She explained to me that Chris was staying at my aunt’s for a few days while Dad was away at a “conference” working to consolidate his new “promotion.” There was also the fact that High Moon was currently an unfriendly place for those with a penchant for howling at the moon, being that the town was still crawling with Mom’s family. My uncle had made quite the mess, and cleaning it all up was easier said than done.

  Left unsaid was whether our fight the night before was part of the reason Dad was staying away. I couldn’t help but think that was going to be one hell of an awkward reunion.

  The phone and cell lines were still down and half the town was without power, making communication difficult. So I threw on some clothes with the intention of heading out and making sure Riva
was okay.

  Sadly, Mom was adamant about me making as few public appearances as possible for the time being. My freshly depowered, injury-racked body was in no position to argue. Heck, the sheer act of walking down the stairs seemed to take half an eternity.

  I was left to worry myself silly until there came an insistent knock on the door a few hours later. Mom opened it to find the best sight in the world – the anxious face of my friend.

  “Riva,” she greeted. “I’m glad to see you’re okay. We were so worried.”

  “You too, Mrs. Bentley. Can you believe what happened?”

  Mom crossed her arms and looked hard at her. “Yes, it’s terrible. Who could imagine such a thing?”

  “I know!” Riva replied. “You think it’s going to be a boring night and then a gang of bikers rides in and tries to burn the town down. It’s like something out of a bad movie.”

  Bikers?

  Before I could question that, Riva looked past her and saw me. “Oh my God! Are you okay? What happened? Those assholes didn’t hurt you, did they?” She quickly turned back to my mother. “Sorry.”

  “I’ll make an exception in this case,” Mom replied, before giving me a quick shake of her head once my friend’s back was to her.

  “Um, no,” I said. “I was ... out of town with my family. I tripped and fell down my aunt’s front steps.”

  “You are such a klutz, but better stairs than psychos, I guess.” Riva plopped down next to me, as if my bullshit story was the most believable thing in the world. “It’s crazy, but I heard all of downtown is wrecked.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah.” She lowered her voice. “Mom told me not everyone was lucky enough to make it.”

  I quickly raised an eyebrow. “Your mom’s okay? What about your dad?”

  She nodded. “We’re all fine. It’s the weirdest thing. We went over to the Crendels last night for dinner when we heard sirens going off. Their dad freaked and insisted we all head to their bomb shelter to wait it out.”