by Amy Richie
I was jerked awake suddenly and abruptly by Gloria’s jerky movements. Why was she doing that? If it had been Liza…but it wasn’t.
I snapped my head up, already alert for whatever was wrong. I saw the wolf almost immediately. He was a huge, ugly brown colored animal. Its muzzle was hanging open to reveal two rows of razor sharp teeth.
I jerked my leg sharply out of the way of his mouth. At the same time, Gloria was forced to dance away from him in an awkward movement.
I felt myself starting to slip and tried to get straight again. I managed it for a second, but the wolf nipped at her again. This time when she jerked to avoid him, I couldn’t hold on. I was already just barely attached.
I hit the ground hard. I felt my teeth biting through the soft flesh of my tongue, but I loosened my jaw before it went all the way through. I rolled twice before landing on my hands and knees.
If I had been running with Liza, I might have been more prepared for hitting the ground. I wasn’t, though. I was with Gloria and she hardly ever dropped me. I couldn’t even remember the last time it had happened.
I felt the air rush in and out of my lungs, steady but slightly elevated. I didn’t feel afraid, but I did feel the adrenalin racing through my veins at the impending danger I was likely in.
I scrambled to my feet, my eyes already scanning the open area for signs of the wolf. He was nowhere, though; neither was Gloria. Had they wolf taken off after her? That wasn’t likely, though; the wolf had come for me, he wouldn’t want a vampire.
I turned around slowly, knowing that in any second, the wolf might pounce on me. Liza liked to tease me and say that the wolves wanted me for a mate; but it was possible that they just wanted to kill me. Hadn’t Melody told me about their blood thirsty ways?
At first, I didn’t see him anywhere, but then suddenly, he came back into view. He was a massive creature, but surprisingly graceful. I sucked in a quick breath, but blew it out just as fast.
I kept my eyes on the wolf as it watched me with its intelligent eyes. It moved its huge head up and down several times. Did that mean it was hurt? Maybe Gloria had gotten in a few good kicks of her own.
The wolf took a step forward, but not directly towards me. What was it doing? I stayed where I was, not sure if I should run or not. Maybe it couldn’t see me. We weren’t that far away, but if its eyes were hurt, maybe…
All my hope for an easy getaway were dashed though when a second wolf came into view. This one was even bigger, with almost white fur. It was matted with mud and dirt so I couldn’t be completely sure if it was all white or not.
The two wolves seemed to communicate with one another for a few tense seconds. I should have made a run for it then, but I was mesmerized by their yelps and half barks. What were they saying to each other?
The giant white wolf turned to me suddenly, his muzzle snarling back to reveal his sharp teeth. My own lip snarled up in response, but I was pretty sure my teeth weren’t as impressive. The wolf paused, though, for the briefest of seconds.
We stood there, a stretch of land between us, and stared at each other. I don’t know what he saw in me—whether he was going to attack or just whisk me away. I couldn’t decide which would be worse.
How did they treat their mates? Were they even called mates? Melody said they only needed them to have a child. I couldn’t imagine having that kind of life.
Even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to get away, I turned and bolted into the trees. It was a small hope, but it was the only one I had. I was a lot smaller than the monster chasing me. I could possibly get through the thicker parts of the woods faster than him.
I heard the vicious snarls right behind me before I had taken hardly any steps, though. I didn’t turn around; I didn’t have time for any nonsense like fear. The sisters would come for me if they could, but I had to get away on my own first. Once the wolves had me—a rescue might be impossible.
I darted towards a thick mess of brambles, not hesitating to drop to my knees and crawl through them. I fought with the sharp points as best I could. I felt my skin tearing, but I didn’t have time to worry about it.
The wolf had either gone around the mess or over it, because I saw his enormous feet on the other side. Since I hadn’t gotten very far in, it didn’t take long to back out of them and hop back up to my feet.
I turned and ran blindly, only aware of one thing. I needed to get away from the wolf. I felt a rare moment of panic when I could feel the heat from the animal who was so close to me. I wasn’t going to be able to get away.
Just when I was thinking it would be better to face him and try to fight, something shot by me like a meteor. Something—or someone. My shoulders relaxed slightly, but I pushed myself to keep running. “Now!” I heard her scream. My hands shot out and found Liza’s neck. I swung the rest of the way on her back and we were off; the wolf right on her heels.
I felt the rush of wind as the dirty white wolf took a snap at my legs. I tried to kick it, but almost fell off again, so I gave up quickly in favor of holding onto Liza.
I heard her small grunt of exertion as we sped up. We surged forward like a bullet springing form a gun. I tucked my face into Liza’s shoulder so I didn’t get queasy from the speed.
I felt safe though. Liza was faster than any vampire I knew of, so the wolf didn’t stand a chance. We kept running though, even after I couldn’t hear the snarls of my would-be boyfriend.
I could feel the difference in Liza’s speed when her running changed. We were no longer being chased; we were just running. I still hadn’t seen any sign of Gloria, but that wasn’t surprising. The sisters had kept separated while the wolves were chasing us, trying to confuse them. Luckily, that wasn’t hard to do.
I had been in danger before. Living with the sisters, danger was a part of my life, but I had never been the one being chased. Usually, it was one of them and I was dragged along only because I knew them. Now, I was the one being chased and I didn’t like it.
I gripped my arms tighter on Liza when she made a sudden sharp turn. If I fell off now, she would probably leave me and I didn’t know how far behind the wolf was. Liza could probably still hear them, though, which was why we weren’t slowing down.
I couldn’t see much out in front of us, but I could tell where the trees thinned out into a small clearing. Liza headed in that direction without slowing down.
We skidded to a stop and Liza shook me off her back. My legs were a little wobbly from holding on so tight, but I stayed on my feet. The other two were already there waiting for us.
“What the hell is wrong with these wolves?” Gloria screeched. “Why won’t they give up?”
“They want Lex,” Melody needlessly pointed out.
“Let’s give her to them,” Liza suggested.
“We can’t.” Gloria stood with her hands on her hips. “We’ve been leading them around in circles too much; we aren’t gaining much ground.”
“We’ll have to run straight through.”
“We need to get out of this area.”
“Yeah,” Gloria agreed on a sigh.
That sounded good to me, but I left my opinion to myself. Even if they somehow heard it, they wouldn’t listen to me anyways. I always did what they said, but I really hoped we would get out of here. We could easily outrun them, as long as Gloria carried me. What were they waiting for?
Gloria’s glare turned on me, as if she had heard the thoughts in my head. I sucked in a quick breath, but I held my ground. She turned to Melody who nodded quickly. Liza was slower, but she agreed to whatever silent question Gloria had asked.
“Get on,” she growled.
“What?”
Her eyes narrowed to tiny slits at my hesitation. I quickly scrambled onto her back, trying to secure myself before we bolted away from the others. I had almost made it, but still flung backwards hard enough to make my neck hurt. Her laughter floated up to me as we ran; and kept running for a long time.
Finally, we slowed down until w
e were just at an average run. Unease started to creep into my chest. I couldn’t see any of the other two around us. I could only hope that Liza wouldn’t do anything too drastic.
“What are you doing?” I kept any signs of fear out of my voice.
“I’m not a pack mule,” she grumbled.
I let myself slide to the ground when she was almost at a complete stop. I winced slightly at the pressure on my heel, but I kept running as soon as my feet hit the ground. If I whined about walking, it would just be worse for me.
“Just keep going straight,” she ordered and then dashed away.
I pulled out the small compass Melody had given me years ago. Northwest. As long as I keep the little orange needle pointing at the NW, I would be going straight.
Normally, I didn’t mind running along by myself. It was a peaceful thing to feel the wind rush across my face and feel the earth under my feet. The sound of leaves and small twigs breaking under my weight usually made me feel strong.
Today, though, I didn’t. My feet hurt and there was the threat I would be captured by one of the wolves. Liza was no longer anywhere near me either. If a wolf did come, I wouldn’t stand a chance of outrunning it. I didn’t slow down, though. I wasn’t weak; I would have a better chance than most humans.
I felt my heart drop a little when I heard footsteps behind me, but relaxed when I saw who it was.
“Hey,” Gloria came up to run alongside of me. “Where is Liza?”
“She said to keep going straight.”
Gloria laughed but shook her head. “You two.”
“She hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you.” I didn’t argue, but I silently disagreed. “If she hated you, she would have let that wolf get you.”
She didn’t let the wolf get me because Damien had ordered them to watch after me. If Liza had her way, they would have been rid of me a long time ago. I didn’t say any of that out loud, though. I grinned up at Gloria. She wouldn’t make me run.
As if on cue, she pulled ahead of me and let me climb onto her back. She kept the easy pace, so I knew there were no wolves around. Sighing, I let myself relax against her shoulder.
“There is a town close by,” she called back.
“Are we stopping?”
“Yes. You need rest and food and we need to feed.”
I smiled wide. Finally, some real food and maybe even a bed. Hopefully, it was far enough away that we’d be able to stay a few days.
I saw the other two sisters not far from us, standing silent and looking out at something. Gloria stopped beside them and I slid off. So much for far away. A small village like town was nestled right at the base of the hill we were on.
Chapter 5
It was strange seeing the wooden structures after only empty fields and thick trees. There they were, though, lined up in pretty rows; so inviting they made me want to cry. It wasn’t a big city, but there would definitely be food there.
I took a step forward and winced slightly when my feet hit the ground. I had almost forgotten about my sore foot. I heard Liza snort behind me, but I didn’t turn around to look at her. Who cares what she thought?
The sky was starting to darken to purple, but there was enough light to see by. We had been running the entire day. The sisters had probably fed a little along the way, but I knew they didn’t like animal blood, so they were relieved to see civilization, too.
“We can stay here for a little while,” Gloria spoke quietly. I took another step forward until the trio was behind me.
“How long is a while?” Melody asked in an equally quiet voice.
“It must be safe here. She needs rest.”
“So, we leave her here,” Liza suggested. For once, I agreed with her. “The wolves won’t follow us without the human.”
“We can’t leave her here,” Melody protested.
“Why not?”
“The wolves will find her.”
“So?”
“Liza.”
“No,” Gloria cut in before Liza could say anything else, “we’ll not leave her here alone, but we are staying. Long enough to…” She let her voice fade away.
My shoulders sagged in relief and I let my eyes close momentarily. I hadn’t realized how tense I was with stress. I needed food and rest and the sight of all those buildings huddled close together promised both those things.
My fingers started to tremble with anticipation. Maybe they would be able to leave me here for a few days when they saw it closer. I knew Gloria was worried about the wolves, but I already knew they wouldn’t come here.
There had to be something unspoken protecting these place, otherwise they would have attacked long ago. Maybe it was a town of only men. My nose crinkled slightly, but it was possible.
It didn’t matter to me what it was, I was eager to find a room with a shower. “Come on,” Gloria ordered. I followed them down an obscure path that wound its way down the hill and into the village. It was weird that there was a path at all. I mean, how could someone get lost coming down the hill? There were no trees.
The path turned into a street that led through the small buildings. Luckily, the hotel was easy to find because there was no one to ask. I would have thought the place was deserted, but the smell of baking drifted to me, making my stomach clench painfully.
The lobby of the hotel was plain, but clean, and we were finally able to catch sight of one of the residents. A young woman sat behind the counter. After telling her what we wanted, she silently retrieved a key and led us down a short hall up to a closed door. It was a good thing there were no steps- the girl had a bad limp.
The room was small but comfortable. My eyes darted directly to the bed, but I noticed the small nightstand with a dim lamp next to it and the door that undoubtedly led to the bathroom. A shower. I tried not to let my smile get too big.
Liza brushed past me to sprawl out in the middle of the bed. She grinned up at me. “Sorry, Lex,” she cooed, “am I getting your blanket dirty?” She curled her mud caked boots up close to her body.
“I was more worried about the smell.” I glanced back at the other two and was surprised to see that only Gloria was there. I didn’t ask though.
The girl behind the counter had been weird, but living with vampires, I was used to weird, so I didn’t give her much thought. I gave more thought to Liza on my bed.
“You could wait in the hall,” I suggested angrily.
“Nah.” She rolled slightly so she could see me better, “I’m good here.”
I clenched my teeth together, but before I could say anything else, Melody came back in. She danced past me to put a small pile of clothes on the bottom of the bed.
“You’re getting mud all over,” she tsked.
“I know.” Liza grinned wide and looked at me.
Melody shook her head and shot me a sympathetic smile. “Savannah will be in with your supper soon,” she promised.
“Savannah?”
“Girl with the limp?”
I nodded.
“Stay in here until we return,” Gloria ordered.
“Where else would I go?”
With a slight nod, the three disappeared.
Almost as soon as the door closed, I jumped up and down briefly, excitement for a hot shower making me act like a little kid. They could probably still hear me from the hallway, but I didn’t care.
I glanced again at the pile of clean clothes folded neatly on the bed. My smile grew even wider. “Thank you, Melody,” I whispered.
I kicked my shoes off and placed them near the foot of the bed. I brought one foot up so I could peel my sock off, then tried to get the other one off without taking the rest of my skin off with it. I let my clothes fall into a dirty heap on top of them and hopped off towards the small bathroom.
It took a while for the water to heat up; I worried for a moment that it might stay only lukewarm, but while I was undoing my hair, steam filled the small space.
I stepped gingerly into the hot stre
am, a thick trail of dirty water already forming by my feet. I stepped fully under the hot water and nearly groaned out loud. This was so much better than a quick wash up in a freezing cold stream.
I tilted my head to the side, letting the water work magic on my neck and shoulder. It was easy to pretend I wasn’t being chased by wolves in the safety of my little shower.
I stayed in until the water turned cold and only had time to wrap a towel around myself when I heard a knock. I scurried to open it, knowing it was Savannah with the food.
I tried to smile at the girl, but she just sat the tray on the stand and left without even a hint of friendliness. Too hungry to care, I hurried to lift the lid on the tray.
I inhaled deeply, the delicious aroma filling my nostrils and making my mouth water. I had waited too long to eat, now my stomach was aching and groaned. I patted it softly with my hand, mentally apologizing for something that wasn’t my fault.
I picked up the giant roll and tore a piece off with my teeth. It was still warm and practically melted in my mouth. I couldn’t help the small groan of pleasure that escaped my lips. It was a good thing Liza wasn’t there to make fun of me.
A meat I didn’t recognize and a huge helping of mashed potatoes were smothered in gravy and helping of what looked like green beans filled the plate. Forgoing the fork, I picked up one of the green beans and popped it into my mouth. It was too hot to chew so I just swallowed.
A long drink of water cooled the burning in my throat, but I decided on a fork after that. My stomach grew too full after I was halfway through, so I took a break to get dressed.
The clothes were a perfect fit, of course, but I had to wonder where she had found them so quickly. Tan cargo pants and a black tee shirt. It wouldn’t go far to hide me in the woods, but at least they weren’t bright orange.
Thinking of everything, Melody had found me a small first aid kit. After throwing off the muddy top blanket, I pulled myself into the middle of the bed so I could examine my foot. The skin around the sore was white and hanging loose, but now that it was clean, I could see it wasn’t too bad.