Skin and Bones

by Susan Harris

  The rain pelted down as Derek drove like a maniac through the city streets, siren blaring. Cars moved out of the way quickly. Ever clung to the handle above her as a growling Derek rounded a corner and almost went head first into an oncoming vehicle. They veered and maneuvered through the rain-drenched streets, tires squealing in protest as he overtook another car.

  Ever sat in the back of Derek’s car with Erika seated next to her and Ricky in the passenger seat. Erika had checked and rechecked her gun a number of times, and Derek wondered why the girl was so on edge… plus why she kept watching Ever. Derek blared his horn as a car refused to move out of the way. He jammed on the brakes and cursed as the occupants of his car lurched forward. Reversing quickly and yanking the wheel around, he burst out of the line of traffic to the wrong side of the road.

  “Christ, D… did you learn to drive playing Grand Theft Auto? You’re gonna kill us all.”

  Derek didn’t slow his actions; instead, he pressed his foot down harder on the accelerator. Night was creeping in around them, winter shortening the days and bringing darkness at a much quicker pace. His skin itched and pulled at him, and he knew he was losing the battle with his wolf. The wolf snarled and banged against the inside of his mind, wanting out, wanting to be in control. But he would hold off as long as he could, and then, if this monster lurked inside, he would shed his human skin and allow the wolf to rip into flesh and feast on death.

  A growl vibrated through him, and he heard Ever clear her throat. His eyes sprang to the mirror. She tapped a finger to her brow and he looked at his eyes in the mirror. Wolf amber shone back at him. He tried to calm down, but the colour refused to leave.

  They burst through the traffic lights at the top of the hill, and Derek brought the car to a screeching halt. Ricky jumped from the car before Derek. He was rushing forward to where some of the uniforms were trying to break a padlock from the gate. Ricky pushed them aside and held out his hands over the lock. Blue lightning shot from his hands as he grunted, and the lock shattered open and fell to the ground.

  Derek made to go after his friend as the vampires arrived on the scene with Sarge arriving in his own car and they went after Ricky. Derek moved forward slowly as his muscles cramped, heavy like they were made of lead. He scented Ever behind him and spun around to face her.

  “You have to stay here.”

  She snorted. “Like hell I will.”

  “Ever, I can’t find Melanie if I’m worried about you getting hurt. Please wait here.”

  He beckoned Erika to follow him, and she did, her hand grasped around the butt of her gun. As Derek walked by, he barked at one of the officers to watch Ever and make sure she did not enter the crime scene. He could almost feel the anger that radiated from Ever, but he would deal with that issue later.

  When Erika and he jogged up to where Sarge, Ricky, the vamps and a swat team waited, Sarge nodded and handed control over to Derek. He was used to this. It made his blood sing as adrenaline began to build up, the familiar nature of the operation ingrained in his marrow.

  “This building is massive, so span out and search every nook, every square inch of the place from top to bottom. Cait, you take Donnie and go east with team one. Ricky and I will go up and start on floor two. Erika, take team two with Sarge and go west. When you meet up, make your way upstairs. Take a COM and stay in constant contact when a room is clear. Ready?”

  With a nod, they all headed out, and he and Ricky crossed the floor and headed for the stairs. Derek moved in front of Ricky, his shotgun pointed out in front of him, his feet quickly double timing up the stairs. He poked his head around the curve of the stairs and angled the gun upward. The entire building was eerily hushed, with no sounds except for the beating of hearts. His eyes were still wolf, and he could see insects clambering about the floor of the abandoned building.

  As they reached the second floor, Derek pressed a finger to his lips and closed his eyes. He stilled his breathing, focusing his senses on finding something concrete to tell him whether to go up or stay on the level he was on. Blood, the coppery scent of it, filled his nose, and it was coming from all over the damn place. He couldn’t separate the old blood from new blood. It all just smelled like blood to him.

  Making a decision, Derek chose to check out the second floor. He motioned for Ricky to follow him and the warlock did without question, a ball of blue electricity dancing in his hand. Darkness met them in a corridor with no windows, and Derek paused. Ricky muttered a quick spell, and his ball of electricity flew through the air, leading the way.

  They had barely gone twenty feet when Derek caught the scent of decay. He inclined his head and pushed open the door to his right. It creaked loudly in the overbearing silence, and Derek held it open for Ricky. Another door barred their way, and Derek used his foot to kick it open, the splintering wood causing an echo to bounce around the room.

  “Bravo One, everything alright up there?” Sarge’s voice rumbled in his ear.

  “Bravo Two, everything’s fine. Just kicking down some doors.”

  “Ground floor clear. Moving upward.”

  “Me and Ricky are on the second floor. Move further into the maze out back. If we get anything up here, we’ll holler.”

  “Copy that.”

  Derek pressed against the broken door, and his boots crunched over broken glass. Abandoned desks lay upturned inside the compact room. Before it had become a murder house, this building used to be a telecom office, servicing most of the country’s landlines. A fire a couple of years ago had laid the place to waste, and the owners thought it not worth the cost or hassle of getting it up and running again. You could still scent a faint smell of smoke from the burnt wood.

  The scent of decay became stronger with every step Derek took into the abandoned room. He paused and looked to his left, seeing a door slightly ajar to a room off to the side. The smell was coming from inside. Derek made to go into the room when a spasm grabbed hold of him. He dropped the shotgun, and his back bowed in pain.

  “D, you alright, man? Just let the change happen, man. Come on—no need to hurt yourself.”

  Derek braced a hand against the wall and funneled the pain. His wolf snapped and snarled at him. “I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth. He bent to pick up his shotgun and slowly pushed the door open. Blood covered the floor and a rounded conference table in the centre of the small room. It was pooled around the ends of the table, some still dripping from the edges, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The table had restraints fitted at the end and the sides, with cuffs small enough for a teen. At the back of the room, a shelving unit stocked everything needed to teach Sick Bastard 101.

  Bile crept up his throat as his eyes landed on various jars and utensils. As he looked closer, Derek could see that the jars were labeled with the names of the slain teens. All were half-empty of blood, and they sat next to bone samples.

  “Jesus Christ, D. This is a slaughterhouse. Oh God, what if he did this to Lanie?”

  Derek backed out of the room, tugging Ricky with him.

  “Bravo One to Bravo Two,” he called into his COM.

  “Go ahead, Bravo One.”

  “We found Darke’s slaughter room. It’s as you’d expect. I’ll leave it for the C.S.I’s to process. Keep looking where you are. Ricky and me are gonna head upstairs and check it out. Heading to floor three.”

  “Copy that. Watch your six.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  He faced Ricky, whose face had gone pale as he considered the mess and horror in the little room. Derek shifted his feet as another wave of agony iced his veins. He fought against the change. Against the creak of his bones and the pressure building up inside his head.

  “Let’s go up. He wanted us to see this to scare us.”

  “It fucking worked, D.”

  They headed back the way they had come, hushing the moment they left the room and cautiously making their way up the next two flights of stairs. As they reached the top, copper tickl
ed his nose. The doors leading to the floor were toppled to the ground, building a bridge over the fire-damaged floorboards that had burnt and broken off in the fire. Derek braced a foot to test how solid it was before he planted both feet on the fallen door. He wouldn’t exactly die from broken bones, but it would hurt like hell.

  Ricky’s ball of blue light flowed past him, and he moved slowly toward the inner door. When he reached the other side, the wood groaned and Ricky looked at him.

  “Jump, I’ll catch you.”

  “No chance in hell,” his friend replied, deciding to race over the door instead of taking his time. The wood groaned louder and cracked as Ricky heavy-footed it over to where Derek waited. Derek bit down on his lip as another wave of pain hit. Pushing open the next door, Ricky ushered his ball of light forward, and Derek almost smacked into him as Ricky froze, a gargled cry of anguish ripping from his throat.

  Hanging from the ceiling, a blood-soaked Melanie swung listlessly back and forth. Ricky rushed forward but with Derek’s supernatural speed, he reached her first. Her vibrant red hair was caked in blood. Her face was cut, and she had a stab wound to the abdomen. Stripped down to her underwear, Melanie appeared to be dead, but Derek could hear a faint thump, thump in her chest.

  Derek leapt up on a nearby table and reached for the restraints. His skin burnt at the contact, and he hissed. He tried again with the same result. Ricky snapped to attention and climbed up so that he could undo the restraints. Derek jumped down as Ricky touched the cuffs and muttered a word in Latin. The cuffs sprang open, and Melanie slumped into Derek’s arms. He lowered her to the ground as Ricky pulled off his jacket and draped it over her, his hand pressing down on the wound that continued to seep blood.

  “Come on, babe, wake up for me,” Ricky pleaded, but Melanie remained lifeless. Her lips were tinged with blue, and her pulse was a dull tone under Derek’s fingertips.

  “Sarge! We found her. I need Caitlyn or Donnie right now!”

  “Coming to you!”

  Ricky pulled Melanie into his lap and cradled her as Derek replaced Ricky’s hands with his own. Ricky kept mumbling into her ear as he rocked her. He smoothed her hair and promised to look after her, and Derek had to look away as his heart broke for the man who had dragged him out of the abyss. Sarge had saved his life, but the warlock was the one who had reminded him what it was to live and not simply be alive.

  A gust of air swirled around them as the vampires rushed through the door. Donnie roared at the sight of Melanie’s broken body, and Caitlyn cursed a blue streak. Derek looked at Caitlyn, and she shook her head. His shoulders sagged as despair flooded through him, and Ricky caught the movement. When he saw the answer to his unspoken question, Ricky shook his head.

  “No, D, please… we can do something… we have to save her.”

  When Derek said nothing, his eyes pleaded with Caitlyn. “She can’t die, Cait. Please tell me she’ll survive.”

  There was a moment of silence as Donnie glared at Caitlyn and she, in turn, glared back at him. A force of wills was taking place in their heads, and Derek wasn’t sure who would win until Caitlyn sighed.

  “There might be a chance to save her.”

  Relief flashed over Ricky’s face. “Whatever it is, just do it.”

  Emotion thickened her words as Caitlyn laid it out for him. “It’s not something mon ami might have ever wished for herself. She may hate us for making this decision for her. Even when one chooses to take on this life, there are times when one regrets that the chance for their soul to be reborn has been taken from them. I can make her a vampire, but she may never be the same Melanie that you love. She may hate you for asking me to do this.”

  “She can hate me all she wants when she’s around to do it.”

  “Then I need you to leave her to me. Go now; this is not something you want to see.”

  Ricky pushed his chin out stubbornly. “I’m not leaving her.”

  “So be it. We do not have much time left. Death has already begun to seep into her bones.”

  Caitlyn knelt down next to Melanie and brushed the hair from her face. Gently, she pressed her lips to Melanie’s forehead. “I would not do this if I thought it was something you might not want. But I welcome you into our little family, Melanie. You’re now mine, and we are yours. If my daughter had lived, I would’ve wished for her to be like you—brave, beautiful and smart. I just wish now that you don’t hate Ricky or me for making this decision for you. Sometimes, even when it has been asked, some regret being made.”

  “I never once regretted saying yes to being made, Cait. I live now more than I did when I was alive, and that’s because of you. Melanie won’t hate you for this. I certainly never have.”

  Caitlyn ignored Donnie, but her eyes filled with tears. She held Ricky’s gaze as she said. “No matter what I do, you will not interrupt. If you do, she will die and you will not have the chance to tell her you love her. Do you understand?”

  Ricky nodded, and Caitlyn began. She scored her wrist with her fangs, and blood dripped from her wound. She placed the wrist over Melanie’s mouth, having gently opened it. Using her free hand, Caitlyn worked Melanie’s throat so that she swallowed the blood in her mouth.

  “She may still die. This close to death, it may be too late. I might not be strong enough,” Caitlyn whispered.

  “You’re strong enough.”

  Caitlyn nodded. Removing her wrist from Melanie’s mouth, she ran her fingers down the girl’s neck until she grasped both sides and quickly twisted it as Ricky let out a strangled cry. The sound of her neck breaking, combined with Ricky’s sobs, filled the room. Yet Melanie remained still.

  “Now what?” Derek asked.

  Caitlyn rose to her feet. “Now, I take her to my home and see if she is reborn. She will make the decision. In the end, she has some choice. I’ll watch over her for the next three moons. On the third night, if she wakes before the sun rises, then she has embraced her vampire life. If not, then we can mourn her passing.” She squeezed Ricky on the shoulder. “I must take her now, for this is only one part. And no, you don’t want to see what must be done next, for you’ll never erase it from your memories. I’ll protect her and keep her safe. She’s as much mine now as she is yours.”

  “She is ours to protect, and we will. Let me take her, Ricky.” Donnie had stepped forward and was already scooping up Melanie into his arms.

  Caitlyn pressed a kiss to Ricky’s cheek. “I’ll call with an update as soon as I have it.”

  And then they were gone, leaving Derek and Ricky waiting until Sarge and Erika burst in with the team. Derek laid out what had happened as Ricky sat lost below the chains that had held Melanie.

  “I’ll call in the C.S. I’s. He might’ve left in a hurry and left some prints behind,” Sarge said before speaking into his phone.

  Now that the emergency was over and they had Melanie back, Derek felt the moon reach its highest peak in the sky. There was still a sliver of daylight outside, but the winter’s moon rose sooner in the season, and it had come calling for him. His knees hit the ground, and his back bowed again with the pain. It ripped through him as if his skin were being peeled from his body. His wolf, now satisfied that Derek had done what he was supposed to do, bucked for control, and Derek was losing the battle.

  Sarge turned, and his mouth hung open. Derek screamed as the bones broke and reformed in his front arms. Clothes tore and disintegrated around his reforming body, yet he had little time to worry that he would soon be as naked as the day he was born. The fiery flames of pain that burnt him from the inside out continued to sear through him. His already-amber wolf eyes blurred red, and he felt the stirrings of bloodlust. His fangs elongated, and he roared as his claws sliced through the tips of his fingers. He was halfway between wolf and human form. A thousand little pinpricks of fire punched through his skin.

  It was the worst pain Derek had ever felt, almost as bad as the first change. The bones in his back broke, and then his legs, and he
let out a howl of pure agony. Dear God, he was dying. Someone shouted, telling people to back off. As pain rippled through his entire spine, Derek howled, more wolf than man. The bones in his face were next, and he felt as if he had been punched in the face with a hammer.

  It was then he scented her, finally able to pinpoint the scent that had lured him to her. She smelled of sand and sun, mixed with a faint hint of coconut. Somewhere in between wolf and man, Derek whimpered as Ever came forward and placed a hand on his furred head.

  “Just let go, Derek. Let go of control. You did everything you could for Melanie, and in the morning, we can hunt her killer down and get justice. Please—for me—just relax and let go. It’s okay.”

  And with those words, he cleared his mind and let go of his control. The rest of his bones cracked and reformed, and he let out an inhuman scream before Derek was gone and the wolf was free.

  The wolf took in those around him, red still tingeing his irises. He took a step toward Ever, who did not move an inch. He felt a sharp pain on his rump, and when he turned his head to the side, the wolf saw a dart sticking out from his skin. He snarled at the man who held the dart gun and tried to stalk toward him, but his paws wouldn’t move on his command.

  He whined as he faced Ever and his legs gave out. Resting his muzzle on his front paws, he heard a voice say, “You’ll thank me in the morning, D.”

  As the drugs kicked in, his vision blurred, and the last thought that he had before he welcomed the darkness was how beautiful Ever looked to his wolf.