by H. T. Night
Finally, he opened his eyes.
“Come back to us, Josiah,” I said over and over again. He looked at me and grinned. I smiled at him and gave him a wink.
I told him to stay down, but he was stubborn. Josiah popped up off the mat and hugged me. We expressed pleasantries and then I saw Josiah acknowledge that Atticai fellow walking up from the crowd. That cat looked pissed.
The announcer announced that I won with a knockout, and Josiah gave me one more hug for hug’s sake. There was always a lot of hugging after an MMA fight, or a boxing match, for that matter. It was as if we resort to the opposite approach of hitting someone.
Then something odd happened. That tall motherfucker, Atticai, literally walked up to the ropes and spoke to Josiah under his breath. Then he looked at me with a stare that would kill a thousand werewolves. I wasn’t going to let anyone intimidate me, minutes after I won a professional MMA fight. I shook my head at him and laughed and turned around to receive more accolades from the crowd.
Josiah eventually found his way over to me and gave me one last hug. He told me he’d see me at home.
I told him okay. Little did I know, I was never going home that night.
Chapter Nineteen
What a night. I showered up in the gym and picked up my fight check. I received an additional $25,000 for the top knockout of the night. I was feeling pretty good. I decided to walk out the back and head to my car after I was done talking to reporters.
I told the reporters that Josiah was the toughest opponent I had faced. I also let them know that his punches felt like he was firing off cannons with his fists. I ached from every place Josiah hit me. I was going to go straight home and hang with the person I fought tonight.
I stepped up to my car and opened it up with my car key. I sat in my driver’s seat and took a deep breath. I was preparing for my hour ride home when, suddenly, my passenger door and two back doors opened and three men just slid into my Mustang. One of them being Atticai, who was sitting right next to me. So, I must take it that all three men were vampires.
Are you kidding me?
“What the fuck are you guys doing?” I said. This was strange. Vampires never bother me. These guys were ‘picking for a fixin’.’
Atticai looked at me and said, “I know you.”
“I know you too,” I said. “You’re a little hard to miss.”
“What gives you the right to do what you did tonight?”
“Which part of tonight did you not like? The whole ‘I was paid $50,000’ part, or the part that makes you think for one second I had any type of advantage? You see,” I said to Atticai, “your little immortality that you and your two friends in the backseat share is a different ballgame than what I’m going through. I tell you what, when I am in my werewolf form, I promise to never fight MMA. Otherwise, the 25 percent extra strength I get for being a Carni in my human form is just an old wives’ tale as far as I’m concerned.”
“You don’t get it. You’re a stubborn dog. You can live forever. Your opponent tonight can’t.”
“So, Josiah is still mortal?”
“What do you think?” Atticai laughed. “If he was a Mani, he would have wiped the ring with your face.”
“My face? That would hurt,” I said sarcastically.
I looked at Atticai and I didn’t give a fuck that I was outnumbered three to one. I said simply, “You better keep your vampire fangs away from Josiah.”
“I have no intention of turning Josiah.” Atticai paused and then said, “Do you?”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t the three of you get the fuck out of my car!” I was getting pissed.
“I’m not ready to leave yet,” Atticai said.
“Why three of you?” I asked.
“When I make a point, I like for it to be crystal clear,” Atticai said.
“And you need three guys to make that point?” I said to the long, lean vampire. His face was pale, but his eyes were deep with age.
“Look, you stepped over a boundary tonight that our two worlds don’t think highly of.”
“Says who? Your immortal race that’s been here for 10,000 years?”
“You know your history,” Atticai said.
I looked at Atticai and said, “I don’t give a fuck about rules and Carni-versus-Tandra shit. I was an MMA fighter first and no one will take that away from me.” I stepped out of my car. The three vampires all jumped out of the vehicle also. “Look, guys. I will not be intimidated by you three trolls.”
“Who is intimidating who?” Atticai asked with a laugh. The other two guys had zero response. One guy had brown curly hair and looked to be six feet tall and about one seventy-five. The other guy was bigger. He looked Middle Eastern. He had the other guy by four inches and fifty pounds.
“I’m welcoming you to another fight on this fine evening,” Atticai said. “Let’s not do it here. Too many Tandra. There is a ranch a little ways up. It’s called Coolidge Corner. Let’s meet there. Bring your backup.”
“I don’t bring backup. If I plan to fight you, I’m the only one who will be showing up.”
“Suit yourself,” Atticai laughed. “It’s always good to have at least one person at your back, no matter what situation you’re in. Wyatt,” Atticai said to the leaner guy, “drive with this guy so he doesn’t run.”
“Let Hector do it,” Wyatt said. “I hate it when guys get chatty. He strikes me as a talker.”
“Fine. Hector,” Atticai said to the bigger guy, “sit in the passenger side and navigate Tommy to Coolidge Corner.”
Hector had a calm presence. I jumped in my black Mustang and went about five miles toward Anaheim Hills and, sure enough, there was Coolidge Corner right at the end of a cul-de-sac on a dirt road. There was a big yard out front. I saw that there were already around thirty vampires there. I noticed one of them was Yari.
So, maybe I will have one person in my corner.
This was insane! I just fought a professional fight against the hardest opponent I had ever gone against, not to mention my opponent was my best friend, and now, I was in some ranch in Anaheim Hills about to fight a seven-foot vampire who was bothered that I fought as a Carni against Tandra. This was not my life right now. Was it?
It was.
I stepped out of my car and slowly made my way to the group. It felt like I was walking to my slaughter. I knew I couldn’t run. Besides, it would look like the pussy move. I knew these vampire roadkill could transition and catch up with me in seconds.
I made my way to the middle of the grassy area. I was about thirty feet away from the others. “I’m going to make this clear,” I said. “I’m not fighting all of you. I’m going to fight this dipshit Atticai and once that is done, we’re done. Leave me alone and let me go back to my life.”
Atticai looked at me and then shot across the field at a speed that defied reasoning. Holy shit. What was I in for?
Atticai looked at me and said, “If you make it out of here alive, deal.”
Then everyone laughed, as if the only fighting these vampires did was to the death.
Atticai separated himself from everyone else. He walked to an area where no one was within a hundred feet. I guessed he was inviting me over to fight him. He allowed space so I wouldn’t feel crowded. That was the last gentlemanly thing he did for me.
Atticai and I faced off. My body still hurt from the pounding Josiah had given me earlier. I didn’t realize just how sore I was until that moment. Atticai was able to move at a speed that was non-human. He attacked me in a heave of scratches, bites, and punches. Every time he touched my skin, he made me bleed. I was a bloody mess.
I fell to the dirt ground, and Atticai backed off to take a look at me. Atticai had just beat the shit out of me and I didn’t think I ever saw one punch, bite, or scratch land.
I might have been bloody but I had a lot of fight left in me. I stood my ground and made Atticai attack me a second time, and when he did, I tackled him to th
e ground. I was able to maneuver his head in front side hold, where I am able to make a guy pass out within seconds. Well, any normal guy. This motherfucker just transitioned into a fucking black raven and began attacking me in his raven form. He transitioned back to his seven-foot self and we went toe-to-toe. After about a minute of trading punches, Atticai said to me, “I don’t like you, Tommy.” We squared off for another battle.
“I gathered that.” That was the last smart remark I had in me. Atticai’s speed was out of this world. He began punching my face, calling me a worthless dog over and over again.
“Stop, Atticai!” a girl’s voice yelled. It was Yari. Nice for her to finally speak up. Atticai stopped his beating of me and looked to see who dared to speak to him this way. “You don’t have to kill him. His dogs have arrived. They will do it for you. It is their way.”
Atticai looked at me and laughed. I was in so much pain, I was going in and out of consciousness.
From this point on, I only remembered glimpses.
Atticai passed me over to Goliath. Goliath and about ten Carni showed up. It was nice for my backup to show up once my ass was kicked. I was a bloody mess. I couldn’t breathe.
“We will finish him from here,” Goliath said.
I was already a crippled, bloody mess. I thought I had injuries that were internal. I was pretty sure I was dying. I could feel the life flowing out of me, but I fought. I didn’t want to die.
Goliath grabbed my neck and lifted me up, choking the life out of me. I dangled from his grip as he choked the life out of me.
I began fading in and out. At one point, I remember Yari coming for me. She announced to the Carni that I was dead. Yari told them she would take my body because I wasn’t a Carni. She protected me. She told them I was a Tandra and they had killed me.
Then I remembered things going black for the longest time. I remembered seeing Maya, but she didn’t say anything. I remembered being inside a car. Yari was driving. The last thing I remembered was her leaving me on the steps of some giant hospital and her telling me... something...
Then everything went black.
Chapter Twenty
I could hear things, but I wasn’t able to see anything. I wasn’t sure if I was alive or dead. I could hear voices as if I were in a room with others. Were they doctors and nurses? What was happening?
Then everything went black again. This time, it stayed black for what seemed like hours.
Suddenly, I opened my eyes and I was taken aback. I was on top of a beautiful mountain and it was daytime. There were large rocks everywhere, and to the far left, I could see Maya. She was walking near me. I was either dreaming or I was dead. I didn’t care what I was. All I was certain of was that Maya and I were in the same world.
Maya made her way toward me, walking on top of the large white rocks that occupied the top of the mountain we were standing on. I had no idea where I was and I figured Heaven was as good a place as any.
“What has happened?” I asked Maya.
Maya walked right over to me and sat next to me. I sat on the hard rock next to her. I could feel our knees touching. We were in the same world.
“Maya?” I asked. “Am I dead?”
Maya was quiet. I wasn’t sure if the silence was ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ “Have I died?” I asked loudly.
“No, Tommy,” Maya said. “The world thinks you have died, but you haven’t. The full moon is in thirty minutes. Shortly, you will wake up and you will be thirty-six hours into the future.”
“Shortly? Thirty-six hours is a long time.”
“You won’t know the difference. But you are going to live a long, full life, Tommy. You will be immortal during this time and you need to embrace the beast that you are, not fight against it. Shortly, you will be given a great gift, given to you by a very close friend.”
Maya was speaking prophetically. I just listened. I stared at her eyes, knowing why she was speaking to me in the manner she was. This would be the last time I would see Maya.
“Why? Maya, why? What did we do? I have to be dead to be in your world? This is wrong.”
“Tommy, we played with matches and we got burned. I will no longer be looking after you.”
I looked at Maya and, even in this world, I felt intense emotion. “Maya, tell whoever needs to hear it that we’re sorry. Tell them we won’t do it again.”
“It isn’t that simple, Tommy. I allowed our love to break all kinds of rules. Rules that can’t ever be broken. Otherwise, there will be spiritual chaos between our two worlds. Not even our love is bigger than the mystery of our world’s existence.”
“So, what you’re saying is that this is it. In a few moments, I will wake up and it will be thirty-six hours into the future from the time I died.”
“Yes,” Maya said.
“And you are also saying...” I tried to catch my breath. My heart was overwhelmed to the point of no return. Tears were dripping. “You are also saying we’ll never see each other again.”
“You can’t say never about anything. But we will no longer be seeing each other the way we have. That is over. It might be years till we speak again. And there is always the chance—”
“We never speak again,” I said, finishing Maya’s sentence.
“Yeah. There is that chance. We can say goodbye.”
“Last time, I wasn’t able to say goodbye, and that was the hardest part.”
“So, maybe this time will be easier for both of us because we can say goodbye.”
“It’s still goodbye. You can’t put goodbye in an ice cream sundae and put sprinkles on top.”
“I love you, Tommy,” Maya said, staring into my eyes. She leaned in and gave me an intimate peck on my lips. “You will forever be the love of all my lives.”
“Maya, no matter where I go or what I do, you will always have my eternal heart.”
We both stood up and I held her tightly until I was holding... nothing.
Suddenly, I heard a loud honk in the distance.
The End
To be continued in:
Werewolf Lost
Return to the Table of Contents
WEREWOLF LOST
by
H.T. Night
Immortal Warriors #6
Werewolf Lost
Published by H.T. Night
Copyright © 2017 by H.T. Night
All rights reserved.
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my mother, who is my family’s matriarch and the glue that holds us all together.
Werewolf Lost
Chapter One
“I love you, Tommy,” Maya said, staring into my eyes. She leaned in and gave me an intimate peck on my lips. “You will forever be the love of all my lives.”
“Maya, no matter where I go or what I do, you will always have my eternal heart.”
We both stood up and I held her tightly until I was holding... nothing.
Suddenly, I heard a loud honk in the distance.
I opened my eyes and my body had felt like it had been through a war. Every muscle in my body ached. I was somewhere familiar, but I couldn’t quite grasp my setting. I was lying on the side of a dirt mountain that now had patches of mud from the morning dew. There was dew all over and the sun was heating through the clouds. It was morning and I was deep into Anaheim Hills on the side of a man-made mountain.
What the hell happened?
All around were scrub brush and massive rocks. The ground beneath and surrounding me still held my large paw prints. Remnants of my full-moon excursion. The hectic sounds of heavy morning traffic echoed off of the monolithic rocks, so I wasn’t too far off of the beaten path.
I stood up and dusted myself off as best as I could. Maybe there was a bus stop somewhere over the hill. Avoiding the freeway would be in my best interest, but following alongside it would take me back to civilization. In many places, there were huge swathes of blackened soil. Reminders of the fires that had burned through here. Yet, evidence of green sc
rub brush breaking through proved that life goes on. Those fires had been devastating but still, life went on.
Over a particularly steep ridgeline, I finally found civilization again. I made my way quickly down the steep dirt incline and felt a modicum of relief when I stepped foot on the smooth concrete sidewalk. It made for more stable footing.
I had been betrayed by the Carni and given over to the Mani. I could care less if anyone saw me. I was literally a lone wolf now.
My clothes were dirty and thrashed. I always had the feeling of being the Incredible Hulk as my clothes hung off my body when I would transition back.
I made my long walk back into town off of Imperial Street near the 91 freeway.
I felt like a homeless man. I didn’t have my phone, wallet or keys. I was going to have to walk a long way to wherever I was going. If the world thought I was dead, it must be insane to see that my body was now missing.
That put a smile on my face.
I had no money and no place to go. I continued to walk towards my local gym in Anaheim Hills. There was an MMA facility there that I knew kept a window open for diehards to sneak in and train. It was pretty hush-hush, but I’d heard the news from a guy who had been around the boxing scene for a long time. I didn’t know which window it was and I presumed this wasn’t the first night of the full moon. I needed to go someplace where I could at least barricade myself if need be. Hopefully, I would run into someone who hadn’t heard I had died.
I just needed one person to help me out.
I needed to head to the bank and get up north fast. I could at least guarantee the safety of others tonight if I could make it to the werewolf ranch. I had been going off and on to the ranch the last few months. I’d been told I was always welcome.