by Storm Jk
‘So, this is the new one who caused so much trouble yesterday,’ Applejacks observed. He wanted to smell the dog but knew better than to do so without Emily’s introduction.
Rumour was still sitting on the quilt and Emily knew she had not moved off it all night; freedom would take a while to sink in. Reaching out to Rumour, Emily invited the bitch to follow them around the farm. They would take it slow as it would take weeks to build the muscles in her body. Rumour’s tail wagged with happiness. The night had been so strange and she had not been able to sleep with all the new sounds and smells. Limping slightly, she slowly hopped down the few steps of the house. Applejacks touched Rumour’s nose with his muzzle to say hello while Emily reassured Rumour that Applejacks was her friend. Rumour stayed close to Emily, after having been in a cage for three of her four years she did not remember what it was like to walk around. Projecting to the bitch, Emily reassured her that she would get used to her freedom, it would just take some practice.
Emily stopped in her tracks. A wave of excitement came over her; suddenly she knew what to say to Vladimir to make him stay. After feeding the animals she returned to the farmhouse and Rumour flopped on the quilt, the exercise had made her tired and she slipped into a natural sleep. Applejacks had decided to go to the bottom field as it had a big old fig tree and a large dam. The day was looking to become hot and this was the coolest spot on the farm, he would see if the old donkey wanted to come with him.
Entering the kitchen, Emily could see a bowl of yogurt with nuts and berries waiting for her and a large mug of coffee. The men had eaten and were in the shower. She could hear Eric laughing and was glad that he had repaired his relationship with Vladimir, the argument on the phone had been especially bitter. After breakfast, Emily had a quick shower and asked the men to join her in the large barn just half a kilometre from the farmhouse. The men could tell that Emily was up to something as she shot a request to Applejacks to join them as well.
The barn was almost empty and had big doors that opened and shut with a remote system, they were much too heavy to manually move and the barn had been built the previous summer. Emily had had it fitted out to double as an emergency centre for animals as the region was prone to bush fires. The large space was insulated and air-conditioned and had a small separate room with a large glass window that David could use as an operating room; so far they had not needed to use it for an emergency.
After the group had gathered, Emily turned to Eric and asked, ‘Why did you turn yesterday, that was the first time without a full moon wasn’t it?’
Eric was quick with his response, ‘You were in danger, I had to protect you. I didn’t think, it just happened.’ Turning to Vladimir Emily asked the same question.
Vladimir took longer to answer. ‘I think it was because Eric had turned. I knew he had saved you but we have always turned together.’
‘Was it different from the moon change?’ she asked them.
They were silent then Vladimir responded, ‘I remember everything clearly from when I turned yesterday.’
Eric added, ‘I remember everything as well and I was different, less aggressive, more in control.’
‘How did you feel about me, would you have hurt me?’ Emily was leading them with her questions.
‘No!’ both men replied quickly.
‘But,’ Vladimir added, ‘we aren’t able to control ourselves like that during a full moon.’
‘How do you know?’ Emily shot back. ‘Have you ever tried?’ Emily delicately reached out to the men, she wanted to gauge their emotions. Eric was getting excited, he could see where she was going. But Vladimir was the opposite. He was aggravated and unsure what Emily was asking of him. Emily decided it was time to tell them her plan.
‘You need to practise being around me in wolf form. I believe that if you are wolves often enough, you’ll be able to control yourself during a full moon.’
Eric spoke, turning to Vladimir, ‘We need to give this a try, Vlad. I hate living like this.’ Changing the subject to give himself more time to think about Emily’s plan, Vladimir threw a question at her.
‘What about your trick of teleporting Rumour to the cage? How did you do that and why did you get so tired? And how did Applejacks heal you?’
Now it was Emily’s turn to pause. ‘I think I’ve done this twice before. Years ago when my parents died in a car crash, I was found in a field 50 metres away from the car. Then I think it happened again when I first met Applejacks as I don’t remember us swimming across the river, I think I teleported Applejacks and myself out of the river.’
Applejacks projected to Emily, ‘And you still owe me apples from that day.’ Emily smiled, she loved his humour, and reached out to pat his muzzle.
Turning back to the men she said, ‘So it looks like we all need to train then.’ Vladimir laughed, Emily had trapped him, he knew he couldn’t say no to her. Eric was smiling now and Applejacks was snorting. The mood between them had become playful.
‘Where should we start?’ Eric asked.
‘Try to turn,’ Emily replied. Both men removed their clothes and Emily marvelled at how beautiful their bodies were. After concentrating for a few minutes nothing happened, and then Emily had an idea.
‘Eric, you were in motion when you changed, try that.’ The men began to jog around the large space and suddenly Eric morphed into his cream wolf. Vladimir, who had been jogging behind Eric, flowed into his grey wolf at the same time. They continued to lope around the barn, finally coming to a stop a few metres from where Emily and Applejacks were standing. Emily had prepared Applejacks for the change but she was still amazed at how calm he was.
‘I like them better as men,’ he informed Emily, ‘they smell different but the same.’
Emily wasn’t surprised. Applejacks had always had a highly developed sense of smell for a horse.
Eric came up to Emily, pushing his head into her arms. She caressed his ears and ran her hands down his back along his well-developed muscles. Vladimir was more guarded approaching Emily. He was as serious a wolf as he was a human.
Emily probed their minds and asked, ‘Do you understand me?’
Both wolves projected back, ‘Yes,’ but it was not in words.
‘Who am I?’ Emily asked.
Vladimir was first to reply and she heard him clearly in her head say, ‘My Emily.’
Eric echoed, ‘Emily.’ This time they had both said her name perfectly. Pointing to Applejacks, Emily asked them who he was. Again they both replied, ‘Applejacks,’ and again the words were perfectly formed. Emily was excited. She knew that with practise they would both remember the human language in their wolf form. She requested that the pair change back and watched closely as they morphed back into human shape.
Eric was excited, almost high with exhilaration. ‘God that was great!’
Vladimir was more reserved with his reaction but added, ‘I was in total control.’
‘Let’s do it again,’ said Eric, and they morphed back into wolves. Eric was now in a playful mood as he loped around the room testing his body by jumping then changing direction and mock fighting with Vladimir.
Vladimir too tested his body with a number of manoeuvres. His wolf form was bigger than Eric’s and very strong, but Eric was faster, quicker in his movements. Either wolf could have taken down an elephant.
‘Let’s try talking,’ Emily thought, and the pair both circled Emily and Applejacks before coming to a stop close to her. ‘Vladimir,’ Emily thought to him, ‘raise your right paw.’ Vladimir instantly raised it. To Eric, Emily requested ‘Roll over.’
‘Roll over?’ Eric replied, sounding a little indignant. Slowly he dropped to the ground and rolled his body over.
‘Ask me something,’ Emily requested to the pair. She wanted to see if they could form a sentence.
‘Emily, sit down,’ Vladimir said. The words were perfectly formed and she could hear his accent in her head. Sitting on the ground, Emily looked at Eric who had an intens
e look on his wolf’s face.
Slowly he formed the words ‘Emily, scratch my head.’ Laughing, Emily scratched Eric’s head. Instead of asking the men to change back into their man shape, Emily waited to see if they could make the change by themselves. But when, after ten minutes neither of the pair had changed back, Emily asked them to become men, which they did instantly.
‘Why did you not change back as men?’ she asked.
They both paused for a long moment and then Vladimir replied, ‘It didn’t occur to me to change back.’
Eric nodded and added, ‘I didn’t want to.’ This shocked Emily. She had sensed a peace from both of them that was stronger than when they were in their human shape.
‘Do you want to change back into a wolf?’ Emily asked tentatively. Both men paused again; it felt good and natural to be a wolf.
Vladimir finally replied, ‘I do not have the need or desire to change back into a wolf right now,’ and Eric murmured in agreement. The relief was evident on Emily’s face and Vladimir reached out to her pulling her into his arms.
‘Now it’s your turn Emily. See if you can move something with your mind.’
Looking around for something small to move, Emily picked up one of Eric’s boots.
‘Be careful with that boot Em, I want it back,’ Eric teased, both men had pulled their pants back on.
Feeling nervous, Emily laid the boot in front of her and placed a hand on Applejacks’ shoulder. She concentrated on the boot and within a second it was gone. In the quiet of the large barn they all heard a small popping sound.
‘Where did you send it?’ Eric asked in awe with what had just happened.
‘I sent it to the other room,’ Emily replied, hoping that it had made it.
So the four walked over and opened up the door and there, in the middle of the room, was the boot. Eric picked it up; it was cold. He passed it to Emily, she too was surprised at how cold it was.
‘I wonder why?’ Emily mused.
‘It is cold in between. I remember from that time when we came out of the river,’ Applejacks thought to the group.
‘Yes, I remember now,’ Emily said out loud. ‘I thought I was cold from the water and I was so tired before I touched you. I don’t feel tired now.’
‘Try moving the boot again without touching Applejacks,’ Eric suggested.
Vladimir was against the idea, remembering how Emily had collapsed the day before. ‘We need to know more about your ability before you try another experiment.’
‘I don’t think there’s a manual where we can look this up,’ Emily softly teased. Vladimir was always very protective of her. ‘I’ll get Applejacks to stand right beside me. He can touch me straight away if I begin to feel weak. I want to try moving the boot again.’
Not touching Applejacks this time, Emily concentrated on the boot and within seconds it popped away. Emily fell to her knees; the exhaustion was instant. Applejacks pushed his head against her back, propping her up and within seconds his energy flowed into her and she could stand again.
Vladimir had rushed to Emily. ‘How are you feeling? Your skin is cold.’ His face showed his concern for her.
‘I’m okay,’ Emily responded. With Applejacks’ touch she was instantly better. ‘Applejacks, how are you my friend?’
‘I am cold, I did not feel this when you moved the boot while touching me,’ he thought to them.
Eric asked Applejacks out loud, ‘Did you feel tired when Emily moved the boot without touching you?’ He indicated no with his head. ‘I just felt cold.’
‘I want to try moving us but only if you want to,’ she said to Applejacks. Applejacks snorted his approval and Emily asked Eric to give her a leg up onto Applejacks’ back. Vladimir and Eric were now looking very uneasy.
‘Emily, are you sure you want to do this now?’ Vladimir’s voice was tight.
Eric added, ‘There’s no rush for us to work all of this out right now.’
Emily smiled and replied to the men ‘When is now a good time? That phase had been a favourite of her Fathers’.
Leaning down she kissed Vladimir on the lips and reached her hand out to Eric, who opened her hand and kissed her palm. The men stood back and with a loud popping sound Emily and Applejacks were gone. Not knowing where she had chosen to go, the men just stood there for five then ten seconds. Vladimir could feel the panic rising in him, where was she?
Suddenly they were back, both breathing heavily. Vladimir and Eric rushed to them and found that Emily and Applejacks’ skin was as ice cold.
‘Applejacks, are you okay?’ Emily gasped, she felt close to passing out.
All Applejacks could do was snort his response as the air rushed into his lungs. As Emily slipped off Applejacks, Vladimir caught her and wrapped his arms around her. She welcomed his heat. Eric had picked up his shirt and was rubbing Applejacks, trying to get the heat back into his body.
‘What happened, where did you go?’ Eric asked. Applejacks’ body was trembling from the cold.
‘I don’t know where we were,’ Emily replied. ‘There was no air and it was so cold.’
‘We went between,’ Applejacks thought. ‘It is the space we rest in before we move to another place.’
‘Why did you stop there?’ Vladimir asked.
‘It was me,’ Emily cried ‘I lost focus and wondered how we moved, I stopped thinking about where we were going. Oh, Applejacks, I nearly got us killed!’
‘We are here,’ was Applejacks’ only reply.
‘This is enough for today,’ Vladimir told the group in a tone that brooked no resistance. ‘We will take this up at another time.’
He carried Emily to the house and wouldn’t put her down until he had reached their big bed. He lay down besides her, allowing the heat from his body to warm her while he thought about what they had done in the barn.
Chapter 8
Over the next week the men practised changing into wolves by taking long runs around the farm with Emily joining them riding Applejacks. And Emily practised sending objects, although she didn’t try to transport herself and Applejacks again. She found that, while she could send items without touching Applejacks, the level of exhaustion didn’t improve with practice. With Applejacks she found she could move objects the size of a small car without difficulty, but she was now very careful to always take a moment to visualise the exact spot she was sending it to, because if she was not clear about where the object was to go, it disappeared for good.
They had also set about reinforcing the spare room in the barn as Vladimir insisted that he and Eric be put in it during the next full moon. Emily had reluctantly agreed not to join them until the full moon had passed; she could watch them through the window. They filled the room with straw and bolted a water and food trough to the wall.
*
On the day of the full moon both men were distracted. The night before Emily had made a connection with the men and had kept it open, wanting to experience what was going on for them during the full moon. The cats had left the house early; they could sense something was up and Rumour became timid every time one of the men walked by her. Emily too could sense the violence coming to the surface and how Vladimir and Eric struggled to suppress it.
They both had a large meal for lunch; Emily had never seen them eat so much. Eric barely seared the outside of the steaks so that the meat was still very bloody. Emily found she couldn’t watch them eat, so she went outside until they were finished.
Late in the afternoon Vladimir suddenly rose and gestured for Eric to come. ‘We need to go to the barn now.’ Their faces were flushed and they were breathing fast and, as they entered the barn, both men started ripping their clothes off. Vladimir’s skin had a grey tinge to it while Eric’s skin had become paler. Sensing that they were close to losing control, they shut the door to the room, instantly morphing into their wolf shapes, snarling and snapping at each other.
Emily’s connection with the men was now muddy and confused, it was not the sam
e as when they trained in their wolf forms. Why? Emily wondered. What is going on for them?
All through the first night they paced the small room, unsettled and aggressive, and Emily was distressed that she could not communicate clearly with them. As the next day progressed, Vladimir and Eric settled down and the connection started to get clearer and stronger. She sent them thoughts of love and peace, which they both responded to. On the second night she could talk to the pair, their connection almost as clear as it had been during the training sessions. But she could still sense an underlying violence in them both; they were hungry for blood.
On the third night Emily decided to sleep in her bed. The bond with Vladimir and Eric was clear but she respected Vladimir’s request not to open the door to their room until the following morning. As she walked back to the farmhouse, Rumour met her along the trail. The bitch was upset and when Emily arrived at the house she saw a large, dark grey Hummer sitting in the driveway. A large man appeared from the vehicle. He was tall and heavily muscled, his hair was dark and he was well dressed, but his good looks radiated meanness tinged with cruelty.
‘Hello there young lady, my name is Roy Cartier, I have come for my dog.’ He spoke softly but his tone was menacing and she knew that this was a man who got his own way.
Rumour’s hackles were up and she snarled at Roy. Taking a step back, Emily connected to Rumour and instructed the dog to run away and hide, but she had to tell her three times before Rumour finally turned and ran off into the dark night.
Trying to sound confident Emily told Roy, ‘She doesn’t want to go back to you. I would be happy to pay you for her.’
‘I would be interested in hearing your proposal.’ Roy answered mildly.
Reluctantly, Emily invited Roy into the house. Alarm bells were going off in her head but the need to protect Rumour was strong, and if she could settle the matter tonight it would seal Rumour’s fate. She brewed coffee for Roy and herself and thought about the $200,000 cash that Vladimir kept in a safe. The amount had seemed excessive to her but Vladimir had told her it was emergency money, to be used if needed. She would try to settle on a price and pay Roy tonight.