by Storm Jk
After dinner, Vladimir pulled out the old map that he had found in his mother’s pack. ‘Do you know why my mother carried this map?’ he asked the old man. Sven slowly opened the map and when he turned to Eric he had a small smile on his face.
‘This was your mother’s, Dusana’s map, your father gave it to her when she was little. She would spend hours looking at it.’
‘Why is Australia circled in red?’ Vladimir asked pointing to the map.
‘It was Dusana’s dream to go there; she thought that she would be safe. It was her belief that the person who could stop the curse would come from there.’ The old man folded the map and gave it back to Vladimir then muttered to himself, ‘Who knows why we fancy things.’ Seeing the tension between the boys had become almost unbearable, he said, ‘You both feel different about each other now, don’t you?’ Eric looked at the ground. He was too embarrassed to say anything. Vladimir just nodded. ‘It is part of the gene treatment, the only good part. You have bonded with each other. My wife told me in her wise way that God had not forsaken us by granting us true love. Take pleasure where you can, there are only bleak days ahead. Now, I must go to bed.’
But before he did, he turned to looked at Vladimir and said, ‘You need to work out a plan boy, time is running out.’
‘I know,’ Vladimir replied, but no plan had come to him.
*
As they walked back to the barn, Vladimir’s body burned with desire for Eric. He could not take his eyes off his body. Lying down, Vladimir shut his eyes and tried to keep still. Images were flashing in his head and then he felt Eric’s arm touching his chest, he responded by pulling Eric closer and kissing his lips.
The next morning Vladimir woke with a start. He knew what they needed to do. Gently unwrapping Eric’s arm from around his neck, he rose and went to the cottage to talk to the old man.
‘I have a plan,’ Vladimir said to the Sven, who was tending to breakfast. He nodded for Vladimir to continue. ‘We need to be locked away when it is a full moon, in a place we can’t be found,’ and then he reached into his shirt and pulled out the map. ‘We need to go there,’ and he pointed to Australia, ‘Varrick will never find us so far away.’
‘I see,’ the old man replied and he thought for a moment. ‘The plan just might work.’
‘Do you know of a place where we can be locked up?’ Vladimir asked. He wasn’t sure if they would have time to build a cage.
‘I do know of a cave close to here, it’s where I locked up my wife on the full moon.’
‘Your wife was a wolf? Are you?’ Vladimir was puzzled, he hadn’t sensed that Sven was like them.
‘No, my change was different. I sometimes see the future, which is how I knew you were coming.’ Pausing for a moment he decided to let Vladimir know the truth. ‘Just before Thora died I dreamt that I would help you cross the seas to Australia, it is the only thing that has kept me going since her death.’
‘Why did you not tell us that when we arrived?’ Vladimir asked, confused.
‘Because, I am in charge of my life as you are in charge of yours, you needed to make the decision.’ Sven went to the stove and started scooping the steaming porridge into two bowls, handing one to Vladimir.
‘What are you talking about?’ Eric asked, entering the small cottage, he was still waking up. Sitting down next to Vladimir he smiled at Sven as he handed him a bowl; he was so hungry. Vladimir put his hand around Eric’s shoulder, while he ate a large breakfast, telling him the plan. Eric’s reaction was hopeful – he trusted Vladimir’s judgement. Being with Vladimir the previous night had been natural and the terrible tension between them had, for the moment, eased.
‘Australia,’ Eric remarked and then he laughed, ‘my mother would have liked that.’
‘Yes, she would,’ the old man said and then, turning towards Vladimir, ‘and so would yours.’
‘I know,’ Vladimir responded, knowing in his heart that Valeskia would be glad he was keeping Eric safe.
After breakfast, the old man took them to the pigpen and they slaughtered a boar. ‘You will need this,’ he told the boys. ‘Always make sure you have a fresh kill otherwise you will want to feed off anything. This boar will keep your belly full for a few days. We also need to make sure you have enough water.’
Vladimir carried a large barrel that he had cut in half and put a large stone on the bottom of it to stop it from tipping over, while Eric ran back and forth to the river with buckets of water to fill it. By late afternoon both boys were beginning to feel the effects of the moon.
‘It is time for you to go into the cave,’ the old man instructed. He knew the signs, having seen his wife go through this for years.
Both Vladimir and Eric removed their clothes and entered the dark cave. Sven pushed a large boulder across the entry behind them, blocking the cave’s only escape. As they were encased in the darkness, Vladimir reached out and pulled a trembling Eric into an embrace and held him until the change took place.
*
Three days later Sven pushed the boulder out of the way. When the boys came out of the cave Sven had made a fire and was cooking a meaty stew. As soon as the boys got dressed he handed them large bowls of stew. Both Vladimir and Eric grabbed the food and rushed through the first bowl and then a second. It wasn’t until their third one that they began to eat slower.
Sven spoke as they were eating. ‘I spent last night in the local tavern and told them that a traveller passing through had killed two wolves. I said they were the biggest wolves that I had ever seen and that the colours were funny, one grey and one cream.’
‘That’s good,’ Vladimir replied. He was beginning to regain his composure with the food in his stomach; the hot meal had made him feel in control again. ‘That is step one of our plan.’
When Eric finally couldn’t eat one more mouthful he moved closer to Vladimir, who put his arm around his shoulder as they sat by the warm fire.
‘I think I have found a way for you to get to Australia,’ the old man said. ‘There is a boat leaving from Prague in two days that goes to England. If we catch the train tonight you’ll make it. From England you can get a cargo boat to Australia, but it will take you over a month to get there. You will turn again on the boat; I haven’t being able to work out what to do about that.’
Vladimir thought for a long while before saying, ‘We can buy a shipping container and make sure it is stacked in a place where we can get to it, but old man, we need your help. Could you come with us?’
Vladimir’s request didn’t surprise the old man and he paused. He knew that he didn’t have much longer to live. He had seen that he would die soon from a lump that was growing inside his chest and while he didn’t want to leave his wife, he knew that there would be no one to bury him beside her. Besides, he knew Thora would be pleased that he was helping the boys.
‘I will come. I will help you get to Australia,’ he finally declared, and his heart was filled with gladness, as he thought Maybe these boys could have a good life together over there. Maybe they would be safe…
Chapter 14
Bringing his mind back to the present, Vladimir focused on Emily’s beautiful face; he loved that she had taken the story so well.
‘Sven lasted for two years with us here in Australia, before he died of lung cancer.’
‘He helped us get here and then he worked hard helping us to find our place in this country,’ Eric added. ‘He encouraged Vladimir to go to law school and helped me set up my own business selling my sculptures, but most of all he taught us to be careful. He taught us how to hide in plain sight.’
‘We have been careless, I have grown soft,’ Vladimir said.
‘We both have,’ Eric added, turning to Emily. ‘We should never have brought you into our world.’
‘I’m here now,’ Emily replied looking at both men, ‘we can figure this out.’
‘I am worried that if Varrick finds us he will be able to control us when we are wolves and turn us back i
nto killers,’ Vladimir replied.
I don’t think that will happen now, not with our connection being so strong, I don’t think he could break it.’ Emily was sure this was the case. The years they had spent together had forged a tight bond.
‘Em, I hope you’re right, your life depends on it.’ Eric wasn’t hopeful, the events of the last few days had opened up old wounds.
‘We need to leave here right now,’ Vladimir suddenly said and he turned and went upstairs with Emily and Eric following him into the spare bedroom. He picked up the bed with one hand, underneath it were three packs.
‘How long have they been there?’ Eric asked Vladimir.
‘Since we moved here to Australia the packs have always been ready. When we moved in with Emily I added a pack for her.’
Emily started to feel panic rising in her. ‘I can’t leave my animals, I won’t leave Applejacks.’
‘Emily, we need to go. We will get David to look after the animals but we will take Applejacks.’ Vladimir knew she wouldn’t leave without him.
‘Eric, bring the car around with the horse float. I will get the cash from the safe.’
Emily felt so small and she was frightened to the core. ‘Where will we go?’
‘I have a couple of safe houses that we can go to.’ Vladimir had put his arm around her as they walked back to the kitchen.
Pulling herself together, Emily connected with the cats, telling them to be nice to David and that she would return for them as soon as she could. When she connected to Rumour, she could feel that the dog was close to panic and Emily knew she couldn’t leave her.
‘Oh girl, don’t worry, you’re coming with us,’ she reassured her and Rumour moved closer to her. The dog wasn’t about to let her out of her sight.
She could hear that Eric had pulled up outside and she could see through the window that he had attached the horse float. Vladimir had gone to the kitchen pantry and opened a false wall to reveal the safe, and was stuffing cash into his pack, his mind was trying to work out the next couple of steps. He knew that both Eric and Emily trusted him to know what to do – he would protect them with his life and he buried any doubts he had.
As he left the pantry he met Emily in the kitchen, she was putting dog food into her pack.
‘We need to take Rumour, she needs to be with me.’
Knowing it would just distress Emily if they left the dog behind, Vladimir agreed.
‘Okay, she can come.’ He knew that Rumour would give her life to protect Emily and that would be another line of defence.
Suddenly they heard a shot and then another. God, we are too late! Vladimir thought, running to the door.
‘Eric, come inside!’ he yelled and Eric was so fast, he was inside within seconds. Both men moved quickly, moving furniture in front of the door and windows. Three more shots were fired, then silence.
Chapter 15
‘I need to know what is going on,’ Vladimir said turning to Emily. The shots that had being fired had come from the entrance where Vince’s men were.
‘Wait a minute,’ she responded and focused on opening a connection with the goats that were in the field by the gate. It was hard to get any information from them as they were panicked, so she connected to Applejacks, who was still at the back of the house. Emily asked if he could get a view of the front.
‘Be careful, Applejacks.’
‘I will,’ he replied and moved around the side to see Roy’s dark grey Hummer coming up the drive.
‘Move back out of sight,’ Emily instructed as he relayed the information to her.
Vladimir commanded, ‘Go to the barn Applejacks, we will join you shortly.’
Looking out from the corner of the window, Vladimir saw five men and one woman get out of the car. He guessed the tall man with dark hair was Roy and he ached to get his hands on him, he could see Eric was feeling the same way.
Peering out again he began to feel a strange sensation, and realised that the woman and one of the other men were abnormal’s like him and Eric. The woman was tall, with long jet-black hair and ebony skin, she was beautiful in an exotic way. A scar ran along one cheek and the way she smiled towards the house was chilling. Her companion was tall also, with snow-white hair; he looked like a Euro skinhead. He too had a smile on his face that made him look cruel. The other three men carried automatic machine guns and looked like hired thugs; they quickly spread around the house.
Emily checked with Applejacks. He had reached the barn and was waiting in the woods behind it.
‘I feel odd,’ Eric murmured.
‘So do I, Môn vieux,’ Vladimir replied sounding unfocused.
Emily tried to open a connection to the men to get some idea of what they were feeling but someone else was forging a more dominant mental connection. She looked outside and could see the woman had closed her eyes and Emily guessed it was coming from her. Both men had stopped moving and Emily realised the woman was gaining their control. Throwing images at the men of their lives together, Emily broke the woman’s bond then projected a wall around each of the men’s minds, like the one she sometimes used to shut down her emotions. Within seconds she could feel both men come back and regain their consciousness.
‘What happened?’ Vladimir asked.
‘That woman tried to connect with you but I stopped her,’ Emily responded. ‘We need to maintain our connection so I can stop it happening again.’
‘This is what I was afraid would happen,’ Vladimir’s deep voice was tense.
‘Vlad,’ Emily soothed him, ‘we’re still in control.’ Eric was relieved, his biggest fear was of losing control and hurting Emily.
‘Come on out, we won’t hurt you,’ Roy suddenly bellowed.
‘I bet,’ Eric muttered. Vladimir picked up his mobile but the line was dead.
‘They must be jamming our signal.’
Eric tried the landline but it too was dead.
‘I suggest you come out, you have nowhere to run,’ Roy bellowed again.
‘What do we do?’ Emily asked. She was having a hard time keeping focus as the other woman was still trying to force herself into the men’s minds.
‘Can you teleport us to the barn?’ Vladimir asked.
Thinking for a moment Emily replied, ‘I would have to break the link with you both to do it.’
All of a sudden they could hear another car coming up the driveway and as they looked out the window, they could see a small truck pull up.
‘Oh, no, it’s David,’ Emily panicked and screamed, ‘David get out of here!’ But it was too late. Roy pounced on him as soon as he stepped out of the truck and held a gun to his head.
‘Come out now or I will kill this man,’ Roy yelled again.
Not knowing what was going on but knowing what sort of man Roy was, David yelled, ‘Emily don’t come out, he’ll kill me anyway.’
The skinhead remarked with a heavy accent, ‘You’re right, man, but it’s how you go that counts,’ and he pulled off his clothes and turned into a huge snow wolf. The wolf approached David and without any warning, he leaped at him, sunk his teeth into David’s arm and ripped a chunk of muscle and flesh from it. David screamed and Emily felt her barrier keeping the woman out, slipping.
‘I can’t keep this up,’ Emily told the men. ‘She’s too strong and we need to help David.’
Again the snow wolf attacked David, this time biting his leg, ripping off flesh and muscle, exposing the bone. David’s scream was pure agony.
‘The next bite will be at his throat if you don’t come out,’ Roy bellowed.
‘We will come out,’ Vladimir yelled at Roy, then turning to Emily and Eric he said, ‘Emily, you need to go to David and teleport him to the barn, there is a first aid kit in one of the packs.’
‘But then I can’t keep the connection open to you,’ Emily replied.
‘I know, we will be exposed for a time but come back on Applejacks as close as you can without being seen. If she has us under her control, telep
ort us to the barn and try to regain control of us, it will take them a few minutes to find us there.’ Seeing the look on Emily’s face Vladimir added, ‘He doesn’t want to kill us.’
The men moved the furniture away from the door and then the trio slowly moved outside to where Roy and his group were standing. Emily wasn’t sure if she could pull off Vladimir’s plan. After almost losing herself and Applejacks to the void when she had rescued him, she was worried she would lose herself and David, but there was no time for anything else. She felt small and insignificant, and looking at David’s suffering almost overwhelmed her – there was so much blood.
‘Let me help him,’ Emily implored softy and slowly walked towards David. So far no one thought of her as a threat and she held their three packs in her arms. Nearing David, Emily could see that he was on the verge of losing consciousness. She knelt down and whispered to him, ‘It’s okay, just close your eyes,’ and then they were gone.
The woman let out a scream of surprise, furious, but the snow wolf had transformed back into a human and was laughing, ‘What a good trick.’
‘Ivan,’ the girl barked at him, ‘this is not funny.’
‘Oh Sarah, you need to get a life. Nothing is fun if you get it too easily,’ he replied, laughing.
The woman, Sarah, now looked back at Vladimir and Eric, thinking about how she hadn’t been able to control them. Maybe the girl had something to do with it, she thought. So she reached out again and this time found that she could easily slip into their minds. They both tried to fight her but it only took a couple of minutes to make them strip and change into wolves, snarling and snapping.