The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin

by Ophelia Preston

  ‘I need to at least try to stop this before a war breaks out. I do not want my people hurt if I can prevent it.’

  ‘I’ll see what I can do. Koji was right, you’re ok. Let me make a couple of calls and see what I can come up with.’

  Ben went into another corner and made some calls.

  We ordered another round of drinks and were nearly finished before Ben came back looking almost satisfied.

  ‘Ok, we could prevent this. They’re chomping at the bit for blood but will settle for the one who killed Conrad,’ he smiled.

  ‘The one who actually killed Conrad was under orders by my brother, who was acting Alpha. You must know that a pack member cannot go against the wishes of the Alpha. Alex is the one they want. He ordered the kill. He is responsible,’ Chris shook his head.

  Ben went back to his corner and made some more calls. He gestured a lot while he talked and his face did not bode well for the pack. He came back looking a lot less happy than before.

  ‘They want the killer. They’ll get Alex too but they want the killer. They don’t care that he was under orders, they want to make an example of him.’

  ‘Shit. I can’t do that. He’s a kid, the youngest member of the pack. He did what he was told.’

  ‘You should always question bad orders,’ Ben stated, as though this was no excuse.

  ‘Put yourself in his place. Alex was a bad Alpha, even for a temporary one. He abused us, made us do degrading things, on the threat that our real Alpha would be killed if we didn’t do them. At the time, we were told that this was at Conrad’s orders but it was really Alex himself. One pack member, Marco, tried to defy him and Alex nearly killed him. The guy is still recovering. He injected him with silver,’ Ron growled. Ben looked shocked, I know I felt it. Chris tensed like he was ready to pounce. I took his hand and he looked at me, before kissing my head, relaxing a fraction.

  ‘We are a pack in healing. We cannot go to war over something which was out-with our control,’ he said. Ben sighed.

  ‘I’ll go speak to someone who might be able to intervene, a vampire whom I’ve had dealings with before. He’s actually halfway decent, for a vamp. If he can’t make them see sense then no one can.’

  ‘Would you side with this pack?’ Koji asked.

  ‘No. I’m sorry but the only way to remain neutral is to stay out of the mire. I need to be on no one’s side,’ he seemed genuinely sad by that. I wondered how he had fallen into this role but this was not the time to ask those kinds of questions.

  We left feeling dejected. Ben had promised to let us know whether his friend could talk sense into the vampires.

  ‘Something is happening in the vampire world. They are too ready to go to war over things that used to wash over them in the past,’ Koji observed aloud on the way back to the warehouse.

  ‘New leadership?’ Ron asked.

  ‘No, they are not like us. They do not need leaders and pack like we do. They are aligned to clans but most flit about freely like butterflies.’

  ‘Whatever it is, they want a war. I don’t want to give them a reason for it but it’s looking like we are being drawn in anyway. I wonder if this was Alex’s plan in the event that he was caught out?’ Chris sighed. We spent the rest of the journey in silence.

  I was dropped off at my place while Chris returned to his pack with the news.

  That night I mulled over the recent events in my life. Everything had changed so quickly that I hadn’t had time to process it all. My feelings for Chris were so strong and I’d only known him such a short time. It terrified me that I could feel so strongly about him when I still knew so little about him. I had been burned before and was scared that this would happen again. I wondered what Chris thought about whatever was going on between us.

  I found out the next day that Koji had spoken with his Alpha and was staying for a little longer, in the hope that they could avert a full on war. Koji said that if the vampires called them out, all packs would have to answer, as it was an unjust calling. Chris would have the right to bring in anyone who would help. It meant that the chances of an all-out slaughter had increased dramatically.

  Ben called later that day to let them know that his friend had tried talking sense into the clan of Conrad but they were not interested in hearing anyone out. They wanted blood.

  The next couple of days had me busy with clients and I had little time to see Chris, especially when one company had me flown out to a gold mine in South Africa. They were having a problem getting to a huge vein that didn’t involve blowing up half a mountainside – something I strictly did not allow from my clients. When they started mass blasting they lost me as an advisor. In this case I had to look at alternative routes to reach the vein. That took the better part of three days.

  I ended up with jet lag on my return. It was another full day before I was able to think clearly enough to contact Chris. When I couldn’t reach him I tried Shaya but her phone went straight to voicemail as well. I had a number for Ron and called him too, to find that his phone was switched off.

  Trying not to worry, I went round to the warehouse to find it completely empty. Something was very wrong. The wrongness of the place hit me as soon as I entered the building. I could feel the violence in the place and found blood splattered on Ron’s doorway. The doorway itself was half open and I discovered that it wasn’t the only one. Someone had gone through each apartment and removed the occupant. There didn’t seem to be much sign of a struggle, other than the blood on Ron’s door, which surprised me. I swallowed the panic that threatened to take hold and carefully made my way back through the building, finding an item of jewellery that I could use to locate the pack.

  On returning to my home, I ate a good sized meal and set out everything I’d need, writing a note for Gracie to find if I went searching and didn’t come home in the morning.

  The search went easily enough, I had such a strong connection with Chris. He wasn’t in the city any more but was within a few miles of its limits, to the south west. I had a snack, left a rough direction and distance for Gracie on my note and drove out. I had kept hold of the item I had borrowed from Chris’s home, so that I could garner his exact location while on the road.

  Getting out of the city was the main problem. It was seven o’clock by the time I was able to get onto the relevant road once out of the heavy traffic.

  A few roads and a half hour later, I found a large abandoned house at the end of the road and energy trail I had been following. It looked to be old colonial, which was far less common in the north of the US. It was most definitely abandoned, having that uncared for look – shutters hanging off their hinges, an exterior in serious need of a paint job and a few holes to the lower parts of the outer walls. It looked as though at one point the house had been painted white but much of it was a pale grey now. Smashed windows completed the look. The roof seemed to be in a similar state of disrepair, holes and a branch of a tree sticking out of it.

  I was suddenly very wary. What the hell was I doing here alone? Why had I not called Detective Graben to let him know what I was doing! My brain kicked in then. I called him and told him where I was, and why I was there. He told me to wait for him to get there and I agreed. It was the sensible thing to do.

  I held my hand to my heart, I had every intention of staying where I was, right up to the point when I heard a scream and had to go in.

  At least I hadn’t come completely unprepared. I had had the good sense to bring a torch and couple of long metal spikes. They were each approximately five inches long, one inch thick and made of steel.

  The building had no lighting and it was completely dark outside, so I went in carefully, trying to use my eyes rather than the torch. However, after almost falling into a hole in the corridor, I decided to use the light.

  I could hear noises around me and tried very hard not to imagine all the possible horrible things that could be causing them. The house itself seemed to groan, as though protesting to either the people there o
r whatever was happening to someone within. I really hoped it wasn’t a pack member, especially not Chris who had cried out in pain!

  Time seemed to have given up in this place. I had no concept of how long it took to reach the stairway down into the basement. All my film knowledge came into my mind and I knew I should never, ever go down into a basement in an abandoned house. Another scream sliced through the night and I knew I had to go down, to see what was happening and hopefully help my friends.

  There was a source of light around the bend from the bottom of the stairs, so I switched the torch off and crept down, trying to make as little noise as possible.

  ‘You might as well just come in, we can hear you. You sound like an elephant!’ an amused voice told me. Insulted, I ventured down. I didn’t recognise the voice at all. The accent was European, possibly Austrian, maybe German.

  A very pale man stood by the corner to greet me. He was blonde haired and his eyes appeared to be dark brown. He was tall and lean and had an arrogant sneer on his pretty face. He looked like a nineteen eighties model, complete with DA hair and denim jacket and jeans.

  ‘My, aren’t we the pretty one!’ He drawled.

  ‘I was thinking the same thing. You know that look went out thirty years ago, right?’ I wasn’t going to let this weirdo embarrass me. I heard several snorts but couldn’t tell where they came from.

  Two more men and a woman appeared, all pale and wearing dated outfits. One of the men was clearly of Hispanic or Spanish descent but his skin looked unusually pale, pasty even. The woman had long blonde hair and was quite stunning looking, having Elfin features and a sleek figure. Her pale green eyes were also ethereal. They looked like an eighties tribute band. I noticed that the woman and the third man, a smaller man with brown hair and dark eyes, both had blood on their hands and clothes. There was a strange scent in the air as well. It smelled of rotting meat. My stomach rolled at the thought and I had to suppress a gag. The first man laughed.

  ‘Is our dinner making you sick?’

  ‘What is that smell?’

  ‘Wolf, darling. We’re having wolf for dinner. But I think you’re smelling the remains of an older meal. That was human,’ the woman smiled, clearly enjoying my discomfort.

  ‘Human? What are you?’

  ‘Vampires love. What, you never met one before?’ The smaller man was clearly a Londoner.

  ‘No. You have something that belongs to me. I’d like you to return it.’

  ‘Just like that. No questions, no stunned silence?’ Londoner asked, looking more than a little annoyed at my lack of shock.

  ‘Nope. Just hand over what’s mine and everything will be ok.’

  The woman made a sweeping gesture with her hand and I followed them into the area that had previously been hidden. The whole pack were there, save Sean. I could see his remains on the floor in the corner. I recognised his trainers. That was the only way I could recognise him and I couldn’t hold back the bile that rose. Turning away, I threw up on the floor. I had never seen a dead, let alone mutilated, body until that moment.

  ‘Aw, poor baby was sick. We really need to get ourselves a Renfield to clean shit like that up, you know,’ the man who looked Hispanic but sounded Miami, said.

  ‘Jesus, are you really that stupid? You actually think Stoker’s Dracula was fact? Have you been able to compel anyone yet? Don’t think it’s gonna happen in the near future you fucking imbeciles!’ Dead things tend to neutralise my swearing button. I can’t help it, I revert to swears when I’m scared or sickened and right now I was both. I looked about and spotted Chris. He was in such a state. They all were. Ron was in very bad shape and I knew they’d need help. I tried to see Shaya but couldn’t and wondered what horrors might have befallen my friend.

  ‘Where’s Shaya?’ I demanded, wiping my mouth. I was so angry that I had to stop myself from ripping them apart!

  ‘Shaya? Oh, you mean the witch? She’s been entertaining our friend. He’s a witch and she’s been able to hold him off but I think she’s weakening. She did lose a lot of blood,’ the woman sneered. My spine stiffened. I looked over at Chris, who was looking at me with a mixture of joy and horror, probably wishing I was anywhere but there.

  ‘Do you know what I am?’ I turned back to the vampire tribute band.

  ‘I’m going to guess witch,’ the shorter man said. I nodded.

  ‘I’m an earth witch. I have a very special affinity with earth. Do you know what happens when you fuck with an earth witch?’ I couldn’t contain my rage anymore. I didn’t want to, needing to feed off the emotion. I let my shields down because I needed the release and they needed to die. ‘One more question. Who are you working for?’

  ‘Working for? Do we look like rent-a-fucking-vamp?’ Miami man demanded.

  ‘Pretty much.’

  ‘Bitch,’ he leapt at me but stopped mid air. The chains hanging about the basement were suddenly all over him, keeping him suspended.

  ‘I’ll rephrase that question. Who sent you after these people?’

  ‘What do you want? You said we had something of yours. Take it and go,’ the blonde man said, eying me wearily. He, at least, had sense.

  ‘I want my pack back. Who set you after them?’

  ‘Edvard Maastrich,’ he said without hesitation. I decided he would be my messenger.

  The woman and Londoner had circled round, as though trying to catch me unaware. I flicked my wrist and the whole pack were released to the ground, with many protests and groans. I winced in sympathy but didn’t let it distract me. The vampires were closing in. They really had fangs which descended from their incisors as they came in for the kill. Before anyone could blink, I had yanked the blonde man back with the free chains and my spikes were sticking out of the chests of the London man and the woman. I removed the spike from the Londoner and stabbed the Miami vampire before having the spike hover close to the chest of the blonde man.

  ‘You tell this Edvard that this pack is under my protection. Shaya is under my protection. Understand?’

  The man nodded, glancing at the door. I kept the spike where it was as I made my way to the door. Shaya was on a chair, bleeding, surrounded by a white bubble of light. A man in sunglasses, really, stood just outside the bubble, smiling every time it fluttered. He hadn’t even spotted me but Shaya had and she relaxed, the bubble contracting.

  Before this piece of shit could harm her, I called on a rock on the ground to knock him out. Shaya collapsed and heaved a sob. I unchained her and helped her up, giving her a hug.

  Chris was already on his feet and he kissed me the moment we went back into the room they were in.

  ‘Let’s get out of here’ he whispered, his voice hoarse.

  ‘What about the witch?’

  ‘I don’t care right now, I just want to get the hell out of here.’

  The blonde vampire didn’t move an inch.

  We headed out, those less hurt helping those worse off. Jerome carried what was left of Sean. I let the spike fall away from the vampire as we left, leaving him to give his message to this Edvard Maastrich.

  Graben arrived just as we exited the building. He knew all about the supernatural and knew how to spin the bodies in the building to his colleagues. He was a good friend and a consummate professional.

  Between us we were able to get everyone back to the warehouse, where I called another healer I knew, Bashir. He was there in minutes. Every pack member was injured but once Chris had been seen to they all seemed to heal that little bit quicker.

  I learned that the wolves had been gassed using the ventilation system in the building. Ron hadn’t been in his apartment and when the vampires came in, he was only slightly drowsy. They had silver weapons and soon had him overpowered.

  Shaya was in better condition than I had feared and would not need hospital, just a good patch up and lots of liquids.

  I stayed with Chris, even when he tried to push me away. His pain at not being able to protect Sean was evident, his grief was so v
ery raw. He clearly felt responsible. All I could do was be there for him.

  Koji was healing well and was able to contact Ben, who came over in the morning.

  A very quick cremation and ceremony ensued for Sean and the pack were able to mourn the loss of a brother.

  I went home alone after that. I needed my own space. I had done all I could for the pack and now I needed time to rest.

  Rest, sleep and peace eluded me. As soon as I closed my eyes the images of Sean and the people I had just killed filled my mind. My head knew they had to die but my heart couldn’t bear the fact that I had just taken three lives, and without a thought. Everyone talks in films and books about how hard it is to kill. They’re wrong. It was easy; far, far too easy. They died very quickly, just a flick of the hand and their lives had been snuffed out.

  My stomach churned and I had to go throw up again.

  The rest of the day went by in a similar fashion and I ended up just lying in my bed, my body numb, trying not to think of anything.

  Chapter 9

  The next thing I remembered was my Grandmother handing me a cup of tea, her own concoction. I thought I had to be hallucinating. When I spotted Chris talking with my sister I knew something was very wrong.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘I had a feeling you needed me,’ my Gran smiled at me and stroked my hair from my face. ‘You drink up then go for a shower. You’re a real mess, sweetheart.’

  ‘I killed them. I killed three people, Gran’ I heaved a sob and fell against the older woman. She was slim, petit, with silver hair and more laughter wrinkles than I could count. She had the kindest grey eyes of anyone I knew. She rocked me gently against her, setting my cup down and letting me cry. This woman knew how to console. She’d had a lot of practice and simply let me get it all out. When I was finished she handed me the cup back.

  ‘I met your man and I like him. He’s just right for you. Told me what happened. Damned vampires! The media is obsessed with making them appealing but they are not the tortured souls everyone thinks. They’re cold blooded killers who like to play with their meals. You took three nasty buggers out, Emilia Anderson, and don’t you forget it. They were not good people. Think of the pain that boy Sean suffered, the pain Shaya suffered, not to mention your man and that boy Ron. Poor sweet boy is still injured. He had silver hooks in him. I removed them and he’s healing up now but those vamps did that to him. Don’t you dare mourn them!’ She chastised me. After that splash of metaphorical cold water on my face, she shooed me to my bathroom and left me to shower.