by D Wolfe
Denthro nodded. He knew how much Darian cared for Ellie. “I know Darian but there isn’t much we can do. And we can’t change into our wolf forms to rescue her without risking exposing who we are.”
Darian hated to admit it but Denthro was right. The minute they changed into their armored wolf forms, Jared could easily put them under light again and they wouldn’t be able to keep Ellie safe any longer. “Jared doesn’t know we’re really armored wolves. He’s just still scared after what happened the last time we were here.” Denthro continued.
Darian then thought of something. “We’ll let Ellie go to her home but I’ll follow her there. If Jared tries to hurt her, I’ll get her out.” He then looked at Demeter. “If you can get the police there shortly after Jared takes Ellie home, we might be able to save Ellie and get rid of Jared at the same time.”
The others all thought about Darian’s plan. “It could work.” Denthro said. Derek nodded.
Diane then stepped forward. “We’ll just have to hide her here if Jared leaves jail.” She said. She looked at Darian. “Jared doesn’t know that you live here or that you’re a member of our family.” She pointed out. “That means that you could get her out and he wouldn’t think of coming back here.”
Darian nodded. He was planning on taking Ellie to the camp. “And I’ll hide her in the temple if he comes here to the camp to look for her again.” He told them.
Demeter thought about it. “Jared would come back here a second time because he’ll know by the time he picks up Ellie that she had been here and that we hid her.” She reminded them. “Only I think he might try to accuse us of hiding her to the police. I might not be able to keep them from searching the camp so we’ll have to be twice as careful this time.”
Denthro looked at Darian. “I know we do things as a family here but you’re the alpha wolf on this mission and of our pack.” He told his son. “So if you want us to carry out this mission, we will.” He knew that Darian felt attached to Ellie.
Darian looked at the five. There were four more of them with the group. There were ten of them. Ten armored wolves. A family. Jared was alone in this fight. He looked at the sacred building. “I say yes. Even if the police come here, we have plans for that set up to protect her.”
They all looked in the direction of the cabins. “We’ll have to plan this out carefully before we do anything.” Denthro told them.
Darian agreed with him. “We can’t afford to make any mistakes with this rescue.” He couldn’t afford to. Ellie was counting on him. He shifted into an armored wolf and ran off into the woods.
Denthro looked at the others. “We need to make sure that we’re ready as well.” He told them. “Darian will do his part to save Ellie. We need to make sure that we do our part as well.” He looked at his wife. “Will you be able to get the police there?” He asked.
Demeter nodded. “I’ll be able to get the police there.” She told him before she smiled. “I’ll make sure that I have enough police there to keep Jared down long enough for Darian to get Ellie out of there.” She looked at her watch. “I need to get going.” She told them. “My shift starts in a little bit.” She walked away.
David looked at Diane and Derek. “Let’s get the jeep ready.” He told them. “Darian will need a quick escape.” He looked at Denthro. “You might want another vehicle too for this.” He told their dad. “If Jared gets away from the police, we’ll need two vehicles for Darian and Ellie to hide in. Not to mention, if any of us are caught, we need to make a quick getaway.”
Denthro looked at the three of them. “We’ll take two vehicles of our own. No one knows what they look like.” He smiled. “They’ll be good for us to hide with.” He looked at his watch. “We should get going.” He told them. “We have a big day ahead of us.” They quickly left the temple.
Chapter Ten
The next morning, Ellie was in her cabin packing her stuff up when her eyes drifted to the armored wolf over the head of her bed. She wished that Darian was there with her at that moment. She knew he wasn’t allowed though in the girls’ cabins. She also had a feeling that he was doing something that would help her get away from her stepdad before it was too late. That made her heart sink. She was scared that her stepdad would hurt her badly before Darian would have a chance to save her. She reached out to the armored wolf and brushed her fingers against it. “Please save me.” She whispered to it. She hoped that Darian heard her. She needed him to save her.
Darine then joined her. “Did you enjoy your week at camp here?” She asked.
Ellie looked at her new friend and nodded. “It was fun.” She answered. She decided to keep it a secret about how she loved Darine’s older brother. She wasn’t sure how Darine would take that.
Darine smiled. She knew that there was something that Ellie wasn’t telling her but she was going to let Ellie keep her secret. “I told you that you would enjoy this week.” She told Ellie.
Ellie forced a smile. “I won’t forget the time that I had here.” She said, thinking of how she confessed her love to Darian.
Denthro then opened the door to their cabin. “Darine. I need to have a word with you.” He looked at their cabin counselor. “If that’s okay.” He added.
Darine’s counselor nodded after a few seconds. Darine was there as a camper but Denthro was still her father besides being the camp director. The way Denthro was looking told her that it was serious. “Just make sure she’s back here to help move her stuff to the buses.” She told him.
Denthro nodded and looked at his daughter. “A word now.” He told her.
Darine nodded. She had a feeling that she knew what was going on. She had seen her siblings acting weird the day before. “Yes Dad.” She followed him out of the cabin.
Later that morning, as the kids were getting onto the buses, Ellie looked around for Darian. Her heart sank when she saw that there was no sign of him. It was like he had never been there in the first place. She had hoped that Darian would have shown up by this time. She then spotted a silver car near the office. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe were at the car talking. Whatever they were talking about, it seemed serious.
Ellie slowly got onto the bus. As Ellie sat down, Darine joined her. Ellie looked at her. “Where’s your brother?” She asked. “The one known as Darian.” She added.
Darine looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Why are you asking?” She asked. She had a feeling that she knew what was going on. She had been told about how her family was going to try to get Ellie to a safe place if needed but she had a feeling that something else was going on.
Ellie shrugged. “I was just wondering. I’ve never seen him around that much. Not even here at the camp." She said which was true. Besides seeing Denthro the three times that week, she didn't see him any other time.
Darine shrugged. “He probably had to go into town to do shopping unless he’s at school.” She answered. That surprised Ellie. She had thought that Darian had never gone to school. Doug and Dale then sat down behind the two girls.
Diane, David and Derek watched their younger siblings follow Ellie onto the bus. They then went to David’s jeep. “We can’t afford to lose them.” Diane warned David.
David smiled. “Don’t worry.” He told Diane. “I won’t lose the buses. I’ll drive as fast as I can without drawing attention to ourselves.”
Diane managed not to roll her eyes. “Whatever.” She said. She knew that David liked to show off. He would probably draw attention to themselves. David’s phone then rang from the cup holder.
Derek took it and answered it. “Hello?” He asked before he looked out the window. “Okay. You remember your part of the plan, right?” He asked.
David and Diane looked at him. “Don’t worry. We’ll be behind the buses the whole time and we’ll follow her to her home when Jared picks her up.” He then hung up. He looked at Diane and David. “That was Darian.” He told them. “He’s at the school and he wanted to remind us of the plan.”
Diane shook her head. Of
course Darian would be reminding them. “He just better remember his part of the plan and not screw this up.” She said.
David smiled. “There’s no way that Darian is going to screw this up.” He reminded her. “Not if he’s reminding us of the plan a lot.” That made the three of them laugh.
Danielle was on the first bus with the other seniors when her phone rang. She answered it. “Danielle here.” She said.
It was her dad. “Do not let Ellie out of your sight until she leaves. Demeter will pick you up and you’ll get the police.” Denthro told her.
Danielle was quiet for a few minutes. She knew that something was up. “What’s going on?” She asked. She heard Denthro sighed.
“It’s a bit complicated but try to follow along as best as you can.” Denthro said before he began telling her what was going on.
When Denthro was done, Danielle waited a few minutes to process everything before talking. “Okay Dad. That makes sense.” She said.
“It’s very important that we save Ellie from her stepfather if we need to.” Denthro told her.
Danielle nodded. “I agree. I’ve met him and he looks and sounds like a big jerk.” She said. “Don’t worry. I won’t let Ellie out of my sight until he picks her up.” She then hung up.
At the school, Darian was hiding up in a tree waiting for the buses to arrive. It made him ache to be away from Ellie after being so close to her for a week. He was worried about her. She was vulnerable to her stepdad. What made him worry even more was that if the plan went south, so would Ellie’s future. He had to get her away from Jared. He was dangerous. That was when he saw the buses pulling up into the school parking lot. Darian sighed with relief. It was now time for him to do his part. He climbed down the tree.
As the kids were getting off the buses, parents began pulling up to pick them up. Ellie looked around with a scared look on her face. She had really hoped that Darian would have saved her from Jared by this point. She was worried about who would be picking her up. After seeing her dad using the car earlier that week, she was scared that it would be him and that something bad had happened to her mom. She then saw her stepdad pull up in his truck. He honked at her repeatedly, getting everyone’s attention. Ellie sighed and picked up her stuff. It was time to face her doom. She went to the truck and put her stuff in the back before getting in the front seat.
Ellie's stepdad was glaring at her. “How dare you go to that camp thing after I had told you that you couldn’t!” He shouted as he pulled out of the school’s parking lot. Neither of them noticed a jeep following them.
Danielle watched them leave before she ran to the only police car that was in the parking lot. She got in and looked at her mother. “Jared has her now.” She told her mother. “We need to go quickly.”
Demeter nodded and started the vehicle up. “Call your siblings. Make sure they’re following Jared.” She told Danielle as they drove towards Jared’s home.
Denthro went up to Darine, Doug and Dale. “We need to go.” He told them as they grabbed their stuff.
“Why?” Doug asked.
Darine looked at Denthro’s eyes before she spoke. “It’s Ellie. We’re going to try to save her.” She told the other two. Denthro nodded.
Darian watched the three vehicles leave. They were on their way to Jared’s home. He made sure that no one could see him before he changed into an armored wolf. He sniffed the air deeply and caught Ellie’s scent. After spending time so close to her, he had developed an ability to catch her scent so easily. He turned west and began running towards Ellie’s home. He had to get to her quickly.
At Ellie’s home, as Jared was pulling into the driveway, Jared was yelling at Ellie still. “Just you wait until you get inside! You’ll meet the same fate that your wretched mother met!” He shouted. They got out of the truck. Before Ellie could get her stuff, Jared had her by the hair and was dragging her into the house.
In her pain, Ellie could see people watching in silent. She wondered why none of them were doing anything to help her. Before she realized that, like in their last town, Jared gave them all a reason to be scared of him. That just made her more scared of what was going to happen to her.
The three wolf cars pulled up to the corner of the street and the people in the cars looked at Ellie’s home. Demeter rolled her window down and looked at Ellie’s home. Denthro rolled his window down as well. Demeter looked at Danielle. “It’s time for an act.” She said.
Danielle smiled. “We need to get to work.” She said. Inside, Jared dragged Ellie inside to the living room. He then turned to her and slapped her across the face hard. “Now for your punishment!” He shouted. Ellie tensed up as she got ready for her punishment. She had a feeling that if her mom wasn’t there, that something bad had happened to her. Before she could think about it though, Jared grabbed her left arm and twisted it until it snapped. Ellie screamed in pain. Jared then kicked her knees, breaking her knee bones. Ellie collapsed to the ground in pain. She knew though that Jared wasn’t done with hurting her. She felt like he would hurt her until she was dead this time. Jared began stomping on her. Ellie screamed as she felt the pain Jared was giving her. She could feel her bones breaking after a while.
Jared stopped after a few minutes. He smiled as he looked down at Ellie. It looked like she was in pain and scared. It also looked like part of her had accepted her pain. “The police can’t stop me. I already got away with killing your stupid mom!” He shouted. He took a knife out and leaned down over Ellie. He made a long cut on her legs. Ellie screamed in pain. Jared continued to make cuts all over her body. Ellie was crying. Then Jared punched her right in the nose, smashing it.
Ellie remembered what Darian had told her. She began gasping as she shouted. There was blood dripping down her face into her hair and onto the floor. “Darian! Help me!” She cried out.
Jared laughed as he heard her crying out for whoever Darian was. “No one will help you!” He shouted. “I’ve killed your mother and no one stopped me. No one will stop me from killing you.” He raised the knife over Ellie’s heart for the kill.
Outside, Demeter was on the phone waiting to call for help when she saw a large black thing run by. She dialed the police. After the police picked up, she said, “Police. I need help. A large creature is about to break into a house. Come quickly!” She told them. She then hung up before she smiled. Far off, police sirens started up.
In the house, Jared was about to kill Ellie when the wall was smashed down. Jared turned in surprise to see a large black wolf in black armor. He realized that the armored wolves were real. The armored wolf snarled at Jared. Jared stumbled back in alarm. The armored wolf went up to Ellie and looked at her. Even though she looked terrible, there wasn’t a face that the armored wolf was more happy to see than hers. He saw Jared coming towards them and he snarled at Jared. Jared stopped walking and threw the knife. The armored wolf blocked it with his armor and the knife fell to the ground. They then heard the police coming. The armored wolf turned into Darian. Ellie smiled weakly as Darian picked her fragile body up. Darian then took off with her as the police broke in.
Darian carried her to the three vehicles as they went to the side that hid them. The others got out. Darian looked down at Ellie. She was looking pale. They had to get her to a medical place quickly. Denthro got out of the car and went up to the two. “Her stepfather?” He asked even though he already knew the answer.
Darian nodded. “He was about to kill her.” He answered. What he didn’t say was that he had wanted to try to prevent that by killing Jared. He shook his head and looked down at her.
Denthro looked past the cars. There were several police cars surrounding the front of Jared’s house. He looked at Darian. “Get in the jeep.” He told him and held out his arms. Darian laid Ellie in his arms and got in. Denthro looked at David. “You’ll drive my car.” He told him.
David was surprised by that. Denthro never let anyone drive his car. “Why?” He asked as the others were getting back into
their vehicles. Danielle was getting into another car so Mrs. Wolfe could go with the police.
Denthro laid Ellie on Darian’s lap and turned to David. “I’ll take Ellie to camp in this. You’ll try to get Jared to follow you if he escapes.” He explained.
David nodded as he understood what Denthro was saying. “Shouldn’t Darian come with me?” He then asked. Darian looked at the two of them. The last thing that he wanted to do was to leave Ellie behind.
Denthro shook his head. “We need Darian to keep Ellie calm.” He answered Denthro then got into the jeep and David got into the car. They drove away quickly.
Jared was being escorted to the police cars when he saw the two cars leaving. He had a feeling that the brat was in one of them. He had to go after her and finish making sure that she died. He tried to break free of the policemen’s grips but couldn’t. “Let me go! I am above the law!” He shouted. There was no way that he was going to allow himself to be arrested now after getting away with abusing and hurting others for so long.
Mrs. Wolfe went up to him. “No one is above the law. You’re under arrest for murder, domestic abuse, attempted murder and resisting arrest.” She told him calmly. Mrs. Wolfe then looked at the police. “Take this man to prison.” She ordered. “And don’t let him get away from you.” There was no way that she was going to let this guy get away with this because he had friends in high places growing up.
Jared grounded his teeth. He refused to go to jail. He had always gotten away with past crimes. He stomped hard on the feet of the police officers that were escorting him, forcing them to release him. Before any of the other police could get a grip on him, he broke free of the handcuffs and pushed his way out of the group of police. He quickly got to his car and sped off after the two vehicles. It was time to kill the little brat.
In the jeep, Ellie was laying on the back seat. Her legs were on Derek’s lap and her head was on Darian’s lap. She was crying from the pain and gasping for air. She was still bleeding from her broken nose. She was sure that her hair had quite a bit of her blood in it. Darian gently held her hand. Ellie looked at him and smiled weakly. “You came.” She said weakly.