Pn1

by U

  matter what species was under discussion.

  94

  As Patryk's nose and face extended to resemble a wolf's, claws

  sprang out where neatly trimmed nails once were and Sebastian was

  spackled with drool and saliva whipping through the air in concussive

  streaks of gelatinous goo.

  Gillian heard before she saw Sebastian's change. Widening her

  gaze to now cover them both, she spotted that wherever the drool hit

  Sebastian the air began to emit heat waves that blurred his form,

  erasing boundaries she normally considered crucial to existence.

  Patryk no longer remained in the room, instead an amber and grey

  wolf slunk to all fours and crept into a corner cagily watching them

  both. Sebastian sped down the same track as Patryk had been

  committed to, but the sounds he filled the air with were lighter and

  involved more yips and snuffles.

  Sebastian bounced up and down during his disfigurement and

  reassembly, but Patryk was still backed up into a corner, paws

  prancing.

  Fear was a given, but part of Gillian's mind tread down a new angle

  of thought. She was a potential goner even when they were both

  human. She was no match for either alone and together.

  Between them the arrow pointing at her saying prime target blinked

  neon backed by a dripping red paint spill. It wasn't a pleasant,

  comforting thought but it was the best analogy in a world that no

  longer played by what she was trained to think as given. Still, no

  matter what the setting, strength and agility always won out, and she

  possessed neither in comparison to them.

  So her goner status hadn't changed which meant it also hadn't

  diminished or increased. She was where she would be no matter what

  form they took on, and there was an odd sort of comfort to that. A

  very odd tantalizing comfort, because that might mean they would

  overvalue the change and be sloppy. She was used to bullies and their

  dire need to over emphasize abilities.

  Patryk clearly wasn't happy about the change, and Sebastian on the

  other end of the spectrum relished each bone splitting alteration to his

  dimensions. She made the assumption she knew how Sebastian

  would react to her. Maybe the change only prodded latent desires and

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  needs once the human censor could be eradicated, but how would they

  react to each other?

  If Sebastian was right about Patryk being alpha then he probably

  resented it. If she got between the two, would they turn their anger on

  each other and leave her to come up with a defensive strategy? If ... if

  ... if...

  The change made Sebastian more feral, but Patryk no longer

  swaggered around trying to convince the world to stay away, instead

  he hid in a corner. Did that mean he was scared? If scared, scared of

  what? Scared of her, of himself, of Sebastian? Was there something

  she could use here?

  Sebastian's change added to the detritus ring of sprayed animal

  parts on the tile. She looked at Patryk; he appeared to be spitting up?

  The behaviors of wolves were not in her fact book for mental recall,

  but it didn't look like a healthy behavior or an enjoyable one; and the

  further Sebastian went into full monster wolf form, the more Patryk

  growled and prodded his nose in his direction.

  Did that mean Patryk wasn't interested in her, or that his feelings

  towards Sebastian were stronger? Gillian didn't think asking him

  would be a wise move, but her head spun from all the unanswered

  questions. She preferred his attention stay glued onto Sebastian,

  keeping her out of the equation for as long as humanly possible.

  Was there anything she actually understood? She got that she ran

  on adrenaline laced fear and that pretty soon mental functions might

  go offline and leave her a babbling, incoherent idiot running like a

  chicken with its head cut off. However, she did seem to be doing a

  fairly good job of piecing her situation together despite copious

  amounts of terror. Or was insanity kicking in, defiling her mind with

  unwarranted hope? For all she knew their change was putting

  psychedelic particles in the air to disarm any threat she might possess.

  Any further thinking ceased, because Sebastian was now a smaller

  copy of Patryk, the same amber toned grey fur and amber eyes. From

  her vantage point she could see how wet his muzzle was from saliva

  and licking.

  96

  Sebastian pushed out his chest and angled his head back, snout to

  the ceiling letting out a howl that made Gillian come close to peeing

  her pants. Only muscles honed from holding it in during long city

  transit times kept her pants as dry as her constant sweating allowed.

  Sebastian brought his head down slowly, fixing his stare on her.

  His chest fur puffed out and his legs stopped rocking. He started to

  shrink in towards his spine's center, coiling up for a spring.

  All previous intentions flew out of mind, and Gillian tried to deflate

  into the wall's non-porous surface.

  Sebastian sprung off his hind legs and leaped into the air.

  Gillian tried to shrink down, hoping he'd aim high, when the

  Sebastian she'd been focusing on slipped sideways in the air and fell

  onto its side with a thud that sent shock waves through the soles of her

  feet. She'd completely forgotten to keep Patryk in her viewing loop,

  but he now stood, jaws hovering over Sebastian's unprotected

  stomach.

  Sebastian's muscles rolled over his top side and he flipped himself

  onto his feet with a flowing motion that questioned whether human

  vision could keep up with his speed. His canines came out dripping

  venomous saliva and he snarled through the viscous liquid, shaking

  his mouth to throw mucous over Patryk.

  Sebastian used his shorter height to jump up and latch onto Patryk's

  neck.

  Patryk's paw swiped across his nose leaving a rent in the warm-

  toned amber fur that was now glistening with rapidly cooling blood

  before he could sink his fangs in.

  Shaken, Sebastian hunkered down and crept backwards, his tongue

  coming out to get at the blood. He circled towards Gillian.

  Patryk lashed his tail to force Sebastian back, managing to aim the

  tail tip in Sebastian's eyes.

  Blinking and pawing at his eyes, Sebastian's yips turned into a

  cacophony of howls and snarls that made Gillian want to plug her ears

  with cement to drown it out. She couldn't be sure Patryk was

  protecting her versus claiming her, but either way it bought her time

  and she slowly scampered against the wall so he was directly between

  97

  her and any quick leap Sebastian might make. Growls from Sebastian

  didn't faze her, not when Patryk had shown him capable enough for

  the moment at aiding her continuity of breath.

  Patryk's tail slowed down from lashing to wagging. Was that

  towards her because she was now out of Sebastian's direct line or

  because he thought she was giving herself to him? God, these demons

  had better work on rewriting the fairytales to give humans a clue.

  Sure she'd wanted
Cinderella and the Prince to be true, but why did it

  have to be the dark ones instead, the ones furthest from human

  sympathies?

  Patryk jolted off the floor a second before Sebastian, catching him

  in the throat with a bowed head.

  Sebastian fell from the air, his head bouncing off the floor as Patryk

  crashed down on him, keeping Sebastian's back pinned to the ground.

  Gillian winced at the impact Sebastian's head made, but the wince

  turned into a smile as she saw the two turn their full vengeance on

  each other. Maybe they could tear each other to shreds or maim each

  other to keep her out of their plans. She wanted to shout a cheer

  leading chant but she resigned herself to mouthing it internally to keep

  from distracting the melee that ensued. If only she had pom poms

  maybe she could treat them like overgrown puppies and play catch

  with them, yeah, right, overgrown puppies that would use her head as

  a bowling ball.

  The two started tussling, rolling around on the floor with rear legs

  pumping to implant claws in exposed anatomical regions that weren't

  protected by bones. From the blurred tumbling, it seemed to Gillian

  that it didn't matter if Patryk was on top or on the bottom that his

  superior size was more than Sebastian could overcome. Or was that

  fear making wishful thinking appear real?

  No, Patryk was on the bottom again, she thought, and there were

  more yelps coming from Sebastian than Patryk. Thank God their yells

  sounded different; it was the only thing giving her any clue into the

  fight. There was no way this was play, too much blood started to slick

  the floor around them, and if house pets were any indication

  98

  Sebastian's increasing pitch and tone meant he was desperately losing

  or afraid he was losing.

  She needed a manual on werewolves. For all she knew she was

  completely misreading this and about to die from lack of

  preparedness. Gillian inched a bit from the wall and craned her neck

  for a better view. Sebastian was back on the ground and it wasn't just

  saliva drenching his breast anymore. A large gash ran across what

  once were pecks and had turned the fur brown.

  Patryk remained on top this time.

  She bent down to see between their two heaving stomachs.

  Sebastian's rear legs were still trying to gut Patryk but were running

  on less steam than she'd seen at first to the point Patryk wasn't even

  bothering with them. His snout creaked open, jaws coming unhinged

  from her human point of view, and plunged into the gash still leaking

  profusely.

  Sebastian howled pitifully, his body shaking and trembling on the

  floor. For a nanosecond Gillian felt bad for him, but that was all she

  spared of her energy on sympathy. Any sympathy was purely based

  on knowing what it felt like to lose, not caring for him personally, but

  that did mean she could be next and Patryk didn't look that phased

  from the fight. Was he ready to take down another, and do her far

  worse than his own brother?

  Gillian froze.

  Patryk wasn't stopping. His teeth came out drenched in Sebastian's

  blood and when he leaned back his head to howl it was clear his face

  was caked with fast drying blood.

  Sebastian writhed between Patryk's legs.

  She squirmed back into the wall, wondering how Sebastian was

  going to heal anytime during the night.

  She started to reassess how quickly Patryk might turn on her, when

  Patryk went back for the kill. Patryk's teeth sunk in and submerged in

  Sebastian's throat. Gillian was sure he'd hit the floor and go out

  through Sebastian's spine soon. Jesus these two fought hard. There

  was no way anything close to human could survive their level of

  interaction.

  99

  She waited to see what Sebastian's next move would be. Would he

  cower and acknowledge Patryk in defeat or prolong the inevitable take

  down? Nothing. Weren't animals supposed to admit defeat and not

  simply lie there like road kill?

  She refocused her eyes on Patryk's muzzle to see part of Sebastian's

  esophagus hanging out of his panting mouth as he sucked in what was

  too much for one swallow.

  Gillian threw up her lunch and what was left of breakfast. Acid and

  mucus dripped from her quavering lip as she bowled over, coating her

  shoes with an intestinal mixture of foul smelling liquid and chunks.

  The site and smell of her own internal contents made her retch again,

  until she was left with dry heaves and the aftermath of a heinous

  tasting mouth that reflexively gagged.

  She pried the fingers apart that had clasped over her eyes. Through

  the slits between her fingers she saw Patryk crack Sebastian's chest

  open, ligaments, skin, and muscle spurting out in glops that slide over

  his once breathing sides and landed on the floor.

  Gillian couldn't watch. She wasn't even aware she had screamed

  until the sound of licking and slurping stopped in a growl. The

  change popped her eyes open to see Patryk staring at her covered in

  Sebastian's blood and guts. Her tongue swelled up until she was sure

  she was hyperventilating, but it got her throat to stop making sounds.

  The growling stopped and Patryk gave up staring at her.

  It was a choice between going blind and sight, Gillian was ready to

  choose blindness, but she couldn't get herself to gore our her own

  eyes, at least not quite yet. If Patryk made a move towards her she

  might be willing to do it to quicken up her own death so she wouldn't

  feel his teeth or have her blood mixed in with Sebastian's for an

  aperitif.

  There was no choice but to see Patryk eat. Anything else might

  make her go into a comma and moan herself out of awareness. She

  wanted the dark of covered eyes, but that seemed to make sounds

  come out of her throat and get attention redirected to her.

  She didn't know how her eyes did it, stay still watching the scene.

  At some point she was sure her mind shut down, because she had no

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  idea how long it took. One hour, two, three? At some point in the

  haze of reality Patryk had eaten every part of Sebastian that wasn't

  calcium based. Even the fur and eyeballs were gone. Gillian started

  to heave again, but only drool came out to cover her knees and wrists

  as she sat arms clasped holding her knees tightly together and

  covering her heart.

  Patryk dragged his sagging stomach around and faced her, blood

  and bodily residue hanging in coagulated strings from chin and teeth.

  His tongue worked overtime to uncover pristine fur.

  Gillian gave up trying to think one step let alone five ahead and

  went for comatose. Her eyes gazed over as his form got bigger and

  bigger, filling up more of her view until he was her entire vision.

  Breathe halted then stuttered back up in drags and heaves as his

  tongue retreated and his fangs were nearly touching her nose.

  Heat prickles solidified into melted ice freezing her limbs into

  place. She lost track of where her limbs stopped and started; instead

  her body became a heavy fadin
g mass that sank into oblivion. His

  breath filled her nose, making her wish breathing would stop

  completely and give up keeping her alive before he bit her too.

  Fangs skittered over her nose, sliding down her cheek to rest on the

  meaty part of her neck by the jugular. She closed her eyes, and tried

  to faint by holding her breath, but it was too late to deaden herself to

  pain. Teeth sunk into her flesh. Hot liquid dripped down her neck,

  and she passed out but not before a weird metallic taste filled her

  senses and made her want to throw up. She didn't or if she did, didn't

  know it.

  Time dispensed with the friction of running her life. Nothing

  mattered, but the gentle calm beckoning her. There was a light at the

  end of the tunnel and a commanding voice calling her forward. She

  wanted to please the voice, because it was so insistent and sure of

  tone.

  More light filled her space.

  "Come on Gillian, wake up. You've been sleeping long enough.

  Hiding won't work anymore. One way or the other I'm getting you on

  your feet."

  101

  She knew that voice. Hatred boiled up from the warm calm making

  her want to lash out and tell the voice to stop bothering her.

  "Keep your eyes open on your own or I'm getting tape. Don't make

  me hurt you again."

  Hatred, animosity, and fear swirled around and in her to catch the

  voice and try to make sense of the words. A sharp spike of pain hit

  her.

  "I told you to wake up. I can keep hitting you if that's what it

  takes."

  Gillian opened her eyes on her own and looked up into Patryk's

  face. That is when she knew she threw up.

  "Should have expected that." Patryk looked down at his lap and

  grimaced, wiping her mouth clean with his arm.

  She spit saliva out of her mouth to rinse out the taste. "I'm alive?"

  Her eyes flashed around picking up that she was still in the room and

  he was not dressed. In fact she could feel the lack of clothing hit the

  side of her head repeatedly.

  "In a matter of speaking, yes." Patryk leaned her up against the wall

  and stood up to look at her, giving off undeniable proof that he was

  both free of clothes and free of fur.

  "You killed your brother," Gillian slurred.

  Patryk hung his head and looked over his shoulder to where only a