The wolf wasn’t black, but had a deep brown colored coat that looked matted around a very doglike body. It moved on all four of its legs along the ground as it stepped into the light. Its face looked somewhat round, with its snout showing nothing but teeth. Its hands didn’t look like hands at all, but looked almost like flattened paws. He could see its shoulders move. He could see its elbows bend. Its rather short pointed ears bobbed softly on the sides of its head as it walked. It looked far different from what he ever did. It looked more—well— wolfish. It also looked far more human, somehow. When he looked to its right, he noticed that it wasn’t alone.
Two more wolves looking exactly the same way as the first one did came out from the shadows and moved towards his left. They now surrounded him. They encircled his feet.
Seeing them, he stepped back some towards the wall, closer to the two women on his left.
“You should have listened. You should have run when you had the chance.” The woman behind him chuckled some under her breath. She smiled, although he never saw it, until he turned.
Seeing the smile, he noticed her teeth glisten with a deep yellowish brown. Seeing them, he smiled to himself. I can never get used to seeing rotting teeth on these things. He sighed when he turned back to the wolves that were now making a neat looking circle around his feet. “I guess I should have run, huh?” He pulled his t-shirt over his head. He tossed it to the pavement on his right. He then reached for the button of his jeans. “I guess I’m a slow learner.” He smiled to all of them.
The wolves all stopped, watching him. They looked at each other in turn.
Jimmy could hear their heart rates pick up pace. He could feel their breathing grow short. Everything told him one thing and one thing only. They didn’t expect me to do this. They expected me to run. They expected me to be afraid. He sighed as he stared into the standing woman’s dark brown eyes.
Her eyes grew larger yet. “Who are you?” She audibly winced. Her heart, he felt do the same thing. He could almost feel it want to burst out from her chest.
With that he laughed. “I’m like you.” He finished and slid his right hand into his jeans waistband. “Only I can stand on my back feet.” He gave her a playful smile.
The wolves snarled. They looked at him turn. They looked at each other, but only briefly before they jumped at him fast.
He managed to get the zipper down when the one on his right jumped his arms. The force of it knocked him back to the wall of the building behind him. He slid down it, until he was sitting on the ground. He reached for the beast’s snout, just as it came up towards his neck, grabbed it, and held it firmly in both hands, as its mouth opened, showing him its sharpened teeth.
It snarled. He could feel its emanating drool course through all of his fingers all at once. He could feel the animal struggle. He could feel its heart beat faster. He could feel that it struggled with his own strength.
It doesn’t feel that strong. The thought astonished him some. Every wolf he fought in the past had a strength that no human had. In his human form, he always needed to turn into the wolf to fight it. When this started, he felt sure that he was going to have to do the same thing, but now, he felt that he didn’t have to. It seemed that these wolves were more different than he ever thought of at first. It feels weak. I’m stronger than this wolf. I can feel it. I can beat it even in my human form.
Confirming his own thoughts, he sat up, and brought the animal on him up with him. He forced it up, and just when it was over his head, he managed to stand back to his feet. “You’re a little weak aren’t you?” He held it out in front of him with a cautious grip.
The wolf continued to struggle. It flailed around in his hands, with its four legs savagely swinging in every direction all at once.
Still feeling astonished, he looked back to the blonde haired woman on his left. “What kind of wolves are you?”
The woman gasped.
He looked back to the wolf, and just as he did so, the others jumped his legs. Together the two of them managed again to knock him back to the wall. With the impact, he lost his grip of the wolf in his hands, and it fell to the pavement at his feet. This time, he felt a sharp piercing pain flare through both of his calves. This time, he could feel his own blood flow from the area of the pain.
With that, he had enough. He realized instantly where their strength came from. They work together. I can’t take them all on at once. Understanding it, he called on the eyes at the back of his mind to come forward. Come to me Kalima. He saw them glistening back to him. Come and help me now.
Quickly, the eyes flew forward so fast that they pushed his away with an almost thunderous blast of heat. Instantly, his entire body began to burn. Instantly, his mind faded out as the wolf Kalima stepped forward and replaced him.
The wolf that jumped him first, now jumped back on top of him just as he slid back into a sitting position. Its front claws dug neat and ordered rows of blood and torn flesh through his chest, crossing him from breast to belly with precision. When his body began to burn, the animal suddenly stopped. The two at his legs did the same thing quickly.
They could feel the man’s body as it began to twist and moan. They each noticed his hands suddenly turn to an ashen black, as thick long claws slid out from his nails. Deep black hair flared out over every part of his skin. Looking up to his face, they watched as his mouth opened up showing them large protruding canine fangs. His face curled and writhed until a long undulating snout formed out from his jaws.
The wolf on top of him tried to turn, but just as it did so, two heavy large hands came at its face. It could feel heavy claws imbed into the sides of its snout and face, tearing its flesh to the bone. It yelped a loud crash as it could feel its own head twisted almost completely off, and it heard its own neck snap beneath its ears. It yelped again as it felt its very life vanished between its eyes.
The others, at the man’s legs, watched as his feet burst out through the fabric of the sneakers he wore. They watched as those same, now black feet, turned into large doglike paws, protruding out from the heel and toes. They heard the legs crack as they pushed out beneath the pant legs and formed into long hind legs. From there, they heard what sounded like a large branch being broken and heard their friend yelp in death.
The black wolf fully formed when the animal on top of it turned back into a man. He looked and felt dead. If that were true, it seemed far easier to kill it than it thought that it should have taken to do it.
The blonde haired woman, Gloria, watched with wonder and with fear as the stranger fell to her right, and hit the wall. She watched with wonder as the wolf tackled him to the ground. She continued to watch with dread eating at her soul when she watched that same stranger beginning to change. Seeing all of this, she couldn’t believe it. She didn’t understand it. It looked like a black wolf, but it couldn’t be one. As far as she knew it, all of the black wolves were dead. There were none of them left, but yet, there it was sitting. And worse yet, she watched it kill Danny with a simple twist of his neck and head.
Jimmy, looking as powerful as he ever had, stood up to his pawed hind feet, and tossed the now lifeless man towards the other two wolves in front of him and now backing away. He could feel their fear. He could hear them breathing. He could see the terror in their eyes.
The two much smaller wolves hesitated. They locked in place. They locked—frozen, and unsure of how to fight. They looked unsure of what to do, or how to react.
Deep inside him—inside Kalima’s own mind—he could feel why. They just didn’t fear him—he wasn’t supposed to be there. He wasn’t supposed to be alive. Why he knew that, he didn’t truly care. The fact they did—they did fear him—made him relax.
Gloria watched all of it and screamed, “It can’t be!”
Hearing her, he turned. He took one-step in front of her, and stopped. He had to look down. He stood a good two, or maybe three feet, over the top of her head.
The other wolves watched solemnly, until
they saw the turn. With it, they saw enough.
Together, they rushed at the black wolf again, and again, they jumped at his legs. They tried hard to jump up towards his waist.
He heard them come. In fact, he felt them move. Their body heat flared at him before their jump reached him, and this time, he was ready.
He spun around just as they reached him, and with one solid swing of his right arm, he smacked the one on his left with everything he had.
The force struck the first wolf and it caused it to hit the one next to its left and his right. With the action, they both flew hard towards the same direction and landed on top of each other towards the opposite side of the alley. There they hit the wall with a loud and reverberating bang.
He watched them fly. Seeing it, he let out a roar that flushed the entire alleyway with a sound that seemed to bounce off the walls. It echoed. It sounded like a thunder clash.
Watching her companions smacked out the air like flies slammed with a swatter, Gloria saw enough. She hissed—she growled—she turned to her left and ran.
He turned back in time to watch her take off down the alleyway and disappear back into the shadows. He tilted his head when she left. He of course could also feel her fear. He could feel her instinct to run. He felt satisfied with all of it, and turned back to the other wolves, preparing himself for them to take another jump at him.
Surprisingly, they were now turned back into their human forms. The man on the left had his right hand wrapped around his waist. His face looked like a grimace. Fear and pain flushed his eyes. “Fuck it!” He said to the other one, barely able to say that. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”
The other man obviously agreed, and with a simple nod, and together, they ran naked to their right. They disappeared the exact same way the woman ran.
Watching them, Jimmy let out a roar that once again shattered the air of the alley like a crash that banged the world. Finished, he turned back to the woman at the wall.
She was still lying on her back, sitting. She also looked scared. She also looked terrified beyond words. Watching everything, she was just that and more. She couldn’t think. She could barely breathe.
Seeing her, Jimmy brought himself back forwards, and pushed Kalima’s mind back away.
The woman watched the black wolf shrink back again into a normal looking man. She watched the black hair disappear as his black skin turned back to white. She watched his pointed ears turn round and slide back down the sides of his head. She watched his long snout slide back in on his face. Again, she couldn’t believe it. Again, she felt lost for words.
Back again, Jimmy took a deep breath. “Are you all right Miss?” He smiled.
“It can’t be.” The young woman, maybe in her early twenties by the look of her, took a deep breath. “It’s not possible,” she gasped is back out.
“I know. Things like me don’t exist.” He smiled.
She sighed. Doing so helped her catch her breath. Slowly, she brought her feet under her, and just as slowly, she pushed herself back up until she was standing. She kept her hands to the wall behind her. She needed its strength. She felt too scared not to have it help her hold herself up straight.
Jimmy watched her attempt, and took her by the left arm, meaning to help her to stand to her feet. When he did, he couldn’t believe what he felt. She felt lifeless. She felt frigid. Feeling her, he had to pull away from her just as fast. “My God, you’re ice cold.” She didn’t feel real. She almost didn’t feel alive. He knew what it meant. “You’re a walker? A nightwalker, aren’t you?” He blinked. Now standing clearly within what little light there was coming from above her, he could now see the wound near her eye looked completely healed. The blood coming from where the wound was on her face was now the only thing left.
Hearing what he said made the woman’s eyes widen to the point to where they almost looked like they were about to fly right out of her face. “It’s not possible.” Her voice quivered some as she repeated her shock.
He took a solid breath. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Unlike your friends, and that got him thinking. Why were werewolves trying to kill a vampire? Aren’t they like supposed to be together? After thinking this, he decided to go ahead and ask her his thoughts. “Why were they trying to kill you anyway? That doesn’t make any sense to me.” Feeling himself rather exposed, missing his shirt, he looked back to the ground behind him to find where he threw it. It took only seconds to do it, so he went for it and picked it back up. He pulled it back on as he turned back to her.
Watching him—carefully—she wasn’t sure if she should try to move or not. She had too many questions running around inside her head to be able to think straight. “They weren’t trying to kill me.” She took a deep breath. She took in his odor. She took in the smell of the animal she just saw. With his smell flushing through her, she still couldn’t believe it. She only knew of one wolf like this one, and he has been dead for centuries, but yet, here he was—there he stood—right in front of her.
He looked down to his feet and saw that his shoes were gone. Goddamn it, I liked those sneakers. He found them torn at the center of the alley. At least I still have my jeans. That he liked. If I can change with them still on, I don’t have to keep being naked all the time to do it. He chuckled some to himself.
“What’s so funny?” she had to ask.
That brought him back from his thoughts. “You didn’t answer me.” He put his hands to his hips. “If they weren’t trying to kill you, what were they doing?” With the shirt back on, and its cloth hitting them, he finally noticed the cuts on his chest. Feeling them, he lifted up his shirt to take a good look at them, and thankfully, they were already starting to heal. Satisfied, he pulled the shirt back down.
“They wanted my oath.” She looked down at her feet.
Seeing her do that made him feel worried some, but what she said, it didn’t help the feeling. “What oath?”
“Why don’t you start by telling me your name first? And, why you even exist?” She looked back up.
Seeing her eyes made him lighten up some. The fear in her face helped it. “The name’s Jimmy—Jimmy Walls.” He now passed her a smile.
With that, she looked confused some. “I don’t know your name.”
Hearing that, he nodded to himself. Of course, she wouldn’t know my name. But one name, she just might. He hoped so. He knew so little about himself. “Yeah—I guess you wouldn’t.” He now had to find out if she did. “I’m also Kalima.” Now’s the time to see if I’m right.
She gave him exactly what he was hoping for when her eyes lit up. “Kalima is dead.”
He could see the look of worry now build up behind her eyes too. He could even feel her heart skip several beats. “Not exactly.” He bowed his eyes some. I can understand how she feels, but I don’t understand why. After all, he was one of them. “He was the one that made me.” He took a deep breath. He could smell the fear all over her scent. “I carry him. I have his soul.”
He could now feel her tense up. “That’s not possible.” He could feel her as she took another deep breath.
To him, she felt like someone feeling doubt. She also felt like one having to swallow bad news. He nodded. “Obviously not.” He lifted his head back up and smiled, but none of this was funny.
“I can understand him making you, but,” she paused, obviously trying to find the right words to say. “We don’t pass on our souls—we walkers can’t do that.”
With that, he slightly giggled some. “Obviously not again.” He now paused trying to find where he wanted this conversation to go. Thinking about it, he has never had a chance like this to ask another walker such things about himself. He did have Sasha, but her knowledge seemed to be limited. He thought about having a chance with a more prominent Walker many times before, wondering what he was going to ask them, but now, being here with one, he had trouble in finding those questions. He had trouble finding what he even wanted to say. “I have his memories, his feeli
ngs—his passions. In effect, I am him.” That came out better than I thought.
He could now feel her calm some. She’s confused. She’s not sure what to think. He had no idea how right he was, and what was really rolling inside her head, and that was about to prove itself to him, more than ever.
“Then you should remember me. I knew Kalima.”
His eyes widened. “You knew him?” It somehow seemed farfetched to him. “But that was like years ago—centuries ago even.”
“Try a millennium or two.” She now was the one to bow her head some.
He did no such thing. His eyes only widened even more. “You knew him from the beginning. You knew him when he became this.”
“Kalima was a powerful walker.” Her eyes came back up. “I knew him then yes.” She thought some before asking him something herself. “If you truly are what you say you are, you should remember me.”
He now paused, but his mind was now rambling. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. For weeks now, he has spent his days and nights trying to find the meaning to everything he was. He has spent most of that time searching, almost groping for answers. And now, here he was, standing there with someone that could possibly answer everything for him. He now felt lost, almost hidden—almost forbidden—with his attempts. It felt like he was lost in a deep black forest, looking for his way out, and here she was, carrying a light to help him do just that.
“I have so little from him.” He looked her straight in the eyes. Where his eyes must have looked clouded over by the fog of not knowing, he could see in hers the look of total clarity. She had the look of an unrelenting knowledge and a brightness of thought. “His memories seem jumbled to me. It almost like he’s lost in the dark.” Now, his eyes went down.
“Only a wanderer can pass on their souls.” She stepped forwards some, but stopped before reaching him as a new powerful scent came from behind her. There were several walkers coming, and by their aromas, they were coming fast. She turned to the scent. “I have to go.” She turned back to Jimmy. “And you should too.”
A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2) Page 2