Hybrid (Book 2): Hunted

by Stead, Nick

  As we made our way back to the abandoned building, I wondered whether there’d been a fourth murder. If there had at least I would know it wasn’t me after all, since I hadn’t completely blacked out at all in the weeks after that last full moon. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing the Elder vampire again so soon after our last encounter, but if I could find a way to clear my name then I hoped I wouldn’t have to endure any further torment at his hands. The Slayers were a big enough threat without the vampires to worry about as well.

  Similar to our last visit to the warehouse, we entered to find we were the first to arrive, other than Ulfarr himself. I was in human form again when we went in but unlike our first trip there, I was given no clothes to make me appear less feral, and I was soon shivering at the cold air brushing across my bare skin. The Elder’s attitude towards me and werewolves in general clearly hadn’t improved, as he didn’t deign to acknowledge me once again, initially addressing only Lady Sarah.

  “My Lady,” he said. “I trust you understand the necessity for this.”

  “I do, but that does not mean I am happy with it,” she replied.

  “Happy with what?” I asked her, curiosity overriding any need to goad Ulfarr just to get him to speak to me, as stupid as that would have been. “What’s going on?”

  Lady Sarah wouldn’t even look at me then, let alone reply. The Elder simply continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Good. Bring it over here then.”

  “Bring what? Don’t just ignore me, what the hell’s going on?”

  Ulfarr strode over to the other end of the building where the same chains I’d been bound with last time had been fixed to the floor and wall, the workbench removed from the room. Lady Sarah motioned for us to follow him and curiosity kept me from arguing as we made our way over to the Elder. Too late I noticed the bars that had been added to the windows and the reinforced door ready to seal the building they’d turned into a cage. I’d barely had time to make the connection as to why we’d been brought back here when Ulfarr forced me into a state of paralysis much as he had the previous month, and telekinetically bound me once more with an additional chain round my neck this time, freeing me from his mental grip only when I was secured. I thrashed against the chains, shouting at the both of them, but I couldn’t quite find the strength to break free. Either the vampires had found some kind of supernatural reinforcement capable of containing my own supernatural strength, or the Elder had found some subtle way to weaken me without me realising. However he’d done it, I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  “Be still, beast,” he commanded, and even though I wasn’t aware of his power this time, I began to quieten, panting heavily. “We will hold you here till the full moon passes. Though doubtful, if there should be another murder in this time we will consider you innocent and you may walk free. If, however, there are no further bodies discovered it may not prove you guilty beyond doubt, but you can be certain we will be watching you much more closely. Understood?”

  “Yes,” I growled, feeling the same hate as before stirring within.

  “If you behave I will slacken the chains so you can make yourself more comfortable, but give me reason to treat you like no more than the feral dog you are and your stay here will be most unpleasant.”

  I chose not to answer this latest threat, instead looking at Lady Sarah who refused to meet my gaze. How could she continue to let them treat me like this? I felt betrayed, and I couldn’t understand why she was suddenly so unwilling to even attempt to put a stop to it. The Elder was at least as good as his word, allowing the chains to slacken so I could move around and sit if I wanted to. Then they left me before dawn, alone with my anger.

  As soon as they’d gone I began to struggle against my shackles again, driven by my rage. There was also the vague hope it had been Ulfarr’s power preventing me from breaking free of them and that he wouldn’t be able to hold me while he slept through the daylight hours. But the chains held fast even after the Elder vampire had gone, and I soon gave up wasting my energy.

  The hatred and anger Ulfarr had once again re-awoken in me didn’t last, soon lost in the emptiness which gaped ever wider as time crawled on. I had never felt so utterly alone as I did then. Even if she’d been there, Lady Sarah was no company, not when she was always so reserved and offered little in the way of comfort or companionship. She couldn’t visit me in the daylight hours of course, but with the greater sense of isolation that came from being locked in my makeshift cage, I was reminded of the fact she still couldn’t really be considered a friend. And with the deep ache resonating from the chasm in my soul, I knew I needed a friend more than ever, someone to share the burden of my lycanthropy and everything the curse had brought upon me, even if they couldn’t fill me with life once more. Or if that was too much to hope for, someone to help pass the time and break up the monotony of the meaningless nights my existence now consisted of would have been nice.

  My thoughts turned to the human world I longed to return to and I started to investigate the inside of my cage as much as the chains would allow, looking for any weaknesses that might offer a way out. That also proved pointless, my claws unable to gouge deep enough into the brick to pry the brackets I was shackled to loose, and the wall held when I threw myself against it. Both of which seemed to confirm there was a supernatural element to my prison, keeping me from breaking free through brute strength. So I turned my attention to searching the floor for anything that might have been left lying around. I didn’t know the first thing about picking locks, but if there was anything I could use to give it a go then I felt I might as well at least try. If nothing else it would help pass the time.

  It was then I noticed the bowl of fresh water they’d placed nearby and a bucket to relieve myself in, which was a slight improvement on the facilities provided when I’d been imprisoned by the Slayers, or lack of. But otherwise the room was empty, no rusty nails or other small objects I could have used left lying around. I wasn’t entirely surprised by that fact, knowing a vampire as old and powerful as Ulfarr was unlikely to be so careless, though I still felt a little disappointed. I really was stuck there until the Elder chose to free me, with no one but my own tormented mind for company and the growing sense of loneliness dragging me further under the drowning waters of my despair.

  The human world felt even further out of reach as the day wore on and I remained trapped in the building they’d abandoned, but after a while I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Daylight still reigned outside so it couldn’t be any vampires coming to check on me, which could mean only one thing – humanity had found me, as if drawn by my longing to reconnect with them. But who could possibly be lurking out there? The warehouse hadn’t been used in years as far as I could tell and from what I’d seen of the surrounding area each time Lady Sarah had brought me to it, we were pretty isolated. No doubt Ulfarr had picked it as a meeting place because he felt it was a safe enough distance from any other human buildings to minimise the risk of discovery by the Slayers. So what was a human doing out there, and what reason would they have to visit the old building?

  A rush of adrenalin flooded my system as the person drew closer. My heart pounded with the realisation that, whoever it was, I was at their mercy whilst chained at the back of the room. And since I could think of no other reason for anyone to be here other than to kill me while I was cornered and unable to escape, it seemed that in all likelihood it was one of the Slayers approaching. Somehow they’d found me again and they’d come to take advantage of the restraints the vampires had placed on me.

  The footsteps stopped on the other side of the door, the handle turning. I struggled to hear anything over the beating of my own heart, desperately trying to think of a plan but knowing full well I was doomed. There was nowhere for cover if the human had brought a gun, and the chains didn’t stretch far enough to allow me to reach the door and attack before the Slayer could make their move. There was no way out this time, yet still I couldn’t bring myself to just give up o
n life, as miserable as I was.

  The door swung open and a woman entered, carrying a long metal pole with a hook on the end. That puzzled me. It didn’t look like a weapon and while I’d expected them to come prepared to deal with me at arm’s length, surely a gun would have been so much easier. It wasn’t like the Slayers had any trouble acquiring guns, since most of them I’d encountered had been armed with one.

  I tensed as the woman drew close enough to stab at me with the length of metal, but she remained just out of reach for me to lunge at her. My only hope was to try and grab the pole and pull her to me, and I readied myself to make my move. Time seemed to slow and as the seconds dragged on I noted how she had an odd vacant expression. Her glazed eyes seemed to slide over me as if she was unaware of her surroundings, like she was sleep walking. Could it be a trick to catch me off-guard?

  The attack never came. The pole wasn’t a strange type of weapon after all but merely a tool for the woman to reach the bucket without having to get in range of the dangerous animal they were treating me as. I should have known the vampires would consider such menial tasks beneath them. They must have placed the woman under their spell, which explained the vacant expression and the lack of reaction to a naked, feral looking boy. But I also wondered if they’d sent a human because they knew it would add to my torment, and sure enough my hunger grew more powerful in response to her presence. So close to the full moon I briefly lost control, straining to break free again and snapping at the prey just out of reach.

  The woman didn’t even flinch. She turned away and walked back towards the door, retrieving a clean bucket from where she’d placed it just outside. She used the pole to place it close enough for me to use it, but the length of metal remained as frustratingly out of reach as the woman herself, and when she took her leave moments later I slumped back to the floor, defeated.

  Ulfarr’s hospitality hadn’t extended to any fresh water and I spent the rest of the day thoroughly miserable, plagued by the discomforts of thirst and hunger, and shivering in the cold building. At least it was sheltered from the elements but the air was just as chilly inside as it had been outside. And to top it all the depression weighed even heavier on my mind as my longing for my old life resumed, try as I might to focus my thoughts elsewhere.

  When the day finally came to an end and the full moon rose, I welcomed the transformation. I was glad of the reprieve I would be granted while the wolf took control, and I offered him no resistance as he rose up, sinking into the blissful darkness of our subconscious, free of my mental anguish till morning at least.

  The transformation complete, I had become a force of uncontrollable power, a thing of almost un-containable rage, except they had found a way to contain me, and I became all the more frenzied for it.

  I strained against the chains, furious that the vampires would dare to deprive me of my freedom to answer the moon’s call and the burning hunger once again. My restraints held, so I snapped at them instead but even my powerful jaws couldn’t break the cold metal. Sounds of prey in the distance caused me to resume my struggle at the end of my tethers, despite the discomfort as the chain around my neck choked and bit into the soft flesh of my throat.

  As the night wore on the hunger fed the rage and the rage fed the bloodlust, which was in turn tied to the need to hunt and kill, and taste warm flesh. Like a snake eating its own tail the three ruled me, each bleeding into the other and growing ever stronger, once again robbing me of my sanity and sense of self. I had no hope of controlling it, and if it weren't for the chains that bound me I would have attacked the first being I came across, even if they’d been a vampire. Indeed, part of me still wanted to kill the Elder vampire who had given me new reason to hate him. He’d demonstrated just how powerful he was during the last full moon, but instead of using that power to keep me placid so as to ensure I couldn’t possibly hurt any more of his kind, he’d chosen to let me suffer.

  Sometime before dawn a new vampire appeared, approaching cautiously and careful not to get too close. He tossed me a severed arm which I snatched from the air in my jaws, dropping it between my paws to gnaw on hungrily. The scrap only served to heighten my frenzied state, probably exactly why the Elder had arranged the snack for me, and I continued my useless struggle to break free. Only when the sun rose did I feel the exhaustion from my exertions, and once I was forced back to human form I was weakened considerably.

  That second day was equally as miserable as the first. In my weakened state the fury that had ruled my wolfish half all night under the full moon seemed to instantly burn out, the bloodlust fading away as if it had never been, despite the hunger still being there. The scrap of meat I’d been fed was far from enough to replenish the energy from each transformation, and I felt drained. Continuing to struggle against my restraints was pointless, and in the absence of the rage I had no reason to do so. Even when the woman from the previous day returned with another clean bucket and more water this time, I made no attempt to get at her. I merely sat hugging myself against the cold, pathetic and dejected.

  The second night would pass in much the same way as the first, with another severed limb the only offering to appease my hunger and keep me from becoming too weak to struggle even in wolf form (and I guessed the Elder vampire wanted me in that frenzied state as further evidence I was no more than a wild beast in need of putting down). And only after another lonely day, in which the emptiness filled with ever greater depression and despair, a deep pit like that I’d been stuck in after first learning the wolf hungered for humans and not animals as I’d originally assumed, did something happen to break the pattern.

  Once more a thing of rage, again I struggled to break free of my chains and unleash my fury on the world. Despite being weakened by the transformation I’d been forced through at each rise and fall of the full moon without enough sustenance to replenish my energy each time, I continued to pull against my tethers and strain for freedom. It was as if my rage gave me renewed strength.

  The sound of approaching voices caused me to grow still. I caught the scent of humans carried in on a draught and eagerly waited to see if they would be foolish enough to enter the old warehouse. Some part of my crazed brain knew they’d only get close enough if I remained quiet, so I ceased my pointless struggling and stayed crouched in the shadows like a coiled spring, waiting for the moment to pounce.

  There were three male youths who it seemed had heard me raging and had dared each other to investigate. A small part of me wondered if Ulfarr had planted the idea in their heads, or at least encouraged such thoughts, but I was too hungry and devoid of self-control to show any caution. If the Elder vampire had arranged for them to find me it surely was not out of kindness, but I was too lost in my hunger and rage to give any real consideration as to what his motives might be. All that mattered was the fact that humans were nearby, each one representing a potential kill. My mouth watered in anticipation of the taste of their flesh, threads of saliva dripping to the floor. When the warehouse door creaked open I almost tried to bound forward, which would have resulted in the chains holding me back and the boys no doubt fleeing in terror, but somehow I managed to remain patient and keep quiet and still.

  To my pleasure, the ringleader turned out to be the same insolent schoolboy who’d dared to challenge the human the morning after the last full moon. He’d obviously recovered from the incident since he was full of the same swagger he’d exhibited when the human had first encountered him weeks ago and he boldly entered the building ahead of his mates, the beam of his torch sweeping the area in front of the door. It wasn’t strong enough to penetrate the darkness at the far end of the building where I lurked, and satisfied whatever beast had been heard must have moved on, he told the others to ‘stop being pussies and come take a look’.

  The boys kept the torch beam on the ground ahead of them so as not to trip over any debris that may have been lying around, as well as to look for evidence of some monster having been there. Finally they drew close enough
for me to strike, and I did so with all my supernatural speed and strength, knowing if any of them had time to react they’d soon be out of reach, the chains stopping my jaws short of the kill.

  I latched onto the leg of the nearest prey and bit down with such force it caused the bone to break, pulling him to the ground where he stayed screaming in agony, blood gushing from the broken limb and pooling around us. It happened in seconds, the other two barely able to register this horrific turn of events before I lunged again, disabling my second victim in a similar fashion. I don’t remember consciously leaving the bully my human half had already had dealings with till last, but once again the colour had drained from him as he took in the damage from my fangs inflicted on the other two, and his bladder failed him once more at the low growl that rose from my throat.

  He turned to run but I caught him by the ankle before he could clear the area of the room the chains would let me reach, and I dragged him back to lie screaming by his mates. Then I truly lost myself in the grip of the bloodlust, savaging the first body to attempt to move until it was unrecognisable as human, blood and guts spilling out around my paws and arterial blood spraying out over the walls, severed limbs lying twitching and convulsing in a mockery of life. So great had my rage become by that point that I was more concerned with the need to kill than to eat and I left more of my kills than usual. If I’d been thinking clearly I would have been sure the Elder vampire had indeed toyed with my mind, for the bloodlust should have been satisfied without the added rage and bloodlust from the human half of my mind feeding my frenzy. I had been much more like my old self that month, before the human had caused us to lose control so completely that it had led to the blackouts of previous months. And that meant once I’d gorged myself I should have grown calmer despite my restraints, instead of remaining frenzied and eager to kill again.