by Lisa Emme
“I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time. I know you didn’t have a choice,” I said.
“I’m sorry too, Harry. I only told them what I absolutely had to.”
“Well, hopefully it won’t be an issue anymore. If the Triad needs to know something about me they can just ask me their damn selves.”
“Harry! You didn’t say that to Eleanor did you?”
I shrugged. “Sort of.”
“Enough you two! Let’s go dance!” Holly grabbed our hands and pulled us to the dance floor. The crowd parted around us, making room. At first, I just let go and the three of us danced together, like female friends can do, not caring about anything else, just having a good time. After a while, I looked up and noticed that both Holly and Tess had managed to gather some male admirers. That’s when I noticed that I was dancing alone. There was a gap in the crowd all around me. At first I thought it was some sort of anomaly of crowd dynamics but when I moved, the gap followed me. It was like the crowd was the greasy dishwater and I was a drop of detergent. Everyone on the dance floor seemed to be making an effort to stay at least two feet away from me, especially those with a Y chromosome.
To test my theory, I scanned the crowd until I saw a familiar face. It was Joe. He was dancing on the far side of the crowd. I made my way over to him, which wasn’t difficult since the crowd parted before me like the Red Sea did for Moses, and caught his eye.
“Hey handsome, ready for that dance?”
“What?” Joe looked around nervously. “Uh, no. Sorry,” he continued, looking over his shoulder again. “I was just going.” He pushed his way through the crowd, leaving me standing there dumbfounded.
“Harry! Hey, Harry!” Holly plowed through the crowd towards me. “Where are you going?”
“Looks like nowhere.” I turned my head and sniffed my shoulder. “Is there something wrong with me? Do I smell or something?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Does my breath smell?” I lifted my palm in front of my mouth and exhaled on it.
Holly grabbed my arm. “What on earth has gotten into you? Are you drunk?”
I pulled my arm from her grasp. “No, of course not. But I think I’m a leper or something.” I looked down at my dress with its cute ruffled skirt. “Is Gran right? Is it my clothes? Do I really look like a hippy school marm?”
“Are you kidding? You look gorgeous in that dress.” Holly began pulling me towards a table. “Here, sit down.” She looked at me sternly. “Stay there. I’m going to get you some water. I think you must be dehydrated or something.”
Holly arrived back, Tess in tow, a few minutes later. Even if she hadn’t been carrying two shooters of tequila in each hand, I would have known from her expression that something was wrong.
“Here, drink this,” she said, handing me a glass.
“What happened to the water?”
“Trust me, you’re going to want this.”
I shrugged and gulped the tequila back, grimacing as it burned its way down my throat. I sucked in a breath through my teeth and said, “Alright, whatever it is, lay it on me.” I looked from Tess to Holly and then back again. They both looked like they were about to tell me that my dog died. I’d have been worried, but I don’t own a dog. “Come on. Spill it. Don’t keep me in suspense.”
***
I knew that Tess had finished speaking because her lips had stopped moving, but frankly, I had stopped listening. Besides, it was hard to hear anything over the dull roar of the anger building inside my head.
“He did what?!” I stood up, pushing my chair over. “That bastard.” I grabbed another shot of tequila and tossed it back, slamming the empty glass on the table. “Wait until I find him. I’ll kill him.” I pushed past Tess, who did her best to block my path.
“Harry, wait!” Holly made a lunge for my arm, but she was too slow. I was already storming across the dance floor, the crowd parting before me, which I now knew was thanks to Nash and his meddling. I didn’t really have a plan or have a clue where I might find Nash. I just needed to move. By the time I had stomped my way across the dance floor, something that’s not particularly easy in three inch pumps, some of my anger had worn off and the tequila had kicked in. It made for a dangerous combination, especially with the waves of energy already pounding at me. I relaxed my shields a little, letting a tendril of the pulsing wave slip past. It was like a drug, wrapping around me, heightening my senses, making me feel more alive. I stopped where I was and closed my eyes, relishing the feeling.
“Hey pretty lady. Why is a sweet thing like you all alone?”
I opened my eyes in surprise. The speaker was around my age, although with werewolves it’s hard to tell, and as is typical with many of the non-human races, he was good looking bordering on smoking hot. Obviously he hadn’t gotten the less than subtle message Nash had left earlier regarding me being off limits. Maybe he wasn’t there when Nash brought me the stew, which in werewolf terms meant I was untouchable. It had some Neanderthal-like reasoning behind it which I had sort of tuned out when Tess was explaining things. It went something like since Nash fed me, I was his and no other wolves could touch me, unless they wanted to fight him for me first, or some such nonsense. Maybe this guy had a death wish. Whatever the case, I wasn’t in the mood to pass up the opportunity.
“I’m not alone now.” I ran my hand down his bare, muscular arm. “Dance with me.” It was more a command than a question. I grabbed his hand and pulled him further onto the dance floor.
Between the lights and the music and the pulsing flow of energy, I felt a rush. My new friend pulled me close and whisper-shouted in my ear, “I’m Greg.”
I smiled in answer and just kept dancing, the beat of the music hypnotic. I let it wash over me, flow into me, feeling like I was flying higher with each beat. The music changed to something sexy and seductive. Greg put his hands on my hips and we did a bump and grind, our bodies touching. I felt on fire. Feeling reckless, I reached up and ran my hand through his hair, pulling his mouth to mine. He responded to my kiss, his mouth exploring mine. He slid his hands down to cup my ass, pressing my body up against his.
“Are you nuts man?” The voice startled us. A hand reached out and grabbed Greg’s arm, pulling us apart. A wolf I didn’t recognize scowled at me then pulled Greg further away.
“What the fuck, Ethan?” Greg shrugged his friend off. Ethan grabbed his arm again and leaned in to whisper something in Greg’s ear.
Greg stiffened and looked at me, putting his hands up as if to ward me off. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He shook his head then backed further away.
“Wait. Stop.” I reached out to him but he shied away. “I don’t belong to anyone. You can dance with me if you want.”
“Harry!” Tess came running up to me, Holly following close behind. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine! I’m just fine!” I brushed her off. “No, that’s a lie. I’m not fine, I’m pissed off at Nash. Well, screw him. Can’t you feel it? This place is electric. I feel like I could fly!” I threw my arms wide, soaking in the energy all around me. I felt giddy with it.
“Harry!” Holly grabbed my arms. “Stop that! You’re going to overdo it.”
“Oh, Holly, don’t be such a spoilsport. I feel wonderful. Or I would except for that, that jack-off….no, ass-off…. I mean that jerk off, asshole Nash ruining my entire night!” I swayed, my knees buckling a little. “Whoa.” I threw my hand out to steady myself against Tess. Okay, so maybe I was a little out of control.
“Harry, it’s too much. You’re drunk. High even.” Holly looked at me with concern.
“Nah, I’m fine. I’m good.” I closed my eyes, feeling the music pounding within me again. “I just want to dance only no one will dance with me, thanks to Nash.” I pushed away from Tess and staggered to the edge of the dance floor
.
Climbing onto a table, I scanned the crowd then cupped my hands to my mouth and shouted, “Nash! Cian Nash!” I looked out over the crowd. “Nash, you coward! Come out and face me like a man.”
“Harry, have you gone crazy?” Holly tried to grab for me. “Get down before you fall and break your neck.”
“Nonsense. I have perfect balance.” I wobbled on the table. “See?”
“Harry, come on. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Tess came to stand beside Holly.
The crowd around us had stopped dancing and everyone milled around looking at us. Suddenly there was a movement at the back of the crowd and it parted, letting a very pissed off looking Nash pass.
“Oh, there you are. The big, bad wolf. Ha!” I shook my fist at him causing the table to wobble some more. “Whoa!” My foot slipped, but I quickly regained my balance.
“Harry, what the hell are you doing?” Nash strode up and stopped in front of me, hands on his hips. “Get down from there before you fall.”
“You aren’t the boss of me, you, you…Mister.”
“Are you drunk?” Nash looked at Holly and Tess. “Is this how you take care of her?” Tess cowered away from him.
“Hey! Leave my friends alone, you big bully.” I leaned over to try and push him away. The table wobbled again and I lost my footing, sending me flying off, straight into Nash’s arms.
He quickly set me down on my feet. “Are you okay?” He held me out at arm’s length so he could look at me.
“I’m fine.” I closed my eyes for a moment to try and stop the room from spinning. “Okay, maybe I’m a little not so fine.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “My head, it’s just….” I made a blowing up hand gesture like my head was exploding outward. “Buhwow!” I laughed, my arms stretched over my head. “Can’t you feel it?” I started to slow motion dance to the music.
“Are you high? Did you take something?” Nash grabbed me by my elbow pulling me through the crowd.
“Hey! Hold on.” I tried to pry his fingers from my arm. “Let go of me!” He dragged me across the room and out a side door to a quiet hallway. Tess and Holly skidded through the door behind us.
“Are you on drugs?” He grabbed my face and looked at my eyes.
I slapped his hands away. “Stop that. I’m not on anything. I don’t do drugs.” Unfortunately my knees chose that moment to buckle and I turned over on one heel. I started to laugh uncontrollably, finding the whole situation hysterical. I took a deep breath and continued. “And don’t change the topic. I’m mad at you…you…Barbarian!”
“What are you talking about?” Nash frowned.
“Oh, no. Don’t pretend you don’t know.” I poked him in the chest with my finger. “Your little stunt with the bowl of stew, making me yours. No one would dance with me. You ruined my night out.”
I could see the little light go off behind his eyes as he thought about what he had done and the consequences. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“Safe? Ha!” I pushed at him again, hitting my hand against his chest. “Using some secret werewolf code to mark me like I was a tree.” I stumbled toward him. “Oh boy.” I grabbed my head. “Oh, the whole world’s spinning.”
Nash held me by the arms again, looking at me with concern on his face. “What did you take? You’re high. Did someone give you something?”
“I am not high!”
“Nash,” Holly interrupted, “Harry’s just had a little too much, you know?” She looked at him, raising her eyebrows as if he would know what she was talking about. “We need to get her home.”
Nash frowned and looked at me. “Yeah, of course.” He grabbed me by the elbow again. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
I pulled away. “I can walk.” I took a few steps then stumbled again. Nash took my hand and, dipping his shoulder like a line backer, proceeded to pull me towards him, scooping me up and throwing me over his shoulder, fireman style.
“Hey!” I tried to lift my head, but didn’t really succeed. “Whoa, the whole room is spinning.” Nash shifted me on his shoulder and set off down the long hallway, Tess and Holly following behind, snickering as they went. I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of this.
We came out a door at the side of the building. The chilly night air did wonders to clear my head. I certainly didn’t need Nash carrying me like a sack of potatoes, even if it was giving me a great view of his fine ass.
“Hey! Put me down.”
Nash let out an exasperated breath. “Suit yourself.” He bent and set me on my feet, holding me while I got my legs under me. We stood for a moment, his arms wrapped around me. My eyes met his and he took a deep breath.
“Ahem.” Holly cleared her throat and then giggled. “The car is this way. I’m sure we can manage on our own now, Detective.”
The mood broken, I pushed away from Nash and took an uneasy step. I really wished I wasn’t wearing my highest pumps at that moment. I managed to take a couple of steps without looking like a complete drunk when suddenly I was overwhelmed by a sense of dread.
“There’s something wrong.”
“What? Are you going to be sick?” Holly looked at me with concern.
“No, it’s not me. There’s something out there, something very wrong.” Feeling completely sober now, I looked around the darkened street. “Can’t you feel it?”
Nash and Tess both tensed, looking warily in both directions.
“No. There’s nothing –”
Tess was interrupted by a shriek of fear coming from around the corner of the building ahead of us. We ran towards the sound. When we rounded the building, we stopped in shock. Nash stepped in front of me momentarily blocking my view and growled, “Stay back.”
The alpha male routine was really pissing me off, but I was too shocked by what I saw to say anything. The street was in chaos. Halfway up the block, there looked to be an ongoing mob attack. Several bodies were lying on the ground in what appeared to be pieces, limbs torn off. At the centre of the mob a man fought for his life. Off to the side, a woman was swinging at several others with what looked like a piece of rebar. Further along the street, two men were locked in brutal combat, one was a werewolf judging from his speed and strength, the other looked eerily familiar.
“Are those…?” Tess’s voice trailed off in disbelief.
“Zombies.” I shook my head. It couldn’t be true, but it was. They were in various stages of decomposition, their skin ashen grey, their clothes torn and tattered. They moved mindlessly, following the single imperative of the one who called them from the grave, scratching and clawing at anything in their way. While the sight of something I had only ever read about was chilling, it was the man engaged in deadly battle with the werewolf that shook me to the core. “That’s the jack, the one from the video.”
The woman was still screaming incoherently. When she saw us, she slipped and let down her guard and the zombie closest to her grabbed her, clawing at her, opening a new wound.
Nash ran forward and pulled out his gun, taking aim. His shot took the zombie in the centre of its head, its skull exploding outwards, but to no effect. “Shit!” he exclaimed, holstering his gun and running into the fray.
“Hurry, go get reinforcements,” I yelled to Holly, pushing her back the way we had come. I grabbed Tess’s arm and pulled her forward. “Come on. We’ve got to help.” There was a pile of construction rubbish at the mouth of an alley. I grabbed another piece of rebar and ran towards the fight.
Zombies are mindless, feel no pain, have no heartbeat, magically animated killing machines. They don’t stop unless they can no longer move. You can’t shoot them or stab them, well, you can, it just won’t do you much good. The only thing that stops them, is taking their legs out from under them. So that’s what I did. I ran towards the mob, swinging the rebar like a go
lf club. The first zombie I came to went down like a bowling pin when I hacked its legs out from under it. The only problem was it just got up again. Okay, so I hadn’t completely thought my game plan through. At least knocking them off their feet was slowing them down.
The male wolf that was under siege, quickly came up with his own game plan. As soon as Tess or I knocked a zombie down, he would pounce on them and using his extraordinary strength, tear their arms off. Gross, but effective. The armless zombies were left thrashing on the ground, unable to get back up.
We were making good headway through the mob, slowly moving towards the woman and Nash. When he saw that we had things under control, he moved towards the other male werewolf and the jack. Unlike the zombies, the jack moved with supernatural speed. No shambling, mindless puppet, instead it was a deadly automaton with super human strength. The jack felt no pain and whoever piloted it had total control. He also seemed to have a fair knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. As Nash approached, the jack pinned the male wolf in a choke hold. With a horrifying crack he broke the man’s neck and then tossed his body aside like a rag doll.
Nash moved in on the jack, once again pulling his gun. He fired again and again, emptying the entire clip, hitting the jack in its centre mass, but it did nothing to stop it. The jack closed in and they began to fight in earnest. They grappled, seemingly matched in strength and skill. Nash took a heavy blow and went down momentarily and I caught my breath.
“Harry! Look out!” Tess’s shout brought my attention back to the fight at hand. More zombies were closing in.
“Where are they all coming from?”
The woman we had been defending cowered behind Tess, sobbing hysterically and bleeding from several wounds. Tess swung her rebar club, taking out another of the shambling monsters.
“I don’t know. We need those reinforcements.” I hacked at the zombie stumbling towards me.
Suddenly, one of the downed yet still armed zombies grabbed Tess’s foot and she fell. Sensing easy prey, the zombies shuffled towards her. “Oh shit! Harry!” Unable to use the rebar to her advantage from down on the ground, Tess began punching and kicking.