by Amy McClung
It took about an hour before the shifting began, I remember screaming out in pain and I could hear something hitting the walls around the cave. Not too far away from me I could hear someone crying out. My body was twisting and I was writhing in agony. This is supposed to get easier with time but it just always feels so painful. Once I was fully shifted, I sat there gathering up my strength and got up and walked toward the entrance. Quinn was standing there with a look of agony on his face, he had been crying and his hands had dried blood on them and there were chunks of debris around him. Cocking my head up at him, he smiled a bit sadly and said everything was ok and not to worry about him. I whimpered and he knelt down beside me, wrapped his arm around my neck, and patted my head. It must have been hard on him to hear me in such pain and not be able to help. I wish he hadn’t had to experience that.
We started off into the woods stopping at every noise and movement. There was another wolf howling in the distance and Quinn and I both looked at each other for a second and then started toward the sound. Quinn is faster than me by, well a lot actually, but I am faster as a wolf so I can keep up a little easier, plus he slows down so that he can protect me by staying close. We were closing in on the wolf and all I could think about was that it was Will and we were finally going to catch up with him and he was going to be ok. We came to a clearing and there it was…it wasn’t Will though, it was a female wolf. She saw us and started growling and her teeth were gleaming white in a snarl. I stepped forward in front of Quinn and bared my teeth at her. We were facing each other down when I saw Mitchell step out in the clearing behind her. He had come from the other direction. She turned and started toward him and I ran and pounced on her. We wrestled with each other, snarling and growling. Mitchell grabbed the scruff of my neck and pulled me loose while the other wolf took off in Quinn’s direction. As soon as my feet hit the ground again I ran toward Quinn and then saw the wolf yelp and fall back.
Flashes of Will’s death ran through my mind and I yowled with sorrow as I cowered and laid my head on the ground in fear. Quinn was holding a rifle, a tranquilizer rifle. I didn’t know that was part of the plan. He came over and patted my head and said he was sorry he frightened me and I continued to whine because I kept reliving Will’s death. I kept seeing his body flying through the air and then landing with a thud. The sound that the gun made, then the sound of his body smacking against the cold hard ground, kept replaying in my thoughts. My body was firmly planted to the ground shaking and trying to remove those memories though they were repeating themselves in my mind. Quinn was trying to talk me back to reality and after a few minutes he gave up and lifted me up in his arms. He then motioned to Mitchell who picked the other wolf up off the ground he carried her back to the cave with us and they left her inside covered with a sheet. I stayed inside watching her while Mitchell and Quinn were right outside keeping watch.
The next morning I woke up to find an empty sheet beside me. My t-shirt and jeans were next to me and I got dressed and ran outside to check on Quinn and Mitchell and they weren’t there. Panic began to rise in my chest. I ran back in the cave and dialed Quinn’s cell phone, it rang inside the cave. My chest was heaving, I could feel a panic attack coming on, and I had to stay composed. They had to be ok. Running through the woods barefoot was not the best idea but I was too scared to care. Behind me I could hear someone else running. I slowed down and turned, whoever it was couldn’t be far behind, I hid behind the closest tree until they passed. “Mitchell!!” I shrieked. He turned quickly and came to a stop, I ran and hugged him. “Where is Quinn, what is going on?” I asked breathing hard. He pulled back and had his hands on my face, he looked so serious. “There is something you need to know,” he started. Hearing these words I started to think the absolute worse and started freaking out, “What happened to Quinn?” I insisted he tell me as I grabbed his shirt. He held my face still trying to keep me steady, “Quinn is fine. He is trying to find the wolf, she shifted back and ran off,” Mitchell replied. “What? She could be unsteady, she could shift and, I have to get to him,” I yelled as I tore away from him and just started running in the direction Mitchell had been going.
Two seconds later I was on the ground with Mitchell on top of me. “Sorry kid but Quinn doesn’t want you to get hurt, I can’t let you go after them,” he said as he held me down. Kicking and screaming I tried to get out from under him but he was too strong. Giving up I just lay there, and from a few feet away I hear, “See, they can’t stay away from each other. You guys could at least get a room. How trashy to just do it in the dirt, can you not control yourselves at all, geez.” It was Jackie and Quinn had her by the arm leading her toward us. She was wearing his shirt and nothing else. Mitchell jumped off of me and Quinn just rolled his eyes at Jackie’s comments. Jackie was trying to pull away from Quinn but he wouldn’t ease up.
“Jackie, what are you doing here?” I asked. She sneered, “Disappointed to see me, because I am taking some of the attention away from you. I mean, really Park, how many men can you juggle?” That hurt, Jackie has never acted like this before and I just didn’t understand where it was coming from. Quinn let her go and Jackie crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. “Can someone tell me what is going on please,” I begged. Jackie just rolled her eyes. Mitchell walked toward her and tried to reach out to her but she slapped his hand away. Quinn stepped forward, “Jackie is the other wolf. We aren’t sure how it happened so we tracked her down so she could tell us.” Jackie smiled at me, “See, you aren’t the only special one now.” That flew all over me. “Being a wolf doesn’t make you special Jackie! We have been over this, it is a curse and it is painful! How did it happen to you…when?” I asked her. “This was my first full moon shift. I was turned during the last full moon. Remember, the one where no one was protecting me and everyone was watching you instead. Well guess what, while you guys were doing God knows what together, I was being attacked at my own house by a wolf.”
Mitchell’s face dropped in shock. He still loves Jackie so much this had to be killing him. He tried to touch her again and she turned to him this time with tears in her eyes, “You should have been there to protect me Mishy, you promised you always would be. But I guess now you found someone who means more to you than I do.” Mitchell shook his head, and said, “Parker is my friend Jackie, that’s all. But, more importantly she is like a sister to you and that is why I have been so protective of her, because I knew what she meant to you. I don’t have feelings for her other than friendship. No one is more important to me than you are. You told us to take care of Parker, I am so sorry I wasn’t there for you, we all thought you would be ok…” Jackie interrupted, “Well I wasn’t ok! And it’s your fault, you were supposed to protect me and you weren’t there!“ She started to run off and Mitchell went after her. I was still shocked by what just happened. Quinn’s face showed a deep sadness, this must remind him of his best friend Elizabeth, the one he should have been protecting when she was turned into a vampire.
In the same spot I was standing, I just sat down on the ground unsure what to do next. Quinn came over and sat next to me and put his arm across my shoulders then leaned his head against mine. “It’s not your fault Parker, it’s none of our faults, there is no way we could have known that anyone would go after Jackie. We didn’t even know there were any other wolves other than you and Will,” as Quinn finished, something dawned on him. His face became pensive, making his forehead scrunch and his eyes narrow. “Will disappeared for awhile the night of the full moon…do you think he is the one that changed Jackie?” Quinn questioned. “He told me he didn’t remember much about what happened that night, which is common for newer wolves. I still lose pieces of those nights myself. It is possible, but if it did it was because he couldn’t control himself,” I replied.
Mitchell came back looking like he had just lost his best friend in the world. “She wouldn’t listen to me. She kept insisting I don’t care about her. I don’t understand where all this is coming from.”
He was yelling and beating his fists against a tree. “It’s not like her to act this way. That is not my Jackie. It’s almost like someone has convinced her that the three of us are the bad guys! Who would do that though?” Mitchell asked. Quinn looked at me and I went off, “Why are you looking at me, I don’t have a reason to turn her against everyone…she hates me too!” Quinn put his hand on my shoulder to stop me, “Of course it wasn’t you, I looked at you because…well…what if it was Will?” This was getting ridiculous to me, “Will is dead, you said there was no way he could be alive. So why is he still being blamed for everything? What reason would he have to turn Jackie against all of us? He was my friend, the last night we were together…” I paused as the emotions welled up inside me, “He was my friend, we had a bond and he would never hurt me this way.”
Quinn wrapped his arms around me and said, “I’m sorry…” I pushed him away before he could say more and stated, “You are not sorry, you have hated Will since day one. I don’t understand why either, is it just because he was a wolf or because he and I had a bond, tell me it wasn’t just jealousy Quinn, tell me it was the wolf in him and the vampire in you…something you couldn’t control.”
Quinn’s face dropped, he looked ashamed. That answered my question, this whole time it was just pure jealousy driving him to hate Will. Turning around I started back to the cave, I had one more night of the full moon to get through. When I got back to the cave I undressed and got into the sleeping bag. I only had a few hours before shifting would start so I needed a little sleep. Rolling over at one point I realized someone was there with me. Quinn was lying beside me and he smiled when our eyes met. That smile works wonders, I wanted to be mad at him but couldn’t once I saw it. I moved closer to him and snuggled up against him and kissed his chest. He kissed my head and whispered that he loved me. “I love you…I’m glad you were here when I woke up, I hate arguing with you.” I turned my face up to look at him and he leaned down and started kissing me. Someone cleared their throat and I jumped and grabbed at the sleeping bag, it was Mitchell. “Sorry guys, the sun is about to set and I was just going to let you know that I am going to start patrolling. I saw something moving in the woods a little while ago and think it might have been her. We need to watch out for Jackie tonight too, not sure where she is doing her shifting.”
Just then we heard another voice coming from behind him. “I was hoping I could shift with Parker tonight, if that’s ok,” Jackie said as she came into view. I couldn’t help but beam at her. I asked the guys to leave so Jackie could change into a sheet. Quinn and Mitchell went outside, as they were leaving, Jackie stopped Mitchell and gave him a kiss on the cheek and smiled at him. He looked so happy at that moment, I hope it lasts. The guys stepped outside and Jackie and I started getting ready.
As she was changing out of her clothes I said to Jackie, “I am glad you are here, I have really missed you.” When I turned to look at her, we both had tears in our eyes. We walked to each other and embraced. Once again it felt like I had my best friend back, I was hopeful it would last this time and that whatever drove Jackie away in the first place was no longer a problem. The guys came in at that moment and Quinn said, “Two hot girls in nothing but sheets hugging each other, this is our lucky day Mitchell.” We were all laughing and it felt like old times for a few minutes. Jackie and Mitchell even kissed and looked like a couple again.
Mitchell was holding Jackie and gazing at her so happily when all of a sudden Jackie shoved him away and bent forward screaming in anguish. “Get out! Now! Both of you” I screamed in panic as I started shoving Mitchell and Quinn out the door. Mitchell looked horror-struck at the sound of the screams coming from Jackie. Quinn had to use his strength to keep Mitchell from going to her. He was fighting back with all the strength he could muster and screaming her name. Frenetically, I pushed them both out of the cave and I barely made it back inside to Jackie before my shifting began. After the shift was complete I was panting and I looked up and saw Jackie across the room, she was whimpering against the wall. I went over to her and nudged her with my head and she nudged back to let me know she was alright. We left the cave and Mitchell and Quinn were both gone, thank goodness because I was afraid of what she might do to them. Jackie understood to follow me as I motioned forward with my head. It would be easier if we could speak as wolves, like be able to hear other wolves thoughts the way they did in books and movies but alas, that doesn’t happen for us. There was a noise that sounded like something running so we went toward it. Running through the forest Jackie was trying to keep up with me and I started to slow down because I smelled…what the heck…another wolf.
Jackie caught up to me when I came to a stop, and then she cocked her head to the side in confusion. She was still confused when I sniffed at her and then walked forward and sniffed the air again. There was definitely another wolf that had been through that spot. It must be the wolf that bit Jackie, the only explanation. For all I knew, it could be the wolf that bit me, or Will for that matter. We slowly moved ahead both of us sniffing at the ground and trying to track the other wolf. Now there was vampire smell intermingling with it. I needed to find that wolf, but I didn’t want to put Jackie in danger, she is still new at this. Quinn was ahead, he turned and saw me coming and in that instance I saw the other wolf that was quickly approaching behind him. Pushing myself as hard as I could I headed straight for the other wolf and cut him off before he could attack Quinn. We both leaped at each other and struggled on the ground together growling and biting at each other.
Quinn was yelling my name and then started shouting at Jackie telling her to help me. All of a sudden I let out a howl. The wolf took a chunk out of my shoulder. Rolling away and whimpering I looked up and saw Quinn racing toward me. Inside I screamed, “NO!!” The wolf ran toward him and they collided and fell to the ground. The pain in my shoulder was the worst I had experienced and I couldn’t get up to help him. He was wrestling with the wolf and then I heard a shot and the wolf took off in the other direction. Quinn was lying on the ground, I let out terrified howl. Mitchell ran to Quinn to check on him and at the same time he sat up and looked over at me. Oh thank God, he was ok. Quinn ran over to me and checked my shoulder, it was bleeding pretty badly. He lifted me into his arms, still whimpering he whispered that everything would be ok. Mitchell and Jackie followed behind us.
We made it back to the cave and Quinn grabbed my sheet and held it against my wound. This one would take a while to heal. The wolf literally took a chunk out of my arm. Jackie came over and butted her head against mine to show she was worried about me. My arm was throbbing so badly, I’ve had injuries before but this was the worst one. I’d never been bitten by another wolf though, I wondered if that made a difference in the healing or the pain. One thing I knew for sure though is that I had to find out who that wolf is before it could kill Mitchell or Quinn.
The next morning I woke up wrapped in the sleeping bag, I sat up and I glanced around the cave and no one was there. As I tried to stand up I screamed out in pain, I grabbed at my shoulder and the wound had hardly healed any and felt like it was on fire. Tears were rolling down my face. The one thing I loved about my time as a wolf is that I could get hurt and be fine within a few hours, but somehow this time was different. My wound had been doctored, it had bandages on it but I could still feel that there was a hole there. I tried to sit up but the pain was excruciating. Where was everyone? I can’t believe they just left me here like this all night. Or did they? What if something happened to them? I grabbed my cell phone from next to me and tried to call Quinn first, then Jackie, then Mitchell, no one answered.
This was not good, something is wrong. Standing up was a challenge because I couldn’t put any weight on my right arm due to the bite. After finally standing up I felt dizzy and started to fall backwards and went to brace myself on the wall but used my right arm without thinking, again I screamed bloody murder. After regaining my composure I stood straight up, took a few deep breaths, and started walkin
g toward the front of the cave. It was darker than usual, which was strange, I was human again so it should be daylight and there would be sun shining through the opening. I kept walking trying to feel my way but couldn’t find the doorway. There was a flashlight in my bag so I retraced my steps back to where I woke up. I started again, this time I knew I had gone the right way, the reason there was no light and I couldn’t find the door is that it was closed over with rocks. Why did they close me in, were they afraid I would be dangerous? My phone was only on 35%, I needed to conserve the battery. Plus, the signal was terrible now. It must have been pure luck that allowed me to dial before.
As I stood there, I began to push on the rocks but it was hard with just using my left arm. My head was so jumbled, thinking I must have forgotten something that happened. Did I attack someone so they locked me in here? What is going on? Then I began to freak out a little. “Help! Help me please! Someone, I am trapped in here! Please! Quinn!!! Jackie! Anybody!” I started screaming. The only response was the sound of my voice reverberating in the cave behind me. Giving up I went back to where my stuff was and I checked my bag and I barely had enough food to make it more than a day or two. This was supposed to be the morning I left and went home. A slew of different scenarios began running through my head of what could have happened. I just prayed none of them came true. I picked up my phone and saw a faint signal was there, I texted Quinn I’m trapped in the cave, what happened last night? I’m really scared, please come get me. I love you—Parker. No response, my phone beeped a minute later and I grabbed it up excitedly but it was just an error message telling me that my message could not go through and to try again later.