The Shepard's Agony

by Mandy Rosko

  “I didn’t do anything! She just left!” he screamed in pained panic.

  “Let him go,” Gwen said. She may have given him some of the blame over David’s accident, but that didn’t mean she found torture to be acceptable.

  John turned to look at her. “He had to of done something to her, he’s the only one in here that could!”

  “He’s also surrounded by rays of sunlight! He can’t move without burning himself, as you can see!” She pointed to Jimmy’s head, which was smoking and ready to catch fire under the heat of the sunlight that touched his hair. The hunter was clenching his teeth and trying not to scream when John finally threw him back on his cot.

  Gwen had never seen him like that. He was usually so calm, collected, perfect, that watching him lose his temper was like watching another person entirely.

  John stood for a moment in thought, careful not to look Jimmy in the eyes should he already know how to use his powers of hypnotism, trying to regain that calm demeanor he was known so well for.

  “Di, get the chains,” he said finally. The red head moved immediately.

  “Is that really necessary?” Gwen asked.

  “I don’t want to risk him going anywhere. Besides, after tonight, he’s going to be the only one we can question about the hunters.”

  Gwen’s breath hitched. With all the worrying she’d been doing, she completely forgot about how they wanted to question David for hunter secrets. Now that they had his brother, David wouldn’t be needed. They were just going to let him die without a care.

  “Do you even care if he lives or dies?” She knew she cared, the very thought made her want to burst into tears. But, she’d done that already at the hospital and she wasn’t about to do it again.

  John’s guilty silence was enough for her. “Fine,” she muttered, storming out of the room. Passing Di on the way up the stairs, she purposely averted her eyes from the chains Di held in her hands.

  She went to her room and leaned her back against the door, slamming her fist into it to release some tension. That didn’t work, so she did it again, and again, not caring if someone heard her.

  What was she going to do? She couldn’t just stand by and let him die, but it wasn’t as if there was anything she could do. It was completely out of her hands. He was changing and unless she could magically stop time to prevent the full moon from coming, there was no way she could—.

  Majick!

  Gwen wanted to jump for joy. Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner?

  She slammed open her door and ran for Evey’s room. While Gwen didn’t know if there were any spells that could save David, it was better to try something than nothing. Plus, it wasn’t like it would be the first time Gwen had gone to her asking to learn a few spells. Hell, if there was even a chance it could work, she would forgive her completely for taking off to rescue Jacob without her.

  She knocked three times, her heart pounding louder than her knock. “Evey?” she called.

  The room had been prepared for her stay during the day; it had only one window covered with heavy curtains and blankets to prevent any sunlight from getting in. Gwen couldn’t open the door without letting all that sunlight in herself.

  “What is it?” Evey called, not willing to open the door.

  “I need your help,” she whispered, not willing to let anyone else in on her plan.

  “What for?”

  “I need to know if you know any spells that can, well …” She didn’t know how to word it. Strengthen the spirit? Prolong life? Prevent the werewolf change? How did majick even work?

  Thankfully, Evey seemed to know what she was asking for. The door clicked and opened. Evey was completely covered in a thick blanket to keep the sun from touching her. “Come in,” she sighed. Gwen did just that.

  It was dark when the door closed and the blanket was replaced at the crack at the floor, but not so dark that Gwen needed her night vision.

  The sight of Jacob sitting on Evey’s bed came as a shock.

  “What’s he doing here?” She was sure he’d been given his own room.

  “Nothing that concerns you,” he snapped defensively, flashing her his fangs.

  Evey put her arm around her shoulders. “He and I go back, don’t worry about him.”

  “Okay,” she said, still eyeing him carefully. She only knew who he was because of the hunter’s foolish talk out in the woods and David’s own confession that his family had been blackmailing him to act as an insider for their hunts. Personality wise, she didn’t know him at all.

  “So, you need a potion for your man, right?”

  Gwen flushed. “Yeah.”

  Evey leaned against a dresser. She’d changed clothes and looked much better wearing a red T-shirt and jeans that actually fit and hugged her hips. Jacob appeared better as well, freshly showered and shaved. He’d also been given clothes to borrow until he could get some of his own. Gwen vaguely wondered if they’d shared their shower before deciding it was none of her business.

  “It’ll be tough. There aren’t many ingredients around here to work with and it’s not like I can go outside to get them.”

  “I’ll get them. Whatever you need, just tell me and it’s yours,” Gwen offered.

  “This is for Shepard?” Jacob asked.

  Gwen looked at him. His arms were crossed and he stared at her curiously.

  “Yes,” she replied, but it was also a question. She never thought about whether or not the vampire in front of her would be bitter for his imprisonment. Something in his demeanor suggested that he was. Gwen tried reaching out to feel his emotions, but the vampire closed her off before she could find anything.

  After some thought, he finally said, “Would a lock of werewolf hair help?”

  Evey snapped her fingers. “That’s a great idea.” Before Gwen could blink, Evey was before her with that unnatural speed of hers, holding a lock of her hair in her hand.

  Gwen’s hand shot up to her head, thankfully Evey hadn’t taken too much.

  “Won’t I have to change for hair to work?” she asked.

  “Not necessarily.” Evey waved her off. “A lot of people, wolves included, don’t know that to make a potion that kills, you need the actual werewolf fur, but to make one that heals, you can just pluck a few hairs off their head while they’re still human.”

  “But, there isn’t a way to actually heal him,” she said. “I need him to live through the pain of the change.” Without going out of his mind.

  “Right,” Evey said, tying the hair with a piece of string. “And this will help him with that.”

  “How? And how does he know anything about majick?” Gwen tried not to get her hopes up, but it was just too hard when Evey seemed so damned confident in herself.

  “I told you, we go back. I showed him a few things back in our day.” She handed her the lock of hair. “Now what you’re going to want to do is get a pot, doesn’t matter what size as long as you can fit more than two cups of water in it.”

  “Two cups, okay.”

  “Then, go outside and find some dandelion leaves, get some parsley, and crush up some Advil.”

  “Advil?”

  “For the pain, you’ll probably need six or seven pills, extra strength. Is there a blender here?”

  “I-I think there is.”

  “Good, because you’re going to blend it all together. Hair can be gross if it gets stuck in the throat, so make sure you blend it well.”

  Gwen made mental plans to run out and buy a blender if there wasn’t one in the cabin. Bill only used it for Moon Nights or whenever he wanted to go fishing, but that didn’t stop him from accessorizing the place like it was lived in every day.

  “When that’s done, boil your water and mix in your blend. Stir it until it dissolves and you should have a few cups of tea.”

  “And this will work?”

  Evey sighed. Gwen could tell that she wished the question hadn’t been asked. “There is still a chance, a very good chance, t
hat it won’t. The only thing the potion will do is dull the pain, maybe even make him a little out of it with all the Advil. The rest is completely up to him.” She opened her hands as if to show her that there really was nothing else she had to offer.

  Not exactly what Gwen wanted to hear, but it was so much better than nothing.

  “Thank you,” she said, to both her and Jacob.

  “I would rather he lived,” he replied, finally looking back up at her. “As for the others, I couldn’t care less, but he helped me find my Angela again. Regardless of how many broken promises he gave me, I owe him my respect.”

  Now Gwen was confused. Who was Angela?

  She looked to Evey for an explanation, but she shook her head and readied a blanket over her body to see her out. “I’ll explain later.”

  The door was opened just enough to let her out and when it shut on her, she felt a new sense of hope. There was a chance! A small chance, but a chance!

  Gwen turned to go to the kitchen, but her father and Elaine were blocking her path.

  Elaine was red in the eyes, her cheeks swollen and wet. She’d completely forgotten that the poor woman had run crying to Larry, who held a supportive arm around her shoulder.

  “What’s going on?” Gwen asked. Maybe Jimmy did find a way to bite her, or at least scare her to tears.

  Larry kissed the back of Elaine’s hand when she sniffled again, his face worried.

  “Something’s come up and I can’t ignore it this time no matter what Bill says.” He gave Elaine a sympathetic look and Gwen was curious as to whether she even knew how her father felt about her.

  “What happened?” she asked, fearful that something had been overlooked regarding David’s health.

  Elaine’s sniffled again, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. She was trying to hold back her crying, but it actually seemed to be making it worse.

  “The hunter …” she started.

  “David’s brother?” Gwen tensed.

  Elaine shook her head. “Keith, his name is Keith.”

  Gwen thought the poor woman was confused, maybe Jimmy had somehow hypnotized her and didn’t even know it? It had happened before in new vamps. “You mean Jimmy?”

  “No,” she sobbed.

  “Gwen, it’s about the boy down there you … used to be with.”

  Her entire body jerked back in shock. “David? What about him?” He couldn’t have done anything wrong to her, he was still unconscious! And, who was Keith?

  “His name is Keith!” Elaine shouted, answering her unasked question.

  “Who is she talking about?”

  Larry shrugged helplessly, letting Elaine tell the rest with a hiccup.

  “He’s my son.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Gwen couldn’t believe that David, her David, was connected to her pack in such a way. It was just unreal.

  It wasn't just the strong mental connection she felt with him since he was turned, which she was still scared to think too much about, but he was blood related to someone here.

  She stood in the kitchen, trying to prepare the potion Evey had instructed her to make, thinking about the time wasted trying to calm poor Elaine down.

  Not that Elaine wasn’t worth the effort, but the longer she waited to give David his potion, the higher the risk that it wouldn’t work.

  Gwen gave her some tea that had crushed sleeping pills in it. The poor woman was so distraught, she didn’t notice the taste difference before it knocked her right out.

  Larry put her to bed and Gwen was now pouring her potion into a big mug. She wasn’t sure if the rest needed to be kept hot, but just in case, she put the burner on low to keep it warm.

  She didn’t just want to give David his potion, she wanted to ask his brother if Elaine’s claims had any truth to them. She was sure they didn’t. David had told her himself that his mother died during childbirth. While she knew that Elaine did have children at one point, it could be just some sort of mental breakdown after years of stress.

  Walking down the steps, careful to not spill any of her potion, Gwen opened the thick door and let herself in.

  Jimmy was huddled against the wall, the light touching his clothes was enough to make his body smoke, but not enough that it would hurt him.

  He ignored her. There was the chain John had asked for tied around his ankle connected to a peg in the wall. Gwen shook her head at it before sitting with David.

  His face was so peaceful, so much better once the blood had been cleaned off and his head bandaged.

  Seeing his reminded her of hers. With a gentle smile, she scratched the bandage he’d applied above her nose before gently peeling it off to feel the damage.

  Still tender. She was sure it had closed but wished she had a mirror to know for sure. Either way, she wasn’t going to wear it anymore. She was shocked it even stayed on after she changed and ran like mad through the woods.

  She looked down into David’s face and wondered what it would be like running with him as a wolf. Would he like it as much as she did?

  Gwen prayed Evey’s potion would work as she gently lifted his head and sat behind him, picking the mug off the floor when she found a comfortable spot.

  She opened his mouth and poured a tiny bit inside. He choked. The sound terrified her, but she kissed his head, whispered that it would be over soon, and continued when the sound stopped. He choked on every little bit she poured down his throat until the mug was empty.

  Gwen didn’t realize she was sweating until she wiped her brow. She hated the thought of hurting him, but he needed to drink it.

  She decided to give him some of the drink hourly, praying that it would keep him alive and sane through the change.

  She knew she should probably go back upstairs to check on her potion, ask Evey for anything else that could be used, and see that Elaine was alright, but she didn’t move from her spot. She continued to cradle David’s head in her lap, running her fingers through his blond hair, willing his eyes to open.

  They wouldn’t open. Of course not, she only just gave him his potion to drink. Even if its effects were nothing short of miraculous, it would still be too early for her to see any results.

  She wished she hadn’t thrown him out of the truck, it was all her fault that he was laying there, sick and helpless, possibly dying. The very thought brought tears to her eyes. She tried to blink them back, but was soon wiping her cheeks on her sleeves.

  She looked up and saw the hunter-turned-vampire staring at her curiously, his face turning red despite the dim lighting.

  “What do you want?” she snarled, in no mood to feel any pity for him.

  He was silent for a moment before cautiously speaking. “He used to tell me about you.”

  His words halted her tears. “What?”

  Jimmy stared at his brother sadly. “He used to tell me everything, so when he told me he was planning on leaving our circle it wasn’t really a surprise.”

  Gwen felt her stomach launch itself into her throat. “He was going to stop?”

  Jimmy nodded. “For you. It wasn’t the kind of thing he would tell our father, the man wouldn’t hear talk like that, but he told me about how he met the girl he always wanted to marry and he was going to leave the life for her.”

  Girl he always wanted to marry. The words made Gwen want to jump for joy and cry over her broken heart. She knew the rest of this story, he’d told it to her in the motel after he’d kissed her. He’d seen the crescent moon on her thigh, panicked, and did the only thing he could think of. He let his family attack her pack so that he could keep his cover, gain access to her during the attack and, in turn, keep her safe.

  Over the last several hours she spent running around, it was easy to forget that there were people in her pack that died because of his decision. But, looking down into his face, she knew for certain there was no way she could hate him for it. Because, really, what else could he do? Warn her pack so they could surprise his family? Admit to her that he knew what
she was and then tell his father he betrayed them by giving away their plan? No matter what he did, something bad was going to happen. Something horrible did happen, but she didn’t hate him for it. She didn’t think she ever did.

  The thought made her feel warm, like a weight had just been lifted, and she was glad for that.

  But, there was still another question she wanted to ask.

  “When Elaine left—”

  “Who?”

  Oh right, he didn’t know her name.

  “The woman who was treating him, she’s a nurse.” Gwen stared into David’s face. “She said he was, or is, her son. What do you think of that?”

  Jimmy sighed and stared up into the ceiling. “If that’s what she said then it’s probably true.”

  She expected him to scoff, laugh, and then deny it. His easy admission was surprising. “What?”

  “Davey boy over there, isn’t my real brother. He never knew.”

  “He told me your mother died giving birth to him,” she said, still shocked. So David really wasn’t a Shepard?

  The new vampire still averted his eyes, but he shook his head. “Dad just told him that. I’m not even sure what happened, one day the old man just came home and he had a toddler in his arms. Said he was our little brother, David, coming home to us. We never knew where he got him. We were in Vancouver at the time, we moved the next day and no one questioned him.”

  It was true, not only was Garrett Shepard a dangerous hunter, but a baby snatcher as well. Any sympathy she felt over the loss of the man’s wife and son vanished in that instant. Poor Elaine, Gwen wondered how it had happened that she lost her baby and then managed to move on with her life.

  And how had she recognized him? There were no telltale scars or marks on his face or body that would identify him as her son so easily, the scars he had were ones that he’d been given from hunting, or so she believed. Perhaps David really resembles his natural father? And what happened to his natural father?

  So many questions were running through her head, like how would David take the news when he woke up? Gwen was smart enough to know one thing out of all this; now that David had a connection to her pack, not just through her, but a real blood connection, Bill would have to show some lenience on him.