“Not always.”
My head was spinning. Maybe I should have paid more attention to Blake and his teachings. I was starting to feel guilty for just dismissing him. Cripes. Who needs that?
“You’re father had it coming,” Tara seethed. “He hunted my family for years.”
“Maybe that’s because you were evil,” Rafael countered.
I could believe that.
“We were not evil! We were just trying to survive.”
Rafael glowered at Tara. I had no idea which version of truth was the right one. I just knew that I wasn’t in the mood to watch a human barbecue.
“Why don’t you just agree to disagree?” I offered.
“It’s too late for that.”
I figured that’s what she would say.
I turned to the assembled wolves. “So, you’re willing to kill two people for a grudge match between a witch and vampire?”
Brett shrugged. “We don’t really have a choice now do we? And, by my count, we’re going to have to kill four people.”
“He’s talking about us,” Paris muttered.
“Thanks, I figured that out.” She really was no help in a crisis.
“How are you going to explain the disappearances of all four of us?”
“Vampires disappear all the time,” Tara explained.
“And three roommates?”
Tara paused.
“She has a point,” Brett looked worried.
“We’ll go back to the dorm after this and take all their stuff. People will think they all took off together.”
“Why would we do that?”
“Who knows? The police won’t look that hard. Trust me. I put a very simple glamour on a week-old body and they not only believed it was me but never questioned the disappearance of the other body. Cops are stupid.”
After meeting the two idiots that came to our room, I couldn’t help but agree. Double crap.
“Light the fire,” Tara instructed Brett.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a lighter and obediently made his way over to the stacked wood.
“What about your little ceremony?” I asked desperately.
“You’ve erased the need for that,” Tara said with a wicked smile. “Thank you. All that pretense was going to be tiresome.”
That’s me, always being helpful.
I got to my feet again. I had no idea what I was going to do. I just knew I couldn’t let this happen.
Brittany picked this moment to start wailing. “What did I ever do to you?”
Tara regarded her like a bug on a windshield. “You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I promise. Just let me go.”
“I don’t believe you. You have a moral code. A really, really annoying moral code that no one – not even you – can live up to.”
“I thought we were friends,” Brittany whimpered.
“You thought wrong,” Tara said simply.
“Why did you come here?” I asked.
“I decided it would be fun to go to college,” Tara said. “You saw where I grew up. I never had a chance. Now that I had the money, I didn’t see why I couldn’t give it a shot. It wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be – and that was before Rafael showed up and ruined everything.”
“What did you think it would be?”
“I don’t know. Parties. Fun. Not all these classes and annoying little boys and girls in heat.”
“We’re teenagers. Of course we’re in heat. That’s what teenagers do.”
“I may still look like a teenager, but I haven’t been one in a very long time. I guess I forgot.” She was so matter-of-fact. It was grating.
“Why not just leave?”
“Oh, I will. After I tie up a few loose ends.”
Brittany was now sniveling like a two-year-old that had her favorite toy taken away. I wanted to smack her myself. Of course, I wasn’t the one tied to a pyre.
“And what loose ends would those be?”
I had no idea where the voice came from – but I recognized it. Aric had arrived. Great. He was big, but he wasn’t big enough to take out thirty wolves and a crazy woman. We were all going to die together.
I searched the crowd for him. I noticed the circle of wolves opening to the left. I was surprised to see that Aric wasn’t alone. He had a cadre of wolves with him – including Will.
Aric’s gaze met mine. “You can’t keep out of trouble, can you?”
“How did you find us?”
“I followed your scent.”
“That’s a little gross.”
Will was looking at the both of us. He didn’t look happy. At least he was here, though.
Tara stepped to the middle of the circle and frowned when she saw Aric and the other wolves. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m not letting you do this.”
“Why do you even care? It’s just a vampire and three little girls.”
“I don’t care about the vampire,” Aric said, sliding a disapproving glance to Rafael. “I care about the little girls.”
I think I’d just been insulted.
For the first time that night, Tara looked nervous. I took that as a good sign. I saw that the rest of the wolves that she had amassed also looked uncomfortable. Brett stepped forward. I could tell he was jittery.
“I command you all to go back to the frat house.”
Aric snickered. “Sit down.”
I was a little impressed at Aric’s swagger. I was even more impressed when Brett obeyed him.
“What are you doing?” Tara was incredulous.
Brett averted her gaze.
I couldn’t help but notice that some of Brett’s wolves had started slinking away into the dark. Tara noticed, too.
“Where are you wimps going?”
“That’s the way to appeal to them,” I smirked. “Call them names.”
Tara pointed her finger at me angrily. “Shut your mouth.”
“You shut your mouth.”
“No, you shut your mouth.”
“Will you both shut your mouths?” Rafael was looking irritated. He met Aric’s gaze. “You want to get me down from here?”
“Not particularly,” he growled. Aric turned to me. “Go cut him down.”
I skirted around Tara and made my way to Rafael. I wasn’t keen on being bossed around. I figured having Rafael free could only be helpful at this point, though. I plucked the knife from Brett’s hands. He didn’t argue.
“Don’t you untie him,” Tara warned.
I didn’t listen to her. I quickly cut Rafael’s bonds and then moved over to Brittany. Rafael rubbed his wrists, but he didn’t move from the middle of the woodpile. After I freed Brittany, she stumbled over to Paris and dissolved into tears as she wedged herself next to her on the picnic table bench. Paris absently rubbed her back. Her eyes never left Tara, though. She was still dangerous.
When I turned back to the scene, I noticed that there were only about five wolves from Tara’s contingent left. Aric’s wolves could easily take them. Tara was the wild card – and it didn’t look like she was backing down.
“That’s it,” she bellowed. “I will handle this myself you cowards.”
Tara reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out . . . a gun. What the hell?
“A gun? You brought a gun to a werewolf fight? That is unbelievable.”
“What did you think I was pulling out? A magic wand?”
“Actually, yes.”
“You’re so naïve.”
“Let me guess. There’s silver bullets in there?”
“But of course.”
“I was joking.”
“I’m not.”
I noticed Aric had shifted slightly when she pulled the gun. To his credit, though, he didn’t back away.
“Can those kill you?” I was looking at him.
Aric nodded absentmindedly. He never took his eyes from the g
un.
“You can’t shoot him,” I appealed to Tara.
“Why? Because you love him?”
“I don’t love him,” I scoffed. “I just met him. This isn’t some ‘Twilight’ bullshit.”
“Those books are total crap,” Tara agreed.
“I love those books,” Brittany sniffed.
“You would,” Tara snorted.
Tara pulled back the hammer on the gun and leveled it at Aric. “You ruined this for me.”
“You ruined it for yourself.”
“Oh, good grief.” Rafael had moved from his spot on top of the bonfire. He picked up a branch from the bonfire and shoved it through Tara’s chest from behind. I saw what he was doing as he was doing it and somehow my mind was having trouble registering what was happening.
Tara didn’t look like it hurt. In fact, she looked more surprised than anything else. She cast a glance over her shoulder and met Rafael’s gaze. “Congratulations,” she rasped. “You killed my entire clan.”
“Right back at you,” Rafael seethed. He then wrenched the branch back out of Tara and she crumpled. To be more exact, her clothes crumpled. She was gone.
Paris and Brittany gasped. I curiously moved over to the pile of clothes and nudged them with my foot. There was nothing there, though.
“Where did she go?”
“She’s dead.”
“There’s no body.”
Rafael shrugged. “She’s dead. Don’t worry.”
“Chatty as always, I see.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“How about thank you? You know, for saving your life?”
“You didn’t save my life.”
“The hell I didn’t.”
“Is this really the time for this?” Paris was trying to disengage herself from Brittany’s clingy embrace. It wasn’t exactly working.
“How do you figure you saved him?” Aric was looking nonplussed.
“Because if I hadn’t been here they would have started him on fire long before you showed up.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Oh, please. I suppose you want credit for saving us.”
“Well, I did.”
“Did you ever consider this might not have happened if you just told me what you knew instead of hiding like a little ferret for the past couple of weeks?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You knew that Tara was Lola after we went to Zilwaukee.”
“Why would you go to Zilwaukee with him?” Will had finally found his voice.
“Why do you care?”
“I’m just curious,” Will started studying his shoes.
“We went to try and track down Tara’s family. When we got back, he disappeared like . . . like a disappearing guy.”
“Nice analogy.”
“Screw you.”
“You people are unbelievable!” Brittany was on her feet and she wasn’t exactly what I would call happy. “I almost died tonight and all you care about is your little soap opera.”
“Simmer down,” Aric ordered.
Brittany was having none of it. “You are not the boss of me!”
“Brittany, calm down.”
Brittany swung around and grabbed the arm of my coat. “And you! You have been keeping secrets. Secrets that could have gotten me killed.”
“Well, if you had listened to me and stayed away from my ex-boyfriend none of this would have happened to you.”
Brittany looked chastised.
“Why do you care if she hits on your ex-boyfriend?” Aric was glaring at me.
“That’s a good question.” Great. Now Rafael was getting involved in the situation.
“Why do you care?” Aric was now facing Rafael.
“Why do you care?”
You know who didn’t care anymore? Me. I was suddenly tired. I turned and started to walk away from the house. The wolves that had come with Aric parted to let me through. None of them said anything. I couldn’t help but think they were relieved to see me go.
“Where are you going?”
“To take a shower and go to bed. You people make me tired.”
Epilogue
The rest of the term went by in a blur.
Brittany was back to her annoying self within a few days. It was almost as if she had forgotten what had happened. Unfortunately, whenever we got into an argument, she brought up the fact that my secrecy had put her life in danger. It was a long couple of weeks.
Paris and Mark were still flirting – but the relationship hadn’t moved any further. Mark was recruiting her for the monster academy. She hadn’t committed yet, but I had a feeling she would eventually. I didn’t now how to feel about that.
I’d run into Will on campus about a week after the event. Things had been cordial, but unfamiliar.
I hadn’t seen Rafael. I was actually relieved about that. I didn’t know what to say to him. I was torn between thanking him and smacking him. He had shoved a piece of wood into the chest of my roommate, after all. Sure, she was going to burn him at the stake, but the whole thing was still so surreal.
Aric had stopped by the dorm. I’d made Paris lie and tell him I wasn’t there. I wasn’t ready to deal with him either.
Before we knew it, the semester was over and we were all going home for Christmas break.
“Things will be better next semester,” Brittany announced brightly.
Yeah, she’s not the quickest redneck at the frog pond.
I was actually relieved to find myself back in my old bedroom, surrounded by my childhood stuffed animals, and the familiar smells of home. Sure, it was a bummer to have my parents constantly watching my every move, but was only two weeks, though.
As I went about my daily activities, I occasionally found my parents watching me thoughtfully. They could tell something was different, they just didn’t know what. I had no intention of filling them in – at least not yet.
The day after Christmas, I was sitting on the couch and reading a magazine – someone needs to start the entire Kardashian clan on fire -- when there was a knock on the door.
It was winter in northern lower Michigan, so the days were getting shorter. It wasn’t even 6 p.m. yet and already dark. When I opened the door, I got the surprise of my life.
“What are you doing here?” I looked over my shoulder. Neither of my parents were in the general vicinity.
“We need to talk.” My guest pushed his way into the house without waiting to let me invite him in.
“We can talk when we get back to campus.”
“This can’t wait.” My guest’s dark hair was messy from the wind outside and his dark eyes were fierce.
“Now what? Another witch? Another stake burning?”
“No. The pack is coming for you.”
The Legend – By Bob Farley
A cool summer morning in early June is when the legend began
At a nameless logging camp in Wexford County where the Manistee River ran.
Eleven lumberjacks near the Garland Swamp found an animal they thought was a dog
In a playful mood they chased it around until it ran inside a hollow log
A logger named Johnson grabbed him a stick and poked around inside
Then the thing let out an unearthly scream and came out ...and stood upright.
None of those men ever said very much about whatever happened then.
They just packed up their belongings and left that night and were never heard from again.
It was ten years later in '97 when a farmer near Buckley was found.
Slumped over his plow, his heart had stopped. There were dog tracks all around.
Seven years past the turn of the century they say a crazy old widow had a dream of dogs that circled her house at night. They walked like men and screamed
In 1917 a sheriff who was out a walking found a driverless wagon and tracks in the dust like wolves had been a stalking.
Near the roadside a four-horse team lay d
ead with their eyes open wide.When the vet finished up his examination he said it looked like they died of fright.
In '37 a schooner captain said several crew members had reported a pack of wild dogs roaming Bowers Harbor. His story was never recorded.
In '57 a man of the cloth found claw marks on an old church door. The newspaper said they were made by a dog. He'd a had to stood seven foot four.
In '67 a van load of hippies told a park ranger named Quinlan they'd been awakened in the night by a scratch at the window. There was a dog-man looking' in and grinning.
In '77 there were screams in the night near the village of Bellaire. Could have been a bobcat, could have been the wind. Nobody looked up there.
Then in the summer of '87, near Luther it happened again. At a cabin in the woods it looked like maybe someone had tried to break in.
There were cuts in the door that could only have been made by very sharp teeth and claws.
He didn't wear shoes cause he didn't have feet; he walked on just two paws.
So far this spring no stories have appeared. Have the dog men gone away? Have they disappeared?
Soon enough I guess we'll know cause summer is almost here. And in this decade called the 80s, the 7th year is here.
And somewhere in the northwoods darkness a creature walks upright. And the best advice you may ever get is don't go out at night.
Author’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Awakening (Covenant College #1) Page 22