by Wilde, Rhea
“That’s not the only thing bothering me. The report said they only found one body. Her body.”
“So?”
“So… I saw Irvine kill four of them. He dropped them all down right next to her. Wouldn’t they have reported that?”
I looked at Sasha’s contorted face as she listened to what I told her.
“You’re right,” she said. “That is strange.”
“What does it mean? Am I just freaking out for no reason? Somebody moved the bodies.”
“Or…”
“Or what?”
“Or Irvine didn’t kill them.”
“But he did. I saw him. He shot two of them in the chest and stabbed the other ones.”
“Yes, that would kill them. But… they must have been revived after you and Irvine left… It’s you.”
“Me? What are you talking about?”
“They saw what was happening. They saw it through your eyes. That’s the only way they could have gotten there fast enough to save them.”
“That means they know,” I said as I started to panic. “They’ve seen everything. They’ve seen the safe house in the woods. They’ve seen my apartment. They’ve seen me talking to you and Irvine. They can see right now.”
For some reason, Sasha and I turned our attention to the entrance of the bar. There was nobody there but I had an eerie feeling running through my veins. They knew. And suddenly, I didn’t feel as safe as I thought I was.
The door slowly swung open and a man walked in. He was in a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans. His beard was thick and his hair was messy. I wouldn’t have thought anything more of him except someone else followed him that was dressed similarly. Then there was another man. And then another.
They all stood out from the rest of the bar even though they were dressed so plainly. It must have been because they were so tall and wide. I could see the veins of the muscles on their arms. Their boots seemed to dig into the ground with every step they took. There were five of them as they made their way through the bar. Most of the other patrons got out of their way and when they didn’t, they were simply shoved.
Sasha and I watched them make their way to the corner table of the bar. The same table I saw Summer talking to a similar group of men.
One of them looked at me. My eyes met his and when they did, I saw a grin on his face. Then something happened. It was like a flash right before my eyes. My vision blurred for just a second. I could see myself. I was standing in the bar right next to Sasha. It was all happening right now. It was this exact moment. I was looking through his eyes. Another burst of light flashed before me and I gasped.
“Ariel!”
I stumbled back and Sasha threw her hands up to catch me. I started to blink, trying to regain my composure and make sure that my vision was my own.
“Ariel, are you all right?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine… I’m okay.”
“You looked like you were out for a second.”
“I saw…”
“What did you see?”
“I saw… us. I saw through his eyes. He was looking at us.”
I didn’t look directly at the men sitting at the corner of the bar. I didn’t want to see through their eyes again.
“What do we do?” I asked Ariel, more frightened than I’d ever been. “What are they doing here?”
“Calm down, Ariel,” Sasha tried to reassure me. “They’re not going to do anything in here. There are only five of them.”
“Yeah but there are more and—”
“They’re not here for what you think.”
“Hey, who’s the broad we gotta rape to get some service in here?”
The sound of one of the men yelling in the bar caused their entire table to laugh and holler.
“We can’t serve them,” I said. “Can’t you make them leave or something?”
“Just relax, Ariel. I’ll take care of them.”
“But—”
Before I could stop her, Sasha made her way over to the table. I listened in on their conversation, taking orders from the tables that were nearby.
“What’ll it be, boys?” Sasha asked them.
“We don’t want you,” one of the men said. “We want her. We want the pretty one.”
“Sorry, she’s busy right now. You’re going to have to settle for me tonight.”
“Okay, it’s going to be you tonight. What do you say, fellas? We’re going to have some fun with her? She looks like she knows how to handle a cock.”
The men all burst into laughter once again, pounding on the table with their fists and stomping their feet. They were getting so loud that the sound was beginning to overpower the noise of the crowd and the music coming from the band.
“Not tonight,” Sasha said to them. “I’m a good girl and I only serve alcohol.”
“Oh, I think you can make an exception for us.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh but I insist.”
The man stood up and he grabbed Sasha by the arm. Sasha tugged her arm free but he grabbed her once again. The ruckus started to draw the attention of the rest of the bar and before I knew it, everybody was turned toward the corner table.
“Come on, baby,” he said as he tried to convince Sasha. “You’ll like it.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Stop fighting it.”
He grabbed Sasha by her arms and attempted to kiss her. That was the last straw. Sasha pulled herself free and she slapped him across the face. The entire bar gasped nearly in unison as the man stumbled back from how hard she hit him. The band stopped playing and everybody had stopped talking. The look in his eyes was one of complete shock. But it only lasted for a few seconds. His eyes filled with rage and he grabbed Sasha once again.
“Listen here, bitch—”
The front door swung open. Out of nowhere, Irvine started making his way through the crowd of people and toward the corner of the bar. All of the men at the corner table turned their attention to him.
“Let her go,” Irvine said to him.
“Mind your own business.”
“This is my business. Let her go.”
“No. What are you going to do about it?”
Before Irvine could respond, another man stood up from the table and grabbed his friend.
“It’s Irvine,” he said. “Irvine Gold.”
“Ah, I’m glad somebody recognizes me. Now, let her go like I said and nothing has to happen. You don’t want… security to have to escort you out of here.”
The tension in the room was thick. Irvine was staring hard at the man that had Sasha in his grips. His friend continued to urge him to let go. Irvine pulled his jacket apart and I saw something inside of it. It caught the light of the bar and shined for just a brief moment. I didn’t know what it was but suddenly, the man let Sasha go.
One by one, they all started to stand up from the table. Irvine had his eyes locked on all of them as they walked by him. The same one I had shared a vision with turned to me and grinned.
“We’ll be seeing you real soon,” he said to me.
The entire bar watched them as they headed toward the exit before finally leaving.
“It’s okay, everybody,” Frank shouted. “It’s just a little friendly encounter. People get drunk. It happens. Resume your conversations. Let’s hear some music, huh?”
Slowly, everybody got back to what it is they were talking about before their interruption. The band proceeded to play the music that nobody was listening to.
“Are you okay?” Irvine asked Sasha.
“I’m fine,” she said. “It’s nothing.”
“He didn’t kiss you, did he?”
“No, I didn’t give him a chance. He wasn’t even close.”
“How about you?” he said as he turned to me. “Are you all right?”
“I’m just a little worried, that’s all,” I said to him. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. Irvine…”
“Yeah?”
/> “The report was on the news. The one about… what I saw the other night. They didn’t find the remains of the people you took care of.”
“What?”
“Sasha said that they were revived. She said that they saw through my eyes. And just now, they could see what I was seeing.”
Irvine turned to Sasha and she nodded her head. He was lost in thought. I could see the gears moving around in his head.
“What are we going to do?” I asked him.
“You’re not going to do anything,” he said to me. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“But—”
“The next full moon is approaching. When it’s here, they’ll be at full strength and who knows what they’re capable of. They came here tonight to send a message.”
“What kind of a message?”
“It was a warning, Ms. Everhart. They were scouting. Now there’s no question that they’re coming for you. There’s nothing left to do except prepare.”
Chapter 19
I didn’t know how many there were. There are too many to count and it was too dark. Shadowy figures bumping up against one another, their illuminated eyes the only thing there to separate them.
They were always there. Invading my thoughts and haunting my dreams. It would come when I was sleeping and when I was awake. The same image of the werewolves coming toward me. There was only one constant with all of these images. They were getting closer and closer. It was inevitable.
When Irvine said that we needed to prepare, he didn’t waste any time. He set up traps all around the cabin. Metal teeth hidden under the dirt and grass. Among the trees, invisible wires extended from one branch to another. He even built a lookout tower as tall as the largest tree. Irvine and Sasha got so much done in a short amount of time. And from how hard they working, I knew that this was real.
Inside, they barricaded the windows. It was all they could do. Any traps inside of the house were likely to pose just as much a threat to us as them.
It was the day of the full moon. Night hadn’t yet come and the sun was still up. Irvine was hammering another bear trap into the ground. I sat at a table and watched him.
He had been working for nearly three days straight. His shirt was tossed to the side because there was no point. His body covered in a permanent layer of perspiration. I admired his hard work and a part of me thought his physique deserved equal praise. The striations were all over his body, from his defined abdominals and chest, to his bulging back and broad shoulders. Every now and then he would take a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow. One deep breath was all he needed to get back to work and pound the trap into the ground. I appreciated everything he was doing for me and thankful that I knew at least one person had my back.
“I spoke to Frank,” Sasha said as she came out of the cabin. “Neither of us are coming in to work tonight.”
“How did he take it?” I asked her.
“He’s pretty upset. With Summer missing and now you and I not coming in, he’s pondering whether or not he should stick the help wanted sign back up.”
“Maybe he should.”
“He’ll never be able to replace Summer. But after tonight, he’ll need a replacement for me.”
“You’re leaving…”
“Yeah. That was just a cover, Ariel. My life is back with The Agency. You know that.”
“Yeah…”
I looked at Sasha and felt my heart sink a bit. I didn’t see Sasha as the shy girl who I worked as a waitress with. That image of her left me a long time ago. I didn’t like the Sasha that I was looking at now. It just reminded me that this entire situation was all too real. But more than that, I just missed a woman that I had grown close to. She was looking out for me. After tonight, I would be saying goodbye to someone that had grown into a close friend.
Sasha took a seat next to me. We both watched as Irvine continued to work hard.
“They can see this,” I said. “Won’t they know there will be traps waiting for them?”
“They’ll know,” Sasha explained to me. “But they won’t be able to pinpoint exactly where they are. The visions you share with them, they’re like dreams. They give you a general idea but they’re still cloudy and muddled. Not to mention that werewolves are not as logical or rational as humans.”
“What do you mean?”
“They have a beast mentality. Their instincts drive them more than anything. When their chief gives them their orders it’s like they have a single-track mind. They’ll stop at nothing to get to you. And that’s all they’ll be focused on.”
Before I could dwell upon what was going to happen tonight, Sasha put her arm around me to ease my mind.
“But they won’t get you,” she said to me. “We’ve dealt with them before. We’ll stop them.”
Sasha looked at me with a determination in her eyes that was infectious. She had me believing that everything was going to be okay. She stood up from her seat and walked over to Irvine.
“Let me help you with that,” she said.
Irvine directed her to some of the tools to the side and together they continued to prepare for the inevitable assault. I asked to help but Irvine brushed me off, telling me that I needed to conserve my strength. On the other hand, after all of this time, through all of the sweat and hard work, Irvine still looked like he had energy to spare.
Hours passed. The sun was beginning to set. The sky turned orange and the shadows of the trees turned in the other direction. The entire time, I had watched Irvine and Sasha continue to work. Eventually, Sasha walked back over to me to see how I was doing.
“At least you get the day off from work,” she said with a chuckle.
I smiled at her and shook my head.
“And you’ve still got your sense of humor, too. Listen…”
She took a seat next to me to catch her breath.
“Are you ready?” she asked me.
“I-I don’t know,” I said. “How am I supposed to prepare for something like this?”
“Just know that they’re not going to try and kill you. They’ll do everything they can to protect you.”
“But you…”
“I have a job to do, Ariel. Irvine knows it, too. Why don’t you go to the spring? Take a dip while the sun is still out. It’ll help you get your mind off things.”
“I don’t know…”
“Trust me, Ariel. You can’t dwell on this. When it happens, let it happen. We’ll be ready even if you aren’t.”
Sasha shooed me away and I did what I was told, making my way through the trees and toward the spring. As I neared it, the sound of the waterfall splashing into it added to the ambience of the wildlife of the forest. I looked around to see if I was alone then stripped myself naked.
The water was cold and refreshing against my skin. My muscles were tense and the gentle pressure from the water soothed them just a bit. I dived down underneath the water and submerged myself completely. Then I swam back up to the surface and whipped my hair behind my head. I gasped a deep breath and felt a release from my body. I don’t know why exactly it was therapeutic but it was. Being alone out here, wearing nothing at all, in the honesty of the woods. It was all so simple. I could stay out here forever.
The serenity in the water was matched by a tiny brown fawn that had walked in from between the trees. I watched as it made its way up to the spring. It bent down and started to lick the surface of the water, drinking it up. It put a smile on my face. The simple act of a peaceful animal satisfying its thirst was so new to me that I couldn’t help but appreciate it.
I started to swim toward it and it raised its head up. The innocence on its face warmed my heart.
“It’s okay, little fella. I won’t bite.”
I moved closer to it and it took a step back from me.
“Don’t worry. It’s okay.”
I swam closer to the edge and the fawn broke its gaze with me, disappearing back into the trees. I didn’t mean to scare it away. My intentions we
re just to pet it. I assumed it must not see a lot of humans around these parts, so it’s understandable something like that could happen.
I didn’t know how much time had passed but I didn’t care. The sky was growing darker but the sun was still out. I wanted to enjoy every moment I could in the water before the moon was out.
I dived back into the water and swam toward the waterfall. Underneath the splashing of the water on the surface, I floated in the small cove and enjoyed the peace by myself. I closed my eyes, free from any thoughts I might have and there was nothing. There were no eyes staring back at me. There were no figures moving around in the darkness. For once, my thoughts were all my own.
Then I heard something moving among the trees. Through the waterfall, I could see a figure on the edge of the spring. Someone had come from the forest. My heart stopped. Did they come to get me now? Were they already here?
I took a deep breath and submerged myself in the water, as if trying to hide myself. Swimming back underneath the waterfall, I slowly raised my head above the surface to identify them.
It was Irvine. He was shirtless, his back turned toward the spring. I watched him for a few moments as he stretched his arms out. I heard him let out a sigh as he extended his hands up. I could see the muscles of his back flexing as he stretched toward the sky. Then his pants suddenly dropped down to the ground and I got a good look at his bare ass.
“Irvine!”
I shouted out to him and he immediately pulled his pants back up as he turned around to look at me.
“Ms. Everhart! Sasha didn’t tell me you were here. I’m sorry.”
Irvine quickly buckled his belt back together and started to make his way back to the cabin before I stopped him.
“Wait! Don’t go!”
“I don’t think it’s right that I—”
“Please. I’d like your company out here. Even for just a moment. I’m almost finished.”
“But you’re naked.”
“I know. But I’m underneath the water. You can’t see anything.”
“But still…”
“Please?”
“Very well,” he sighed. “If you insist.”
He took a seat on a rock just to the side of the spring and he watched me as I swam by myself. I took some of the water into my mouth and spit it out like a fountain, causing Irvine to give me a sarcastic smile. Then I swam to the edge of the spring where he was, only my head above water, my nakedness shrouded.