by Justin Sloan
“Welcome home, brother,” Gregor said.
With a wave of his hand, a dozen soldiers appeared out of the darkness. Three lingered with weapons aimed on Danny, the rest went after Hunter—but there was no sight of him.
“They’re long gone,” Danny said, wheezing as he continued to try to get his breath back. “Babur and Kat are too smart for you.”
“Babur’s dead,” Gregor said in a raspy voice that said he was almost as unhappy about that fact as Danny was. “And Kat… maybe you’re right about her, but we’ll see.” The other soldiers returned and he said, “Search the area and don’t give up until we either have her or know which direction she’s headed.”
The soldiers nodded and, again, disappeared into the night.
“So what is this?” Danny asked. “Some new recruits? Trying to take up our uncle’s mantle?”
Gregor simply laughed at that. He knelt down next to Danny and said, “When’s the last time you crapped without worrying someone would appear behind you to slit your throat?”
Such a question didn’t deserve an answer, but to humor him, Danny said, “A damn long time.”
“Which is why that’s all about to change, Danny.” Gregor stood and started walking, as if expecting Danny to simply follow.
“I’m not one of you,” Danny said. “Since Aldrick died, I.... It’s just not the same.”
Gregor half turned back to him, a playful smile on his lips but disdain in his eyes. “You’re saying you won’t come willingly?”
“I’m not one of your henchmen,” Danny said. “Kat and I, we’ll go our own way, leave you in peace.”
“Peace?” Gregor roared. “You believe in such ideals? When there are men and women in the world who have yet to face judgment, there will never be peace. Soon the day of reckoning shall arrive and those deemed worthy walk among us as brothers and sisters.”
“The manifesto, yes,” Danny said. “Somehow I thought those days were in the past.”
“Somehow… you thought wrong.”
Gregor signaled to his remaining men and they surged on Danny. He snarled, trying to fight them off, but they were too many. None used lethal blows, but they didn’t hesitate to beat the crap out of him. At one point he blacked out, only to come too chained in the back of a truck. He struggled to sit, only to feel his heart sinking at the sight of the mountain they’d been on disappearing in the distance.
He struggled until the cold metal of the chains was pulling blood, and then finally lay back and watched the stars overhead. His one consolation was in the fact that, since they had him and were leaving the mountain village behind, it wasn’t likely they’d found Kat.
Chapter 6: A New Friend
Katherine woke to find herself in a car speeding down a mountain road. She groaned, clutching her head in hopes it would stop the pounding. Outside, hawks circled above tall evergreens. A faint, musty smell filled the car, like old leather left in the sun too long.
“Danny….” she said with a moan. “Where…?”
“He’s gone,” came a voice she didn’t recognize.
She sat up, realizing she was in the backseat, a man with long, blonde hair driving. A shot of pain went through her shoulder when she moved, and it all came flashing back—the bullet, trying to pull it out, and Danny and the gunshot she’d heard. He couldn’t be dead, he just couldn’t be.
Looking down, she saw her shoulder had been stitched up, a cloth wrapped around her otherwise bare chest to cover the wound and protect her decency. A jacket had been draped over her, but that had now fallen to the floor.
“Who sent you?” she asked with a shaky voice. She noted that he had no mark of the moon on the back of his neck—that was a good sign.
He adjusted the rearview mirror so he could make eye contact while driving and said, “You’re welcome, first of all.”
“Pull over.”
He looked at her, unsure, and then did as she said.
“Why am I in your car?” she asked.
“Because I saved your life.”
“You save my life, so you get to undress and abduct me?” She glared at him. “That’s not how it works where I come from.”
“I treated your wound,” he said. “I didn’t take any liberties.”
“That’s a nice way of saying it.” She pulled the cloth away to see that, indeed, he had done a fairly good job, and even applied stitches. Clean.
“People call me Triston,” he said, turning to offer her his hand. “And you are?”
“Lost, confused.” She stared at the wound a moment longer, then said, “Kat.”
“That’s ironic, isn’t it?”
“Excuse me?” She pulled back. He couldn’t know what she was… could he?
“You know….” In response, he held up a crumpled bullet. It shone in the light. “Figured you wouldn’t want to go to a hospital, am I wrong?”
She shook her head.
“Strange, isn’t it?” he asked. His fingers played with the silver, rolling it around so he could better look at it. “Why make a bullet out of silver?”
She simply nodded, slowly. What did he want from her?
After a moment, he sighed and said, “Listen, can we get moving? I’d hate for those guys back there to catch up to us.”
Were they following? She glanced back, but the street was clear. Just a long, windy stretch among the hills.
“What do you know of them?” she asked.
“I heard a gunshot and came running,” he said. “Those guys didn’t look like friends. That’s all.”
“One of them was.”
He let that linger for a bit before saying, “Will they be looking for you, or was it just him they were after?”
She didn’t want to answer that.
“Was it… them?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He gave her a doubtful look. “We’ve all read the news, heard the stories of the bodies. Heck, I came out this way in hopes of seeing one myself, actually.”
“One what?”
He responded with a raised eyebrow, then flipped the silver bullet in his hand again. “If you don’t know, best I not say. Wouldn’t want to scare you, and many still don’t believe.” He pulled a first aid kit from the glove compartment. “We ought to wrap that wound again.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“That’s something I wouldn’t doubt for a second.”
She took the bandage and gauze, applying first the bandage and then wrapping the gauze around it.
He nodded and turned the ignition key. The car rumbled to life. “Now, unless you want those friends of yours to find us….”
“There is no us,” she said.
He waited, and finally she nodded and motioned toward the road. Without a moment’s hesitation, he was roaring down the pavement, picking up speed and swerving along the windy road. She zipped her jacket tight around herself, annoyed that it now had a hole where the bullet had hit. The glass was cold as she leaned against it and watched the mountain disappear behind them, thinking about how this had been yet another failed attempt to find a cure. A happy ending seemed far beyond her reach. Everyone she loved was dead because of her, and she was fleeing with some stranger.
“Where’re you headed, anyway?” she asked.
“I know someone with a place not far from here, just over the hills.”
“That’ll work, for now.”
He smiled at her in the mirror, and she turned away, pretending to sleep.
Soon, a pitter-patter started on the roof. She woke and realized she had actually passed out for a bit. The sky had turned to lavender, the sun close to vanishing behind the trees.
The car was slowing, pulling into a small parking lot with a food station on the far side. Several large trucks blocked the view of the road ahead, but looking the other way, Katherine could see a large drop-off with more rolling hills. She normally would’ve loved the scent of fresh pine in the rain, but now it bothered her, remindin
g her of how she missed her home.
Triston told her he’d grab them a snack. He headed off past a table of truckers, who were eating and passing a flask around. One of them laughed heartily before giving her a look that made her squirm. She decided she’d use the bathroom, to get out of their line of sight. As she walked by, she overheard them saying, “Three more were found, at the bottom of the hill. I’m telling y’all, it’s real.”
Another said, “I’ll bet. Every full moon, huh?”
The others laughed, but Katherine paused, wanting to hear more. She didn’t want to draw their attention, though, so she forced herself onward. One foot in front of the other, not looking their way. She made it to the bathroom and shut the door, then leaned against it while fighting back the urge to break down. She’d seen her share of death over the years. Every time, she’d told herself not to care, trying to build up a wall around her heart that no grief could penetrate, but it never worked. Instead, the grief pushed down on that wall, so that she felt her legs would give way and she’d collapse right there on the bathroom floor, not moving until death from starvation took her.
She breathed deep, telling herself to be strong. Push on, and figure this out. Maybe not tomorrow, but somewhere down the line, this pain would be a distant memory, a sore spot that only flared up sometimes.
“You okay in there?” Triston said from the other side of the door.
“Of course,” she said, with more venom in her voice than she’d meant. She washed her hands in the trickle of water, and exited to find Triston waiting.
“There’s not another?” she asked.
“Just wanted to make sure you’re safe,” he said. “The wound didn’t open up or anything?”
“You’re not my doctor or my dad, so….”
He offered a friendly smile. “Just a stranger trying to help you out. Are you ready?”
“I was hoping for a good shower,” she said, trying to bring a bit of levity into the mood.
One of the truckers appeared beside them and said, “Honey, I think you look fine just the way you are.” He grinned and leered at her. “But I know a place where you can get clean.”
The other truckers laughed, but Triston glanced at the rising moon. Katherine gave him a raised eyebrow to say she’d noticed that. It wasn’t full, but it was close.
“It’s time to go,” Triston said.
“You think so?” the grimier of the truckers asked with a chuckle, eyes never leaving Katherine.
Triston made eye contact with her and nodded to the car. She spun on her heels and made for it, but another trucker stepped into her path.
“There’s no rush,” he said, licking his cracked lips. “We’re just making conversation here.”
Triston was at her side in a flash, finger jabbing into the man’s flabby chest. “Back the hell off, buddy.”
The trucker laughed, then backhanded Triston and sent him sprawling to the ground.
Another trucker grabbed Katherine by the hair, spinning her around. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Triston catching a second kick and returning a punch, but the large trucker didn’t seem to notice the strike.
She broke free, kneed the trucker in the groin, and tried to help Triston up. He knelt and pushed her away just as another punch caught him across the jaw.
“Go!” he yelled.
She was about to stay and fight, when the truckers all turned toward her. Triston was on his hands and knees, spitting up blood. Could she really just leave him? She took a step back as they advanced. They might hurt him a bit, but they’d do worse to her…. And he seemed to be able to hold his own.
She remembered the building, not far behind her. She ran for it, ignoring the thudding footsteps of her pursuers. In the bathroom, she kicked the door shut and leaned against it.
Thank God, she thought, but then cursed as the door burst open at a blow from the trucker’s shoulder, knocking her over. She was yelling for him to stay back, but his buddies were jeering him on, ignoring Triston’s screams for them to let him go and leave her alone.
The trucker pulled at Katherine, yanking her from the bathroom by her jeans. She clung to the grimy pipe of the sink, and then he was on her, all his weight, and she felt herself being crushed.
A shout came from outside, then another, and Triston was at the door with a large rock in his hand.
“Enough!” he shouted.
He didn’t see the trucker’s knife coming. It took him in the stomach, and he collapsed with a grunt as the blood began to seep out.
“NO!” Katherine shouted, kicking and clawing at the trucker.
But he had her wrists now, and pulled her up to pin her against the wall. She smelled his breath as he licked her neck. She tried to bite him, but he shoved her back so that her head hit the wall with a clunk. Everything spun, and spots of light blurred her vision.
Then she saw the darkness outside, and the silvery moon through the trees.
“You might want to get the hell off of me,” she said, almost a whisper.
“Yeah, right.” He had one hand pinning both of hers now, the other undoing his pants.
The clouds moved to reveal the moon, not quite full, but close. That didn’t mean they were safe, not if she let her emotions gain control. She’d learned from past mistakes—let the beast in, and it will take over.
“Get the hell off!” she shouted. “Get off!”
“I mean to,” he said with a chuckle, but his voice was already beginning to fade from her senses. A piercing cry, her own, she realized, echoed off the bathroom walls. She felt a shooting pain in her jaw as her teeth grew long and sharp, and the cracking of her fingers as they grew claws and fur sprouted from her skin.
“The fu—”
She snarled and raked his throat out, and then the darkness took her. Flashes of light, a pulse, slowing, the warm, metallic taste of blood. Rain, rhythmically pounding on the steel roof and surrounding trees.
Then it was over, and she was asleep.
Chapter 7: Arrival
When the rain had started, at first the truck had kept going, no one caring that Danny was back there, getting drenched and jostling about with every bump in the road. They’d stopped for food and water, but it wasn’t until the rain had been coming down for a good thirty minutes that the truck pulled over and waited. Danny was about to yell out, when a limo came up alongside them.
Danny sat, massaging the soreness from around his chains, glaring as Gregor exited the limo and came over to stand beside the truck.
“We’re almost there, you know,” Gregor said.
“Can’t say I give two craps,” Danny said, shivering.
Gregor looked up the sky, letting the rain wash over him. “See, problem is I promised to get you there in one piece, and the implication there is that you would be in okay shape, too. So, I’m considering putting my hatred of you aside long enough for you to slip into dry clothes.”
“I’m not following…. A promise?”
Gregor nodded. “I’m not Alpha here, not anymore.”
“Someone came along and defeated you?” Danny laughed. “Oh, this will be good.”
“You have no idea,” Gregor said.
He motioned and the men took off Danny’s chains, then Gregor returned to the limo. He left the door open. The men held their weapons, ready in case the situation got out of control.
With a nod of mock-appreciation, Danny ducked into the limo.
“Take these.” Gregor tossed him a jacket and an extra shirt. “Sorry, no one was willing to part with their pants, so you’ll have to make do.”
Danny started to change but the limo lurched forward, throwing him into the seat beside Gregor. As he finished dressing, he asked, “So what’s all this about?”
Gregor just glared at him, then rolled down one of the windows to reveal a large house in the distance.
“When we arrive, you’ll understand.”
Danny didn’t like it, but knew he wouldn’t get any more than that f
rom Gregor. He’d always been like that—keeping information close, using what he could on people to get his way. It was almost surprising that none of the other werewolves had taken him out over the years. Danny supposed they must have just been afraid.
Part of him wanted to ask where Kat was, but he also didn’t want to bring her up. If they weren’t asking about her, it was better that he didn’t either. Yeah, she could hold her own, but now she was out there by herself, seemingly abandoned.
Would she keep searching for the cure now that it was only her? If Hunter found her… could she fight him off? These questions kept pelting Danny’s brain, no matter how hard he tried not to think about them.
Finally the limo came to a stop in front of the house, and when Danny stepped out he saw it was more of a mansion. Lights from inside gave the tall windows a warm glow, and patches of ivy covered the walls that rose up with parapets similar to a castle.
“Where’d you find this place?” Danny asked.
When he turned, he saw that Gregor was watching a line of soldiers that had lined up from other cars, a couple more coming in behind them. There had to be at least thirty soldiers out there.
Gregor gave one a nod and waited as they ran around to the side of the mansion. Then he walked right past Danny and simply said, “Come.”
Given the environment and situation, Danny figured it wasn’t worth arguing. They walked through two massive doors that led to a spiral staircase. Instead of going up the stairs, they worked their way through the kitchen to a set of stairs that led down.
“He’ll be waiting for you there,” Gregor said. “Enjoy.”
“No way you’ll give me a heads up who then?”
“Not a chance.”
Danny sighed and made his way down the stairs one step at a time. It was dark, and he really didn’t want to end up a rotting corpse in here.