The Awakening: Part Two (The Lycan War Saga)

by Michael Timmins

  Sylvanis nodded, admitting it was an accurate description of what had happened.

  “Well, I decided to leave and come here when I hadn’t yet tracked down any other sign of what I had read in the news, about a large animal, possibly a bear seen in Chicago. It was luck which made me decide to wait one more day. So, I walked the beat, so to speak and sniffed him out.”

  “Sniffed him out?” Hank asked.

  “Yeah. Can’t you smell it?”

  He shook his head.

  “Well, possibly because there are too many of us in this room, and there is no way to tell the difference. The point is, if you are in a room full of non-Weres, you can smell the Were in the room. I’m not sure how else to explain it, but the moment I smelled it on him, I knew he was one of us.” She peered off in the distance, as if remembering the moment.

  “I lost him the first day. But I had got a decent view of him. It was plain luck he decided to come out for a walk in the same area again. Though it might have been bad luck, because it might have been how the Boar found him as well.” She turned back to Sylvanis.

  “I guess you are right. Seems odd you both could follow a vague lead like a news story, and end up finding him.” Sylvanis mused.

  “There was one thing about him, the Boar I mean, struck me odd.”

  “What was it?”

  “He had a British accent. I mean, it was hard to tell, you know, because we all sound a little different when we shift, but I thought I detected it in his voice and the words he used.”

  It wasn’t what Sylvanis wished to hear. It confirmed the worst of what she had thought. If the Boar was British, likely he was sent there by Kestrel to try and take out Clint.

  This meant Kestrel had located everybody except the Rat. Sylvanis knew it would be harder to defeat her this time. Sure, there were outside forces which would make Kestrel’s attempts harder to accomplish, but Sylvanis watched the news, she saw the people protesting in the streets. There was a horde of people out there who felt the same way as Kestrel — humans were destroying this world and they must be stopped, at any cost. These people had been dangerous, in their own way, before. Now, with a leader like Kestrel, they could be deadly.

  Kestrel wouldn’t make the same mistakes as last time. She would target those who would agree with her cause, and would fight harder because of it. Syndor had been around all this time, and she doubted he had been inactive. They would have the money and the resources to accomplish what they wanted. The Croc and Boar were not Por and Answi this time. She would make sure they would not try anything stupid and get themselves killed. Of course, Clint wasn’t Calin, either. Renwick had been a coward, and there was no telling if the Rat would be so, again.

  Sylvanis sighed.

  “What’s wrong?” Sim asked her.

  Smiling at him, pleased by his concern, it was important they liked her and cared for her, though she would not try and force it.

  “Just thinking about how daunting our task is. This is a different time from the last time Kestrel and I clashed. There are a lot of uncertainties, and I am not the leader of some vast army as I once was. All I have is the six of you, but I am sure it will be enough. It just won’t be easy.

  “Well, I think we should go to sleep. We have a long and difficult day ahead of us tomorrow and we will need our rest. I believe I am going to check on my parents to see what I can do to speed along their recovery. I bid you all goodnight.”

  Climbing the stairs, she left the others below to work out sleeping arrangements.

  Lying in their bed where Stephanie and Jason had left them, she found her parents. They were still unconscious, and she took a moment to examine them. She had been afraid from the beginning they might have been wounded beyond the superficial, and may have gotten lycanthropy from the Croc. But a quick examination showed they only had taken a blow to their heads, and there were places where the fire had burned them enough to cause some blisters.

  They would live, and more importantly, they would not become Weres under the control of the Croc. Placing her hands upon each of them in turn, she took some of their pain away, and they went from unconsciousness, to sleep by the rhythm of their breathing. Crawling up in bed between them, she snuggled as she used to when she was a little girl. She laughed quietly to herself. Yeah, a little girl. Like what, a couple of months ago? She genuinely loved her parents, yet in a way, they were strangers to Sylvanis.

  Snuggling closer to them, to feel their warmth, she hoped they could forgive her for taking away her childhood from them. When she left tomorrow, she didn’t believe she would be back, and she hoped they would have another child, and live happily with one they could watch grow at a normal pace. She had not intended her spell to do what it did. Not seen the consequences of her actions. But what choice had she had? She couldn’t let Kestrel come here, now, and do what she tried to do back then.

  It wasn’t fair. She gave up her life then, to stop Kestrel and had to do so once again. She was not able to grow up at a regular pace because of Kestrel, and she had been robbed, once again, of a chance to grow up and live out her life in peace.

  She cried for the loss of her parent’s daughter, and the loss of herself. She cried till she fell asleep, cradled in the arms of her parents, in the arms of strangers.

  Chapter 8

  Shae stood on the sidewalk of Chicago’s magnificent mile and watched as repairs were underway on several buildings around her. There were fewer people on the streets today than yesterday as the novelty began to wear off. Of course, it was still busier than any town she ever been in. She could sense Daniel back at the hotel. They had fought again about coming here, but in the end, she told him to shut up and he had little choice but to do so. It was a strange relationship they shared. He disgusted her and many times she wished him dead, yet she couldn’t be without him. Occasionally, she would use him, but it was mainly to humiliate him, for she found little pleasure in their sex. It was a part she believed her past had killed within her the pleasure of intimacy, and she didn’t think it would ever return.

  Brushing her ruddy brown hair out of her eyes, the wind which gave Chicago its nickname blew hard it cut her skin like a knife, leaving no wounds only reddened chapped skin. Pulling her overcoat tighter around her, she checked her Sais, as she learned the knives were called, to see if they were secure at her waist. She practiced daily handling the twin daggers. Whether she could fight well with them, she couldn’t tell, but she could handle them with familiarity, which would help with any casual encounter she might need them for. If she dealt with someone who knew how to defend against them, or had a similar weapon, she would have to rely on her shifting ability.

  Daniel and she had been here for two days.

  They had been living off the grid in extended stay hotels for around seven months. Daniel was independently wealthy and took most of his money out of his accounts before they left New York, to have cash so they couldn’t be traced using credit cards. Seven months they had traveled and lived aimlessly. Not sure where to go and what to do. Until they saw the news of what happened in Chicago. There was no mistaking the descriptions of other Weres.

  She woke Daniel in the hotel room they were staying at and told him they were leaving. After driving all night, they had arrived in Chicago in the afternoon. Shae dragged Daniel downtown that night and they both examined the damage and listened to the talk about what happened there a couple of days ago.

  Of course, the stories varied, since most heard it from a friend, whom heard it from a friend. The following morning, Shae returned, without Daniel and questioned more people. In the end, she located a woman from one of the damaged stores who had witnessed almost everything. She had been reluctant to talk about it at first since many people didn’t believe her or called her nuts, regardless of all the video of it on the internet. Shae assured her she would not think her crazy and would believe her. Something about Shae convinced her to talk.

  The woman missed the beginning of the fight, but
others had told her a huge man, with a face like a boar with tusks and everything, emerged from somewhere and attacked a man and a woman. Which is when she exited her shop to see what was happening. It was the most frightening thing she had ever seen. This boarman lifted this woman into the air, right in front of the man who may have been her boyfriend, or husband it was believed, because of the way the boarman was taunting him with the woman. Just when it appeared the monster was going to eat this woman, he was attacked, not by the man, but by some tigerwoman.

  Pausing to peer at Shae, she undoubtedly wanted to check to see if she was going to laugh, but Shae was transfixed to the story, and only nodded for the woman to continue.

  The woman continued. At this point the woman the boarman had been holding was dropped and the tigerwoman and the boarman fought. The boarman was downright beating the hell out of the tigerwoman, and she was sure this fight was going to end soon, with the boarman winning.

  In fact, the boarman had everything going his way. He had beaten the tigerwoman to unconsciousness and was once again about to grab the other girl when the man who had been with the woman transformed into a wolfman. She wouldn’t have believed it, if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, the woman told her. Anyhow, the man transformed, like a…a…werewolf. He transformed and attacked the boarman. They fought, and the tigerwoman, who she had thought was a goner, helped, and together they saved the other woman and escaped. The cops arrived and the boarman attacked them. The cops must have shot the thing dozens of times, but it didn’t stop, it tore through them and was gone.

  At any rate, no one knew what happened to the boarman, tigerwoman or wolfman after. Rumor had it, the cops knew the identification of the wolfman, but not of the others. The woman was in the hospital, but from what I heard, three boarmen came in and took her. She wasn’t sure if she believed it. It sounded more like others trying to join in on the hubbub around the attack.

  It was all she knew, she assured Shae. Her eyes sparkled with finally being able to tell someone who took her seriously and didn’t think she was either crazy or lying. Thanking her for the information, Shae returned to the hotel to find Daniel and tell him what had happened. He was torn between his desire to help her and to study these others. She reminded him that part of his life was over; he would never experiment on another person ever again. He sulked, but knew she was right.

  The next day, she spent down in front of the stores, searching for any sign any of those people were still around. She knew it was silly, and Daniel told her as much. Why would those responsible for this destruction return to the same spot, but it was all she had. This was her only link to others like her. She returned the following day as well. Daniel stayed at the hotel; he lived in a perpetual state of self-loathing which didn’t allow him to spend much time out. Or, it might be he was afraid he would change, though they had learned to control the change in the seven months they had been traveling around together, he was still uneasy about it.

  The sudden appearance of others like her got her wondering. It seemed an impossible. Suddenly, three Weres, like her, appear out of nothing? She wondered if they changed for the first time at the same time she did? It was unlikely, but she couldn’t fathom another reason around the same time she had this thing awaken within her; others would show up as well. She needed to find the others, she needed answers.

  Her acute nose picked up a new scent in the air. It was not something she had ever smelled before and couldn’t quite place it. It smelled…bestial, was the only word she could find to describe it. As she was trying to place the smell, a dark shadow stole the sunlight from her.

  “Hello, lass, it seems the Lady guessed right when she said you might come here,” a man said from behind her with a rough British accent.

  Turning around, she saw a man looming over her. Easily over six feet tall, with black greasy hair, slicked back, which only accentuated his oversized forehead. He was a somewhat fat man, with a portly gut, he smiled down at her, with a gapped-tooth smile and beady eyes.

  Her hands stole within her overcoat to grab her Sais.

  “There is no need for those, lass,” the man told her. “You are among friends and others like you.”

  “What do you mean? Like me?” Despite his assurance of friendship; she didn’t like him, or trust him in the least.

  He smiled wider at her. Yeah, she didn’t like him at all.

  “I think you know what I mean, lass, but it’s best to not discuss this here. Come with me and I will answer your questions, and when the Lady gets here, she will answer the rest of them.”

  “Which one were you?” Shae asked, suddenly curious.

  “Which one?” He raised an eyebrow.

  She nodded in the direction of the damaged buildings.

  He smiled at her again. “Which one do you think?”

  Shae scrutinized him before answering. “The pig.”

  The smile was gone in an instant and a low growl emitted from him, and Shae thought she might have gone a little too far.

  “Leave her be, Blain, you know the Lady would not be happy if anything happens to her.”

  Turning, Shae noticed a couple of men she hadn’t seen before. The one who talked was tall with a narrow face. A stick of a man, made to appear more so by the overweight man next to him. This one was short and ugly with thinning hair and pale skin. He was sweating, though it was a cold day. The tall man approached her.

  “My name is Taylor. What’s yours?”

  Shae felt a little more comfortable dealing with this one than she did with the other one.

  “Shae.”

  “Well, Shae, I am Taylor. You’ve met Blain. This other one next to me is Joseph. We were asked to find you by someone who would like to meet you. You see, you are a special person and like us, she has need of you.”

  “I won’t be used,” Shae told him.

  He chuckled disarmingly.

  “Of course not, Shae. No one is going to use you. In fact, she wants to make sure no one will ever harm you again.”

  Considering what he said, she decided she would go with them. She had little to lose. Not caring much for her life, and if they could give her some answers, it would satisfy her for now. If not, she would leave them, if she could, die, if she couldn’t. It was better than it was now, either way.

  Suddenly, she thought about Daniel and worried for him. Why she should feel this way, she didn’t understand. She hated him, but she also cared for him, she wondered what would happen to him if she died.

  He would be better off, she decided.

  “Alright,” she turned back to Blain. “Let’s go.”

  Without a glance back at the damaged buildings, or the hotel housing Daniel, she left with them.

  Officer Ben Charles hadn’t come to Chicago for this, but this is what he now found himself involved in. He watched as the three men led the small girl away. Yesterday, she had caught his attention as she watched the repairs of the buildings. It appeared to him the girl was there for similar reasons.

  It had been a long road bringing him to Chicago from Sacramento. It was a hunch, one which got him put on leave from the force. His gut told him the person, or thing, he had to admit the possibility now it wasn’t human, which killed the man back in Sacramento, was here in Chicago, or at least, had been.

  The case had grown cold in Sacramento when there was no physical evidence to provide any definitive leads. The only physical evidence didn’t make any sense, or at least,didn’t at the time It did now. It did to him. His captain wasn’t too keen on his theory and accused him of going all National Enquirer on him. The problem was, the only piece of evidence forensics claimed to have found was tiger hair, which was next to impossible in Sacramento. All the tigers were accounted for. Ben had made sure of it, going so far as to track down private owners who had exotic animal registrations. All tigers in the area zoos were locked up and hadn’t escaped. The backgrounds and alibis of all handlers and private owners verified and vetted accordingly. It was,
like he said, a dead end.

  Then, the news out of Chicago, and the accompanying internet footage of a humanoid tiger. It was the break in the case Ben was waiting for. The problem? No one else thought it had anything to do with his case. In fact, most of the other officers thought it was some joke, or fraud. For Ben, it was too obvious a link, one he couldn’t pass up. When he pushed his Captain to let him pursue it, he was denied. It went badly after. Things were said which shouldn’t have been said. The next thing Ben knew, he was on ‘personal leave.’ He flew out to Chicago the next day.

  That was two days ago. The first day he came down to this corner, the one he was standing upon right now, he noticed the girl.

  It was difficult to put an age to her, but he marked her no more than fifteen. She was wearing a gray overcoat and a pair of black sandals, which was peculiar footwear, considering the temperature. Pale skin, she was marked by freckles he could see from across the street. Ruddy brown hair which had been cut short at one point, given the growth she sported now. Something about her, caught his eye, and it wasn’t until he noticed she kept touching the sides of her coat, at her hip, he realized she was packing.

  At first, he thought he might have been mistaken, but after a few minutes of quiet observation there was no mistaking the nervous touching someone does when they keep checking to make sure their weapons are still there. It was a common trait of someone who had little use of guns, and was nervous about using and carrying them.

  He continued to watch her for a few more minutes. Curiously, he wondered as to why he hadn’t crossed the street and confronted the girl. It was clear her intentions were not wholesome. Quite possibly, she was going to try and kill someone, but the way she kept surveying the damage, it left him with the idea she was there waiting for whatever those beasts were. It intrigued him. Either she had an idea of who they were, or she would somehow recognize them when she saw them.