by Tisha Wilson
She clawed at his hand with her red manicured nails, even drawing blood. He laughed at her childish attempts as she began to turn red. Just when she would have gone limp he released her and she fell to the floor with a hard thud. She sucked air into her lungs in great gulps.
“Please,” she begged.
He looked at the blood on his arm then gave the wound a long slow lick as he looked down at her. He smiled as he saw her cringe. She was still holding her throat as she turned her head away. He bent down before her, grabbed her face and forced her gaze back to his. A lone tear streaked down her dirty face as she looked at him defiantly.
“I thought we had ourselves an arrangement. You cooperate, I give you your little brother back. You don’t cooperate, I kill you both.”
“Why should I believe you won’t kill us both anyway? I’ve already done what you asked twice and still you havena let us go.”
He shook his head and sighed before he released her and stood up. Humans were so very foolish. It was so easy to manipulate them because they had so many attachments. They valued their pitifully short lives too highly. If he were to die, it would be with much fighting and a smile, not with tears and wailing, lamenting his loss.
“You have not completed the task I have set for you.”
She continued to glare up at him, not even attempting to raise herself up from the floor. “Ya know I am na a witch that moves in the realm of darkness. I dona create death, I create life. You asked me to pass a cloaking spell, making many smells of one scent, I did it. You asked me to cast an enhancement spell, I did it. But you canna ask me to cast a spell that will end a life. I dona practice dark magic and the only power I have over darkness is to cast it out with light!” she screamed up at him, her Scottish brogue leaking through more and more with her anger.
He put up a hand to stop her incessant screeching. “I can hear you just fine from here, no need to scream, and you are right. You were supposed to cast a spell to attract the wolves to the woman and the woman to the wolves. But you stopped the spell after the explosion. Why?”
She shook her head and looked away again. He knew why. She had seen some of his brethren making a meal out of the woman and it had turned her stomach and her conscience. She had gone as far as she was willing to go. It was a shame. She was so pretty for a human woman. He snapped his fingers.
A boy of ten was brought out of the back room. They were currently occupying a small abandoned shack. It was dingy and dirty and perfect for frightening a city woman like this one. People who lived in cities had a false sense of security. They seemed to believe that they were safer cloistered within the huddled masses. Stupidity.
Miriam tried to rise but he pushed her back to the ground with a booted foot. The green dress they had captured her in was nearly torn to ribbons. It was barely decent the way it hung off her. Thomas Sweeney screamed out in protest, trying to run to his sister’s aide. The day walker who had led him in clamped down on his shoulder with one hand and the boy cried out in pain as he clutched at the man’s hand.
“Okay, okay,” Miriam said in a frantic panic. “I ken ta what yer sayin’. I will do it, but you have to promise to return him home at least. Return him home and I will be at yer mercy.”
Albion shook his head in mock sympathy.
“I would love to help you my dear, but because you have stopped the spell in the first place, now the only guarantee I can give you is that we will not hurt him further if you do as I say. See you have been naughty and must be punished. We will have to keep him now to ensure your continued cooperation.”
She looked towards the boy with pleading in her eyes. “Please,” she breathed again.
Albion snapped his fingers and the boy was released. Albion stepped aside. The boy ran to his sister and fell into her arms. She held him close and kissed his face, looking him over as if to make sure for herself that he was alright.
“Are they feeding you?” she asked and he nodded as he looked up into her face. “Don’t be afraid. Ya have to be brave for me wee one, okay.”
He shook his head. “No. They are hurting you and I want to go home.”
“We will honey. We will. After a while. Just do as they say please.” She pushed the red hair back out of his face and planted a kiss on his freckled forehead. Albion wanted to throw up. The boy was soft, like a small pup.
Albion gestured and the day walker came forward. He led the boy away and closed the door to the back room.
Miriam stood up and an unnatural wind filled the small cabin. Her misty gray eyes seemed to swirl as she looked at him. “I will do what you ask, but be assured, if you harm a hair on his head, I will use every ounce of my considerable talent to learn the dark art of death.”
“Now, there is an emotion to be respectful of. Before you return to your work, however… punishment.”
The wind died from the cabin and from her eyes. A few more day walkers entered the room and Albion laughed out loud as dread crossed her face. “You will regret this one day,” she threatened.
“Doubtful,” he replied as he pulled out a chair to sit down and watch.
* * *
Braden paced the floor time and again. His heart was pounding so fast he felt like it might jump out of his chest. Two days. Miranda had been sleeping for two days straight. He had tried shaking her, he had tried dousing her with cold water, he had pricked the bottom of her foot with a long needle and she had slept on as peacefully as ever. He had debated taking her to a human doctor but they would pronounce her to be in a comma when he knew that she was simply sleeping the sleep of a hunter after having to heal itself.
The question was why she needed healing. She had already slept three days after the incident in the desert and she hadn’t been hurt again since. The only explanation was that the baby was hurting her and she had to sleep to heal. He sat down again and looked at her stomach. She had been right. The child was growing excessively fast.
Her stomach was rounding already beneath her night gown. She looked like she could be three or four months pregnant! He set his hand to her stomach and felt the movement inside. Once again his chest swelled with pride and honor. He was going to be a father… if Miranda survived. He looked at her deathly pale face and worry snaked up and around his throat like a noose. He stood up and began to pace again.
He’d already gone to the hospital to procure more blood for her and the baby. It had been tricky but he had accomplished it through a false id and security badge. He didn’t have as much as he might like, but it would suffice for now.
He had made an appointment for her at the local Woman’s hospital, but she had slept right through it. He could not take her in there like this so he had had to reschedule. If she didn’t wake up soon they would miss that one too. She needed more help than he knew how to give her. He knew nothing about the process of having a baby besides what he’d seen on T.V. and none of the mentors would answer his calls. He had purchased another cell phone and lap top in the hopes of discovering that there was communication flowing again but there was still no response to phone calls and all he saw on the website was a page saying that the server was being repaired and should be up and running shortly.
He felt as if he had been suddenly tossed back into another age and he couldn’t remember what he had done before technology existed. Short of taking a trip and searching for Bateman himself there was little he could do. He plopped down. He was helpless. Completely helpless and that made him nervous. He could not remember a time when he felt so helpless and vulnerable. Miranda had wormed her way right into his soul and it was as if his life force was somehow connected to hers.
He watched her sleeping so soundly that her chest barely moved beneath the blankets. He had proposed marriage to her. He had lost all interest in women and in relationships a hundred years ago, and now he was proposing marriage to this tiny cheerleader and if she should turn him down… he was willing to follow her as long as they both lived and be a part of the shadows. Just to be allowed to
watch over her and protect her, if only from a distance, would be enough for him. She did not ask to be a part of this life and if he had been focused on his job properly that night, then perhaps she wouldn’t be in this mess.
If he had been better able to control his emotions and keep from consummating their non-existent relationship then perhaps she wouldn’t be pregnant at this moment. He had taken her virginity falsely believing that nothing could come of it, but so much had come from it. Not only was life created inside of her, it was created inside of him as well, and he would be damned if she would suffer needlessly on his behalf.
He had considered what he might do if she went on the run, but he could no longer bring himself to care. If she ran, he would follow her. He would follow her into other countries, into other hunter’s territories, into eternity if he had to. He would fight any foe, face any danger, just so she could live the life she wanted to live, so that she would be happy.
He rolled his eyes and started to pace again. She had turned him into a woman that was what she had done. He was loosing his mind that was what he was doing. What was he doing buying a boat load of food, holding her while she was sick, worrying like it was the end of the world if something happened to her. He was fairly certain that he hadn’t been this way with his previous wives, at least from what he read about it. Of course none of them had ever been pregnant.
He whipped around quickly as he heard Miranda groan. He hurried to put some blood in a glass and brought it to her. She slowly opened her eyes as the smell of the blood must have hit her nostrils. Her eyes were deep purple. He meant to lift her head so she could drink but she sat up and snatched the cup from him. She drank quickly then tossed the glass as she stood up and strode towards the little kitchen.
“Get our things loaded in the truck now,” she commanded.
He shook his head. He didn’t know from moment to moment what to expect from her. “Good Morning to you too. You must be hungry. You have been asleep for two days.”
She turned on him as she opened a package of muffins. “You can’t feel them,” she asked as she downed the entire six pack of muffins one after the other.
His heart began to race. “What are you talking about,” he asked.
She paused in opening another pack of muffins and looked towards the door of the room. He looked in that direction and opened up all his senses. He was nearly knocked over backwards by the overwhelming smell of death. How the hell had he not noticed it before.
“There’s no time,” he growled as he snatched her arm and began moving towards the door. He snarled viciously when her fangs sank into his forearm. He turned to her seeing her strain towards the food. “We don’t have time for this!”
“Well you damn well better make time because I need to eat. This thing is eating a whole out of my insides,” she cried as she rubbed at her stomach. The pain and fright in her eyes stopped him cold.
She was right of course. Her sleeping the last two days proved that the baby was doing damage to her inside. He didn’t know if his baby would be born with fangs or what and there was no one to ask. He released her and strode over to the window to look out into the parking lot. There was one truck parked at the far end of the hotel. It was the same truck that belonged to the night watchman. He could see the glow of a television set from the hotel’s lobby.
He checked his watch and cursed. It was two hours til dawn. The wolves could do a lot of damage between here and there. He searched his mind for some way to save the man at the front desk and save their secret as well. He searched his mind for any details he recalled about the night he had checked in. One thing popped into his head and he ran to the phone.
He dialed the number available on a pack of matches on the side table. The man answered on the third ring. “Hello.”
“Yes sir, I retrieved this number from your wife’s phone.”
“Sherryl? Who is this and why are you calling?”
“Yes well… Sherryl has been in an accident and is-“
“She what?! Is it bad?”
“Yes sir. We are going to need you to come on down to the county hospital and-“
“I’ll be right there,” the man said before Braden could finish, no questions asked. It was perfect and just what he was hoping for.
He watched from the window as the night man rushed from the glass lobby door and turned a sign over indicating when he would be back. He hurriedly locked up and ran to his truck jumping in. The old rusty thing purred to life and sped out of the parking lot. Braden was thanking creation that the ruse worked when suddenly his fangs descended and his claws came forth. He looked off to the trees at the back of the parking lot and saw the red eyes glowing in the deepest part of the darkness. This was it.
He walked over to the bed and flipped over the mattress to reveal a few of the weapons and ammo he had stored there. They were all loaded and ready to go. He spared a glance for Miranda who was making her way through a gallon jug of orange juice. She seemed to be gaining some color as she ate more. He turned and headed towards the door.
Just as he made to open it the door burst in. He didn’t hesitate to spray the creatures with silver bullets. Several of them fell away from the door screaming and howling in pain as they burst into flames. A rush of adrenaline flooded his veins as he used his guns to clear a path out the door. He was several feet out into the thick of them when he pulled a grenade from his belt and tossed it into the air. A blinding light filled the air and the parking lot, which had been filled with creatures, was suddenly filled with fire and ash as their bones burned slowly into dust.
He was breathing hard when he finally stopped shooting and looked out into the darkness of the woods. He felt them there, deep in the heart of the woods. They were coming in droves. He stood squarely in front of the hotel room like an immovable object. They would have to come through him if they wanted to get to her. He had been here before, surrounded by death, and he had laughed in the face of that danger. But another emotion he had never thought to feel again came over him this time mingled with the adrenaline. Fear. He was afraid for Miranda and that seemed to be the far more motivating of the two emotions.
* * *
Miranda finally began to gain some control of herself after she polished off three packs of cold cuts from the refrigerator. Her stomach felt tight almost to bursting. As she caught her breath the smell began to overwhelm her. The stench of death and decay. She almost gagged only she couldn’t be sick. Not right now. The last thing she had seen of Braden he was rushing outside to meet a horde of wolves, alone.
It was quiet outside now. Her heart beat nearly knocked her over as she made her way towards the door. What if the creatures had taken Braden off while she was busy stuffing her face? She cried out in relief when she saw Braden standing out in front of their room, legs shoulder length apart, automatic rifles held confidently aimed towards the woods. She had never seen him look more deadly in all her time with him, except maybe that day he had leapt from the bedroom window in pursuit of the day walker that had shot her. He was lethal, deadly, and smoking hot… and all hers.
“Are they gone,” she asked shakily.
“No. Use your senses. Open them up. They are still coming.”
She looked at the burning heaps lying around the parking lot. There were easily more than thirty burning piles strewn around.
“Do they usually come like this?”
He shook his head. “We usually thin them out more than this. I think the day walkers have a witch. She may be making our animal magnetism stronger than it would naturally be.”
“Witches are real,” she asked astonished.
The corner of his mouth ticked as he held his attention on the woods. She realized after the words left her mouth how stupid they must sound to him. There were werewolves and vampire wolf hunters and she had a hard time believing there was a witch out there putting a spell on her?
“There are few real witches. Like us a witch must be born and it is very rare. A lot of
people dabble in it, but the average dabbler would not achieve the power of a real witch if they lived a thousand years. All the studying in the world can not make you something you were not destined to be.”
She sighed and leaned against the door. She was tired but she didn’t want to leave him out here all alone. They didn’t have to wait long. She felt the death drawing closer and her nails got longer as her night vision became clearer. She turned inside and went to the stash she had seen him uncover. There were knives but there were more guns. She looked down at her wardrobe.
She wanted to pull some regular clothes on but her distended belly would make any of the pants he had bought for her obsolete. She pulled out a bandolier filled with knives and strapped it on over her nightgown before she picked up a big silver revolver like the one he had made her practice with. She checked the magazine to be sure that it was filled and then loaded it again. There was nowhere for her to put extra magazines so she just made her way back to the door.
Braden snarled as he looked back at her. Her heart jumped into her throat to see his face. It was hardly even human. It was completely feline. She was nearly scared but she suddenly understood why he had held this side of himself back from her as much as possible. She saw the warring emotions on his face. She forced her pace to be normal as she faced him with squared shoulders.
“Go back inside!”
“And be left in the dark as another person I love is snatched away into the night, I don’t think so.”
His face normaled out some as he stared at her in open mouth wonder for a moment. “What did you-“
“You heard me. I’ll stay here at your back but I’m not going to hide inside like a coward while the man I love faces this alone.”
There. She had said it. He knew. She didn’t expect him to say it back and she wasn’t fishing for it. She just thought he should know. His head suddenly snapped back towards the woods and she felt her fangs descend as a slimy ugly nearly human looking creature stepped from the trees. Her breath caught in her throat as her world turned upside down for a moment. The creature nearly had human features beneath its fur. It looked like… She grabbed her heart as it turned over in her chest. Dear God it was Katie!