A Time To Survive (Verge of Extinction): A Magical & Monstrous / Supernatural Urban Fantasy.

by J. Axbridge

  After what seemed an eternity, her swinging slowed and most of her screaming subsided, Jax pulled her up carefully, grabbed her hand tightly and easily lifted her onto the plank behind him. Even from a distance I winced, it looked like Victoria had a severe rope burn around her waist and was in considerable pain. I felt terrible for my little sister, but soon it would be my turn to cross and not to be mean, but I definitely didn’t want to go through what she’d just gone through. I’d probably pass out.

  “Are you going to be OK Victoria,” I faintly heard Jax ask. “Anything broken?”

  “I think I’m OK,” she replied loudly between sobs and sniffles while holding onto the plank firmly with both hands, her eyes tightly closed.

  Jax gently untied the rope from around Victoria, stood up as calmly as he could and tossed the rope to Caelyn who surprisingly caught it on the first try with one hand.

  “Holy Crap, I actually caught it!” Caelyn smiled briefly in amazement before grabbing back onto the side ropes.

  Adelaide helped Caelyn tie the rope around her waist and off she went across without a hitch followed by Adelaide, Ethan, myself with some encouragement and finally Mayumi. With all of us safely across and the rope securely back in Jax’s bag we set off to finish the bridge, everyone shuffling a little faster this time, trying to get to the end as soon as possible.

  The last fifty feet seemed more like climbing a ladder with the incline being so steep. Still we didn’t slow our pace, we made it up and off the bridge and onto the mountain peak one by one, each rolling over onto the ground panting and taking a much needed physical and mental break, joyous to be alive and on solid footing. We stayed in that position for several minutes waiting for our stomachs to stop swaying.

  “That my friends was extreme sporting,” Adelaide laughed, rolling over then sitting down on a boulder talking a large gulp from her water bottle, clearly exhausted, yet giddy to be alive, just as the rest of us.

  “I have done some very intense training to become a Huntra but nothing like that. It is definitely going on my resume under the new skills section. ‘Experience crossing crazy, scary, insane death rope bridges,’” Mayumi joked, wiping sweat from her brow then pushing her dark sweat soaked hair away from her forehead smiling.

  “Well, we’re alive but we can’t stop now, who wants to go first?” Adelaide pointed to a small trail leading into the dense mountaintop forest before taking another sip of water. “It appears the Yellow Brick Road starts back up right there.”

  “Screw it, I’ll go. I don’t care what color the road is, I don’t want to be anywhere near that damn bridge again and we better not have to come back this way, because if I haven’t told anyone yet. I HATE FREAKING HEIGHTS!” I yelled, then cussed under my breath so Ethan and the twins couldn’t hear, turned and headed down the trail into the forest kicking the ground. Seconds later I heard Mayumi stretch and stand up, letting out an exhausted gasp and I knew she was following me. I only assumed the rest of the group did the same because there was no way I was going to turn around and even chance seeing the cliff or that bridge again. I’d had enough anxiety for a whole lifetime in one damn day!

  No more than ten short minutes into our hike, the seven of us walking clustered together in a jumbled bunch, we turned a blind corner and came face to face with another cabin in the woods. This one almost an exact replica of the one we’d gone through to get to the “bridge of death.”

  “Oh hell no, are you kidding me . . . ? Are you kidding me? Someone is really toying with my brain today and I’m stressed out as it is!” I stared blankly at the replica cabin in disbelief.

  “Don’t worry Arthur; it’s not the same cabin . . . besides what are the odds we’ll have to cross another bridge?” Jax smiled uneasily, “There’s probably just a trail leading down the mountain on the other side of this place,” Nervousness engulfed his face. “At least I hope so,” He whispered into Adelaide’s ear trying to conceal his true thoughts but I’d heard him as clear as day and it didn’t do my nerves any good.

  “Jax, do your thing and knock or howl like a werewolf if need be, maybe this time one of your kind will answer?” Mayumi walked up and leaned her head on my shoulder, holding onto my arm firmly to steady her tired body and ease my anxious one. It felt so right, so perfect even, that I didn’t want to move in fear she’d let go.

  Jax walked past us looking more confident to knock on the door of this cabin than he had the first. About to step up to the first step, a voice rang out and Jax stood frozen, his right leg halting in midair momentarily before he stepped back in a defensive position, pulling out one of his guns.

  “NO NEED TO KNOCK!” A voice rang out.

  Chapter 40 - Truths Be Told

  Adelaide

  The booming voice took us all by surprise and we stood as stiff as the statues I’d seen at the Smithsonian during my 8th grade class trip to Washington D.C.

  “Is he one of your kind Jax?” Mayumi spoke as she swiftly moved into an aggressive stance, pulling an arrow from her leather quiver then drawing her bow taut ready to defend our group. Her sluggish body only moments ago leaning lovingly on Arthur’s shoulder was now on full adrenaline surge alert.

  Jax waved his hands in a downward motion, singling Mayumi to lower her weapon, “I’ll take care of this. Just don’t do anything rash and please, stay calm Mayumi . . . and that goes for all of you.” He turned back to face the door from where the loud voice emanated.

  “WE NEED TO SPEAK WITH YOU ELDER!” Jax yelled out. “MY NAME IS JAX MORGAN, I’M FROM LYALL. YOU MAY KNOW MY PARENTS. THEIR NAMES ARE —”

  “I KNOW WHO YOUR PARENTS ARE AND I KNOW YOU MR. MORGAN. PLEASE . . . COME IN AND BRING YOUR FRIENDS. YOU ARE SAFE NOW.”

  “Mr. Morgan, huh . . . ,” I nudged Jax’s arm. “Makes you sound older . . . I like it.” I don’t know what overcame me but I raised my eyebrows then winked seductively at Jax and I’d never done that with any boy in my life. Maybe it was my total exhaustion or maybe a gut feeling but when a sexy smile beamed back at me, I almost melted right there on the spot, my knees suddenly feeling like warmed butter. Definitely there was something amazing going on between us and after all this craziness was over I couldn’t wait to explore our feelings for each other in more detail.

  The cabin door creaked open little by little, and finally when it was wide enough an old man with a long scruffy white beard, wearing faded blue jeans and a faded red flannel shirt limped onto the porch, his walking stick thumping loudly. The scene was confusing. From the booming voice we’d expected someone bigger and much younger, not a weathered looking Santa who’d retired to the mountains and lost a few pounds. It wasn’t hard for the old man to notice the confused and somewhat bewildered faces as he approached, spying us one by one.

  “Ah, yes,” The Elder Wolf chuckled to himself. “Don’t look so surprised kids, I may be old but you’ll find I’m well capable of more than you’re currently thinking.” He paused, his grin still as wide as ever looking at us in contemplation, “It’s definitely nice to see all of you again and to meet a new friend,” he glanced Mayumi’s way and winked. “How did you find me here in the middle of nowhere, because you my young friends are a very long ways from home?”

  “That’s the understatement of the year,” Arthur quipped, sliding his sword back in its sheath, as the feeling of safety crackled magically in the surrounding air.

  “It was this book . . .,” Jax fumbled as he hurriedly slid out The Werewolves Member Vade Mecum from his back pack showing the Elder Wolf.

  “Yes, the Vade Mecum, a very powerful book. Your parents kept it safe I see. Truly worthy Keepers of the Book your parents are, young Mr. Morgan.”

  “Forget about the book, how in the world do you know who we are? We’ve never met you before,” I skeptically looked at the Elder Wolf trying to recall any time I may have met him in my past.

  “OH . . .,” his voice rose. “That’s not so young lady. We have met before, but you’d be hard pressed to rememb
er, it was a very, very long time ago. Come in and I’ll explain everything, there is so much you need to know.” The Elder Wolf turned, waving for everyone to follow then limped back into the cabin, his walking stick continuing to clunk loudly as he disappeared into his small home.

  “Please, take a seat, have a drink. You must all be thirsty. I know it’s not easy to get up to this place especially if you’ve never been here before.” The Elder said as we slowly entered one by one through the door.

  In the middle of the Elder’s cabin stood an aged oak table, similar to the one in Jax’s home. In the center of the table was a large clear glass jug of water with fresh lemon slices swirling lazily around inside. A variety of empty jelly jars in all shapes and sizes encircled the jug waiting to be full of the beautiful drink. We pulled out homemade chairs made of white birch trees tied together tightly with twine and sat down to creaks and cracks as the chairs settled, except for the Elder Wolf, who stood at the head of the table waiting for the room to quiet down.

  “Go on . . . grab a glass and have a drink, it’s not time to be shy . . . pass it around, there’s enough for everyone,” the Elder Wolf said after pouring a drink for himself in his oversized jar, taking a sip and smacking his aged lips with approval. “See, it’s not poison, it’s just old fashioned homemade lemonade.” Without hesitation Ethan grabbed the heavy jug of lemonade first and began filling his glass, the biggest smile I’d seem from him in ages appeared as a small slice of lemon wiggled passed the lip and into his jelly jar.

  “Let me introduce myself,” the Elder began. “If you don’t know already, my name is Alexander Braddock and as you can see I’m not a young pup anymore, I’m an Elder in the werewolf community. My friends call me Al, and seeing I am friends with your parents, please don’t hesitate to call me Al also.” Without hesitation he turned to Mayumi, “And that includes you my young Huntra.” Shocked, Mayumi stopped pouring her lemonade mid stream, slowly placing the nearly empty glass jug down, all the while staring at the Elder questioningly.

  “Please do not worry young Huntra; I have no animosity towards you or your people. I can sense you’re a good human who does not seek to harm me or my kind. It’s also plain as day in Arthur’s gaze that he is . . . How shall I put it . . . smitten. He does not take his youthful eyes off of you . . . and why would he? You are beautiful, brave and clearly intelligent,” the Elder Wolf looked from Mayumi to Arthur, whose face turned a shade of red I’d never seen before. Mayumi though sat in stoical silence, sizing up the Elder Werewolf before taking a small sip of her lemonade and setting her glass jelly jar down. Finally, after what seemed forever, she nodded approvingly to the Elder Werewolf and he smiled before turning to address the rest of us sitting around the large oak table.

  “Before I begin, I need to make sure I have everyone’s name correct, it has been a while and sometimes an old man’s mind can falter.” A wide grin spread across his aged face causing his leathery sun drenched skin to shift upwards as he scanned the table, stopping at Jax.

  “You Mr. Morgan are Jax Morgan. Son of Randolph and Kinsey Morgan who I believe have been unfortunately taken by the vampires and are now being held as their prisoners?”

  “How do you know that?” Jax’s voice rose in surprise.

  “I’m an Elder; it’s my duty to know what is happening to our kind even when the end of the world is upon our doorstep . . . Now let’s see . . .” The Elder now looked at me and my siblings, “Yes, I thought the five of you just might make it out of the storms alive. You are the five Allister children, are you not?” The Elder werewolf raised his eyebrows staring at me, Arthur, Ethan and the twins.

  Arthur was the first to reply, “We are but . . . OK . . . Jax over there, I understand; he’s a werewolf after all. But how do you know who we are?” He asked with even more surprise in his voice than Jax had, “and how’d you know ‘we’, of all people in this world, would survive the death wave of meteorites?”

  The Elder stared at Arthur chuckling at what looked to be an inside joke. “How do I know who you are? Young man, do you not listen? As I’ve already stated, I like to know what’s happening to OUR kind. And since you’re one of us, I knew you’d have a good chance of survival. I must say, I’ve been curious as to your fate? The five of you simply vanished off my radar once the storms began, which was odd to say the least.”

  “Back the truck up Mr. Elder. . . I mean Werewolf. . . Al, what do you mean our kind?” Arthur asked. “I’m not like you! None of us are like you, except for Jax of course,” he said in an argumentative tone, the same tone he’d use with our parents when he’d argue with them. “I know our names were in that book but none of us have ever turned into a werewolf. Not yet at least.”

  “Arthur, do you not know?” The Elder’s steely gray eyes peered at Arthur in thought as he pulled on his long white and gray speckled beard.

  “My goodness, Hadwin and Elizabeth kept this a secret and did not tell any of you? Your parents I should say, they did not mention your lineage?” Again the Elder werewolf stopped in concentrated thought, this time excitement was stirring in his aged eyes before continuing. “Of course they didn’t mention it; they wanted to keep you safe. They wanted to keep all of you safe. Smart of them not to tell you, but now I have no choice, you must know. . . To put it boldly, you’re part werewolf young Arthur.”

  “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait . . . hold up a second old man,” I held up my hands. “Are you telling us that Arthur, my sometimes annoying little brother here, is a freaking werewolf . . . ? No way, I’m not buying it! I mean sometimes he smells like a dog, but no way!”

  “My Dear Adelaide, you’ve grown big and strong as I knew you would. He my dear is not the only werewolf in your family. . . You too are part of the lineage, along with your youngest brother Ethan there.”

  The Elder Werewolf looked at Ethan with a grandfatherly smile and winked.

  Without hesitation I picked up the “Vade Mecum” flipping to the addresses. “Look here,” I pointed to the page with my family name. “It has our names in this book as Arthur mentioned, but there is a question mark when it comes to Werewolf Status? Why would there be a question mark. Shouldn’t it just be written like the other werewolf entries as a fact, instead of a question if we’re really werewolves? So wouldn’t that mean you don’t actually know if we’re werewolves or not? I mean, we’ve never changed into werewolves as far as I know.” My mind began running in circles trying to accept this new knowledge as I tried to calm down, repeating, I’m not a werewolf, over and over in my head.

  The Elder Wolf gazed over the page thoroughly, “Yes, Randolph & Kinsey are the keepers of the ‘Vade Mecum’, have been for years. You five were a rather recent addition. Up until these current events your family name wasn’t mentioned in the book at all, very secretive. Jax’s father, Randolph Morgan, was instructed to put your names in the book and even he was surprised to hear that there were more werewolves in the area he’d never met or sensed. At the time you five were added we just weren’t sure which of you had werewolf blood, that’s why there is a question mark after the names.”

  “So are we or are we not—werewolves?” Arthur asked. “And if we are werewolves then why were we sent to meet up with the other humans heading east? Shouldn’t we have just stayed with Jax’s family?”

  “Well . . . you carry the werewolf blood inside of you, that much is true. But you five had yet to make a full moon change, so to werewolves you still had the scent of a human. It was safer for the time being to have you live with the human populations and to keep a close eye on the five of you from a distance. There is much evil in this world and keeping you five a secret was very important.”

  “Whatever that means?” Arthur mumbled, “But, the symbols are zero also and status is a question mark. To me it doesn’t seem we’re as important as you’re leading us to believe?” Arthur thankfully was pushing hard for some sort clarity because I was just as confused as him.

  “No, not true. You kids are act
ually very important, that’s why you’re now in the ‘Vade Mecum’. And concerning this book, it is, very important to werewolves everywhere and you must keep it safe, with your lives if need be! It mustn’t stay here with me though; you must take it with you on your journey as you may need it. Yet if you ever feel it may be taken then you must destroy it, otherwise it could lead to the slaughter of many, if not all werewolves who are still living around the world.” The Elder Wolf said while we listened attentively to every word of his instructions, even though I wasn’t sure exactly what to make of them yet.

  “Elder Alexander . . . ,” Mayumi sat up tall.

  “Please, call me Al.”

  “Yes, Al-san . . . , I realize you are a strong werewolf with much knowledge, but how can we give you our trust? We have already run into werewolves that were less than honest and work side by side with the vampires. How do we know this is not a trick? Maybe you just obtained this information from Jax’s parents or are making it up to keep us here?” Mayumi waited with bated breath for the Elder’s response; while he simply stared at her curiously letting the seconds tick slowly by.

  “You do have something else on your mind my young Huntra, I sense that. Please don’t be shy, go ahead and ask anything.”

  “How did you? . . . Forget it. You are correct; I do have a different question,” Mayumi looked at the Elder with questioning eyes. “If you really want to help us and other survivors and want us to trust you . . . then do you know the location of a book called, ‘The Book of Symbols’? It is rumored to be more important than any Member Book could ever be,” Mayumi stared intently at the Elder Wolf, it was as if the two were playing some secret game of chess with their wits and minds. “I believe the book is somewhere in the USA hidden.”