by M. J. Caan
Elric squirmed a little in his seat. “Yes. Among wolves, there is a strict hierarchy. Alpha’s are the first among a pack. Betas follow…and are subservient to the alphas; always. It’s true in nature and even more so among werewolves.”
“I’m sorry to be asking you all of this,” said Torie. “Believe it or not, a week ago I didn’t even believe in any of this. So forgive me if I have questions.”
“Oh, you can ask me anything,” said Elric. “But if I say something that offends you, just know I didn’t mean it.”
Torie thought about this and decided to press on. “Okay then. How old are you? I mean, do you age like vampires?”
“No. Vampires are long lived. So are we, but not to that degree. I’m forty-eight years old.”
Torie would not have guessed that. Yes, he had streaks of gray through his hair and there were definitely some wrinkles crowding the corners of his eyes, but she wouldn’t have put his age as being a few years ahead of her.
“And you?” asked Elric, “how old are you?”
“Okay, see, right there; that’s one of those things you don’t ask a woman.” She meant it as a joke, but upon seeing Elric’s reaction, she regretted having said it. “Just teasing. It’s okay. I’m forty-five. Just had a birthday last month.”
“Oh, well happy belated birthday. Was it fun?”
What an odd way to put that, she thought. But it did make her think back, and it also made her realize that no, it wasn’t.
She shook her head. “I’ve had better. My husband—or ex, Jesus I don’t even know what to call him anymore—got me a new set of appliances for the kitchen.” She gripped the steering wheel tighter, just thinking back to that day.
“You said cooking is important to you,” Elric said. “Maybe he thought of it as a way to say thank you.”
“Ha. More like a way to say please continue and give me more.” She felt the cynicism building and Elric didn’t deserve that. What he had just said seemed perfectly logical. “I loved the appliances we had in the house. Ward hated anything that he thought was getting too old. So he would just arbitrarily replace things. Funny that it happened on my last birthday with him. Guess the stove wasn’t the only old thing he was tired of.”
“But you’re so vibrant and full of life,” said Elric.
If he hadn’t been so sincere, Torie would have laughed. But she could tell he meant every word he had just said, and it caused her to blush.
“So, is it wrong to ask what happened with your husband?”
Awesome. This was just what she wanted to do; repeat that story for the tenth time. But that was exactly what she found herself doing.
Elric listened as she poured her shame out. He didn’t interrupt, didn’t fidget around; he just listened. And that was exactly what Torie needed at that point.
“And honestly it’s not just everything he did. It’s the way I got used to feeling around him; things that, looking back, I know were wrong, but seemed so normal at the time. And as my body changed, the worse it became.”
“What do you mean your body changed?” Elric asked.
She hadn’t expected him to ask for details, but for some reason she felt comfortable enough to proceed. “Honestly, the fatigue is bad. So is the…tenderness in certain parts of my body. My mood swings catch even me by surprise, and my cycle is off. I just feel broken on the inside.”
She stopped talking, waiting for him to break the awkward silence.
“Well?” she said, “go ahead and tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“Tell me what I need to do to fix all of that.”
Elric turned his head so that he was looking directly at her. “That isn’t my place to tell you what to do with your body. I can’t fix you, especially when you’re not broken. But I can listen and give you what you ask for. I’m sorry. When I said he was an ass earlier, I had no idea just how big of one he was.”
“Is,” she said. “He’s not past tense…at least, I don’t think he is.” That led to a whirlwind of questions in her mind. What if he was dead? Would she mourn him the way she had her mother? What would she say to Shawn?
“Shawn’s a grown man, even though you don’t see it,” said Elric. “He would be upset of course, but he would process.”
Torie took her eyes off the road just long enough to give Elric an incredulous glance.
“Did…how did you know what I was thinking?”
Elric’s brow crinkled as he considered her words. “I don’t know. Until you mentioned it, I didn’t even realize you didn’t speak out loud.”
She gripped the wheel tighter. Can you hear me? she thought.
“Did you hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what?”
“What I just thought? Why were you able to hear me before, but not just then?”
“Well, didn’t Jasmin say you can hear the thoughts, or speak to shifters in animal form? Maybe, it works both ways. Maybe you can somehow project your thoughts to shifters.”
In a weird sort of way, that made sense. But how did she do it? Was there an on switch that she could toggle?
Elric sensed her discomfort and quickly went back to asking her questions. Aloud.
“So, what other kinds of magic can you do?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t exactly had time to learn how my powers work. I only just found out.”
“The chanting thing is cool. The way Jasmin cast that spell earlier. You’ll be able to do that, right?”
“I guess so. Although I do wonder where the rhyming chant came from. I mean, is there some big book of spells that we all have to memorize?”
“I don’t think it works like that,” Elric said. “From what I know about witchcraft, the uttering of the spell is just to focus the witch’s intent. Her intent is what drives the magic.”
Torie stole another quick glance. “You seem to know an awful lot about magic.”
He shrugged. “Not really. Magic is magic. All supernaturals have a sense for it, but only witches, and maybe certain elf folk, can actually tap into it.”
“So, can you sense it with me?”
Elric smiled. “Very much so. It’s all around you, waiting for your call.” He cleared his throat and pointed to an exit. “We want to take this one. It will take us into town the back way. We can stop by the vet’s office first.”
Torie was uncomfortable and found herself looking more and more into the side-view mirror to make sure nothing was following them in the darkness.
“So, I have this pendant thing that Jasmin gave me for protection, but should I be worried? Is this town as rough as she says?”
“Nah, it’s actually pretty cool; as long as you remember the golden rule. Do unto others before they get a chance to do unto you first.”
Torie wasn’t sure how she felt about that, and it did nothing to ease her anxiety.
“Head’s up, here we go.”
Not that she would have needed him to tell her they were entering uncharted territories. One minute she was driving along in the bright, North Carolina sun, and the next, her car was piercing a bubble of blackness. She turned on her headlights and reduced her speed as her eyes adjusted.
“Wait, I thought Jasmin was speaking metaphorically when she said it was a town of perpetual darkness. She meant it literally?”
“Yep. The vampires started a war with the shifter clans here. They intended to create this supernatural darkness all over the world, allowing the vampires to roam freely any time they wanted. They were stopped by a very powerful witch, and she created this forbidden zone that blankets the town. It’s like Singing Falls…but bloodier and scarier.”
He directed her down a couple of side streets until they pulled up to an unassuming, two-story house. It was one of those homes that doubled as a residential office on the bottom floor and a living residence on the second. Just as they pulled up, the headlights played across the side entrance, just in time to catch a shadowy figure leap out the door and run down the side a
lley away from the building. Torie thought they were carrying a package under one arm, but it happened so fast she couldn’t be sure.
Elric was out of the car in a flash. “Check on Isla…she’s the vet here. I’m going after whoever that was!”
And just like that, he shifted into his wolf form and sprinted after the figure at full speed. Torie eyed the broken entrance into the dark building. Grasping her necklace and taking a deep breath, she took a tentative step inside.
19
The sudden rush of adrenaline made every nerve in Torie’s body hum with energy. She gripped her pendant tightly as she stepped through. The door and the wooden frame it rested in were splintered outward. Whoever had knocked it down was strong. She thought for a moment that maybe she should go back to the car and wait for Elric, but then she remembered he had said the name of the veterinarian.
Isla.
What if Isla were in here and injured? Or worse.
She wouldn’t leave her. She pressed on, following along a hallway that was only lit by the outside street lamps shining through the small windows along the corridor. She could make out openings to her left in front of her. They looked like mouths yawning, inviting her to enter.
She took a deep breath to steady her trip-hammering heart and peered inside the first opening. It was a large room in which she could just make out cages of various sizes. This had to be where they housed the animals that needed to stay overnight. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized they were all empty.
She was about to peek into the next room when she heard a noise coming from directly ahead of her. The hallway seemed to end in a large room that she assumed would be the main entrance and lobby of the clinic. Something was shuffling around in there; she could make out paper being shuffled and drawers being opened and closed.
Oh God…what if the intruder wasn’t alone? Their partner could still be inside the clinic. She reached into her jeans pocket for her phone. Does a hellmouth have 9-1-1? Then she cursed herself. In her haste to exit the car, she had left her phone in the center console. She kept it there out of habit when she drove.
Why hadn’t she listened to Shawn? What she wouldn’t give for some mace or pepper spray right now. Was mace even legal anymore? she found herself wondering.
Christ! Snap out of it, she berated herself as she tried to concentrate on whatever the hell was rifling through the veterinarian’s office in a town filled with demons and God knew what else.
Holding her necklace for protection, she remembered what Elric had said about magic and intent. She didn’t have any rhyming incantation, but her intent was to not get killed, and she focused on that. Taking a deep breath, she peered into the space the hallway emptied into. It was the back of the receptionist area, and just on the other side of the counter, Torie could make out a form moving around in the darkness.
She took a deep breath and jumped into the space.
“Don’t move!” she screamed at the figure, who, cloaked in shadows, raised up from looking through a desk, saw Torie, and screamed.
The scream elicited one from Torie as well.
“Get back!” Torie screamed with as much force as she could muster. She felt something…some force that she never knew dwelt within her, respond to her command.
The shadowy figure was flung backwards, up and over the desk and into the lobby by the energy that flowed from Torie. The thud of the body hitting the chair was accompanied by a female scream. Torie approached the figure carefully, hands in front of her.
“Who are you?” she said, her voice shaky but strong.
“Who am I? I own this place…who are you?” came the pained response as the woman tried to steady herself and rise to her feet.
“Oh…oh my. Are you the veterinarian?” said Torie, reaching to help her stand.
The woman yanked her arm out of Torie’s grasp. “Who are you and why are you robbing me?”
“Oh no, I’m not trying to rob anyone. I just pulled up and saw someone in black running out of here. I came in and saw you rummaging around and thought that you were part of whatever was going on.”
The woman rubbed the back of her head. “No. I live upstairs, heard what sounded like someone breaking in down here. I came down to see what was going on and was hit over the head. I must have blacked out for a moment because when I came to, I was feeling a little dizzy and trying to brace myself on the desk. That’s when you…did whatever you did. What exactly did you do to me?”
Torie looked at her hands. “Honestly, I don’t know. My name is Torie. I’m here from Singing Falls.”
“Isla Garner,” the lady replied. “This is my office.” She moved slowly over to the wall near the door and slid her hand along a panel of light switches to illuminate the office space.
Turning back to face Torie, she shrieked, one hand going to her mouth as a large black and silver wolf approached Torie from behind. She pointed, eyes wide, too terrified to scream again.
Torie turned just as Elric shifted back to human to stand next to her.
“Did you catch whoever did this?”
“No. Whoever they were, they were fast. Very fast. I chased them to the outskirts of town, but every time I would get close, they would just speed up. But I caught their scent…definitely the same magic smell from whoever hurt Eddie.”
Torie turned to face Isla. “It’s okay. This is Elric. He’s a friend of mine.”
“Nice to meet you in person, Dr. Garner,” said Elric, extending a hand.
“You’re a werewolf,” said Isla, tentatively reaching to shake his hand. “And you’re naked.”
“We really need to start keeping a change of clothing around if you’re going to be doing this a lot,” said Torie.
Isla excused herself, went into one of the back exam rooms, and brought back a cloth gown for Elric.
“Not very fashionable, but it will have to do for now. So, the person who broke in, you saw them? But they got away?”
Elric nodded. “Whoever, whatever they were, all I could smell was magic cloaking them. But it didn’t smell natural; kind of like the way humans spray perfume on themselves to mask their normal body odor. But in this case, the magic masked everything about them.”
“Are you okay?” queried Torie, noticing how unsteady the vet looked on her feet.
Isla sat on the desk, rubbing her shoulder. “I will be. Believe it or not, I’ve had worse.” She declined Torie’s offer to look at the back of her head. Instead, she patted at it, looked at her palm, and decided the damage wasn’t too bad if there was no blood.
“Wait,” said Isla, “why are you here? A witch, I am assuming, with a werewolf for a travel companion?”
“Do you know Ellie Shielding? She is…was…our vet in Singing Falls,” said Torie.
Isla perked up instantly. “Yes, I know her. And what do you mean ‘was’?”
“She’s dead,” said Torie. “We believe she was killed by the same murderer who’s been killing shifters.”
Even in the harsh fluorescent office lighting, Isla went pale.
“I told her to be careful, to not get involved in paranormal issues.”
“We know she was here. She brought you a blood sample to analyze. Is there anything you can tell us that might help?”
“Well, I did analyze the sample and called her with the results. I still have a copy of what was found.” She moved to a large four-drawer file cabinet that took up much of the back wall. She stopped short as she realized it had been broken open. Pulling out a drawer second from the top, she searched through it quickly before turning to face Torie and Elric.
“It’s gone,” she said. “The report and the blood sample.” She turned and beckoned them to follow her down the hall to her private office. “I kept a copy of it on my computer also.”
She flicked on the screen, only to be greeted with a blank, blue monitor. Looking to the left, she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.
“The tower is gone.
Someone swiped my whole computer,” she said in exasperation.
“That must have been what the thief was carrying,” said Elric.
Isla turned to him. “So someone, or something, was able to outrun a werewolf while carrying an old-school computer tower? I don’t know of anything capable of that…except maybe a cheetah shifter.”
“No,” said Elric. “I can’t explain it…it didn’t move like a shifter. It was too comfortable on two legs. It sounds weird, I know; it’s hard to explain.”
“Well, I don’t have the report, but I can tell you the report found some very interesting compounds that I haven’t come across before. There was a large dose of Myosotis and Solanaceae, more commonly known as forget-me-not and nightshade. There were also lesser amounts of various mushrooms and something that couldn’t be identified.”
“All of that was in the blood sample she gave you? I don’t even know what any of those are.”
“Well, I can only tell you what was found, the rest is up to you. But if it helps, when I told Ellie, she seemed to have an ‘ah-ha’ moment. She was very excited and thanked me.”
Torie grabbed a pencil and piece of paper from Isla’s desk and wrote out the names of everything she had found in the blood sample. She held the paper up to Elric.
“Maybe this is what the killer didn’t want us to know. Ellie obviously knew what this meant. Again, this just confirms there is a supernatural killer?”
“And we do what with this information?” asked Elric.
“We hope that Jasmin will know.”
Elric smiled as understanding flooded him.
Don’t say anything, thought Torie, hoping the wolf would hear her. This vet seems like she’s a good person, but we don’t know who we can and can’t trust yet.
Elric smiled and nodded again. Good. She was getting better at this magic communication thing.
“Is there somewhere you can go, someone we can call?” said Torie, looking at Isla.
“Oh, I’ll be fine. I just need to clean up this place. My wife will be home soon. She’s used to dealing with supernaturals on a more…physical basis. I’ll be fine.”