Phantoms of the Otherworld (In Spiritu Et Veritate)

by Reed, Zoe

  Vampire. This close to Pack territory was no accident, and if he hadn’t attacked it was because he was outnumbered. If he was outnumbered and didn’t run, then it’s because he was watching us. I repressed my instinctive reaction to turn and look for the source of the smell, and instead thought more carefully about it. The others hadn’t seemed to notice it yet, which meant it must be coming from further down the edge of the lake, and since I was at the end of the line my body had to be blocking it from reaching them with their noses still in the water.

  I huffed to get their attention and stuck my face into the air, instructing them to sniff. Each of them did, and when Kyla let out a quiet growl I nudged her to shut up. I then looked to Wes, and nodded in the direction behind me that I thought our onlooker was hiding. His gray eyes slowly scanned the dark area, shifting back and forth a couple times before he nodded. The scent was faint, but it was still there, meaning the vampire hadn’t realized yet that we were aware of his presence. Kyla growled again, impatient that we weren’t taking action, but Wes simply shook his head. Instead, he nudged Lacey and Kyla and nodded them back toward the house. Kyla looked somewhat confused, but followed along when Lacey turned and began heading back the way we’d come.

  Why was he sending them back? I cocked my head at him, wondering if Lacey knew what to do because there was some sort of protocol for this. It was one thing that Wes had sent two of our numbers away, another that I didn’t even know where the vampire was hiding. Not being able to stand blind for another second I followed Wes’ eye line to a high up spot in a specific cluster of trees. Sure enough there was a male vampire perched on a thin branch about fifty feet up. I’d been hoping that when I turned the vampire would be Rook, waiting for a good time to deliver some good news, but I didn’t recognize this one.

  Whatever this vampire’s name was, he sure recognized when he was being stared at. Noticing that both wolves were now watching him he didn’t waste time in jumping down and taking off in the opposite direction. He was only halfway to the ground before Wes and I’s paws were tearing through the snow after him. Wes’ longer limbs carried him farther than me with every stride, but the vampire already had a head start. The trees were thick and occasionally he disappeared behind one. Luckily for Wes and I the partially frozen lake blocked off a big route of the vampire’s escape.

  Or at least that’s what I’d thought, until he veered right to head directly for the pond. When he reached the edge he didn’t stop, though he slowed considerably as he tread carefully on the delicate surface. Wes stopped at the border, not daring to follow out onto the thin ice, and desperately looked down the lake. It was about another half a mile before the lake rounded out and looped back to the other side, so he picked up sprinting to try and cut the vampire off.

  When I reached the lake I didn’t stop, but slowed and carefully eased my way onto the surface. I was smaller than Wes, so I had a better chance of not falling through than he did, but I was still larger and heavier than the vampire. At least with four feet instead of two my weight was spread out evenly enough to keep me from breaking the frozen glaze. The vampire looked back, and at seeing I was following picked up his pace. I don’t know why I’d followed him, my size put me at a tremendous disadvantage should I catch him and we both fall through, but when he picked up his pace so did I.

  As he neared the center of the lake he stopped, and as I drew closer and closer I realized why. The ice had been thinning considerably while we got nearer the middle. If the center of the lake was frozen at all, there would only be a small layer too thin to hold either of us. I was progressively getting closer, nearing thirty yards, and the vampire looked around frantically, knowing I was catching up. In a desperate attempt at escape he backed up a few feet, sprinted, and made a daring jump for the other side. His first foot came down on the other side and went crashing through the thin ice, and before the rest of his body landed he spread out flat, coming down onto his stomach with an audible thud.

  Even though he barely made it, landing on his stomach saved him from falling through, and as pulled his leg out of the water and continued on I decided I had to try the same thing. Only about ten yards from the center now, I picked up my pace to a run. The closer I got to it the more only my momentum was keeping me above the ice. About two feet from the not at all frozen middle I couldn’t wait any longer, and I threw myself into the air. A few seconds later I came crashing down, landing a little further than the vampire had. Still, it wasn’t thick enough for my body weight, and it shattered beneath me.

  The second I hit the freezing water I drew in a painful breath. It was so much colder than I’d imagined. I saw the vampire look back at me for just a second before he continued running. Luckily for me, his interest in surviving was much greater than his interest in making sure I didn’t, but I couldn’t let him get away. I brought my front paws up onto the unbroken ice only to have it break away once I put any weight on it. It happened twice more before I started to panic. I’d been too preoccupied with the chase to think about what I’d do if I fell through, and now I realized I didn’t have a plan. I’d seen enough television shows about animals falling through a frozen body of water to know I needed help getting out. I scanned the edge of the lake to look for Wes, but neither he nor the vampire could be seen.

  As the panic rose I frantically clawed at the edge of the glassy surface, each time causing it to shatter beneath me. Stop! I told myself, and took in another painful breath. I didn’t have time for panicking. Each time I grappled at the edge of the ice it got thicker and harder to break. All I had to do was get to a spot sturdy enough that I could pull myself out. Keeping that in mind I again put my paws on the ice, applied weight, and fell through. Again and again and again I did the same, and the fifth time I let out a frustrated snarl. Don’t give up. I had to do it twice more before I hit a spot that could hold my weight if I was gentle enough. I eased my paws as far back as I could reach on the surface, and digging my claws in I began to lift myself out.

  It held until I got my shoulders level with it, and then broke again. When I fell back into the water I began to notice the shivering. How long had I been trying to get out of the water? I didn’t know much of anything about hypothermia, but if I was shivering I imagined I should get out as quick as possible. I put my shaky paws up onto the ice again and began lifting myself out. This time I got just past my shoulders before it broke.

  Okay, different approach. I turned to my side and laid my head on the ice. Using every muscle I could I slowly wiggled my shoulder up, and then lay still to make sure it wasn’t going to break. I inched up until the top third of my body was steady on cold glass, but I could feel myself slipping, so I had to hurry. One. Two. On three, I threw myself off the ice in a single flop-like motion like a fish out of water, and managed to somersault my entire body onto the solid surface.

  Finally out of the pond, I paused for a split second to make sure the ice would hold before I took off toward the end. I didn’t care if the ground broke away after every strike of my paws, I didn’t have to time spare. There wasn’t even enough time to shake the water out of my fur. If Wes hadn’t tried to help me it was because he was chasing the vampire, and if he’d already caught up he could need my help. Reaching the end of the lake I had no trouble finding where the vampire’s footprints picked back up in the snow, but I didn’t need the footprints to follow the faint sound of a snarling scuffle.

  The trees were thinner in this part of the forest and so the snow was deeper, and before I knew it the powder reached my stomach. Any other time I would’ve been able to plow through it easy enough, but almost instantly it froze in clumps to my wet fur, blanketing my lower body in a sheet of ice. Every muscle had to work overtime through the cold and weight of the water and ice, and it was even worse my body was expending precious energy on the ceaseless shivering. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone out onto the lake.

  Before I could reach Wes the snarling stopped, and the forest grew eerily quiet. Ignoring the pain
in my frozen paws I sped up, following the white tracks and hoping the silence didn’t mean Wes had lost the fight. Two minutes after struggling through the deep, half-frozen powder I finally came upon Wes, who was standing still, long teeth bared at the deep snow below him. He was so frozen I wondered if he was hurt, but when he barely turned his head to look at me, I realized what he was doing. Just as he turned a pale fist hit him hard enough in the head to send him flying sideways with a loud yelp.

  The way the vampire took off unnaturally fast through the deep snow made it clear he was running for his life. But I didn’t waste a second in chasing after him, nor did Wes waste a second in recovering from the blow. The vampire took off east through the trees. As we chased, I began to notice the snow was slowly getting shallower, and the trees around us denser. I let on a wolfish smirk. The vampire had gotten lucky with the lake early on in the chase, but he didn’t belong in the woods. Wes and I had more practice maneuvering through trees and keeping our footing on the uneven ground, and I was sure that as soon as the snow allowed us to run full speed we’d catch him easily.

  Sure enough, just a couple minutes later the powder got shallow enough for us to pick up speed. The target was barely twenty feet ahead of us, and losing ground rapidly. Fifteen. God was his stench unbearable. Ten. Wes was right by my side. I pushed my legs faster than they wanted to go, and the burst of speed put me ahead of Wes. Five. I tensed for a spring, but just as I was about to push off the ground my legs gave way beneath me. Wes was just able to dodge me as I went tumbling through the snow. What the hell was that? I growled at myself angrily. I never fell like that, but usually I could feel my legs. As hastily as I could, which to my distress was dangerously slowly, I pushed myself up and off the ground.

  I got up just in time to see Wes leaping for the vampire, and as he hit its back it ducked, and Wes went rolling over him onto the ground. The vampire turned on his heels, now running back toward me, but before he reached me he jumped for a tree. He began to shinny up it as I picked up a run as fast as I could manage. When I got close to the base of the tree the vampire was climbing I threw myself into the air, catching his ankle just before he got out of reach and dragging him back to the ground.

  I landed awkwardly on my numb legs and went stumbling backward, still holding the vampire between my teeth. When my back finally hit the ground the force caused my jaws to open, releasing my hold. Right after being let go the vampire scrambled up, and was instantly knocked back down by Wes, who then began to bite at every inch of flesh he could find. With vast difficulty I got back up to join in the fight, and rushed in, dodging flying vampire fists. Wes was too busy avoiding the vampire’s assaults on his head to pin him down, so I rushed in again from the side and clamped my teeth down on the vampire’s exposed throat.

  Before I could tear through the unguarded flesh a panicked bark escaped Wes. Keeping my teeth in place I shifted my eyes just enough to see him shaking his head at me. He wanted the vampire alive? I was fine with that, but I wasn’t letting go of his neck until Wes figured out a way to get him back to the house. I laid my body down on the ground beside the pinned vampire, keeping my teeth against his jugular with enough pressure that he wouldn’t forget I was there. As I lay, Wes let out a long, ringing howl, and the sound of a motor not too far in the distance answered back.

  Lacey and Kyla had gone back to get a truck? I didn’t think they’d be able to make it through the trees in a vehicle, but I was too tired to think much about it. In fact, I was too tired to think much about anything. The only thing I could focus on was my accelerated, shallow breath, coming out in clouds of white smoke around the vampire’s neck. And it wasn’t just my legs anymore that felt weak.

  Now that the adrenaline was wearing off I could feel that not only was I tired, but it also hurt to move. I could barely even keep my teeth against the vampire’s skin because it was taking too much energy, but I couldn’t let the vampire know that. If he knew it then he would try to escape, and I knew I couldn’t hold him if he tried. The only thing that was keeping him in place now was his fear that I wouldn’t hesitate to rip into him.

  I hoped Lacey and Kyla would be getting here soon, but from the sounds of it they were still ten minutes away, and that’s if they could even get through the trees. I shifted my eyes again to look for Wes, who I found lying in the snow at the vampire’s feet, watching our captive carefully. My attention turned back to my breathing. How long had I been in the lake? Five, maybe ten minutes. What about since then? Another ten. Then at least ten until Lacey and Kyla would get here. How long did people usually last when they were freezing to death? Hell if I knew.

  Feeling like I was losing grip on the vampire’s neck, I instinctively clamped down. “What the fuck!” he yelled, more out of shocked pain than anger, but that was all he said before he remembered that we could kill him any second, and he resumed his defeated silence.

  Startled, I released my grip a little bit, but I had already drawn blood, and I resisted the urge to completely let him go so I could spit it out. The usual metallic bite of the fluid had turned to a painful bitterness, and the otherwise neutral taste had become sickeningly putrid. Was this the source of that horrible decaying smell the vampires always had? I was starting to lose track of time. That’s why I’d bitten him. Time was slipping away and it already felt like five minutes had passed since I’d done it. No, five minutes ago I was pulling him out of the tree.

  Instead of a truck, two large ATVs came through the woods and stopped next to Wes and I. Lacey jumped off her motorcycle first and grabbed two, half-inch thick steel wires that were hanging off the back of it. With wires in hand she put the vampire’s feet together and began wrapping the first one securely around his ankles. To remind the vampire again that I was there and not to try anything, I tightened my grip on his neck. Or at least I thought I did, but he didn’t seem to flinch or even notice. Worried now that I’d lost all strength, I tightened my grip even more. Still nothing. I gripped his neck tighter and tighter, now trying to break skin again, or at least make him cringe.

  “Camille,” Lacey’s voice picked up impatiently, as if she’d been trying to get my attention for who knows how long. “Camille, you can let go now.”

  With more difficultly than I’d ever experienced in my life I released my hold on the vampire’s neck and stood. Every muscle in my body hurt, and I was so stiff I could barely move. As if drunk, I staggered to where Kyla was now leaning against a motorcycle and dropped to the snow. I watched Lacey turn the vampire over and pull his arms behind his back so she could tie up his hands with the other wire.

  “You roll around in the snow or something?” Kyla asked playfully, but her voice sounded so quiet, like a whisper. “You have ice balls all over you.”

  It hurt too much to move, so all I managed was a side-glance up at her to let her know she was heard. The side-glance allowed me to see her reach down to me, and I could only imagine the girl’s hand struggled through the top layer of ice that crusted my fur to get to the wet and frigid layer underneath.

  “Wes,” Kyla called, her voice carrying the faint but recognizable tone of worry. “Why is Camille all wet?”

  The gray wolf came over to examine me. He nudged me with his nose and then ran his face along my frozen fur. Lacey dragged the tied up vampire through the snow over to the other motorcycle and, though she was small, lifted him with ease onto the back of it. He was in a terribly awkward position as his legs dangled off the side, but she didn’t seem to care, and she strapped him on with bungee cords to hold him in place.

  The whole time Lacey had been putting the vampire on the ATV he’d been watching me, and now he scoffed sarcastically. “I knew she was just bluffing on my neck.” He shook his head disappointedly and mumbled, “Probably could have got away too.” Wes bared his teeth and growled, putting the fear back into the vampire’s eyes.

  Lacey glared at him and pointed at me. “Why’s she all wet?”

  He turned his head to look at me agai
n, and then compliantly answered, “She fell through the ice on the lake.”

  “Shit.” Lacey pulled out her cellphone and glanced at the time. “We got to get her back. Kyla, help me lift her onto your ATV.”

  Though I couldn’t feel it, I watched myself get hoisted off the ground and onto the back of the motorcycle, just like the vampire. When Kyla got on, instead of letting my limbs hang over the side, she pulled them forward so that my stomach was at her back. “She’s already freezing me through my jacket,” Kyla said, glancing back at me worriedly, and then to Lacey, “Werewolves can get hypothermia?”

  Lacey jumped back onto her own vehicle. “If she wasn’t a werewolf she’d probably already be dead.”

  I could hear the engines fire up, and the next thing I knew the wind was flying through my already frozen fur. As if I thought I couldn’t get any colder. What seemed like forever later, we reached the lake I’d fallen through, and I was fighting the urge to fall asleep. Wes must have noticed because he ran alongside the motorcycle, nipping at my paws and face. I couldn’t really feel it, but just the thought of him being relentless was aggravating. The last thing I could remember I was trying to let out an annoyed growl, and then, darkness.

  I laid the blanket I was holding over the unconscious blonde in front of the fire. We’d gotten back to the house as quick as we could, but Camille had already passed out by that time. The most we could do now was wait for her to warm up. Lacey assured me that because of our fast healing it wouldn’t take long for Camille to recover. In fact, I could already see some improvement from the rosy color of the ice burn all over her body to her normal, fleshy tan.

  After placing the blanket over her, I weighed my options. I could either try to find the others and see if they’d started questioning the vampire yet, or I could wait for Camille to wake up. Even though she already looked a thousand times better, and I wasn’t as worried as I’d been when she was poisoned, I looked over the bookshelves for something to read while I waited. Dracula caught my eye as I wondered if he was anything like the vampires we were up against, so I pulled it off the shelf and took it to a chair in the middle of the library.