Phantoms of the Otherworld (In Spiritu Et Veritate)

by Reed, Zoe

  Fearing for his life, Benjamin was up and running in the blink of eye, leaving a battered Kyla gasping for air. Determined as she was it only took her a second to recover, and then she impatiently nudged me forward because I’d waited for her instead of pursuing the vampire. As we started to chase after him yet again we heard the shattering of a window, and Benjamin jumped out the second story pane at the end of the hall. We tore through the office toward the sound, and without stopping I hurled myself out of it, hitting the ground on all fours as I continued running. I heard Kyla land with a thud behind me, followed by the quick patter of the golden wolf close behind.

  Benjamin tried turning sharp corners and backtracking through certain alleys in attempts to lose us, but nothing worked. He had a good lead, but we were too determined for him to shake us. Beginning to get desperate, he started circling around through the back roads and alleys of the businesses for a main street. We followed him, unable to catch up for a good five minutes before he burst out of an alley and onto a lighted road in front of a high-end restaurant. I stopped at the edge of the darkness, where I was still shrouded in shadow, and snuck a look through the windows that wrapped all the way around to the sides of the restaurant. Benjamin went crashing through the front door, knocking waiters and customers out of the way as he worked his way to the kitchen in the rear.

  I slouched back, turning around to make my way through the alley behind the restaurant where the kitchen opened up. We stood with our heads poking around the corner, watching the door with muscles wound tight in anticipation. About thirty seconds later Benjamin shot out and turned to make his way back to the main street. Not wanting to risk losing him I was about to lunge, but a slight glimmer in his hand caught my eye. It was a knife. I wasn’t sure restaurants these days really used silver utensils, but judging by how nice the restaurant was I wasn’t willing to risk it. I nudged Kyla and nodded toward his hand so she wouldn’t make the same mistake I was about to, and when she nodded I crawled forward.

  We stalked Benjamin all the way to the edge of the street, following him so silently he wasn’t once aware we were behind him. We stayed in the alleys as he started backtracking along the road, staying in the light and close to the few restaurants and stores that were still open. Every once in a while we’d have to go around the back of a building in order to get to the other side where we could continue following him. After about three minutes of watching him from the dark he seemed to relax, like he thought he’d lost us.

  Then his safety net came to an end. Across the next intersection he reached there were no more restaurants, bars, small shops, or even people. When he got to the curb he stared out into the darkness that may or may not be hiding the wolves from him, and then he took off running. Instantly we burst out of the dark behind him, in hot pursuit once again. The sound of our strides against the snow-covered street and our soft growls with each intake of breath alerted him to our presence. I was sure Benjamin would never tire of being chased, but he was going slower than he had before, daring us to catch up as the silver weapon he still held in his hand gave him confidence.

  Eventually daring reached its peak, and Benjamin skidded to a halt, pivoting on his heels to face us. Startled, both Kyla and I came to an abrupt stop in front of him. Our ears lay flat against our heads, and we bared our teeth in menacing snarls as we stared him down, watching his every move. He held his weapon at the ready, waiting for one of us to attack so he could take a swipe. Each of us stayed frozen in the standoff for a full minute before Benjamin’s lips curled up in a smile, as though he thought he’d won. He knew neither of us would risk a wound from that knife, and I hated the grin it allotted for.

  My ears twitched at the distant sound of running footsteps, but I kept my focus on the vampire ahead of me. “I think we’ve reached a stalemate,” Benjamin snickered. The smug twinkle in his eye made Kyla and I seethe, and our snarls grew in volume.

  The running footsteps coming from an alley nearby continued to get closer until they slowed, and finally Rook appeared. “Give it up, Benjamin.”

  The sound of Rook’s voice and him coming to stand beside us allowed me to relax, if only a little. However, his appearance had the opposite effect on our target. “You’re a disgrace to our kind,” Benjamin hissed, face twisting in hatred. “An alliance with mutts. And when I offered you the only thing we really need.”

  “There are other ways, you know that,” Rook told him, calmly inching forward.

  At Rook’s movement Benjamin took a quick step back and glared. “We weren’t created higher on the food chain to feed on beasts.” When he could see that he wasn’t successfully appealing to Rook’s appetite, he tried appealing to his conscience. “It’s more humane anyway. Feeding when they aren’t aware of it, can’t feel it.”

  I bristled at that, letting out a nasty snarl. Killing three werewolves to set loose insatiable phantoms isn’t humane. Being trapped in a phantom’s world until it eats your soul. Humane? The way that man got attacked by the Phantom, while Kyla and I were trapped, the fear in his eyes. That wasn’t humane either.

  “Benjamin,” Rook sighed. “We can chase you all night until the sun comes up. Then what? We both know you can’t stay in the light all day running.”

  Benjamin looked puzzled now, a sense of defeat clear in his eyes. He glanced to Kyla and I, both of us watching him more curiously than ever. Finally he nodded, and held the knife out for Rook to take. As I watched Rook take the silver weapon my heart started racing. Benjamin was no longer putting up a fight, and he wasn’t armed. Sure, he wasn’t innocent, but could I kill him now, in cold blood? I wanted justice more than anything, but I wanted it through a fight, not through murder.

  Nudging Kyla, I motioned with my muzzle to an alley not far away, and as she began to lead Rook and Benjamin into it to finish the job I followed close behind, eyes more watchful than ever even though Benjamin seemed to be complying. With Rook’s hand on his shoulder he followed Kyla to the alley, to his death. But as soon as they passed the opening his foot went up, and it came crashing down on the side of Kyla’s back, sending her flying into the wall of an enclosing building. In a flash another knife fell from his jacket sleeve and he brought his arm up, preparing to send the point straight through the fallen wolf. Before my body had time to react Rook grabbed the arm that held the knife, and Benjamin turned with as much force as he could and sent his free hand straight into Rook’s chest.

  In order to shake loose Rook’s grip as the vampire went tumbling backward, Benjamin had to let go of the knife, which fell to the cold ground with a deafening clatter. Finally free of Rook’s hold Benjamin took off down the alley and around the corner of the building, and with a furious roar I began another pursuit. Only, this time Benjamin had pushed his luck, and he’d pushed me too far over the edge. He’d killed one of my best friends. He’d almost killed me. And now he’d tried to kill the one person I couldn’t live without. He’d just filled me with the fury I needed to end him.

  I took off so fast after the retreating vampire that as he rounded the corner I almost had the end of his coat. As I came around the corner myself I did so with such speed that I nearly crashed into the opposite wall. But as my speed sent me into the wall I hit it with my feet, and I used the momentum to spring forward and close the final distance between Benjamin and I. I ricocheted off the wall and flew at him. Landing on his back sent him straight to the ground, and though I knew I had to get my teeth around his neck to finish the job, having him pinned filled me with a drive to devastate.

  The gut wrenching taste of that rotten, bitter vampire blood saturated my tongue as I began to rip and tear at the flesh of his back. I’d been angry and defensive before, but now I was filled with a fury like I’d never known. Benjamin yowled in pain, but I just kept tearing at him, for Nathan, for Lacey, for Kyla, and for turning me into this violent creature that needed to see him in ribbons. When he tried to raise an arm behind him, in desperation trying to get some hold on me, he had to pull his ar
m away as my fangs snapped at it fiercely.

  Finally, when the horrid taste became enough to cut through my rage, and when there was almost nothing left of Benjamin’s back to tear at, I wrapped my teeth around the back of his neck. With a single clench of my jaws I sent every one of my sharp teeth clean through, and a twist of my head severed Benjamin from his last glimpse of life and put him out of his misery. Then, blinking away the life that meant nothing to me, I released my hold on what semblance of a neck Benjamin had left. Not only was the blood soaked snow filled with an unbearable stench, but the taste was so foul now that before I could go and check on a battered Kyla I scooped mouthfuls of clean snow and crunched it between my teeth, desperately trying to rid my tongue of it. While I did that I noticed Benjamin’s body shriveling up, until a few seconds later all that remained except for a putrid smelling dust was his clothing. After four spit out chunks of snow the taste had dissipated enough for me not to feel the need to gag, and I made my way back around the corner.

  Kyla was standing, at full height the top of her head reached Rook’s shoulder, and Rook was gently examining her, poking at the ribs Benjamin’s foot had come down on. His fingers pressed one of the bones, causing Kyla to let out a pained whine, and he swiftly pulled away. I trudged over and stood in front of her to watch Rook. As I watched him continue his examination, her head stretched forward, and her wolfish tongue ran twice along the side of my head, just above my eyes where there was no vampire blood.

  It was a strange feeling, such a canine display, since the most I’d ever shown affection while in wolf form was play fighting. Even in wolf form we acted almost human, communicating with our eyes and not-so-animalistic nods and huffs. I figured Kyla must have been acting on instinct alone, because the gold wolf looked away shyly afterwards, embarrassed that she’d executed it so candidly. With a toothy smirk I strolled forward, affectionately rubbing my head into the side of the wolf’s neck, assaulting myself with the sweet scent that made me quickly forget about the horrid taste that still invaded my senses.

  The smell of a purer blood wafted to my nose through Kyla’s fur, and I followed it to find that the gash I’d made myself in her shoulder had reopened, and blood was now streaming down the side of her leg, staining her golden fur a dirty, burnt orange.

  “I’m no doctor,” Rook started as he took a step away from Kyla. “But I don’t think he broke anything. Your friend was right though, you should probably get that shoulder stitched.” Kyla nodded her understanding, and Rook unconsciously mimicked the nod in thought. “The car’s right down the street, I was driving it looking for you. Stay here and I’ll be right back.”

  With that he took off jogging out the alley and around the corner, leaving Kyla and I alone in the quiet night. The sight of her seeping wound caused a flurry of guilt in the pit of my stomach. I let out an apologetic whine as I rubbed my head into her neck again, and then pressed my muzzle tenderly to the bloodstained limb. Once I touched her leg a fresh flow of blood ran down and over my nose, and I pulled away shamefully. At seeing the guilt in my eyes she playfully nipped at my jaw, then ran her long tongue along the side of my head again. When the only response the action received was the hint of a smile in my eyes, the honey colored wolf bowed enthusiastically, tail wagging in unison with the rest of its body.

  I could tell even through the joyful movements that each one was strained and painful. While I appreciated the effort, I didn’t want Kyla to be in any more agony, and fortunately Rook pulled up at the end of the alley a second later. He jumped out of the car with a familiar red box in his hands, and as we trotted over he place it on top of the trunk.

  “Here, when you guys wanted to come I grabbed the first aid kit out of the warehouse.” He eyed Kyla’s shoulder and with a teasing smirk nodded toward it. “I don’t want any blood in the car.”

  With that he grabbed his can of lighter fluid and made his way to the back alley, and a few seconds later a fiery light from that direction confirmed his actions. I was the first to Phase, and I opened the car door to grab the baggy men’s clothes we’d put in the back seat. Before getting dressed I searched the first aid kit for alcohol pads, and went through four of them wiping away at the putrid blood that had spattered across my neck, chest, and arms. Since Kyla was trying to pull her clothes on with only her unbloodied arm, I still finished as the brunette had just pulled on her shorts.

  Once she’d tugged on the lower garment, she used her clean hand to press the shirt over her chest and held her bloodstained limb out to me. “Can you help me? I don’t want to get my clothes any dirtier.”

  I nodded and searched the first aid kit again, pulling out the last of the alcohol pads. “Are you cold?” I asked, eyeing Kyla’s half-naked body as I used the pad to wipe away the blood that ran the length of her arm.

  “No.” She shook her head and then craned her neck behind her as much as possible so she could see me. “Please stop feeling guilty,” she begged when she saw the look on my face. “It was an accident.” My expression twisted and I was about to scoff, so she quickly added, “And it doesn’t hurt even half as bad as it looks.”

  Not knowing how to respond, I just sighed. “It stopped bleeding.” I copied what I’d seen Abby do earlier that night and draped tape over the wound after I pinched it shut with my fingers. For extra protection, I taped some gauze over it too. “Are you sore?”

  “I will be tomorrow,” she chuckled, probably just to ease the tension, even though I still wasn’t particularly happy that she had taken most of the night’s beating.

  I dug through the first aid kit one more time and grabbed a two-pack of painkillers. “Take these.” I handed the pills to Kyla, who downed them immediately regardless of how we both knew the medicine would burn off before she even felt the affects.

  Rook had been leaning against the hood of his car, and when I finally felt that he was watching me, I looked up to confirm it. “You really did a number on him,” he stated, talking about Benjamin. I just shrugged. “I didn’t peg you as the bloodthirsty type.”

  “Desperate times,” I defended, and though he watched me for another second with a knowing look in his eyes, he dropped it.

  I didn’t like that he was pointing it out. What I’d done to Benjamin was not only unmerited and cruel, but it wasn’t like me. I’d killed before, but never did I enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making Benjamin suffer, and never so brutally. I shook the thoughts away. I didn’t want to think about how this had changed me. Not yet at least.

  Without another word all three of us got in the car, and after a relatively silent drive Rook dropped Kyla and I off at the dorms. We’d considered going to the Pack house, but neither of us were sure we were ready for the reality of tonight to fully sink in, and the mood at the house was sure to be dark and desolate. I could hardly shake the feeling myself, mostly because though I’d told Kyla to take it easy and she’d done her best to listen, she still got hurt the most. No matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, Kyla was always in danger. We were always in danger.

  As Kyla and I got into the elevator of the dorm building she gave an annoyed sigh. “Are you still upset because I got hurt?” she asked, and I’d almost forgotten she could feel my emotions again. When I nodded she turned and gently cupped my face. “Well, stop, okay? If anything you should be happy. You got Benjamin and I didn’t get myself killed.” She paused, and a second later a smirk brought out the dimple in her cheek. “And you weren’t your normal clumsy self.”

  The elevator opened up to her floor, and as we got off I simply gave a smile of acknowledgement. I wasn’t ready quite yet for joking. “I just want to shower and lay down.” Even though I’d wiped it off, I could still smell vampire blood on myself, and then there was the smell of the blood that seeped through Kyla’s bandages.

  She sighed again, but this time it was more sympathetic, and she nodded in agreement. We both rinsed off in the dorm showers – grateful it was late enough there was nobody else around – and by the
time we got back to her room I was weighed down by exhaustion. I barely managed to pull on clean clothes before I fell into bed, and I was already half asleep when Kyla slid in next to me. I felt the girl’s head on my shoulder, and when I wrapped an arm around her she laid her own across my stomach. The only thing that brought me any comfort now was the warm body beside mine.

  “Kyla,” I said softly, and heard her hum in response. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” I felt her lips press delicately against the bottom of my jaw, and the gentle touch filled me with enough warmth that I was able to drift to sleep.

  I tugged uncomfortably at the black skirt I was wearing and looked around at the sullen faces. Even though it was a bright day, and the sun reflected off the pure snow around us, it was so dark. Everyone’s clothes, their faces, their moods – it was all so gloomy. Even the two caskets that were surrounded by all these despairing people were a shiny black wood. Normally when the Pack held a funeral it was just Pack members, and there was no ceremony, no speeches, and definitely no preacher. But Lacey had always been so outgoing that everyone loved her, and Nathan had his own friends too. For their sakes Eli had wanted to have a traditional human funeral.

  Despite wanting it to be traditional, the whole thing had been skipped straight to the burial. There was no viewing. The human parts of Lacey and Nathan had been destroyed in that phantom world. When the possessed bodies were found and the phantoms taken out, there was nothing left but the wolf. It was entirely unnatural for a dead werewolf to remain canine, but I found it kind of poetic. In wolf form had always been when I felt the freest. Without the wolf, I wouldn’t be who I was. Wouldn’t be Camille. If I had the choice, I’d wish to remain in wolf form at death too, and to be buried as such to pay tribute to that part of my spirit, the part that always made me feel most alive.