Wild Keepers

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Her anger dissolved and excitement started to flutter in her belly. She was going to do it. It wouldn’t take too long, and it would pass the time, give Caleb some grace. If he still wasn’t here when she was finished, she would simply walk out and leave.

  Depending on what she found, of course.

  Allie walked back to the sink, quickly. She poured a glass of water from the tap and went to the lab. It was getting dark; she had to turn on the lights. For a moment, she was uneasy again. She didn’t want to be here when it was fully dark and walk by herself to her car. If Caleb wasn’t back, of course.

  She let out a small breath. It would be alright. If he still wasn’t back, she would ask the security guard to walk her to her car.

  She got a pipette and carefully inserted it into the glass of water, extracting it. Then she pressed it, placing a few drops onto the glass slide, gently covering it with a slip. She placed it under the microscope and sat down, adjusting the power gradually.

  It was blurry at first. But she could see something emerging. The key was to increase the power slowly. She couldn’t afford to be impatient.

  She gasped. There was an almost transparent, jelly-like blob, moving across the field very slowly. She carefully watched as it changed shape. She could see long, finger-like projections protruding from it that were drawing out and then withdrawing.

  It was an amoeba, she was sure of it. It presented like one, at any rate.

  Allie sat up from the microscope, taking her eye away from the lens so quickly that her vision blurred slightly. There was something there. There really was!

  She got up, quickly retrieving everything that she needed to fix and stain it. A culture. The chemicals to wash it, and fixing solution. This would take a bit more time, and it would kill the amoeba. It would no longer move and change shape. But it would allow her to view the cell’s organelles. The features that made it what it was and were different to any other amoeba.

  The first step to identifying it.

  She worked quickly. She didn’t think about Caleb anymore, or where he was. She didn’t think about Dr. Morgan, and what his reaction to this was going to be. She didn’t think about the fact that it was now dark, and she was alone in this lab on a cold Saturday evening.

  She was completely focused on her task.

  At last. She slid the glass slide back under the microscope. The stain that she had applied came up as dark spots in the area inside the cell, surrounding the nucleus.

  She was so engrossed in her task that she didn’t notice the lights flickering at first. Puzzled, she raised her head away from the microscope, staring at the ceiling. What was happening?

  Suddenly, they switched off completely. She was in total darkness.

  Allie felt a stab of fear. She couldn’t see a thing, not even three feet in front of her. She waited for a moment, her heart beginning to thud, for the lights to come back on. What an inconvenient time for a power failure.

  There was no sound, except the soft intake of her own breath. Still no power. She reached into her coat pocket, retrieved her phone, and switched it on. It would act like a torch, giving her a bit of light. Should she just call it a night and pack up? Frustration surged through her. She was so close; how could she give up now?

  And that was when she saw it. In the corner of her eye. A flash of movement so quick she could barely focus on it.

  Shaking, she swung her head around, staring into the darkness. She couldn’t see a thing. Heart hammering, she raised her phone, swinging it around the room. Had she imagined it?

  Suddenly, she was on the floor. She tried to breathe, but the force of it had winded her. Her hand unclasped, sending the phone scuttling across the floor.

  But not before she saw the face above her. It was the most frightening thing that she had ever seen. Grey with small black eyes. Bald, or almost. Puckered, leathery skin, unlike anything that she had ever known. Was she going mad? Or had she inexplicably fallen asleep and was in a nightmare?

  She could feel coldness surrounding her, almost like a force field. Every hair on her body stood on end. She opened her mouth to scream, but only a squeak emerged.

  She was going to die. She knew it.

  And then, the creature—or whatever it was—was flung off her, so quickly she barely had time to register it. There was a low growling. Something else was in the room. Oh dear God, what was happening?

  Desperately, she stumbled to her phone. She pressed it on with shaking hands, trying to steady it so she wouldn’t drop it. The screen flickered to life, and she cast it around the room.

  What she saw next almost made her drop the phone.

  A large dog was on top of the creature, and they were fighting, desperately. She could see the jaw of the animal lunging at it, its fangs gleaming in the wan light. Allie’s eyes widened as she took in the heavy black coat of the animal.

  It was the same, she was sure of it. The dog that had come to her rescue the night that she had been mugged. She recognised its coat and its size. And she realised, now, that it wasn’t a dog.

  It was most definitely a wolf.

  They were fighting so viciously it was starting to blur. The creature lunged, suddenly, clawing at the wolf’s leg. The wolf started yelping, and she could see blood flowing onto the ground. It had been hurt. What on earth was this creature, that it had claws, or fingernails, long enough to inflict such an injury?

  Allie found her voice, suddenly. She screamed, loud and long.

  The next minute, the lights were back on, so suddenly that she blinked furiously. And Todd, the security guard who was on duty that day, was rushing towards her.

  She dropped her phone onto the ground. In the back of her mind, she heard the screen shatter.

  “Whoa. Steady.” Todd had his arms around her, forcing her to stay upright. “Allie, can you hear me? What happened?”

  She stared into his face. She opened her mouth, but her voice had gone again. She pointed to the spot where they were fighting.

  Todd gazed where she pointed. “There’s nothing there, Allie.”

  She turned her head, feeling as if her neck was about to snap. Her eyes widened. There was nothing there, just like he said.

  “But…” she stammered. “There was something…I saw it.” She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to quell the shaking that was spreading through her body.

  “I was attacked.” She stared at the security guard. “Some…creature. I don’t know what it was. Its face was grey, and it had leathery skin. And then…a wolf came and attacked it. They were fighting, right there.” She blinked rapidly, still seeing it in her mind’s eye.

  Todd stared at her. “You were attacked by a creature, and then a wolf saved you?”

  She sank into the seat, shaking her head. “I know that it sounds crazy. But it’s true!”

  Todd walked to where she had pointed, staring around. “Well, they are gone now. How they would have gotten out without me seeing is beyond me.” He bent down, frowning. “There’s blood here.”

  “The wolf was injured,” she said in a small voice. “The creature clawed at its leg. It started howling. Surely you heard it?”

  Todd looked up, shaking his head. “I was on the other side of the building. All I heard was your scream, and I got here as quickly as I could.” He was still frowning. “None of this makes sense. Two animals, in a lab, fighting?”

  “It’s what I saw,” she said slowly. “I don’t understand it any more than you do.”

  Todd scratched his head. “I’ll call the police,” he said. “Come out to the kitchen. I’ll make you a warm drink. You’re in shock. Maybe the details will become clearer to you after you’ve had a chance to think.”

  Allie stood up, willing her legs to work. The security guard was right; she was in shock, shaking like a leaf. She slowly cleared up her work station, while he waited. They walked together to the kitchen common area, where he fetched a blanket and a drink for her. Then he went off to report it.

&nbs
p; Allie sipped the drink, feeling it warm her all the way through. She couldn’t get the picture of the creature’s face out of her mind, and the moment when the wolf had suddenly appeared. She could understand why Todd was looking at her strangely. Her story was so fanciful as to be completely unbelievable.

  It was the same animal that had come to her aid when she had been mugged. She was sure of it. But why had it been here, at just that moment? Was it following her? And what on earth was that…thing that had attacked her? It hadn’t looked human in the slightest, although it had the figure of a human. Two arms and two legs. On the other hand, it looked like no animal that she had ever seen.

  What was it doing here, as well? Why had it attacked her? And how had they both disappeared, as soon as the lights had come back on, and the security guard had come into the room?

  Allie took a deep breath. There were so many questions, and there would obviously be no answers. She would tell the police what had happened when they got here, but she knew they wouldn’t believe her, any more than Todd had. It was ridiculous, like something out of a storybook. A dark storybook, but a storybook nonetheless.

  With shaking hands, she picked up her phone. The screen was shattered, but it still worked. There weren’t any missed calls or missed texts. Nothing. Caleb still hadn’t contacted her, and she could see by looking out the window that it was night now. What on earth had happened to him? How could he have just left her here?

  She viciously wiped a tear away. This city was dark and strange. She didn’t want to be here anymore. The desire to pack up her flat and hit the freeway back to Worwood overwhelmed her. Get away from everything that was happening here. This horrible illness, and the attacks. She didn’t feel safe, not in the slightest.

  She stared down at her phone, willing it to ring, but it remained silent in her hands. She threw it onto the table. Well, that was that. He had obviously used her for this, but something had gone wrong, and he had decided not to even inform her. What a classy guy.

  She had known deep down, of course. The secretive nature of him. His lies. She just wished that she wasn’t so damn attracted to him. That she hadn’t fallen in love with him. He had told her what his intentions were, but she had still been hoping.

  She sat up. No more. She would speak to him in the line of work, as was required, but nothing else. Whatever was happening between them was over. She would cut it off at the knees now, before it caused her anymore pain. She should never have let it go as far as it had.

  ***

  Caleb limped back to the warehouse, wincing in pain. He knew that he was leaving a trail of blood behind him. He didn’t have any idea how much blood he had lost, but he was starting to feel light-headed.

  He rapped on the door, leaning against it heavily. It seemed an eternity before it creaked open, and he saw Zach’s face staring out at him.

  “Caleb!” His eyes widened. “What the hell happened?”

  The door was yanked open. Zach called for help, and suddenly Shay was there. They put their arms around him, and he was dragged into the main living area. Thad and Evan were standing, staring at him.

  The two shifters placed him on the sofa. Caleb could feel sweat dripping down his face, but he didn’t have the energy to wipe it away. It had taken all his strength to get here.

  “Get that leg up,” growled Thad. “We have to stop the bleeding.” He turned to Evan. “Get me a cloth or something. And some bandages.”

  Caleb raised his leg, placing it on the arm of the sofa. Evan quickly returned, and a cloth was placed on the wound. The others had circled him, staring down.

  Thad was pressing the cloth against the wound. “What the hell happened, Caleb?”

  Caleb winced at the pressure. It was starting to throb with pain. “It’s a long story,” he said slowly. “The short of it is that I battled a Vilgath, and I came away from it with this.”

  Thad looked up at him, his hand still pressed against Caleb’s leg. “You turned?” His eyes raked over Caleb. “Of course you did. Your clothes are shredded.”

  “I had no choice.” Caleb gritted his teeth against the pain. “It was attacking Allie, and I couldn’t have hoped to defeat it in my human form. You know that.”

  “Allie?” asked Evan, frowning. “The girl you are working with at the lab?”

  Caleb nodded. “It was following me,” he said, wincing again. “I tried to get rid of it, but I was driving around for ages with it tailing me. I thought I had shaken it and returned to the facility with the samples I needed.” He took a deep breath. “But it must have found me again and got into the building before I did. Unless it was a different one.”

  Thad nodded, triumphantly. “I knew the Vilgath were behind this! They are starting to feel threatened now. They know that you are close to discovering the truth.”

  Caleb sighed. He had acted instinctively, changing into the wolf when he had seen the flickering lights in the lab. He had known the signs that one was there. Lights flickering then going out meant that a Vilgath was near, and he was already on high alert for it.

  He couldn’t remember what had happened next. Well, that wasn’t unusual; he never remembered what happened when he was in the form of the wolf. He must have limped away. When he changed back, sweating and nauseous, he had discovered the wound.

  He had wanted with all his heart to go back and see how Allie was. Whether the Vilgath had hurt her. But it simply hadn’t been possible, under the circumstances. He needed to get medical attention, and fast. And he knew that his brothers were the only ones who could help him. Besides which, how could he explain what had happened to him? Especially since she might have witnessed it. She might have seen the wolf being injured, and then for him to appear straightaway with the same injury…well, it didn’t bear thinking about. She would start to question who he was, even if she didn’t believe it.

  Still…his arms ached to hold her. To comfort her. She must be in complete and utter shock. To be attacked by the demon, and then for the wolf to come.

  She probably thought she was going insane. It wasn’t exactly an everyday occurrence.

  Thad took the cloth away, cautiously, looking down at the wound. “The bleeding has slowed,” he said. “But I’m afraid you’re going to need stitches for this, buddy. The demon’s claws are sharp, and this one has gone deep.” He turned to Evan. “Can you get me the stuff I need?”

  Caleb paled. He had been hoping that it wasn’t that bad. This was going to hurt. Even though Thad knew how to stitch—they often had scapes, when in wolf form—there wasn’t any anaesthetic. He would have to bite down, hard, to endure it.

  “Do you think you killed it?” asked Shay, passing him a shot of whiskey. “Drink up. It will help with the pain.”

  Caleb downed it one gulp. “I’ve no idea,” he replied. “I didn’t see it again, but that means nothing. They dissolve away, whether they are killed or not. Hopefully I injured it as badly as it did me, if I didn’t.”

  “Brace yourself,” said Thad, with the threaded needle. He bent over the wound and set to work.

  Five minutes later, it was all done. Caleb slowly sat up. It had hurt as much as he had anticipated, but at least it was over. He sat straighter, trying to get up.

  “Whoa,” said Thad, putting a hand out to restrain him. “You’re not going anywhere. You have to rest this leg.”

  Caleb gritted his teeth. “But I must go and see her,” he said. “See if she’s alright.”

  Thad looked at him. “The girl? She’s probably at home, recovering. She’ll be fine.” He stared at Caleb closely. “Why do you care so much, Caleb? She’s someone you’ve only just met.”

  Caleb was silent.

  “Hang on a minute,” said Shay, grinning. “You never did explain where you were last night. Has this girl got something to do with it?”

  Caleb gazed at him. “I haven’t got a clue what you are talking about,” he said in a steady voice. “She’s a nice woman, that’s all. She didn’t deserve to be attacked
by a demon. I just want to see that she’s okay.”

  Thad steadily stared at him. “As long as that is all it is. You know my rules about involvement when you are working.” He stood up. “But the answer is still no. You can’t go anywhere tonight, Caleb. I’ll get some strong painkillers for you, but you need to rest. Doctor’s orders.”

  The others laughed. Thad took care of all their medical needs, but he was hardly a doctor.

  Caleb bit his lip in frustration. He knew that the alpha leader was right, but it was so annoying. All he wanted was to get to Allie, see that she was okay. He would have to settle with calling her or messaging her. Make up some excuse as to why he was so late and never got back to the lab.

  He got out his phone, seeing the missed messages from her. He hadn’t had time to even look at his phone when he had been outracing the demon. He called her. The call rang out, and then her voice played, asking him to leave a message.

  He frowned, staring down at the phone. He shifted uneasily on the sofa.

  Why wasn’t she answering?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Caleb woke up with a start. Sunlight was streaming through the cracks in the boards covering the windows. He was still on the sofa where he been lain the night before.

  He must have passed out. Thad had given him two tablets and a glass of water, gruffly ordering him to take them. They were strong; he had felt the pain of the injury blessedly receding, and they must have had a sedative effect, too. He hadn’t been able to keep his eyes open.

  He gingerly sat up, pressing down on his injured leg. Pain shot through it straight away. He bent down, looking at it. Thad had stitched it neatly, and there was no sign of infection. The alpha leader had missed his calling. He should have been a doctor.

  He would have to watch the wound closely, of course, but he thought that it would be okay. If any infection did start, they had antibiotics here. He would start taking them straight away. He couldn’t afford to lose time on the mission with this injury.