Desolace Omnibus Edition

by Lucian Barnes

  Chapter 34

  The group made it outside without rousing too much suspicion. The barmaid had glanced casually in their direction as they passed through the tavern.

  "Where are we going to meet up with Amber?" Melissa asked.

  "Follow me and I'll show you," Edward replied. He began to lead them up the dirt road until he found the bend he remembered from earlier. "The place we're looking for isn't far now." Edward stepped from the road into the tall grass, and stopped a couple of minutes later in what he thought was the spot he had spoken to the guard in. "We may as well sit down and wait for Amber," Edward told them. "I know it wasn't really part of the plan, but I wasn't expecting it to be quite so dark out here. There's no way any of us will be able to see well enough to further investigate the tracks that the guard showed me earlier."

  "Great! Just what I always wanted to do! Sit around in the dark on the damp ground!" Melissa grumbled. Apparently, her cheerful eagerness from a short while ago was an act.

  "Geez! Will you just relax, Melissa?" Katie said angrily. "The world doesn't revolve around you ya know!"

  Edward sighed heavily. Melissa's pettiness was really starting to grate on his nerves, as well as everyone else's. He wasn't sure how much more he could take before his patience ran out with Melissa's antics. "It shouldn't be too much longer before the tavern shuts down for the night," Edward snapped.

  "If it's all the same to you, Edward, I am going to check the area to see if I can find anything," Jack said, hoping that Edward would be okay with what he wanted to do. In actuality, Jack was merely trying to avoid getting sucked into an argument. The temperament of the group had gone sour really fast.

  "Can you actually see anything?" Edward asked him.

  "At the moment, I can't," Jack admitted, "but if I change into a wolf again I might be able to."

  "Well. If it might help to make everyone feel like they aren't sitting around here twiddling their thumbs, then I say it's worth a shot," Edward said.

  Jack wandered a short distance from the group and began forcing himself to change into a wolf. Despite his best efforts to do this quietly, there was no way he could be sure that they didn't hear him. He got down on his hands and knees, and began to turn into a wolf. With as many times as Jack had done this, he had grown accustomed to the pain of transformation, so what would have been cries of pain merely escaped his lips as grunts.

  His bones cracked loudly as they shifted from human to those of a wolf. Hair began to sprout from nearly every inch of his body. The last part of the transformation was the most painful for Jack. His facial structure began to elongate causing him to whimper slightly. Then, as his wolf teeth popped through the surface of his gums, he let loose a mournful sounding howl that echoed slightly off the surrounding hillsides. He turned to see the rest of the group, now standing and straining to see him in the dark. Jack sauntered over to the group and barked softly.

  "Where is he?" Melissa asked. "I can't see a thing out here!"

  "The bark sounded like it came from directly in front of us," Katie replied, as she began moving toward where she thought Jack would be. She crouched down slightly and swept her hands back and forth in front of her. Katie's hands only encountered the cold, dew-laden grass for the first minute or so of her search. Moments later, her hand found a patch of fur. "Is that you Jack?" she whispered. The response she got was a soft whimper and a warm, wet tongue licking her hand. "I found him," Katie called out softly to the others.

  She could hear the rustle of movement as the others began moving toward her. Katie saw something else that drew her attention. There was a glow drifting toward her from the direction of town, which Katie hoped was Amber coming to join them. She crouched down next to Jack, waiting to see if her assumption was correct. Katie placed a hand on Jack's furry back, more to see if he was reacting in a way that would cause concern than anything.

  It was obvious to Katie that the others hadn't noticed the glow as of yet. "Where the hell are you, Katie?" Melissa asked. "Make some noise or something! It's so dark out here that I can't see my hand in front of my face!" she complained.

  "I think I see Amber coming this way," Katie said softly. The group must have heard her because they stopped moving at once, presumably turning to look back toward town.

  By this time, the glow had grown significantly in size and become more humanly shaped. At one time, Melissa would have likely tried to flee in terror seeing such a thing, but now, she just sighed heavily. "About time!" Melissa grumbled.

  Katie was growing very tired of Melissa's bitchiness and was fairly certain that Edward was getting fed up with her, too. I hope it's just her time of the month or something, Katie thought, because if she continues to act like this I'm going to come unglued! Edward remained silent, but Katie couldn't help to wonder if he was thinking something similar.

  Despite Melissa's almost constant foul mood, Katie had to restrain herself from cheering as Amber floated across the tall grass to rejoin the group. As she continued to float toward Katie, passing the others, Katie began to notice the trampled grass around her that it had been too dark to see previously.

  As Amber passed them, Edward and Melissa followed her glowing form until the whole group was standing together again. Edward was about to speak when a new sound broke the quiet of the night air ... the sound of heavy footfalls. They were rapidly approaching, from what sounded like the dirt road that led away from town.

  Running, and nearly out of breath, a male voice rang out, "Stop right where you are!" Edward and Katie exchanged a nervous glance; Melissa shrank back and hid behind Edward. Moments later, the footfalls slowed and a man emerged from the darkness.

  Edward breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. It was the town guard he had spoken with earlier that day. "Oh. It's you," the guard said when he realized who they were. "Although, I don't recall meeting you before." He pointed in Amber's direction. Just then, a strange thing happened. As the guard pointed at Amber he began to realize he could see right through her, and there was, what looked to be, a wolf standing directly behind her. He could see the glow of its eyes. The guard backpedaled and tripped over his own feet, falling to the ground with a grunt.

  "There is no reason to be frightened my good man," Edward told him as he extended his hand to help the guard to his feet.

  "Is she ... a ghost?" the guard stammered.

  "Yes," Edward replied. "She will not harm you. She is helping us."

  The guard took Edward's hand and hoisted himself back to his feet, looking at Edward distrustfully. "How is a ghost supposed to be of any help?" he asked in a cracking voice, clearly ready to flee the area at a moment's notice.

  "We use the glow of her form to illuminate our path and surroundings," Edward told the guard, stating what he felt to be obvious. "See!" Edward indicated the trampled grass that was now visible around them. "It looks as if your intruder came down this hill multiple times. Judging from some of the marks on the ground, it looks like this individual might have literally dragged some of your townsfolk away."

  The guard was still acting a bit nervous, but he seemed to see Edward's point. "Will you be returning to town tonight to let me know what you find?" he asked.

  "Probably not tonight," Edward told him. "We will have to see how far these tracks go before we make a decision on when we will return. I doubt this intruder is close by anymore. I promise you, that if we find anything we will return to inform you."

  "I suppose that is all I can ask for," the guard said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Be safe on your journey."

  "We will do our best." Edward smiled at the guard, who then nodded and strode back into the darkness.

  Chapter 35

  With the guard's departure, all eyes turned to Edward. "So now we just have to follow these tracks and see where they lead?" Katie asked.

  "Now that Amber is here with us that task should be much easier." Edward smiled. "Hopefully, we can find some of the missing townsfolk as well," he added, trying to
sound hopeful.

  "Can you follow these tracks Amber?" Katie asked, pointing at the area of smashed down grass with drag marks beside it.

  "Yes," Amber replied flatly. She turned a moment later and began slowly floating up the side of the hill. A couple of times she had to stop because the trail had disappeared. At those times, the group stood around and talked quietly amongst themselves while they waited for Amber to reacquire the tracks.

  It was a tedious process that seemed to take hours, but as the group crested the top of the hill and entered another forest, Edward glanced at the sky. The position of the moon told him they had only been at this for roughly an hour.

  "Take a look at this," Amber said, breaking the silence and pointing to a spot on the ground beside her. Amber's glow pulsed slightly for a moment.

  Katie shivered as she looked down at the ground. It looked like hoof prints. No ordinary ones either. From the configuration she saw before her, it looked as if it were made by that strange, mechanical-looking beast that she had seen Mr. M. riding upon not so long ago.

  Jack must have sensed the same thing. By the glow of Amber's form, Katie could see that his hackles were up and his teeth were bared. A low growl escaped his throat.

  "What are we looking at?" Melissa asked in confusion.

  Edward glanced at Katie. "Are you thinking what I am?"

  "You bet your ass I am!" Katie said, trying to sound brave. In reality, she could feel her guts twisting into knots inside of her. Katie felt like a chicken. She knew that she had to face her fears if she ever wanted to find Julie, but being even this close to a killer scared her to death.

  "The man with the strange horse that we saw back by Haven?" Edward asked.

  "What man? What horse?" Melissa interrupted, feeling like she was being left in the dark.

  "Yes, Edward," Katie said with a grimace. "You haven't seen him yet, Melissa," Katie told her. "We saw him before you came here. Pray that you never have to see him!"

  "Why? What's his deal?" Melissa asked.

  "He is a killer, that's why!" Katie nearly yelled in frustration. "If you look up the word evil in the encyclopedia it would likely have his picture beside it!"

  "Geez! It was only a question. You don't need to get so bent out of shape!" Melissa retorted.

  "You get what you give, Melissa," Katie said in a matter of fact tone. "You have been so moody lately that I almost feel like we are traveling with Linda Blair! I keep waiting to see split pea soup come flying from your mouth."

  "Please. Let's not fight you two," Edward admonished. "We have more important things to focus on and don't need to have dissension growing in our group."

  "But—" Katie started.

  "No buts! I'm frustrated, too! We just have to keep our feelings in check and realize that there are more urgent matters to attend to," Edward said, trying to keep the peace.

  "Fine!" Melissa huffed.

  "I'll try," Katie told Edward.

  "Good. Now that that's settled, perhaps we can get on with following these tracks. Maybe even save some lives in the process." Edward sounded hopeful.

  Everyone took up their positions behind Amber as she began to lead them deeper into the forest. The group traveled in an awkward, uneasy silence as they wove their way through the trees for what seemed like several hours. Along the way, they made quite a few stops. Mainly, when Amber would lose the trail and have to reacquire the tracks from a short distance away. Occasionally, fallen leaves would cover the hoof prints and hide the trail from view.

  After traveling for hours, the group was beginning to get tired, so the sky beginning to lighten was a welcomed sight. Sure, they would lose Amber's services for a while, but right now some shut-eye sounded more appealing.

  Edward wasn't sure if it was just wishful thinking, or if he was actually picking up the vibe of everyone's weariness. "I think we should consider stopping for a while," Edward said. "I'm sure by now everyone is likely tired and needing some sleep. Will you be able to find us easily if we continue on our way before it gets dark again, Amber?"

  Her voice was disjointed and fading rapidly, but she did manage to tell him that she could. Amber disappeared from view moments later.

  Edward looked around at everyone's faces, trying to determine how to set up a watch. They couldn't take any chances on being caught unaware. Especially since they were following the trail of a killer.

  Both Katie and Melissa looked utterly exhausted. Jack, on the other hand, looked like he could keep going without a second thought. "Jack. Would you mind taking the first watch?"

  He dipped his head in what looked to be a nod and barked softly.

  "Thank you. Wake me in a couple of hours if you would and I'll take the next one," Edward told him. "Unless you start getting too tired to stay awake. In that case, wake me immediately."

  Melissa sat down in a bed of leaves and shivered. "Any chance of building a fire?" she asked.

  Edward smiled wearily. "Perhaps a small one to chase away the morning chill. Jack, would you mind trying to find some wood? I'll clear a spot for the fire so we don't catch the surrounding trees."

  Jack dipped his head again and took off into the woods. When he was sure that he was a safe distance from the group, Jack began to change back to his human form. Once completed, Jack looked down at his nearly naked body and cursed himself for not trying to get Edward's cloak before he left. He spent the next fifteen minutes gathering dead, fallen branches from the forest floor, making sure that if he came across any of the tracks they were following that he didn't disturb them. It was second nature to do this as a wolf, but in human form he had to pay closer attention.

  Nearly thirty minutes had passed when Jack came strolling back to where the others were seated, waiting for him to return. He carried the load of branches in a manner that he hoped would keep his private parts from being exposed. Not that there was a lot to see at the moment ... the chill of the morning air had taken care of much of the problem.

  Jack turned his back to the women when he set his load down in the place Edward had cleared. Edward tried, but couldn't quite restrain a chuckle. "I'm sorry, my friend. If I had known you were going to change back to a human I would've given you my cloak before you left." Standing, he removed his cloak. Then he draped it over Jack's shoulders and stepped back, letting him adjust it to cover himself.

  "Thank you. I hadn't thought about the cloak until after I changed," he said, blushing slightly.

  Once the gathered wood was in place, Edward produced a magical flame and set the pile ablaze. The group gathered tightly around the fire for a few minutes, rubbing their hands together and taking in the warmth.

  Melissa was the first to back away from the fire, but she stayed close enough to still feel its warmth as she curled into a ball on the ground nearby. A couple of minutes later Katie followed suit, and the two women were quickly asleep. Without his cloak, Edward was still cold, even sitting close to the fire. He knew that he needed to get a little rest though. The only way he felt he could sleep was if he were to lie next to one of the women and share their body heat. He thought about who he would lay next to for a moment and then decided on Katie. He hoped she wouldn't mind. Given the situation, he just didn't feel comfortable enough with Melissa, so he scooted close to Katie and put his back to hers. Now that he was warm, slumber took him quickly.

  Chapter 36

  Once everyone was nestled down and sleeping, Jack took the opportunity to shift back into wolf form to stay warm. He wandered a short distance away, making sure to keep them in his line of sight, so that he wouldn't wake the others with the sounds of his transformation. When he was done changing, he plucked Edward's cloak from the ground with his teeth and carried it back with him to the makeshift camp.

  He looked from where Edward and Katie were cuddled together, to where Melissa lay curled into a ball and shivering, even in sleep. While Jack was gone, Edward had shifted in his sleep and was now facing Katie with his arm draped over her.

 
Jack padded over to Melissa. He didn't care much for the woman's recent display of attitude, but he knew that the group needed her. And she was more likely to be in a good mood when she woke up if she rested well. Gently, Jack dropped the cloak over the sleeping woman, then lightly grabbed hold of it with his teeth to spread it more evenly over her body. Finally, he sat a bit closer to the fire to warm up.

  After a while, the chill seemed to evaporate from the morning air, even within the forest where the sun didn't penetrate the veil of leaves very well. Jack looked up, checking the position of the sun, and determined that he should probably wake Edward and get some rest himself. He sauntered over to where Edward lay cuddled with Katie. Sometime during his watch the two had shifted positions. Now they were facing the opposite direction and Katie had her arm around Edward.

  Jack lowered his head and licked Edward's face to wake him. At first he got no reaction so Jack tried again, this time sticking his cold nose in Edward's ear. That seemed to do the trick.

  Edward opened his eyes and looked up at Jack groggily for a moment. As his eyes began to focus, he sat up quickly, startled by the fact there was a wolf in front of him. It took a moment, but Edward soon realized that it wasn't just any wolf. It was Jack. "That time already?" Edward asked with a yawn.

  Jack backed away slightly to give Edward room to rise and barked softly.

  "All right. All right. I'm up," Edward said, stretching his arms above his head.

  As Edward stood up, Jack walked over and lay down between Katie and Melissa. He wasn't quite close enough to touch either of them, but he had a feeling that they would sense his warmth and move toward him anyway. Even in their sleep.

  Edward moved closer to the fire and sat down, rubbing his arms to get the blood flowing. The air still had a slight chill to it, but it wasn't nearly as cold as before. Absently, he stirred the embers of the campfire with his boot.

  After a few minutes, Edward decided that it might be a good idea if he took a look at his spellbook. You never knew if something hidden within its pages would be useful at a future point in time.