Captive Wolf

by Kyrii Rayne

  "No, they were definitely werewolves. I picked up the scent of at least half a dozen. There's an old bunker here. It was abandoned eons ago. Most people don't even know it exists. It's the perfect place to hide out."

  "And you think that's where Tim took Allyson."

  "I think it's a good place to start. Don't you?"

  *****

  The morning hit Allyson like a freight train.

  Everything hurt.

  I haven't felt this bad after a transformation in months.

  Somewhere in the pitch dark, nails scratched against metal as a man moaned.

  "Who's there?" Allyson asked, unsure if she wanted an answer.

  "Who's asking?" the man growled.

  Seconds later, the fluorescent lights lining the ceiling turned on.

  She shielded her eyes from the blinding pain but not before spots formed. Her clothes lay torn and ripped beside her. The floor of her cage was coated in her blood and matted fur. She slid her palm behind her knee. No trace of the cut.

  "Good morning you two," Tim's voice echoed through the room.

  Allyson's eyes followed Tim to another cage. Inside, a man sat crouched atop a bed of matted hay and filth.

  The caged man glared at Tim, growling under his breath. Tim grabbed a long stick from the desk and crouched down a few feet away from the cage.

  "So, what's your name?"

  The man clenched his lips together, never breaking his glare. Tim rolled his eyes and poked into the cage with the stick.

  The buzz of electricity lit the air as the man jerked and yelled in pain.

  "What's your name?" Tim asked again.

  Another electric shock.

  "Stop! What are you doing?" Allyson slapped her cage. "I don't even know him. He won't be able to help you find Garrett."

  "You'll get your turn soon enough, Allyson."

  Another jolt of electricity attacked the man.

  "Name. Now."

  "James." The man muttered.

  "James? Fine, James. Where's your den?"

  "Fuck you."

  More electricity.

  "What were you looking for outside?"

  Silence.

  Buzz!

  "How many more wolves are in your pack?"

  Each time Tim's question went unanswered, he shoved the pole into James's cage until finally James collapsed under the pain.

  Frustrated and still missing answers, Tim tossed the pole onto the floor and turned his attention back to Allyson. She tried to will her shivers away. To cover herself with the rags of her clothes.

  "Glad to see you made it through." His voice oozed with sarcasm. "So, you've had a night to think about it. Where is Garrett hiding?"

  Allyson stared at Tim. Her eyes darted back to the desk.

  Tim kicking the cage brought her stare back to him.

  "Garret. Now!"

  She shook her head. "I don't know."

  "Oh come on, Allyson. Don't play dumb with me. You must be getting hungry by now, yes? Transforming like that consumes a lot of energy. Tell me where I can find Garrett and I'll let you eat something."

  Allyson's stare didn't falter.

  "Fine. Have it your way. Starve."

  Tim kicked the cage again, hard enough to rock Allyson off balance.

  Chapter Seven

  Amber followed Garrett through the garage, carrying various boxes back into the cabin. Inside, Garrett pulled and sorted through tools, cords, wires. Sometimes he would laugh. Other times he grunted and threw the equipment aside.

  "I don't understand what we're doing?"

  "They have a bunker, right? Bunkers are set up to withstand attacks from armies. There's no way we will be able to get in and get Allyson out with just the two of us. We need an army."

  "How are we going to find an army?"

  "We won't find one. But we can make one."

  "I don't follow."

  Garrett stopped moving and glanced around the cabin. "Do me a favor. Go into the kitchen and grab the powdered sugar and any ice packs that are in the freezers and meet me at the coffee table in the main room."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I'm going to teach you how to build a bomb," he said, as he ran out the door back to the garage.

  "A bomb?" Amber repeated as she ran into the kitchen.

  He knows how to build a bomb? What is he, Rambo? She followed Garrett's instructions and carried the sugar and ice packs out to the main room. Garrett came back inside carrying a bag of old soda cans and some stump remover. Amber studied him as he set everything up near the coffee table.

  "Stump remover?"

  "Yeah. You use it to burn out old stumps, like if a tree falls or if you have to cut down a tree. Otherwise it just rots in the ground."

  "No, I mean… Never mind. Okay, so what do you want me to do?"

  "Okay, we still need some measuring cups and a fuse."

  Amber ran back into the kitchen and grabbed measuring cups while Garrett grabbed some waxed string from his truck.

  "Okay, here we go. The measurements have to be precise. Understand? It has to be three parts saltpeter to two parts sugar. You'll need to grind the saltpeter to make sure you can measure it right."

  "How do I do that?"

  Garrett's eyes darted back around the cabin.

  "Well, looks like we won't be having coffee anytime soon," he said as he ran back into the kitchen for the coffee grinder.

  "What kind of bomb are we making?"

  "This will be a smoke bomb. It won't hurt anyone but we'll be able to use it as cover so we can go in and grab Allyson."

  Amber nodded. "All right. What do I need to do?"

  For hours, Garrett walked Amber through the process of grinding the saltpeter, mixing it with the rest of the ingredients, and putting it all together. When she was sure she could handle making the smoke bombs on her own, he left her to work and started working on other materials.

  An hour before sunset, Garrett looked at their arsenal with a nervous smile and nodded.

  "Is that it?" Amber asked.

  She stepped closer to Garrett and stood with him. Their arms touched, sending shivers through her body. He smiled, oblivious to his effect on her, and put an arm around her shoulders.

  "Yeah, this should work. We'll leave in the morning and find that bunker. Then we should be able to use these to help us get in, grab Allyson, and get out." He glanced at his watch. "Oh shit. You haven't eaten."

  "I'm fine."

  "You might be fine now, but you still need to eat. And we haven't even started getting you ready."

  "You mean before I wolf out and eat you?"

  "No. What? Amber, that's not what I mean at all."

  She took a deep breath and shook her head. "Garrett. It's okay."

  "No, it's not. You're not a monster."

  "I am--."

  "Shut up. You're not the same, but you're not a monster. Okay?"

  "Then why did you used to hunt people like me?"

  Garrett held his breath for a moment. His heart sank and jumped at the same time. It was the question he dreaded most. One he’d always thought would come from Allyson. His tongue dried in his mouth and he became very aware of his teeth.

  "I hunted the virus. Not the people. Because I thought the virus changed the people. I didn't realize that people could learn to live with the virus or even become better because of the virus. Like Allyson. And you."

  "You think I'm better because of the virus?"

  "I think you're more self-aware. I think you're more confident. And I think you will fight like hell to do good things."

  Amber jumped to her tip toes and planted her lips square on Garrett's mouth. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. And for a brief second, the fastest second of her life, she thought he would reciprocate. He grabbed her arms and peeled them away from him.

  "Amber?"

  "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Sorry." Amber cried.

  Garrett sat down on the sofa and held Amb
er's hands. "Amber, I--."

  "I know. You're in love with Allyson. You like me as a friend."

  "Yes. Yes. All of those things. And also, you're beautiful. And you deserve that soul mate you keep looking for, not being stuck with me because I'm here and it's convenient. Soul mates aren't born out of convenience."

  Amber frowned.

  "Sometimes I just get so caught up. You know?"

  "I know. Now at the risk of sounding rude, get the hell out of my cabin before you change. I don't want you accidentally setting off all these bombs."

  *****

  On his way out the door, Tim stopped at the thermostat and a few seconds later the scent of old freon filled the air. Allyson squinted at the sight of Tim chuckling as he left the room.

  As the air in the room grew colder, Allyson huddled in her cage. Her breath fell in crystallized vapors. She curled her hands under her armpits.

  "Come on Allyson," she told herself. "They're just trying to torment you. He won't kill you. Not like this."

  Her shivers grew violent and uncontrolled. She pulled away from the metal bars of the cage and curled in on herself in the center. She tucked her nose and mouth into her arms and let her warm breath try to build up some heat.

  Exhaustion kept trying to set in. Teasing her with the sweet slumber of sleep and the promise of dreams. The first time she thought to give in to its call, she let her head bob over to the side. Minutes later Allan returned downstairs with a hose.

  "Wakey, wakey, wakey, wakey!" Allan screamed. "You dogs stink! Time for your bath!"

  Allyson screamed as the cold water pelted her.

  After Allan left, she glanced over at James. Still knocked out.

  Her skin tightened and goosebumps prickled up and down her arms. Her nose filled with ice crystals and her ears ached from the cold. Allyson curled back into the center of the cage and tried to reestablish her huddled body heat.

  Ha! Joke's on them she told herself. I wanted them to wash the blood and filth out of the cage. Try as she might to tell herself otherwise, Allyson feared another cold wash down. She still had hours to make it through to sunset before her fur would grow in to protect her from their icy torture. To keep from falling asleep again, Allyson started talking. Mostly in gibberish. Counting songs and creating lists.

  A short while later, Tim came down again to check on the two wolves. James still lay unconscious in his cage. Tim scoffed and kicked the cage. Then he walked over to Allyson's cage and crouched down to look her in the eye.

  "Enjoy your bath, dog?"

  Allyson pursed her lips together and stared straight past Tim.

  "Why don't you tell me a story, Allyson. Hm? While you're still human enough to remember how to tell a story. Why don't you tell me about the time when Tim, that would be me, bested the big bad wolf. And wiped out all werewolves, making them extinct?"

  He paused for a few minutes and studied her. Then he stood up and started walking back out of the room.

  "How about, instead, I tell you about the time I first saw Garrett. Huh? You see, I met him when I woke up in the hospital. After Eddie stuck me with that needle and beat me to within an inch of my life to make it look like a mugging. Garrett found me and brought me in to the hospital. So when I woke up, he was there. Watching over me. Making sure I got out alive. Everyone knows that story. But most people don't know about how I saw him moving into the apartment down the hall from me. Carrying two or three boxes at a time. Muscles rippling and shiny with sweat and his tee shirt hanging out of his back pocket. The sight of him made me drool. And I knew we would be great together. But I was too shy. I couldn't even build up the courage to welcome him to the neighborhood. But then? Eddie came along. And he tried to take my life from me. He thought he could turn me into some ravenous monster without thought or concern. But all he really did was give me more strength than I knew what to do with. More strength than I need to end you."

  Tim scoffed and shook his head.

  "You just don't get it, do you, mutt? You've lost."

  Allyson smirked and shook her head.

  *****

  "It's almost sunset." Garrett said as he ran into the kitchen. "You have to go."

  The muscles in Amber's arms tensed up and started to cramp. She nodded and walked toward the door.

  "Okay."

  Amber ran outside and out of sight in seconds.

  Garrett closed the door and listened for the haunting sounds of Amber's screaming. A few minutes later, he checked out the window and smiled as Amber frolicked between the trees.

  She seemed comfortable. Almost content.

  I wonder why Amber can remember certain things between transformations but Allyson can't?

  He spent the first part of his night putting together plans for an attack on the bunker. Without knowing the general layout of the bunker, he was forced to rely on photos he was able to pull up on his cracked and sticky laptop.

  The next morning, Garrett found Amber near the front porch.

  *****

  Allyson woke up in the morning lightheaded and dizzy. Her stomach growled in empty protest. Her hands shook. All thoughts returned to those of food. Her muscles cramped from two transformations in the small cage. She worried about what the last one would do.

  Groaning and light shuffling drifted over from the other end of the dark room.

  "Hey." Allyson whispered.

  "What the hell?" James rolled over and tried to stretch, only to be reminded that he was still trapped inside a cage.

  "Are you okay?"

  "I feel like shit."

  "Like your whole body suffered from one giant charlie horse?"

  "Yeah, that's a good way to put it."

  "That's from the electricity yesterday," she said. "Take long slow breaths. It'll help deliver oxygen to your muscles to let them relax more."

  "What are you, a fucking doctor or something?"

  "Nurse in the ER. What you really need is to relax and drink some water, but I doubt Tim will be accommodating."

  "Tim? He was the one with the taser pole?"

  "Yea. He runs a group of hunters."

  "Okay, good to know. Now I need to get out of here." More shuffling, and an exasperated sigh followed. "Damn it," James whispered.

  "When I woke up here, he said he wanted to learn from me and that the rest of the cages would be filled soon... for research," Allyson admitted.

  "What kind of research?"

  "I don't know. I don't think he really wants research at all." Tears caught in her eyelashes. "Are you a wolf?"

  "What kind of a question is that? You know I am." James muttered his answer between grunts. Metal hissed and scraped against metal.

  "How would I know?"

  "You were here first. You must have seen them bring me down here. Then there's the scent. That's how we found you."

  "What? What are you talking about?"

  "You're… it's... Wait. How long have you been a wolf?"

  "I was infected six months ago."

  "And how many in your pack?"

  "I don't have a pack."

  "The wolf who turned you should have brought you into his pack."

  "A hunter infected me."

  "What?"

  "With a needle."

  James took a deep breath.

  "Figures. At least that explains it."

  "What the hell does that mean?"

  "Nothing. My pack picked up your scent last night."

  "What scent?"

  "Werewolves release scents in the form of hormones at different times. Sometimes when they're in heat, or when their pack is dead and they are looking for another pack, or when they're in danger and need help. It's how we find each other."

  "So last night, I released these hormones? And your pack followed the scent to here?"

  "Yeah. Except the goons outside knocked me out. Dragged me down here."

  "So you know where we are?"

  "Yeah. We're right near Lake Youngss."

  "We're
what? I mean we're where?"

  "The east side of Lake Youngss."

  "I have a cabin on the west side of the lake."

  The lights flipped on and footsteps echoed across the floor.

  "So," Tim's voice thundered. "Are you ready to give me the answers I want?"

  Allyson and James each glared at him through the bars of their respective cages.

  "Fine," he pulled a gun from his jacket and pointed it toward the floor. "Allyson, where's Garrett?"

  Allyson shook her head.

  Bang!

  Allyson screamed as the bullet passed through her lower leg.

  "You, James. Where's your den?"

  James stared at Allyson and grit his teeth. His jaw rippled under the pressure. Tim moved the gun to take aim at James.

  Only James was ready for him. James wrapped his finger around one bar and pulled it away from the cage. Tim's eyes barely caught sight of the sharpened end before James had speared it through the side of his foot.

  Tim screamed and the gun discharged, sending another bullet ricocheting against the wall.

  James kicked at the door to his cage, knocking the weakened metal out of place. He left the cage and grabbed the taser pole.

  Allyson grabbed the left-over rags of her clothes from the day before and wrapped them around her leg. She hoped it would work well enough as a tourniquet until she could get out. She turned back and stared at James as he plunged the taser pole into Tim's chest.

  Tim's body jerked uncontrollably and fell to the floor. His limbs flailed and blood poured out of his chest and foot.

  James grabbed the gun from Tim and started for the door.

  "Wait," Allyson called out to him. "You can't leave me here."

  "Sorry, but coming in here to get you is what got me caught in the first place," James said. "I need to get back to my pack and make sure they're okay. And to do that I need to move fast. You aren't running anywhere with that leg."

  "So, so you're just going to leave me locked in here? If you don't want me to slow you down, fine. But at least unlock the cage. Give me a fighting chance."

  Chapter Eight

  Garrett followed Amber around the lake for hours as she searched for the bunker.

  "So, she's probably in there, right? When we find that bunker?"

  "I think so, probably."