by Nick Stead
A yelp came to my right and I glanced across to see the shadow dog down on the ground, a nasty cut visible across its ribcage. Dread filled me as I realised even creatures of spirit were vulnerable to the reaper’s scythe, though whether the barghest could be killed in the same sense as a flesh and blood being remained to be seen. It was the first time I’d ever seen the black dog injured and surprisingly the gash in its side looked just as red and angry as it would have on a physical creature, though it didn’t bleed. Neither did my own cut for that matter, presumably because it wasn’t my actual physical body under attack in that place.
Death turned his attention back to me and I took up a defensive stance over Amy as he advanced towards us, but the barghest picked itself back up and lunged at the reaper once more. I didn’t wait to find out what happened, grabbing my sister and cradling her in my arms as I sprinted for the light on the other end of the stretch of moorland. If I could just make it through, we should both wake up back in the chamber with Selina and the vampires, out of Death’s reach – for the time being at least.
The glare of that light was too much for my eyes and I was forced to scrunch them tightly shut against it as I drew closer. Out in the physical world I might have been worried about tripping on the uneven ground but somehow I knew that wouldn’t happen in that place, since it was either somewhere in my own consciousness or on some kind of spiritual plane where the usual rules didn’t necessarily apply. I had the feeling that I’d only stumble if I let doubt trip me up, and I focussed with all my being on rising back up to a state of consciousness, regaining my hold on life and bringing my sister back with me.
But it wasn’t any kind of spiritual clumsiness on my part that made me fall.
Skeletal fingers wrapped around my ankle, pulling me off balance and sending me crashing to the ground. My eyes instinctively snapped open as I landed to find I was surrounded by that white light and I knew I had to be just on the edge of consciousness. Amy’s body seemed to have been thrown from my arms in the impact and, temporarily blinded, I couldn’t see where she’d ended up. Then Death started to drag me back towards the blackness he was so intent on sending me into and I twisted round to find the reaper must have broken free of the barghest and re-materialised at my feet, his form rising up from the earth like a shark from the murky depths of the ocean. Only his upper body was currently visible above the ground but it didn’t stop him from continuing to pull me to my doom.
I slipped further and further away from the portal back to my physical body and with a cry of frustration I kicked out, but to no avail. I looked back to try and find Amy and as I squinted against the glare I thought I could just make her out from within the light, an indistinct shape which finally seemed to move of its own accord and crawled back to its weak hold on life. It had to be my sister, relief washing over me with the realisation she was safe.
That was more than could be said for me. Before I knew it, I was back on the edge of the darkness of death and in very real danger of being dragged all the way through by the reaper. I struggled to free myself from his grip but it was useless and I had all but resigned myself to my fate when finally the barghest reappeared. Death’s full form was back above ground and the shadow dog was able to latch onto one of his legs. At first it only seemed to slow the reaper in his determination to keep hold of me this time, once and for all, but the spirit beast kept straining against him until it succeeded in bringing the skeletal figure to a standstill and Death was forced to deal with the black dog yet again.
This time the reaper swept the barghest aside as if it was no more than a plant his leg had become entangled in, though there was enough force behind it to send the dog skidding a few feet away, giving me no time to get to my feet and make another run for the life still waiting for me back on Earth, if only I could make my way back there. But the shadow dog leapt straight back up and charged in for more. Or it would have done, if it had been given the chance.
“Enough!” Death thundered, and the dog simply winked out of existence mid run. I didn’t know if it had truly ceased to be or had merely been banished from whatever spirit plane we were on, but one way or another I felt certain it wasn’t coming back. “Now we finish this. It’s time you came with me.”
The reaper raised his scythe, and I prepared to die.
Chapter Twenty – Family Reunion
I lay there vulnerable and in no position to so much as dodge again, let alone make another run for it. Death’s blade cut through the air in a path meant to connect with my chest, putting an end to my cursed existence and sending me on to whatever waited for me beyond the veil. It should have all been over, but the scythe never made it through that deadly arc.
A second blade made of what had to be Hellfire blocked its cut, the clash of steel ringing in my ears as if there was something solid and metallic about the fire weapon. Instinctively I rolled away while the reaper was distracted yet again and got to my feet as a voice I didn’t recognise growled “I can’t let you do that.”
Unable to help myself, I risked a quick glance behind me to see what looked to be the back of a huge black werewolf stood facing the reaper. Bat-like wings protruded from the beast’s shoulders and – were those spikes running down the spine? I didn’t dare stick around to watch Death take on this latest rescuer who’d come to my aid so I couldn’t be sure of what I’d seen in that brief glimpse, and I didn’t dwell on it in that moment. Facing forward again, I started to run, focussed entirely on escaping the darkness of death and returning to the light of life. I could hear them trading blows as I sprinted for that blinding whiteness a second time, forced to close my eyes again when I reached its edge but never once slowing. I was determined to escape then not just so I could keep on surviving myself, but also to make sure Amy was okay and that she made it out of the dungeon alive. Not to mention the unfinished business I had with David and his cronies.
Gritting my teeth as I ran, I half expected the sounds of battle to come to a sudden stop and for Death to grab hold of me like he had before. But I stayed upright and moving, the clash of steel growing fainter with each step I took. Then I plunged back into consciousness and left the two powerful beings behind me, firmly back in my physical body and the land of the living once again.
Gwyn and Zee’s worried faces hovered above me. I groaned and tried to sit up, relieved to find my body seemed to have been freed from the power which had temporarily shut it down and that it was fully functional once more. My memory of the events from that place between life and death was intact and part of me wanted to ask Selina about what had happened and whether she knew anything about the beast who’d saved me from the reaper’s clutches, but my first concern was of course my sister.
“Easy there, chummer,” Gwyn said, placing a hand on my bare chest and gently but firmly forcing me back down.
Growling, I turned my head to find Lady Sarah sat cold and distant as ever to one side of the room. From where I lay, I could just make out Selina crouched over Amy. She seemed to have recovered in the time it had taken for us to fight our way out of that state between life and death we’d been put in, and as best I could make out she was tending to my sister who seemed to be alive and conscious, for which I thanked whatever gods might exist.
My body felt drained from the stress it had been put under to send me into that place where the reaper waited and my muscles felt stiff, a deep ache running through them. There was no wonder Selina had needed some time to recover. After all, she was only human. She might be longer lived than most through witchcraft but she was still prone to the same vulnerability of her flesh as any other mortal. The supernatural might of my lycanthropy running through my veins meant I was regaining my strength much quicker, even without the need to transform since there were no actual wounds to heal, but as always it came at a price.
Hunger stalked through my belly, slowly growing in power. The change back to human form had given rise to it once more, though it was a way off becoming so unbearable that it posed
a real threat to my self-control. For the time being it was manageable which I was also grateful for, since the last thing I wanted was to be battling the temptation to prey on my own sister.
“Let me up,” I said.
Gwyn looked doubtful as to the wisdom of that and seemed reluctant to comply, though if it came to it I could easily overpower him in his human form. Only the vampires would successfully be able to keep me down.
“Best do as he says,” Zee advised. “A werewolf’s body can withstand a lot more than a human. He isn’t going to be as weak as Selina was when she first came round, and we’re here if his strength does fail him.”
“Okay but don’t play the dumb macho wolf – if you need a hand standing or anything let us help, yeah?”
“Just let me up already.”
They backed off and I managed to sit up without too much trouble. I could see more of Selina and Amy from an upright position but to my dismay, the gashes from my claws still gaped open in ghastly contrast to my sister’s pale skin.
I got to my feet, my legs a little unsteady at first but I bullied them into action, wanting to be by my sister’s side. Selina looked up at me as I approached, apparently too intent on whatever she was doing for Amy to notice I’d regained consciousness before then, but relieved to see I had survived the brush with Death. She didn’t comment or ask any questions though, instead giving me the update on my sister that she knew I was wanting.
“Don’t worry, she’s no longer in danger of dying. Her wounds will need time to heal though and she’s going to be very weak from blood loss, unless she gets a supernatural boost. But if Death released his hold on her, then she won’t die from these injuries, even though they should have been fatal by now.”
“Can’t you use witchcraft to heal the damage?”
“Not without the proper tools and the right incantation.”
“Nick, is that you?” Amy asked.
“I’m here, sis,” I answered.
She didn’t seem to be in any pain at least and as I knelt beside her, the sharp smell of spirits cut through the ever present scent of the thing still waiting for us at the end of the dungeon. Zee must have handed over his hipflask to Selina while I’d still been out, to clean the wounds. They’d also made her some fresh makeshift bandages, again ripped from Gwyn’s shirt, which Selina began to bind the lesions with.
“I knew you weren’t dead! What’s going on? And why are you naked? Oh my God, is that blood?” she asked, her voice full of disgust.
I felt more lost then than I had when she’d been dying. She had a right to know at least some of what was happening and she was going to find out sooner or later that I was a werewolf as I’d no doubt have to transform again before we made it out of the dungeon, if we ever did. Not to mention the other horrors she was likely to see and the nature of my companions. But where did I even begin?
“Zeerin placed her under his spell for you,” Selina murmured into my ear. “It’s keeping her from feeling the pain of her wounds and from any fear or panic that might otherwise arise down here. You should tell her about your lycanthropy now, before we go any further.”
It made sense to get it over with but suddenly I felt nervous about revealing my dark secret to someone I cared about. Not least because it would mean admitting to being the beast behind all the killings attributed to a ‘rogue wolf’ loose in the country, one of which had been her friend, Mel, and our own father if his body had been discovered and named a victim of the same beast. Even if I didn’t admit to it outright, she would put two and two together eventually. She might have always been a dizzy blonde, but she wasn’t stupid.
“Nick, what’s going on?” Amy asked again, disgust turning to confusion and perhaps a hint of unease, even with Zee’s power keeping her from falling into a state of panic or true terror. “Where are we? And where have you been all these months?”
“I ran away,” I admitted, though those weren’t the words I’d have otherwise chosen to use if I’d been talking to anyone else. But it seemed as good a place to start as any and I thought she’d handle the prospect of me being forced to ‘run away from home’ easier than starting with anything along the lines of ‘I left you’.
“Why? Why would you do that when Mum and Dad always loved us? When I love you! Do you know how worried me and Mum have been? Oh God, do you even know about Dad?”
Her eyes began to tear up, putting a temporary stop to the stream of questions.
“I was there the night he died. Believe me when I say I had no choice but to leave, to keep you and Mum from getting killed as well. There’s a lot going on that you don’t know about. It was safer that way, but I suppose now you’ve been dragged into it anyway you deserve an explanation. This might sound crazy though.”
“Crazier than waking up here to find my missing brother naked and covered in blood?”
“Well…” I answered, nerves holding me from just coming out and saying it. I took a deep breath to try and calm the nauseating feeling in my stomach, before forcing the words out. “I’m a werewolf.”
“Fuck off, I’m not falling for that again. Just tell me the truth you dick; I’m not a little kid anymore!”
“That is the truth,” I insisted. The thought crossed my mind that it would be easier to just have Zee or Lady Sarah tell her everything whilst using more of their hypnotic power, but I guessed Zee hadn’t done that already out of respect for me, to give me the chance to do it myself. And I knew it should be me to explain everything, reluctant as I was to confess my darkness to her. “I can prove it but just hear me out first.”
“Whatever. And are they all werewolves too?”
“No, those two are vampires, Selina’s a witch and the skinny Welsh man is a kind of spirit who can take human form,” I replied, pointing each of them out to her. I didn’t want to transform straight away and overwhelm her with too much at once, so I forced myself to go on. “Remember that last night of the summer holidays when I went to the cinema with my mates? And how I slept all day afterwards and didn’t wake up till night time but I wasn’t feeling so well? It’s because I’d been bitten on the way home from the cinema and the moon was still full enough to make me go through my first transformation the night straight after.”
“But werewolves aren’t real.”
“It’s why I’m stood here naked and bloody. And it’s why I started acting so strangely after that night. You must have noticed how I started to change, how I started to get ‘weirder’ as you’d probably have thought of it. You must remember the sudden break down if nothing else and my short stay in the mental hospital.”
“Are you sure you’re not just crazy?”
“I did tell you it’d sound crazy but unfortunately not. This is for real Amy, and it’s why we’re in this place. There’s people out there who know all about the truth behind the legends and want to wipe us out. And they’ve already proven they’ll use anyone I care about to get at me, which is how you’ve ended up in the middle of all this. After Dad died, I had to leave home to keep you and Mum from getting killed as well. I know it’s a lot to take in but I swear it’s the truth.”
“Well even if you are a werewolf, that’s still no excuse for running around naked. You could at least get ripped shorts or something!”
I just looked at her. Of all the reactions I’d expected, that was not one of them. Though I supposed I should have known she would have some daft question or idea which only she could come up with, but I’d expected her to be more focussed on the bit of information I’d just given her about the Slayers, or the fact the dried blood on my skin marked me out as a monster in every sense of the word. Unless that fact hadn’t sunk in yet. Either that or it was Zee’s power influencing her in some way.
“Like the werewolves have in films, you see them all the time,” she continued. “They have to get their ideas from somewhere you know!”
“Amy, it’s not like they have shops for werewolves where we can just buy ripped shorts. In the movies their clo
thes rip when they transform and sometimes they get to keep ripped trousers to protect their modesty. This may shock you, but real life isn’t a movie.”
“Well yeah, I’m not stupid.”
“No, just very blonde,” I muttered under my breath so she couldn’t hear me.
“But they have to get their ideas from somewhere,” she repeated.
“It doesn’t work like that in real life,” I explained, somewhat exasperated. “When I fully transform I become a wolf, as in the four legged wild animal I was always obsessed with. Human clothes don’t fit me in that form so I’ve either got to strip off to change or they get ripped while I turn, but they don’t conveniently stay on to protect my modesty like in some movies. And then when I turn back, it’s not like there just happens to be clothes lying around I can dress myself in. Plus if I’m having to shift between forms all the time then clothes aren’t really practical. It’s just easier to live without now.”
“Well you could get a wash then. All that dried blood on your skin is just gross,” she said, before the realisation I’d been dreading finally hit her. “Oh my God, have you been killing people?”
Zee’s power apparently didn’t keep her from feeling a sense of horror. I couldn’t meet her eyes and words suddenly failed me.
“Please tell me that’s just animal blood, Nick. Please tell me you’re not a killer.”
“I’m sorry, Amy. This is why I wanted to keep you and Mum out of all this.”
She started to retch, until Zee stepped in and added to the mental block he’d already got in place for some of her emotions. “We are all predators, except the witch. Accept your brother for who he has become and be free of such horror and disgust.”
