Beneath the Darkness

by Harley Jane Rose

  “I, uh, didn’t know if a bowl would be offensive or if you’d like one … so, uhh … I brought both.” I smiled nervously, placing them on the ground. It nodded, and I walked back toward the house, only stopping to turn back and sate my unnecessary guilt. “If you need a place to sleep, we have an extra bedroom, or really comfortable carpet.”

  I turned back and continued inside, Sam raising his eyebrows from his place in the doorway.

  * * *

  I was sitting on the couch reading, trying to absorb information on the weaknesses of demons, when Sam walked into the room. In his hands were two communicators, like what professional hunters used.

  “We have a patrol tonight,” he said before finally looking up and taking in the scene in front of him. “Oh, come on … again? Really?”

  The wolf looked up from its place, lounging across my feet. It seemed only slightly interested by Sam’s annoyance before it put its head back down and rested again.

  “I honestly don’t understand what your problem is.” I shrugged, trying to return my attention to the book.

  “You realize this is an actual person, right? Not a pet! It follows you around everywhere, and while I admire his ability to protect you, it is a he.”

  “Are you jealous of a wolf?” I asked.

  Sam didn’t answer. He just looked at me a moment before leaving the room, placing the communicator on the table as he did. I scoffed at the thought before reminding myself that this wolf really was a person, and our closeness over the past few days could have been odd. At the time, it felt natural, but I’d never really thought about it too much. I found myself gravitating to a section of the couch in a ball, pulling my legs out from under the wolf. I read all the things we might face as early as tonight, and the closer patrol got, the more my heart threatened to break my ribs.

  Right before we left to meet with our patrol team, I tried to find as many different weapons as I could, storing my sheath, my rowan knife, my iron dagger, and the steel bullet clips in different places on my body.

  CHAPTER 21

  Bianca

  I could feel my legs complain as they held me close to the ground. We moved through the darkened streets, our eyes darting around, rapidly searching for the dangerous threat we could hear ahead. Our patrol consisted of the top ranks of our intake—Sam, Seraphina, Elora, Dwayne, and me. We neared the corner, and I looked around the wall for us and was greeted with the image of a nine-foot skeletal hellish creature. I turned back to the group as they stood there, unknowing. Amid all the chaos, we missed out on the normal mentor who would take our team around. The experienced hunters were all busy relearning and focusing on everything else.

  “It’s a demon,” I told them quietly as we all huddled.

  “Steel weapons, everybody,” Sam commanded, and we all responded quickly, reordering sheaths so the steel weapons were most accessible. When we were geared up, I flicked my fingers forward in a sign of onward, and in our formation, we advanced.

  It spotted us, and its wings brought it up out of most of our weapons’ reach. Elora and I were the ones with steel bullets, and we loaded up in sync, opening fire. It made only a small amount of damage, and the demon did not attempt to dodge. He went for Elora. Her panic caused her to shoot faster.

  “Elora, fall back!” I yelled, hoping she’d listen. I could see her starting to try between shots until her clip ran out. She floundered compared to the demon’s speed. “Elora! Fall back!”

  It was too late. The demon had the speed and would catch up with her regardless. She was screwed if we didn’t come up with something. I reloaded my clip quickly, watching its claws open for an attack. I shot desperately as Elora tried to escape. I could feel the screams moving up my throat before I even allowed myself to. The demon swiped its clawed hand at Elora and caught Eric in its path. He’d saved her.

  I expected him to be blown to the side by the impact, but a single claw pushed its way into Eric’s chest cavity, carrying him back to the monster’s mouth as skewered meat. The crunch flipped my stomach and made everything fuzzy and vague. I fought to keep my grip on my last meal but could feel the hold slipping.

  “All units fall back!” Sam yelled. Dwayne moved, though, pulling a sword from his back and swiping it into the demon’s leg, slicing the black muscle.

  It screeched in response, sending spikes through my brain and forcing me to cover my ears in pain. It retreated and flew up and away, its dark body blending into the night sky. When I was sure it was gone, I found myself slumping as tiredness weighed on me, and I saw the rest of the patrol do the same.

  “Return and rest. Remember to report ASAP,” Sam said finally.

  I need to be strong, I kept repeating in my mind. Somehow, pulling that off seemed impossible, and it proved even more so as I thought about what had happened. There was no body to take back for a funeral, nor was there any way we’d be able to explain the creature we encountered. The bottom of the demon’s leg lay on the ground, bleeding out onto the cobblestone road. I could feel the shadowy presences before I saw the vampires skulk into the alleyway.

  “We need to go now,” I said, backing off toward the mouth of the alley. The vampires regarded us with acknowledgment but continued on, absorbed by the sight of the bleeding demon’s limb. Gravitating toward it, they lapped up the black blood like thirsty dogs at a water bowl, scavenging for anything among the chaos. We had to be glad that it wasn’t us today.

  * * *

  I woke up on the couch, foggy at how I’d ended up home. My memory went blank after we left the alley, the team splitting for their homes. Sam and I had walked together, and then nothing. Beside my head, the wolf sat protectively, facing out against any oncoming enemy. I tried to sit up, and my head was slammed with heaviness.

  “Oww,” I breathed, lying back down and alerting the wolf of my presence. “Sam?”

  There was no response. I figured he could have gone back out, depending on the time, to report to Axton without disturbing me. I looked at the window to see the sun still in view, which meant it had to be morning, and I’d slept all night on the couch. Dammit.

  Next order of business was to get up and eat. I pushed myself up, ignoring the brick that had become my brain, and tried to move across the room. The wolf became riled up, flitting worriedly around me. I tried to give a reassuring smile that said I was fine, but it didn’t make a difference.

  “I’m just getting some food. I’ll be fine. I promise,” I said to him. He ran upstairs, quickly worrying me. But he didn’t seem to be in a hurry for me to follow. I moved to the kitchen, ready to scour for food, and heard steps upstairs. Alarm bells ran through my head. Fighting all my sore muscles and organs, I grabbed the cupboard door, opening it and pulling myself inside. I squeezed in easily, shutting it behind me and pulling myself as far away from the door as I could. I listened as the steps came down the stairs, and I knew they didn’t sound like Sam’s way of walking. Someone else was in the house.

  I slowed my breathing, worried that the intruder might hear it. Everything, even my light breathing and racing heart, sounded too loud. The footsteps moved into the kitchen. They didn’t bother being quiet; they were powerful. They didn’t feel the need to sneak around, and I closed my eyes, able to use my other senses better and need to do so. The steps stopped, and I could hear sniffing. I cursed myself for forgetting that too many creatures could smell me in my hiding spot. I readied my muscles, and when the cupboard was opened, I lunged at the figure, tackling them to the ground. I hit wildly, the attacker matched me easily, every hit blocked before I’d fully made it.

  “Bianca! Stop! It’s me!” he said, and I finally withdrew off the attacker enough to look at his face.

  “LUCA?”

  I stopped for a moment, barely believing what was in front of me, before ignoring it all and launching myself at him in a hug. I held him close, praising that my best friend was finally
here. I smelled the strong scent of wolf and pulled back, processing the information.

  “You were the wolf,” I said. He nodded, and I couldn’t help feeling the pangs of hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  “I wasn’t sure how you’d react with your new relationship and all,” he said simply, giving me a sheepish smile. I returned the smile, remembering happily that my relationship had begun after his suggestion to me. Maybe even at times, his loss was the reason I let it begin; his recruitment to the wolf pack made me vulnerable and made me look for Sam’s comfort.

  “I’ve missed you, Luca! So much!” I said, hugging him again and thankful for the time I had with him in the house as my protector and best friend, even if I hadn’t originally known it.

  “I’ve missed you too, Bianca.”

  I heard the front door and knew that Sam was home. I wasn’t sure how to explain this to him, but Luca didn’t seem fazed by the new arrival; instead, he sought him out for a reunion of his own.

  “Sam!” he called, alerting him of his presence well before he turned the corner to the front entry hall.

  “Luca? What are you doing here?” Sam called as he turned into the kitchen, spotting his friend and giving him a brotherly pat on the back.

  “I’ve been your wolf protector,” he explained, and suddenly I saw Sam’s face lighten in response. “Makes all those couch days a whole lot more bearable, huh?”

  Luca laughed, and I could feel Sam join in easily.

  “So much.”

  * * *

  I was so over the moon about Luca around as my best friend again. I floated through a month of patrols. There were definitely some traumatizing things, but at the end of the day, I had Sam and Luca there to support me, and somehow that made it less painful. I got used to seeing Luca as a wolf and man, finally able to see a slight resemblance. Maybe it was the way he looked at me with his new orange eyes, but all our history lay in his irises. His smell had changed though. It was kind of weird to think about, and trying to remember what he smelled like before was hard. But the scent had become a new kind of comfort. His essence was now mostly wolf, but no matter his form, he made me feel protected and at home.

  Sam and I had no gaps in our relationship anymore; the distance that had been there ended, and our relationship was finally in the right place.

  “I am so glad I met you,” Sam whispered in my ear after another night of quiet patrol.

  “Me too,” I said, moving close to Sam in our upstairs bedroom. He kissed me softly, and I could feel the pull to be close to him and found myself lost in his soul, mixing it with mine.

  CHAPTER 22

  Bianca

  We were running, fleeing from a group of vampires that had tried to hit our patrol. We had finally killed the rampaging demon, and then we came face-to-face with a Stiltskin. They were bloodthirsty faery men of ancient times, stealing human children and swapping them with a troll child known as a changeling. The creature’s dark-green irises with red flecks stared at me, pulling at my soul, begging to skin it in its sharp fingers.

  The fight was hard, and we were close to suffering casualties. I knew I’d be sore in the morning, but it felt good to be rid of both a demon and a Stiltskin. It seemed like we used up all our skill fighting the demon, because Sam only managed to impale the Stiltskin with his iron longsword out of luck. He died quickly though, and hopefully before he’d stolen any children. We would have to check missing cases later. It felt good to win though, regardless of how.

  The large group of vampires tried to jump us the second the fight was over. There were too many of them, and we needed to retreat. My muscles continued to complain. The vampires were neither catching up nor falling back, and we had to keep it up.

  Sam was ahead of me, on the lookout for threats ahead of us. We just had to find a way to loop around and catch the vampires unaware. I pushed on, looking back over my shoulder to make sure we still had our patrol team intact.

  The stones rushed under me quickly, and I made sure to place my running steps as carefully as I could among the uneven stones. We turned the corner sharply, hugging the inside of the building to try to shorten our track and push ourselves harder.

  “Sam, we need to lose them!” I shouted to him out front.

  I bolted past the mouth of a very thin alley and felt a major pressure on my neck. I could hear howling off in the distance as I yelled out. Pulled backward into the alley, I watched as the other hunters ran past. Pushing the figure that had grabbed me, I felt him stumble a few steps with a grunt before regaining his composure and advancing again. I turned and came face on with fangs. I threw kicks and punches in a flurry, my heart pumping so hard at the fear this would happen again, and he dodged them all easily. His hand flew past my body, throwing me sideways into the wall. The collision with the oncoming wall turned my vision black for a moment before my sight returned, too bright in the dim lighting of the streets.

  The hits kept coming before I could process them. The dizziness grew, and I could hear Luca howling in the distance. Searing pain and heat hit me in the neck. I screamed out, hoping for backup. No one came. The wolf howl of my best friend was all I heard in the distance. I tried to struggle, but the feelings in my neck changed. A warm-water sense dripped over my shoulder, and an ecstasy filled my body. It was like being touched ever so lightly that you feel goose bumps shiver over you in pleasure. I fell into the vampire’s clutches—a face controlling my body despite my screaming to fight.

  Time passed, and I felt drunk. I let him drink me, and things were getting blurrier by the minute. Then I was drinking. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I could feel it give me energy and make the wooziness subside little by little. Then it all stopped, and he dropped me on the ground. I was so tired that I just let myself lie there. I felt my muscles sink into the cold, wet, smooth stone.

  I waited, unable to move and not wanting to until I felt heat return to me with a passion that was burning hot and bright inside me, turning my veins into a river of molten lava, oozing through me and spreading quickly. I knew I was screaming, but I wasn’t sure why it sounded so far away. I could see the mouth of the alley near me, the light flooding in, but no one came to help. No one would want to investigate here in the war that raged in the streets.

  The howling grew closer but still remained so far away. I thought I saw a glimmer of gray and felt my body slide away from the alley opening. I wanted to be close to it, but I couldn’t fight to stay there and couldn’t do anything but look around as the world twisted itself up in a dizzying and painful array of colors.

  “Bianca!” I heard someone yell far off in the distance. “Bianca!”

  Luca’s face was above me, concerned and scrunched up in anguish. I tried to focus my mind, but the pain got worse, and I felt my body arch away from the stone as it pulsed harder through my blood, burning every inch of my skin.

  It was a long time before any pain cleared; it pushed through my mouth to the ends of my teeth. It all fled through my extremities, and I felt cold.

  I tried to make words with my mouth. But the more I tried, the more I seemed to not be able to. Relief from the pain was almost blissful, but my stomach started to hurt with the pangs of hunger, and I squirmed as it stabbed me.

  “BIANCA!” he yelled, and I tried to respond. I fluttered my eyes, keeping them open at all costs. “What happened? You’re cold!”

  “I’m cold” was all I could manage, but I slowly felt myself coming to.

  “Bianca, you need to tell me what happened,” he said, still over me.

  “Bitten.”

  I watched his eyes go wide as he slid my hair off my shoulders and inspected my neck. I felt him sit up against the wall despite my fuzzy vision.

  “Bianca! You’re bleeding so much! What did this?”

  “A … a …” I tried to speak, but my hunger pushed at me, grabbing at my stomach and th
roat with razors of need.

  “Bianca?” a male voice said that wasn’t Luca’s, and I turned my head to see Sam rushing up to us. “Oh god, there’s so much blood.”

  Neither one of us said anything, and Sam questioningly looked between the two of us. Luca pulled my hair away from my neck, and I watched as Sam’s face fell.

  “What did this?”

  I looked at Sam. He was so sad and worried, and I felt my heart sink as I opened my mouth to try to tell him. Then I heard it. Thump. It hit my ears like a gust of wind, begging to be heard. Thump, thump. I stopped for a moment, the noise entrancing me with its rhythm, and the hunger pulsed harder in my stomach in response. Thump. The pain erupted through my gums, and I opened my mouth in response, seeing Luca and Sam flinch back. Thump, thump. Confused, I ran my tongue on my teeth to find fangs hanging down from where my incisors used to be. I cried out, words erupting through my mind.

  Fight hard, thaghadh, or the vamps will have you.

  The banshee’s words echoed through me, and I knew I was destined for this. I felt sick. I felt hungry, and Sam being so close made it worse.

  “Get away!” I screamed at Sam, watching his fear as he moved back along the ground. Luca didn’t flinch.

  “She’s hungry,” he said softly, and I finally looked Luca in the eyes. I knew they had changed color, but he didn’t sway in his gaze at all. “She needs blood.”

  “I don’t want it.”

  “You don’t have a choice, B. You’ll die without it,” he said, moving closer. “Have some of mine.”