Forgotten (In The Shadows, Book One)

by Catherine Gardiner

“Why?”

  “You try to open a door when you have paws.”

  “Ah …”

  “The sooner schools put doggie doors on their fire exits, the happier I’ll be.”

  “So, anyway, were there any vampires?”

  Suzanne looked up at Emily. “No.”

  “What do you mean? I could sense them!” Emily replied, shocked.

  “Exactly what I said; there were no vampires. I rounded the building and nothing, zip, zilch. In other words, Em, there were no members of the fang gang; the only person I really noticed giving off a supernatural vibe was a witch.”

  “How do you know that the person you saw was a witch? Were they riding on a broomstick?”

  “Well, personally, I’d say seeing her chanting and a pencil floating inches in front of her were a pretty big give-away, but what do I know? I’m only a werewolf.”

  Emily shook her head in amazement at what she was hearing. She still had bitter memories of when she had been run out of the town where she lived over three hundred years earlier for being accused of being a witch; the only reason she escaped a trial and execution was because her father had risked his own life to save hers.

  “Emily?”

  “Uh-huh,” Emily said, focusing back on the present.

  “You okay? You just zoned out on me. What happened?” Suzanne asked, her face filled with concern.

  “Nothing … um, we better get going. You ready?” Emily shut her locker with a loud metallic bang, which echoed throughout the girls’ locker room, and headed for the door.

  That girl has issues, Suzanne thought as she finished dressing herself.

  “I heard that!”

  “Heard what?” Suzanne asked. Her brow twitched in confusion. “I didn’t say anything!”

  There came a low growl. Emily paused with an irritated sigh. “What now, Suzanne? Did I forget to pack your squeaky toy?”

  “It’s not me who’s growling!”

  “What?” Emily turned – and froze.

  Standing about six feet away from Suzanne was the biggest wolf Emily had ever seen, and certainly the biggest werewolf. Its pelt was golden in color with what seemed like two streaks of electric blue that ran down from its head to its shoulders. The wolf’s eyes were a steel blue which flashed a wolfen amber, the sign of a werewolf’s aggression.

  “What do I do?” Suzanne whispered, her eyes wide with panic.

  “Keep absolutely still,” Emily said, reaching down for the silver dagger that she kept inside her boot. Damn, Emily cursed, realizing that she wasn’t wearing her boots and that it was still in her locker along with a wooden stake and her silver and onyx cross pendant.

  “Emily, we’re not with a T-Rex in Jurassic Park, so I don’t think keeping still for long is an option!” Suzanne said nervously.

  The wolf gave another sinister growl, baring its teeth.

  If I can just reach that baseball bat, Emily thought quickly, spying a bat on top of a bank of lockers at the other side of the girls’ locker room.

  The growling became louder.

  “Suzanne, you okay there?” Emily asked, hoping that her voice would distract the wolf’s attention away from Suzanne.

  “Emily, I have a werewolf practically inches from my throat, so if you have a plan now is the time to let me in on it!”

  “I need to get into my locker!”

  “What?” Suzanne asked, but before she could take in what Emily had asked, the wolf made a lunge for her. Suzanne ducked and heard the metallic crunch as the wolf slammed into a row of lockers. Suzanne screamed as the wolf fell on top of her, dazed. Its body was heavy and lifeless.

  “Emily! Get this thing off me!” Suzanne cried, trying to push the animal away.

  Rushing over, Emily grabbed the wolf by the tail and began to pull. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

  “This thing’s heavy,” she gasped.

  “Emily, hurry, before it wakes up!” Suzanne said urgently.

  “I’m trying my best …” Her words trailed off. She released the wolf and stepped back. Its eyes were open.

  But it had been moved enough. Suzanne scrambled away, heart beating wildly in her chest.

  Please let Emily and me live through this, Suzanne prayed silently.

  The wolf lifted its head and shook it groggily. Then, spying Suzanne closest, it bounded for her.

  Suzanne felt the wolf’s fur against her leg as it lunged toward her, knocking her off balance. She hit the tiles, hard. Tears burned in her eyes, momentarily blurring her vision.

  “Suzanne! Watch out!” Emily screamed.

  Suzanne was aware that Emily had just said something but the words that Emily had spoken seemed foreign to her ears and she wondered if Emily had been speaking to her in French, her native language.

  The wolf moved toward Suzanne stealthily and methodically, its powerful jaws ready to rip up flesh.

  The wolf lunged.

  Before it could make contact, Suzanne twisted the bottom half of her body and kicked at the wolf with her right leg. It connected with the wolf’s shoulder, causing it to howl with pain and fury. Suzanne smiled, pleased that she caused the wolf some distress and gained some valuable minutes for herself.

  Realizing that Suzanne and herself needed help, and that she was the only one able to get it, Emily rushed for the door. She twisted the knob – but nothing happened.

  Emily twisted the doorknob again, harder.

  The door remained closed. It moved not an inch.

  No, this is not happening! And why is this door locked from the outside?

  Emily started banging on the door as loud as she could, hoping someone would come. But no one could hear her: everyone was in the gymnasium, the music and cheers overshadowing the noise from the girls’ locker room.

  Emily turned back toward her friend to see that the wolf had hold of Suzanne’s cheerleading skirt, ripping the material with its teeth.

  “Suzanne!” Emily cried, rushing over to help.

  Hearing Emily approach, the wolf let go of Suzanne’s skirt and whipped round its head, its eyes glowing like hot coals, and growled before launching its attack.

  “Go!” Emily screamed at Suzanne. “Try and find a way out while the wolf’s attention is on me!”

  “Emily, no! I can’t leave you!”

  “Go!” Emily screamed again, then doing a triple somersault, she landed in front of the wolf. I have to get it to want to attack me instead of Suzanne!

  “Aww, I feel left out!” Emily expressed sarcastically.

  “We wouldn’t want that!” the wolf replied, its voice slightly feminine.

  “So you can talk? There I was thinking that you were just dumb. Oh well.”

  “I’m not dumb!” the wolf growled. Emily paused and realized that, for the first time, the wolf had lost its focus and that she could use this to her advantage.

  “Has anyone ever said that you have a really nasty temper?”

  “No one has normally lived long enough!”

  “Now I have a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I didn’t know you felt that way. I’m honored.”

  “Shut up!” the wolf snarled.

  “But I thought we were getting along since you were letting me talk,” Emily mocked.

  Without warning, the wolf lunged at Emily. Stepping backward to dodge, she somersaulted into the air, landing between the wolf and Suzanne.

  The wolf skidded to a halt.

  “Suzanne, I need that baseball bat which is on top of the lockers over there,” Emily whispered.

  “Emily, be careful – I think she’s a rogue,” Suzanne warned, before jumping up onto the bank of lockers she was standing next to.

  The wolf chuckled, “Blondie’s correct.” Then, directed toward Suzanne, “Would I be right in guessing that you’re from the lupine family?”

  Suzanne looked puzzled for an instant, unable to concentrate on what the wolf was saying to her.

  Seeing the confusion etched on the blonde girl’s face, the wolf chuckl
ed again before offering an explanation. “You’re a werewolf, like me. But that doesn’t really change my original goal.”

  “Which is?” Emily asked, assuming a fighting stance.

  “That you two are going die,” the wolf replied matter-of-factly, the humor gone from its voice.

  “Sorry, but you’re over three hundred years too late.”

  “So you’re a vampire. I hate vampires!” the wolf growled viciously.

  “Well isn’t that a surprise,” Emily remarked, her voice tinted with sarcasm.

  “Enough with the chit-chat.”

  “Okay, fine by me, you egotistical bitch.”

  The wolf attacked, leaping for Emily’s neck. Emily quickly did a roundhouse kick which sent the wolf flying into another bank of lockers with a loud metallic crash.

  Shaking its head, the wolf rushed at Emily, knocking her off balance. She fell hard onto her back. A sharp pain sped up her spine and Emily bit her lip so she didn’t cry out. The wolf jumped on top of her, pinning her to the floor.

  The wolf lunged for Emily’s neck. Emily caught it, holding it by the fur of its throat as it struggled only inches away from her own. The wolf’s eyes burned into Emily’s and she could feel her arms weaken under the strain of keeping it at bay. Its claws dug into Emily’s forearms, ripping and tearing at her cheerleading sweater, but Emily continued to fend off each attack the wolf made.

  “Say your prayers, little girl,” the wolf growled in Emily’s ear.

  “Is that supposed to scare me?” Emily replied. “Because it doesn’t.”

  That was a lie; Emily was scared. She had fought plenty of regular werewolves. To her they were easy and predictable to fight – but she had never fought a rogue werewolf before. From what she knew of rogue werewolves they were killing machines with no soul or conscience. At least the werewolves Emily was used to fighting had some humanity, but the rogues had little or none to begin with.

  Emily knew some people that thought most vampires were like that; unfeeling monsters that preyed on humans. But she knew better than to think that way. She knew first-hand how much vampires did feel emotion, whether it was sadness, happiness, hate or love. If only humans could understand what it felt like to be a vampire, more than the practicalities of the sunlight hurting your eyes every morning, or the constant craving for blood. It was so much harder than that and no amount of heightened senses or super strength could make up for it. The hardest part was knowing that everything you ever held close to your heart would be taken away from you in an instant, only for you to then be cursed to live with your loss for eternity. To live with the fact that you would outlive everyone you love, be they family or friends, the only way to prevent that by passing on your same curse to them.

  Looking over the wolf’s head, Emily noticed that Suzanne hadn’t moved from the bank of lockers she’d climbed onto.

  I’ll have to use telepathy, Emily thought. I hope this works; it’s been so long since I’ve attempted to connect with anyone.

  Using all her mental strength, Emily focused solely on Suzanne.

  Suzanne, can you hear me? Emily thought, praying it would work.

  Suzanne’s eyes jerked onto Emily. She looked perplexed.

  Yes, Suzanne thought back, puzzled.

  Good, it works. I’ve never needed to use this with you before, but I’m talking to you telepathically. All I want you to do is nod your head if you understand me, Emily’s voice echoed in Suzanne’s mind.

  Suzanne nodded.

  If she hadn’t been wrestling an enormous wolf, Emily would have smiled right then. Suzanne, use the lockers that you’re standing on as stepping stones. I will keep the wolf preoccupied, go get the bat now!

  Suzanne nodded and, with a deep breath, she jumped.

  She landed nimbly. Gaining in confidence, she repeated the action, until she had crossed the locker room and made her way to the baseball bat.

  Suzanne grabbed hold of the bat, held it tight with both hands and jumped down from the lockers.

  “Okay, I’ve got it. It’s now or never!” Suzanne said quietly to herself, walking stealthily down the row of lockers. She peered around the corner.

  Emily and the wolf were rolling around on the floor, the wolf getting increasingly nearer to Emily’s neck with each attack. Suzanne ducked back around, her head resting on a locker door. Her heart raced; her breath came in shallow gasps.

  I need to help Emily! One good whack around the wolf’s head should do it, Suzanne thought desperately, looking down at the bat in her hands and gauging its weight.

  She swung a practice swing. She gave a nod; it was satisfactory. With agility and stealth, she crept up on the wolf, until she was behind it and –

  “Will you get off my friend!” she cried, her voice cold and harsh.

  The wolf lifted its head and began to turn it toward the voice, but before it could see where the voice was coming from, Suzanne swung.

  The bat connected with the wolf’s skull. The wolf crumpled unconscious on top of Emily.

  “Ewww, gross!” Emily said, scrambling out from underneath it.

  “Should we move her?” Suzanne asked, dropping the bat. It fell to the floor with a clatter and rolled until it came to a stop next to Emily’s backpack.

  “I suppose so; we can’t leave her here,” Emily said, looking down at the unconscious wolf at her feet. “She’s going to change back soon.”

  “But she’s a rogue!”

  “We’ll tell Marcus as soon as we get home. If she comes after us, he and Jonathan can deal with it!” Emily said, suddenly very tired.

  “But …”

  “Suzanne, please! Stop worrying. All we have to do is drag her over to the showers; by the time anyone finds her she’ll have turned back into a regular girl and it’ll just look like she slipped on some soap and knocked her head on the floor when she fell.”

  Walking over to where the wolf lay, the girls each picked a front paw and dragged the wolf over to the showers. Emily turned the shower on and hoped that whoever found her would end up with the same conclusion she’d just told Suzanne. They waited and watched as the wolf began to transform back into a girl, curled up on the shower floor. Emily reached to turn the girl’s head and get a good look at their attacker, but hesitated at the thought of her regaining consciousness and drew her hand away again.

  Suzanne sat down and rested her head in her hands.

  “We’re probably in shock or something.” Emily rested against a locker to get herself together. “I think we’d better get out of here before anyone comes.”

  “What about the cheerleading try-outs?”

  “They’ve probably almost finished now; even if we went, it wouldn’t do any good. I don’t really feel up to it anymore anyway.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “Go home, I guess, I don’t want to be here when she gets found or when she wakes up, both of which could happen any moment now.” Emily replied, crossing to her locker. She withdrew her clothes and got changed, Suzanne watching nervously.

  “What about the bat?” Suzanne asked suddenly, noticing the bloodstained baseball bat on the floor.

  “We’ll take it with us,” Emily said, pulling on her right boot.

  Suzanne bent down and picked up the bat, and Emily’s backpack, from under the wooden bench she was sitting on.

  “Are you ready?” Suzanne inquired, heading for the door.

  “Suzanne, that door’s …” But the door just opened under Suzanne’s touch, and Emily stopped.

  Turning back, Suzanne asked, “What did you say?”

  “That door was locked! All the doors were locked.”

  “Was it? Well, it isn’t now so let’s go,” Suzanne urged, reaching for Emily’s arm.

  Emily followed Suzanne, still perplexed.

  That door was locked, I know it was! Maybe I’m more in shock than I thought, Emily thought, taking another look at the door over her left shoulder as it closed behind her and Suzanne with a gentle cli
ck.

  The corridor was empty but Suzanne and Emily could still hear girls laughing and doing cheerleader shouts from inside the gymnasium. As they passed the main doors to the gymnasium, a couple of girls came rushing through the doors, crying.

  “I wonder what their problem is?” Suzanne asked absently.

  “They probably didn’t get a place on the squad.”

  For the first time, Suzanne considered herself. Her skirt was ripped, and her legs were bloody. “Look at me!” she cried. “I’m a mess!”

  “There’s a restroom next to the drinking fountain; I saw it as I came in.” Emily pointed to where she meant.

  “Okay, thanks. I’ll be just a couple of minutes.”

  “I’ll get a soda and then I’ll wait for you on the steps at the front of the school.” Emily took the backpack and bloodied baseball bat from Suzanne.

  Suzanne smiled and began to jog over to the restroom.

  “Don’t be too long in there.”

  Suzanne nodded in acknowledgement then disappeared through the girls’ restroom door.

  Well she’ll be at least an hour, Emily thought sarcastically, but smiled in spite of herself.

  After Emily had got her can of soda – completely forgetting about the carton of OJ that was in her backpack – she began to walk toward the main glass doors. On her way there she noticed a payphone outside of what she thought to be the principal’s office, and headed in that direction instead.

  I wonder if I should call Marcus, Emily thought, picking up the phone’s handset. But then she thought better of it and put it back down again.

  She sighed and walked over to a nearby stairwell, where she sat down on the first step and opened her can of soda, taking a long refreshing drink.

  What should I do? Emily thought, glancing at her wristwatch. Marcus is due to pick us up in a little over an hour, but if I call him he’ll be here in less than ten minutes and today’s been a complete disaster so far. Right now, I just want to go home.

  She stood up, fished inside her jeans pockets to find a couple of quarters, picked up her belongings, and rushed back over to the payphone.

  Please be there, Marcus, Emily thought desperately, as she punched in her home phone number.

  Eleven