“Thirty years?” I turned to him as my eyes lit up with amazement. “That’s a long time.” He nodded. “What are you doing here?”
“Honestly, not much of anything.” He sighed. “But what we’re trying to do is find the boogeyman.” He offered a smile behind his silver beard.
“Malik?”
“The very same.” He nodded. My attention shifted quickly from the expansive room laid out before me to Grant, the man who might be able to make some sense of the creature we were up against.
“So what do you know about him?” He shrugged slightly and looked out over the expanse of computers that filled the room.
“Well I’m sure Sam here has told you some.” I nodded.
“She said that he’s old, he doesn’t fight for himself and that he’s a self-righteous asshole.” Grant laughed loudly and nodded his head.
“That’s a good chunk of it.” He smiled. “There is still a lot we don’t know about him,” He sighed. “But we hope to have a better understanding of him in time.”
“Why do you want to understand him?” I scoffed. “He’s the bad guy right, we find him and kill him end of story.” Grant smiled lightly and placed his hand on my shoulder.
“In order to overcome something completely you have to understand what a perfect engine it is. That’s how it works in fighting disease and Malik is nothing more than a cancer in our world.” I nodded, I understood his reasoning perfectly but somehow it still didn’t make any sense to study him like some high school science project when the goal was to kill him either way. “We have a lot to talk about.” He smiled as he patted my shoulder.
“That’s an understatement.” I smirked. Grant chuckled and nodded as the room began to flood with people and my heart began to thunder with excitement once again.
“Let me show you to your room and we can finish our discussions later tonight if you like.” I nodded and followed close behind as he led us out of the large building and into the morning sun.
It wasn’t surprising to see a rather large well-kept garden just behind the old factory, Grant and his pack had done everything they could think of to make this place home but the beauty of it still stunned me as we followed a narrow brick walkway through the lush green utopia toward a long two story brick complex hidden away behind a series of blossoming apple trees. Park benches and fountains littered the small patch of Eden that they had created for themselves and in some small way, after all the ugliness I had seen in such a short time, the beauty of it brought me a much needed sense of comfort.
“Lovely isn’t it?” Grant asked quietly as I stopped to take in the garden around me. I nodded quietly and closed my eyes, allowing the sun to warm my face as I sucked in a deep breath. My trance was broken as Logan and Matt came bursting from the factory, James close behind and trying desperately not to be knocked over as the two pushed each other around in front of him, if I hadn’t known better I would have sworn that they were brothers but in a way I guess they were, we were.
Grant held the door open for me and reluctantly I walked out of the garden and followed Sam into the long brightly lit hallway of the towering building, the inside was much more welcoming than the cold brick complex appeared to be from the outside. Portraits and various works of art hung on the walls, lit up by soft streaks of sunlight that poured in through the large windows behind us. To our left a small room had been sanctioned off and filled with overstuffed couches and chairs, a TV hummed quietly in the corner and various toys and books littered the floor. I looked back toward Grant as he made his way past Sam and stood in front of us.
“We have your rooms set up at the end of the hall, the showers work and the beds are comfortable.” He smiled, allowing the door to close loudly behind him as he led us to the end of the long stretch of hallway that separated us from our beds. Sam’s room was right next to mine and as I watched him disappear into her room I took no time at all to slip into the comforts of my own, closing the door gently behind me.
The room was small and reminded me of my old bedroom back home, a welcome change to the hotel rooms I had grown accustom to recently. A large dark wood dresser spanned the wall in front of me and not far to the right I spotted what it was that I wanted more than anything else at that moment. A large and inviting bed greeted my tired eyes and without a second thought I dropped my bag on top of the dresser and threw myself face down onto the mattress. I kicked off my shoes and closed my eyes, relishing in the feeling of its inviting embrace and it wasn’t long before I felt my eyes grow heavy and my body give in to the welcome warm grip of sleep.
“Cordillia?!” I screamed into the darkness. Something deep within me knew she was close by but as I searched for any sign of her I began to feel myself grow desperate and frightened. “Cordillia!” I cried out again and like a sign from the heavens I heard her soft crying in the distance. I ran toward it, into the shadows, tired and afraid, yet hoping to find something in the nothing that surrounded me. A faint light shone from the distance, it was weak but it was just enough to see her figure crouched on the ground. A smile crossed my lips and my heart began to pound in my chest as I ran toward it, arms outstretched and ready to save her to take her home and keep her safe.
As I crossed the distance between her and I, the sound of a faint roar broke the silence and Cordillia looked up, fear in her eyes as she stared off into the shadows. I could hear its footsteps like a freight train barreling toward us and I hoped that it wouldn’t reach her before I did. She screamed out in horror as its shape came into view. Larger than any creature I had ever seen, a monster designed by the devil himself to strike fear into those who were unlucky enough to lay eyes on it. It stood as tall as a house and nearly as wide, murderous rage poured off of the beast as it quickly turned its eyes on me and roared exposing a bright white line of razor sharp teeth.
Fur as black as pitch covered the creature from head to toe making it nearly impossible to tell where the creature ended and the shadows began and I could feel my body changing in response to its guttural growls and violent roars as I closed the distance between us.
It began to run toward me and my mind froze as I realized that it towered over me and there was no chance I would win a fight against this creature but against my better judgment I turned from Cordillia and ran, leading it away from her and hoping that if I couldn’t fight it at least there was a chance I would be able to outrun it.
My lungs began to burn and my legs ached as I pushed myself as fast as I could go but no matter how much I pushed I could still feel it close behind me, chasing me, ready for the kill. As quickly as that the beast lunged at me and I fell with such force that the ground shook beneath us. It flipped me onto my back and against my will I was forced to look into the murderous face of the beast. It stared down at me through blood red eyes and it took every ounce of effort I had to hold it back as it snapped at the air just inches from my face. I cried out as its weight began to crush me, making it hard to breath and impossible to move.
It reared its head back and howled as it prepared for the killing strike and like an animal caught in trap I began to thrash and struggle under its grip, desperate to get away before it ended me. As I realized there was no chance of survival I closed my eyes and waited for death to come but instead I felt a welcome sense of release as the beast and all that surrounded us melted away.
I was standing, still in shadow but the fear and desperation that had surrounded me melted away into a welcome sense of peace. I watched as the shadows began to move and take shape, a thousand faces coming into view as I stood dumbfounded and amazed.
In a flash, an instant, Cordillia’s smiling face broke through the crowd. She took my hand and held it tight in hers, the smell of flowers poured off of her and brought my senses back to a time when everything was alright and we were just two dumb kids trying to make it by.
“Don’t give up, Ethan.” She smiled sweetly.
“What do I do?” I begged as she let go of my hand and moved back to join th
e crowd behind her.
“Stay strong.” I reached out for her but came back empty handed as she disappeared into the shadows, leaving me alone with my thoughts and confusion, leaving me with more questions and a growing gnawing sense of doubt.
I groaned loudly as the sound of incessant knocking pulled me from my dreams. I shoved my head under my pillow in an attempt to drown out the noise but it just kept coming like a fly that refused to stop landing on you no matter how many times you swat it away.
“What?” I grumbled from underneath my cloth covered barrier.
“Ethan, wake up!” Matt barked from the other side of the door. I grumbled again, shoving my head deeper under the pillow as I tried to ignore him. “If I have to come in there I’m dragging you out by your ears.”
“Alright!” I called back with a smile. I tossed the pillow to the side and sat up quickly. The room had gone dark and I could hear the sounds of people laughing in the courtyard just outside my window. I stood from my bed and stretched as far as my body would allow, relishing in the feel of my bones popping back into place.
“Ethan, come on man,” Matt groaned from the other side of the door.
“I’m coming!” I barked back as I made my way through the small room and pulled the door open to greet him.
“It’s about damn time.” He smiled as I wormed my way around him and closed the door behind me.
“So what’s the emergency?” I yawned as he stared down at me.
“Food.” He smiled before turning quickly and making his way down the hallway and out of view. I grinned happily and followed him, my stomach growling as I followed the sounds of laughter into the moonlit garden, nearly forgetting about my nightmare as I stepped out into the crisp night air.
Chapter Seventeen
The moment I stepped out into the garden, every sense I had was set ablaze by the life this little place had taken on while I was sleeping. The smell of food wafted through the air making my stomach growl and my mouth water. The sound of laughter and conversation surrounded me as I stepped past the line of trees and out into the open.
I scanned the crowd of faces in an attempt to get to know them as I leaned against a large apple tree and smiled. A group of children ran screaming and laughing past me and it was strange to see faces so young with the scent of wolves all around them, just one of the many things that would take some getting used to.
“People watching?” I turned to toward the voice that broke my trance. A dark haired man stood next to me and smiled as he held out a red plastic cup. I took it from him and nodded in thanks before turning back to the crowd.
“You’re with the new group right? Ethan was it?” I nodded quickly.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“Grant told me.” I chuckled lightly and nodded. “I’m Jason,” He smiled as he thrust his hand toward me. I took it happily only to wince at the force with which he gripped mine. “But everyone calls me Mack.”
“Hey, Mack.” I groaned as he released my hand.
“So Grant tells me you’re looking for someone.”
He asked before I had the chance to speak. I nodded slightly, a hollow feeling welling up in my stomach at the memory of why we were here.
“My sister,” I answered him. “She was kidnapped, that’s why we came here.”
“Shit man, that’s harsh. Is she one of us?” I shook my head and took another sip from my cup. “Well, don’t feel too bad about it, if he took her it was for a reason so the odds are good he won’t kill her right away.” I winced slightly at his attempt to comfort me. I didn’t really want to hear things like that but he made a good point and whether I liked it or not it was the truth. “Relax, man, I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that that’s good for us, it means we have time,” he explained. I looked at him quickly, a smile crossing over my face.
“We?” I asked unsure.
“Yeah, man.” He smiled. “Unless you don’t want our help.” He added with a quick shrug as he took a drink from his cup.
“No, no I’d love all the help I can get.” I chuckled into my glass. “I just didn’t expect you guys to want to help or anything. I kind of figured this was just a stopping point or something like that.” He eyed me quickly before he broke out into loud peals of laughter.
“You really are new aren’t you?” He asked as his laughter died down.
“New to what?”
“New to everything.” He smiled.
“Am I missing something?” I leaned back against the apple tree behind me and watched him curiously.
“We,” He smiled, pointing between him and I. “Are creatures of myth, you know that.” I nodded. “We stick together and we listen to whatever the hell our leader says.”
“No questioning it?”
“Oh sure we can question all we want but what he decides,” he spoke pointing over to Grant who was laughing with a small group of older looking gentleman while working a large steel grill. “We follow. That’s just the way it works.”
“Really?”
“Have you ever seen your leader, Sam, give an order?” I nodded. There were many times I had seen Matt and Logan jump at her command and without question. “And her boys followed it to a T am I right?”
“Yeah, actually it’s kind of strange to see Matt taking orders from someone half his size.”
“That’s what I mean.” He laughed lightly. “It’s not really something we can even control its just instinct. You’ll see, one of these days she’ll tell you to do something and you won’t even think twice about it.” He smiled and took a long drink from his cup as I thought about what he said.
“So, how does someone become a pack leader?” I asked quickly. He shrugged and leaned against a large tree that towered next to him.
“A few different ways actually, sometimes it’s as simple as one person in the pack is stronger than the rest and fights his way to the top, sometimes a wolf will turn others to gain their loyalty and support. It all really depends on the clan and the wolf in charge.” He explained quickly, I was sure that there were at least a thousand ways to gain control of a pack and his little lesson only served to drive my curiosity about the world that I had been thrust into.
“So what about Grant?” I asked pointing toward him. Mack look behind him and then quickly back to me. “How did he make it to the top?”
“Oh that’s easy, he takes care of us.” I shot him a questioning glance, hoping to get a better explanation than that. “He started a long time ago with his own little pack.” Mack stood straight and smiled as his explanation became very animated. “He was a doctor back in world war two, went over to serve and all that jazz but what it boils down to was if a patient came in to his tent that was too far gone he would offer to save them.” He glanced over me quickly and shot me a knowing look. “I’m sure you understand that.”
“Better than you know.” I smirked.
“Oh yeah?”
“Sam.” I nodded toward her. “She saved my life.”
“Wow, you don’t hear that much anymore.”
“Really?”
“No, man, most other wolves would have just left you there.” I turned my eyes back to him and shrugged. “You got lucky.” A moment of silence passed as I looked back to Sam and smiled.
“It wasn’t just me.”
“Huh?” I turned back to him and took a sip from my cup.
“It wasn’t just me. She saved Matt too, took in Logan and James when they had no one.” He nodded.
“She’s a special girl. Sam’s always kind of done her own thing.”
“You knew her?”
“Yeah for a while.” He grinned. “I’ll get to that, so anyway back to Grant’s story.” I chuckled as he placed his cup down at his feet and continued with a kind of animated enthusiasm I had only ever seen in children. “There was like six or seven guys he ended up saving overseas and they followed him back to the U.S after the war was over. They lived like hippies, traveling from commune to commune a
nd then Malik started stirring up shit all over the place kind of like he’s doing now.” He bent down and took a quick and what I imagined was a much needed drink from his glass before placing it once again at his feet and returning to his story.
Wolves among men Page 19
