Blood of a Werewolf

by T. Lynne Tolles

  “Maybe, what do you care? Weren’t you the one who disowned all of us? I’m not Darby, Devon, I’m not as sweet and forgiving as my sister.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. I deserved that. You know, it’s not always easy being the oldest sibling. We make mistakes sometimes too.”

  “Hmmmm,” she said in acknowledgement.

  An hour into the flight sitting in utter silence next to Devon, Rowan whispered, “What is the issue between werewolves and vampires. I’m scared, but Blake seems horrified by it all. As far as I can tell, the worst that can happen is that I turn into a wolf three days a month. It’s not great! I’m certainly not looking forward to it, but it’s not the end of the world. Why is he acting so weird?”

  “It’s a good question and I plan on asking him that the next time I see him. I think the friction between the two species is primal. A werewolf can kill a vampire and vice versa. Some families are more spiteful than others and the reasoning is probably someone in their family was killed by the opposite species. For example, Blake and I have an uncle who avidly hates werewolves. When we lived with him after our parents were killed, he told us over and over about an incident with a werewolf that had terribly upset him and distorted his views on the species.

  “I never thought much about the story but maybe his influence on Blake regarding werewolves has affected him. Our parents had no prejudices against them, nor do I, but maybe Blake is having a hard time with it. I couldn’t say for sure.”

  “Blake has mentioned your Uncle Dominic to me. He seems to admire him quite a bit. I just don’t get it though. Why does it matter so much? It would really make us more equal in strength and speed. I’m still me. Aren’t I?”

  “Yes, of course you are. He knows that. I think he’s just confused, worried, and maybe scared.”

  “Hmmm. Thanks, Devon! You can be a pretty good brother when you’re not being an angry butt-head.”

  “Gee. Thanks!” Devon said, not really knowing if it was a compliment or an insult. “So tell me, can you sense them?”

  “I can sense her, but not your brother. He’s pretty much blocked me out of his head since Maine.”

  “Me too.”

  “I can see Darby and there’s a lot of blood. Her neck is a mess, with blood and punctures all over it. There’s something wrong too with her stomach. She’s in Longmont. When I called 911 they told me the address of Dean Wolfe was 1414 Old Oak Hollow Road. The operator told me they had dispatched a car, but they haven’t called me back with any info.”

  “Who’s Dean Wolfe?”

  “I assume it’s a relative of Benjamin’s, but it wasn’t on the list Darby had. The last text I got from Darby said that they had gone through the entire list and had made no headway. She tried to talk him into going home, but he insisted they stay. He told her to go home if she wanted to, but she felt without you there, that she should stay with him, since he didn’t seem to be himself. She was worried about him.”

  “Maybe that’s the name he got off the police database.”

  “Darby would have never let him do that.”

  “She would if she didn’t know what he’d done.”

  “I suppose, but she would have suspected something.”

  “She probably did, but you yourself said he’s not been himself, maybe he pushed her, without telling her anything.”

  “Your brother wouldn’t have let Darby go there by herself, would he?”

  “I don’t think so. Why?”

  “Well, I just don’t understand why she is so beat up. Where the heck was Blake during all this?”

  “I don’t know. I guess we will find out when we get there. I just hope we get there in time.”

  Devon felt like the flight would never end. He and Rowan were the first ones off the plane. They ran all the way to the car rental desk. Rowan kept up with him the whole way, without breathing hard.

  “I think your werewolf abilities are kicking in,” Devon said.

  “Hmm.” It hadn’t occurred to her until he mentioned it, but they had been flying through the airport with agile grace, avoiding people and luggage. Running again for the car, they were finally on their way. She navigated him through Denver airport and out to the freeway with the GPS in the car. Not much was said in the car. Both of them were focused on where they were going. After about 45 minutes, they came to the outskirts of Longmont and Rowan navigated Devon to 1414 Old Oak Hollow Road.

  Chapter 19

  It was eerily silent when they pulled in the driveway. There was no one around for miles, no cars in the driveway, and the house looked abandoned.

  “Something doesn’t feel right,” Rowan said. “Can you feel it?”

  “Yes, I feel it. Can you sense Darby?”

  “Yes, she’s still here. She’s inside and there’s someone with her.”

  “Is it Blake?”

  “No.”

  “Is she in danger?”

  “Not from him, I don’t think. From her wounds.”

  “But why didn’t the police come?”

  “Maybe they did and thought it was a prank since she wasn’t outside.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “Okay. You stay in the car and I will go inside.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think so, buddy. I just flew all this way to help my sister. I am not sitting in the car.”

  “We don’t know what’s in there with her.”

  “Well, it’s most likely a werewolf. I think I have the best chance of negotiating with him, don’t you think?”

  “Good point,” he said.

  “Nice try,” she retorted.

  They got out of the car at the same time and slowly crept closer to the house. Devon noticed a tiny bit of blood in the grass. It smelled like Darby’s.

  Devon knocked on the half open screen. “Hello? Hello! Darby? Mr. Wolfe?” He could smell the werewolf just on the other side of the doorway, but he also knew that if he came in defensively it could get very ugly, so he was willing to take one for the team, so to speak. He hesitantly started through the door only to be met with razor sharp claws that raked across his chest, and then he was thrown across the room, hitting his head hard on the wall. Rowan ran in after him. A hand came at her with claws bloodied from Devon, but they stopped mid-air as he smelled her. He took a deep, full breath in, as if he were savoring the scent. He dropped his hand and took a step back.”

  “You must be the sister.”

  “Umm, yes. I guess. Is Darby here?”

  He pointed to a back room where Darby lay bleeding on a very old bed. “Why did you bring another parasite? What is it with you and your sister and these vampires?”

  “I don’t know. Just crazy, I guess. Is she okay?”

  “She is breathing, but she’s lost a lot of blood. The police came, but I had brought her into the house and bandaged her up as best I could. They looked around a bit, but they didn’t come inside. They don’t like to deal with me so they were less than thorough. I didn’t reveal her presence because I didn’t want to get hauled off to jail and asked a bunch of questions I couldn’t answer.”

  “The other vampire. He was here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “He left.”

  “Why didn’t he take Darby with him?”

  “Maybe he thought she was dead. I don’t know why vermin do what they do. He’s probably off licking his wounds somewhere.”

  “Can you help me get her to the car?”

  “I’m not your slave.”

  “I can see that, but you obviously didn’t want her to die or you would have just left her outside and not cleaned her up. So, now I can take her to the hospital, but I think it would be easier if you helped me since you threw my friend across the room.”

  “Yeah, okay.” He took most of Darby’s weight and Rowan took her feet. They got her to the backseat of the rental car and laid her down.

  Rowan shut the door and said, “Thanks.”

  “Your sister asked a lot of q
uestions.. She obviously cares a lot about you. I’m sorry she got in the middle of things.”

  “What do you mean in the middle of things?”

  “She got in the way while the parasite and I had a few rounds.”

  “So you and Blake fought?”

  “Yes.”

  They walked back into the house and over to Devon. “Can you help me with him?” Rowan asked.

  “Not on your life. I don’t help vermin.”

  “What is your problem with vampires, Dean? Seriously! I was asking him the same question on the plane, and he, by the way, has no problem with werewolves. We just flew here together to get Darby. He’s a nice guy!”

  “I grew up being told vampires are horrible, leeching creatures. They feed on humans for God’s sake.”

  “Yes, they do, but so do thousands of insects and animals. They all want to survive. Live and let live. You know I don’t have time for this.”

  She bent down and tried to rouse Devon. He must have hit his head pretty hard because she couldn’t get him to come to. She hoped that her werewolf strength would help her in getting him to his feet, but before she could try, Dean came over and helped her get him to the car.

  She ran to the driver’s side door and asked, “How do I get to the nearest hospital?”

  Dean talked her through some directions and Rowan got in the car. Dean asked, “Do you have a pen?”

  “Um, here,” she handed him one she found in her backpack. He wrote his phone number on the back of her hand and said, “Call me if you get scared or need some help. The first transformation is going to be the hardest and the full moon will be here in a day. I’ll be here if you have any questions.”

  “Thanks, Dean.”

  She pulled out of the driveway and followed Dean’s instructions to the hospital. She wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do for Devon, but either way, that’s where she was going. After a few minutes in the car, Devon woke up.

  “Thank God. We’re headed for the hospital, but I wasn’t sure if you should be checked in or not. Would they know you were a vampire?”

  “I’ll be okay! See?” He pulled his shirt open and showed her the scratches were already healing.

  “Okay. I think I have one of Blake’s t-shirts in my backpack. You can’t go into the hospital looking as bad as Darby.”

  “Good point. How is she?” Devon asked.

  “I don’t know, but she’s lost a lot of blood.”

  “Any news on Blake?”

  “Yeah. He’s hurt, but probably healing like you.”

  “So he was with Darby.”

  “Yes. Dean said that Darby got caught in the middle of their fight and that’s how she got injured. He thought Blake must have thought she was dead and left her,” Rowan explained.

  “He left her?” Devon asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Why would he leave her there?”

  “I’m not your brother, Devon. I can’t answer that. He was hurt, maybe he just wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Rowan pulled up to the hospital and Devon grabbed Darby out of the back of the car and carried her into emergency. This time though, instead of going to the room with the curtains for walls, the medical staff took her right into surgery and Devon and Rowan waited together in the waiting room.

  Devon tried to call Blake, but there was no answer. Rowan texted him, telling him they had Darby and that they were in a hospital in CO. They sat there for hours, mindlessly thumbing through old magazines, not really reading or looking at them.

  Devon’s phone rang. It read Blake on the caller ID. He looked at Rowan and answered the phone.

  “Hey, where are you? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Rowan said that you found Darby? Is she okay?”

  “She’s in surgery. She’s been in there for two hours now; hopefully she’ll be out soon. Where are you?”

  “The hotel. I’m sorry about Darby, man.”

  “You want me to come and get you?”

  “No. You should stay there with her.”

  “Then come here.”

  “No. I don’t think...I was thinking of flying to Connecticut.”

  “You are needed here, Blake. Rowan needs you. I need you. You know the first thing out of Darby’s mouth is going to be ‘where’s Blake?’”

  “I can’t, Devon. I’m packing now and I have a flight that leaves in two hours.”

  “You are making a huge mistake, Blake. We have all made some mistakes here, but we are a family. Families stick together. They forgive each other and we are no different. If we have fears, doubts, troubles, we pull together and work it out together. I forgot that and I pushed Darby away. That was a huge mistake on my part. You’ve been keeping your fears to yourself, but you don’t have to. I...”

  “I’m sorry, Devon. I just can’t,” Blake said and hung up.

  Rowan put her elbows on her knees and her hand on her face. She knew he wasn’t coming. “It’s because of me, isn’t it? He can’t stand that I may be a…he can’t even talk to me. I thought if I gave him some breathing room, he’d warm up to it. He left my sister to die because he didn’t want to deal with it. He won’t let me into his head. He won’t even talk to me.”

  “I am so sorry, Rowan. The last place in the world he should go is to Dominic’s right now, but Darby’s in surgery and I’m not running all over the country trying to find him. I’ve got my own problems to work out. Don’t put this all on yourself. He’s confused and conflicted. Once he’s had time to wrap his head around it, he’ll realize how stupid all this is. One thing at a time. Let’s get Darby out of the woods then work on Blake. Okay?” He put his arm around her and she leaned back and put her head on his shoulder. Rowan wasn’t much of a crier. She left most of that to Darby, but things were just a little too much right now and the tears came flooding in.

  Another hour in the waiting room and the doctor finally came in to tell Rowan and Devon that Darby was out of surgery. There had been some internal bleeding but they got it all and she looked good. She’d be in her room in another hour and they could see her then.

  Devon knew that Blake was not on the plane yet, so he texted him that Darby was out of surgery and would be fine. He hoped that hearing this might change Blake’s mind about flying to Connecticut.

  While waiting for Darby’s room to be ready, Rowan told Devon she was going to take a walk and get some air. He asked if she wanted him to join her and she said no, that he should stay in case Darby got into her room early. The main building of the hospital was shaped like a big square with an atrium in the middle. There were benches to sit on so Rowan went into the atrium to make her call. She knew he wouldn’t pick up the phone, but she felt she had kept her silence long enough. She left Blake a message.

  “Hey Blake, it’s me, Rowan. I miss you...I wish I could say something to ease your mind, but you haven’t really confided in me as to what’s wrong. Like me sometimes, I figured you just needed some time and space to think through whatever it is that’s wrong. But it’s been a while and now you are leaving, so I thought I should break the silence.

  “I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out the problem, but it turns out it’s something I can’t do anything about. I’m guessing that you are freaking out about the werewolf thing. I’ll admit I’m pretty scared myself. In another day, I guess, I’ll know one way or another.

  “I just want to say, that I’m still me. Despite what I may transform into, I’m still Rowan, the girl that finds you irresistible, funny, and sweet. That won’t ever change. I think in some ways it could be fun, being as fast as you, maybe as strong as you – equaling the playing field a bit.

  “It’s your decision, though, and I will honor it when it comes, however I think your leaving has made it pretty clear how you feel. I won’t hold anything against you. I want you to be happy and if being with me, the wolf-witch, is not going to work for you, then I’ll just have to deal with it. If you need me, you need only
call. Be safe, Blake. Bye.”

  She sat there and shook away the tears that were welling up and threatening to fall again. Two times in one day – Geez, wolf-witch is turning into a crybaby. While she sat there looking at her phone, she saw the number written on the back of her hand and entered it into her phone. Since it looked like she might still be in Colorado for the full moon, maybe she should visit Dean for the first transformation. Maybe I should call him and ask him if that would be all right? So she dialed his number. The phone rang three times and he picked up.

  “Hello.”

  “Dean?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s Rowan, Darby’s sister.”

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Darby is going to be fine. She just got out of surgery and she’ll be in her room in a couple minutes. I thought you would want to know. I also wanted to thank you for helping her.”

  “Thanks. I was wondering how things worked out. Did you find the verm...the vampire you were looking for?”

  “He spoke to his brother. He’s fine.”

  “I thought you and he were, well, dating or something.”

  “So did I. He seems to have the same problem with werewolves that you do with vampires.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “The reason I called is, it looks like I’m going to be here in Longmont for my first full moon. My sister won’t be out of the hospital so I can’t go home. I had hoped that my boyfr...Blake and his brother would be able to keep me from getting in to trouble the first night, but, well, that isn’t going to happen. So I was hoping you would allow me to come to your house? I’m really scared to do this by myself, and well, I thought maybe..?”

  “Yeah. Sure. I’m not going anywhere. Why don’t you come about 9:00? The moon rises about 10:00. That will give me some time to tell you what to expect, maybe calm your nerves.”

  “That would be great. Should I bring anything? A pizza? Beer?”

  “Uh, you’re turning into a werewolf, not going to frat party. If you want to bring that stuff, that’s fine, but you don’t have to bring anything but yourself.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Dean. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”