Bloodbreeders: Seeking Others

by Robin Renee Ray,

  “Big brave bloodbreeders,” Tammy laughed and caused me to choke.

  “I think she’s beautiful,” I said looking up at the thing that I thought of as, not so much a beast anymore, but a creature of unfortunate circumstances.

  “Are you mad?”

  “She can no more help what has happened to her than I can. I don’t know if you chose to be what you are, but I know I didn’t.”

  “We are so going to have to have a talk one day,” she frowned, looking me dead in the eye.

  “One day.” Then I turned and started making my way closer.

  I was about five yards in when I heard a loud grunting sound running toward us. It sounded like it was only one, but I dropped like a rock and froze, waiting to see what was going to happen. The man-thing ran and started pulling down on the thick heavy chain as the female creature pulled hard with her hands and flapped her wings wildly. He yelled guttural sounds up at her, while she screamed back down at him. He reached behind and pulled a whip from the back of his belt and slung it open, and even from the cover of the earth I could see her fear. Her little bird-like black eyes were blinking rapidly, as she yanked even harder on the chain, tilting her head back and now whimpering like a puppy. It was only when her head went backward that realized that she had hair. It was so stringy and black that it was hard to see, but now that I could, I saw it was as long as my own.

  The man-thing gave one hard yank and swung the whip, catching her by the ankle, proving that this was a technique well mastered. He pulled with both hands as she struggled violently to free herself from his continual force. She growled and spun around, and as soon as he looked up she peed, splattering it all over his upper body. He released his grip on the chain and she “giggled”. It’s the only word that I have to describe it. She then ascended back to the air, until he took her by surprise with the whip that was still around her foot, plummeting her to the ground. He went to her right away and started hitting her like an ape would beat on his chest, using the side of his arm. I had had enough.

  “Get off of her you son-of-a-bitch,” I yelled as I ran and jumped on his back.

  “Renee!” Tammy screamed.

  The thing stood up, spinning around, reaching back trying to grab me, but couldn’t because of its deformed arms. It bent forward so fast that I went over like a sack of potatoes and landed hard. He reached down and picked me up by my neck and crotch and threw me a good fifteen feet. I bounced before landing, grabbing my private area first, not even thinking about the massive pain that was shooting up my back, or my throat that had been squeezed just as tightly as my most delicate of areas. Tammy was at my side in seconds, doing what she did best, trying to search for broken bones. I looked up to see my boys circling the man-thing with their weapons out.

  “No,” I tried to say and that’s when my other hand went to my throat.

  “Don’t hurt him,” Tammy called out. “She’s all right.”

  I gave her the strangest look, while she was helping me get to my feet. We could not only hear, but we could also see a group of beings running in our direction, torches blazing, with Jacob and Garvin in the lead.

  “Drop your weapons. Please!” Garvin called out. “He will not harm you.”

  “He just put the hurt on, Renee,” Derek called back.

  “Derek,” I said gruffly and shook my head.

  I think we all took a few steps back the closer they got. I even noticed Tanda grabbing the back of Derek’s shirt, and him reaching back and holding her arm. I was witnessing the very cure that would bring a peace back into my boy’s heart, but that thought was soon taken away when Jacob took a hold of my arm.

  “What did you do?”

  “He was beating her,” I said the best I could, pushing my chest into his.

  “It is not your concern,” he said, pushing right back.

  “I told you, Jacob. If I see it I make it my concern, so back the hell off.” Then I pushed my hand on his chest, bent down and coughed so hard I thought my insides would end up on the outside.

  The girl creature stood and shook herself and as she did her leather wings wrapped around her back, tucking them in, looking much like a shawl that was hooked on her shoulders, then she squatted back down on the ground. I started to go to her, but Jacob grabbed my upper arm with more force than he should have used, so I used one of the moves that he himself taught me and laid him on his back. I took one step and ended up face first on the ground next to him.

  “Never underestimate your opponent, Renee,” Jacob said moving his hand away from my wrist.

  “I’m not going to let this go on, so stand with them or step aside, Jacob. You’re about to learn all about my temper.” Then I began pushing myself up off the ground.

  “Learn your temper? Are you making another joke?” he asked then pulled my leg so hard that I hit my chin of the rough earth.

  I rolled over, pulled my leg back with every intention of planting it right in his face. My chin was dripping blood and so was his, but he had my foot before I could blink and had me twisted over on my stomach within a second. My foot was now pressed firmly up next to my butt, and he was leaning down close enough to my ear that I could feel his breath on my cheek.

  “If you make the wrong move it will go very badly for you and your little ones,” he said through clenched teeth. “Is that what you really want?”

  “If it means stopping the ill treatment of one—yes!” Then I tried my best to wiggle out from under him.

  “You stubborn, foolish woman,” he growled standing up, leaving me with my foot twisted around.

  I rolled over and untangled myself and sat up. I looked around and every creature and my kind alike were looking down at me like I had lost my mind. I was about to get up when a humpbacked, short female came walking up to me. She reached out her claw- like hand and I took it and stood. She turned her head from side to side and began pulling me toward the young female creature on the chain. I looked back at Jacob, who was surrounded by the others. He gave me nothing, so I turned back and looked down at the female that held my hand.

  “My daughter,” she said in the same slurred speech as the other.

  “She’s beautiful. I just didn’t want him to beat her anymore,” I replied getting down to her level.

  “You take away.”

  “Gabriel!” one male being said coming down to us. “She not want her.”

  “I do. I’ll take her with me,” I responded without thinking.

  “Not good.”

  “I don’t care, sir,” I said dropping to my knees. “I will teach her. Please, I will be good to her, as if she was my own.”

  “Me Lord. Her no have life here. Beat cause not like us’s. Me love much. You father, heart her too?”

  “You master now of Jacob?” he asked leaning his head to the side.

  I looked back at Jacob who nodded once. “I am.”

  “Then you give favor, I give you back. Once take, no return,” he said then put out a claw much like the females, which I took without hesitation.

  “Deal.”

  “You not so pretty, but good master to friend.”

  “Thank you, and I would never think to compare to the beauty of this woman,” I replied putting my hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.

  “You make blush. You meet…now meet, Shyanna,” she said taking my hand again.

  She took me closer. The girl didn’t move away, she took a strange little hop forward, then stood and took two steps before crouching back down, as if waiting for her mother to come the rest of the way. Gabriel placed her hands on top of her child’s head as the child began to whimper.

  “You’s know’s me loves you.” Then she pulled her into her arms, both seeming to cry. “You’s must go with this thing now.”

  “No, no, no…me stay, no flap. Yes me’om?”

  “Oh Shya…” Then the mother fell to her knees.

  I was at her side holding her up. I felt a fully shaped hand rest gently on my arm. I looked down at th
e smallest, most perfectly shaped hand with the longest solid black talons I had ever seen, and it was spectacular. My vision traveled from her tiny arm that was covered in extremely small scales, to her huge eyes. Now that she wasn’t as excited as earlier, they showed more of the whites, but the center was still one large black, round color. She had no lashes and blinked very fast and often, unlike the rest of us. I smiled at her and laid my hand down on hers. She twisted her head then leaned down and sniffed my skin.

  “Flowers.” Her tongue darted out, then soon after followed another of her little giggles.

  “You’s be fine, yes?” Her mother touched her cheek.

  “You won’t have to have that chain anymore, and I’ll never let anyone ever hurt you again.”

  “Hurt again?”

  “You’s no bad, Teekie.”

  “Me’s flap?”

  “You’s can flap all you’s want,” I added with a bit of a giggle of my own.

  She shot up in the air yanking on the chain, yelling over and over. I asked for someone to please release her, but all heads were shaking no, and everyone was backing away, all but my group and her parents.

  “Shyanna, come back down, sweetie. I’ll have to get my tools back on the ship to get it off. I promise it will come off once we are off this island.”

  “Me’s go now, yes?”

  “Yes?” I looked back for an answer from, Jacob. He in turned looked at the girl’s father.

  “Grateful,” Gabriel said and kissed my hand with her lipless mouth.

  “I will cherish her,” I replied bending down and hugging her.

  “You’s come next time. Wife see’s girl on ship?” the older male, her husband added.

  “Of course, it would be my pleasure,” I said and went to shake his hand.

  “Hum…” he took my hand. “Not usual, you’s not usual at all.”

  “Go…go…go,” Shyanna steadily said as she hopped on the ground next to me and her mother.

  “Boy, this just keeps getting weirder and weirder doesn’t it?” Derek shook his head and started following the crowd.

  CHAPTER THREE

  It was hard keeping Shyanna still in the boat. She actually fell over the side once and just as fast came right back into the boat, saying, “cold” making us all laugh, which in turn got her more excited. I think her laughter was the strange giggling sound that was too hard to explain. I believe it was starting to sound more like several birds singing out at once. Some sounds were extremely high pitches, while others carried the softer tones, and all coming from her. The closer we got to the ship, the calmer she seemed to get. I wasn’t sure if it was fear of never being this close to one, or the sheer wonderment of it all. The first thing I saw was Jessie and Johnny standing there waiting on us. Johnny was holding his little piglet, while Jessie held up a torch lantern.

  “Look Jess, they have me another friend.”

  “Take him below, Jessica,” Jacob said, like more of an order than a request.

  “Please, Jessie. We’ll explain as soon as we can,” I added then looked over at Jacob. “What’s crawled up your butt?”

  “Defiance for one thing,” he replied tying the boat to the ship.

  “Oh for Pete’s sake, don’t you think that I could be saying the same thing?”

  “Do you really want to have this discussion here and now?”

  “Get me off this boat. I’ll deal with you later.” I grabbed Shyanna’s chain and started for the front of the boat. “Move over, Derek!” I shoved his shoulder a little too hard sending all three of us over the side.

  “Cold,” Shyanna was yelling as she tried to pull herself back into the boat.

  “See what your stubborn attitude does for you?” Jacob said reaching his hand out.

  I threw the chain into the boat and lifted Shyanna up by the backside, pushing her in as well. I then grabbed Derek who was floundering like a drowned rat, and pushed him up to the side of the boat. I held on, laying my forehead on the wet wood and thought to myself, what the hell am I doing in this mess? I opened my eyes and looked over at Derek, who spit a mouthful of water in my face, laughing. I released my grip on the side of the boat and both of us went under. He came back up spitting in a different fashion and I was now laughing so hard I couldn’t pull myself into the boat if I wanted to. I think it was a much need relief and I just let it pour on.

  “Take my hand, lady,” Tanda said leaning just a bit too far over so I gladly pulled her in.

  Tammy was laughing so hard that she never saw Brandon and Sydney sneaking up behind her, and the next thing you heard was a quick scream and a large splash. The small boat rocked back and forth with Shyanna laughing her little heart out. Jacob on the other hand, stood there holding onto the ship with a disgusted look on his face.

  “Please don’t be angry, Jacob. I’m sorry for being such a bitch. Will you please help me out?” I said acting like I was wiping my face on my already soaked sleeve to hide my wicked smile.

  “You agree that you were wrong then?”

  “Well, maybe not completely, but I’ll take blame for half of it.”

  “Come on Jacob, she’s always a hard ass,” Derek called out, then tried to push my head under.

  I came back up from getting a mouthful of water that I spit back in Derek’s face, only to find Jacob with a smile on his, that he quickly hid.

  “Okay,” he said and did the one thing he shouldn’t have…he leaned down and gave me his hand. One smooth yank and he went in and under.

  We laughed and swam around dunking one another until Shyanna started flying in the air saying, “Off, off. Now, yes now?” I told the others that we better take care of our new family member and hope that she didn’t fly away when we took the chain off. I got several ‘what if’ looks as soon as I said it, so I shrugged my shoulders and pulled myself out of the water. Once we were all on the ship, it was one of the workers that reminded us that dawn was soon approaching, like we couldn’t feel its deadly pull. We all gave our thanks and turned to the one who dove on the fruit that was left on the deck.

  “Well, at least we know what she eats,” Jacob said going to the tool box.

  “Better let me do that,” I said holding out my hand.

  “On this, My Lady, you are correct.”

  “I really wish you guy’s would just call me, Renee. Besides, have you really seen me acting like a lady?” I took the cutters and walked over to Shyanna who was eating like she hadn’t in a month.

  “Good, so good,” she smiled, and for the first time I saw that she had fangs very similar to ours.

  “Shyanna, my name is, Renee. Can you say my name?”

  “Renee.” She chirped which sounded more like she said, re-knee.

  “That is so good. Want me to take that old chain off now?”

  “Yes, oh yes…now!”

  “Will you stay with us and not fly too far away?” I asked putting my hand under her chin. “We want you here with us…forever.”

  “Want’s me?” she asked turning her little head.

  “Forever.”

  “Me’s you’s now,” she replied and hopped to me much like she had her mother.

  I cut through the first two heavy wires but I couldn’t cut through the last, because it had several twisted together. I had to explain more than once why I needed help to get it off because Shyanna wasn’t having anything to do with any of the others getting that close to her, but she finally let Sydney help me. She had seen the way Jacob and I had fought and didn’t seem to want him near her. As soon as the last of the wire snapped, she took a sharp gasp. “It’s okay, sweetie.” I bent the stiff thing away from her permanently scarred neck that sunk in a good inch where she must of struggled, having had the restraint on all her life. I no sooner had it off when she shot straight into the night sky, disappearing right before our eyes.

  “Now what?” Sydney asked.

  “Let her have her freedom for the first time in her life, if she wants to come back she will and if
she doesn’t, she won’t,” I replied, searching the sky.

  “That’s it?” Tanda asked, the shock shooting out like daggers.

  “Please don’t take this wrong, but it’s not like we can just jump up in the air and go after her,” Derek sloppily tried to explain.

  “I know that you stupid boy. I was only asking a simply question.” Then she turned and went below.

  “Are all females that snippety?”

  “Yes!” Jacob and Garvin answered at the same time.

  “Well, don’t you two agree?” I asked looking back at Brandon and Sydney.

  “Are you kidding, we know you better than they do,” Brandon responded then grabbed his mouth.

  “And I guess this is what I get for having so many males around.” Then I too headed below, with them asking about Shyanna.

  I knew that what I told them would stand true and I for one was glad to know that she was somewhere out there spreading her wings for the first time. I know that I would try to fly to the moon if I had a pair of wings like she did. I was sure that I wasn’t the only one wishing we had some of those on our backs.

  Things had calmed down and everyone was asleep except for Jacob and myself, which was one of the things that I was becoming accustomed to. He had told the workers to keep an eye out for Shyanna and to bring her into the first hall and close all the doors before bringing her in the main room that was closest to the rest of us, locking the room up tight afterwards. I was feeling the day pulling for my daily death when one of the workers started banging on the door.