“Got him.” Sasha gasped. She took a deep breath. She felt more than just winded; she felt almost lost for words. After being shot in the trees, she woke up at the side of the creek. The revolver was in her left hand. With it, she realized that she must have grabbed it as the blonde hair bastard shot her, and had it with her when he let her fall away from him. Now she felt glad that she had it. After coming to her senses, and realizing she was still alive, she tried to get back there to help them, thinking he would come after them next. Getting back to the motel, she never expected to find another wolf attacking them. Thankfully, she had the weapon. She felt happy she did. Luckily, other than being shot by the bastard, luck was definitely on her side.
Rachel watched Jimmy run outside the room, and sat up, seeing Sasha on her knees. She ran out to both of them and went to her knees on Sasha’s right. She looked to the wound on her left side.
“What happened?” Jimmy watched Rachel lift the t-shirt some off her. When she did, he could see two clean holes, one on her front side and one on her back, through her waist. It looked like a perfect straight line.
“Your friend.” Sasha looked up to Jimmy and then to Rachel after she caught her breath.
“Gary?” Jimmy had his face flash through his mind. He could see his blue eyes sparkling in front of him. That God-awful mustache just above his top lip came next. Rage followed the image.
Sasha nodded.
Rachel gasped. She took a deep breath.
“He shot me.” Sasha looked to Jimmy. “I took his gun though.” She smiled.
Jimmy returned her smile. “You did well.” He looked to Rachel. “It looks like the bullet went in and out. That’s why she’s alive.” He looked back to Sasha. “You’re lucky.”
Sasha nodded.
Rachel looked closer at the wound, and noticed that it did look clean. It did look neat. She didn’t see a bullet, and seeing it, she looked back to Jimmy with a smile and a nod.
His eyes met hers. “This ends tonight.” He released Sasha’s hands. He straightened his back. He looked back to the doorway of the room. “You stay with her.”
That brought Rachel’s eyes back on him. “What are you going to do?” She already knew what his answer was going to be, and knowing that, she knew that she couldn’t let him do it. “You can’t.”
He understood her fears. He shared them, but this had to stop. He had to find the wolf. He also had to find Gary. It was time to end all of this right then, and there. He looked back down to Sasha’s hands. He looked to the revolver, reached for it, and grabbed it by the barrel.
Rachel saw him doing it. “Jimmy? You’re in no shape to fight this thing. You have to wait for the drug to wear off.”
He nodded. “That’s why I’m bringing this.” He held the gun up between them.
Rachel watched it. “How do you know that it will stop it?”
He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders too. “It did already—didn’t it?” He looked behind him. He could hear several other voices of what sounded like people talking to each other, and seeing an older looking man and woman several doors down from them, he could see that all of their commotion had started to draw a crowd. Seeing that, he looked back to Rachel. “It’s wounded. It won’t be able to get too far. I have to stay on it. I have to find it.”
Rachel heard his voice. Feeling his determination, she knew enough to know that she couldn’t argue with him. Knowing that, she just nodded.
Seeing her nod, he stood back up. He looked back to the two of them now at his feet. “Take care of each other. I’ll be back.” He smiled.
Rachel bowed her head.
Sasha nodded. She reached for Rachel’s hands and took them into hers. She squeezed her gently. She had little strength to do anything forcefully at that.
Rachel smiled to her.
Jimmy turned and ran back through the door. He ran through the room and went through the wall at the back of it. He ran out into the parking lot at the front of the motel, and there, he stopped. He sniffed the air. The smell of blood came all around him. Some obviously came from behind him, but more came out in front of him as well. The smell of mustiness also came back strongly within it. I can smell the trail. I can follow it. I know I can do it.
He ran on. He followed the scent to the trees. He continued into the trees and picked up his pace. The hunt was on, and there was no going back.
33
Rachel helped Sasha to her feet. She did wobble some, so she had to wrap Sasha’s right arm over her shoulders to keep her steady. When she knew for sure that she was going to be stable, she helped her into the room. Sasha felt weak, but she could feel herself already starting to grow stronger. Luckily, the bullet passed through her, and being that, she knew the silver wasn’t able to do much damage. Knowing that, she could already feel herself starting to heal. It would still take some time, but she was alive, and she was thankful for that.
Rachel took her to the first bed and lied her down. All she could think about was Jimmy. She wanted to help him. She wanted to go after him. She had to do something.
“I’ll be fine.” Sasha brought both of her legs to the top of the bed, and relaxed. She took a deep and exaggerated breath. She looked down to her left side, and could see that the bleeding had already stopped. She could feel the wound already starting to tingle some from within it.
Rachel stayed by the side of the bed and kneeled down over her. “Let me dress it.” She smiled.
Sasha returned the gesture. “There’s no need to.” She heard someone open a door to her left, turned and watched Brandon, Jimmy’s friend from the city, step out into the room. At first, she didn’t know who he was, but when she felt him, feeling what he was, she felt shocked by it. Instantly, she froze. She lost all of her breaths. She blinked.
Rachel saw the look of fear on her face as she turned. She turned herself, and saw Brandon step to the foot of the second bed. “Brandon?” She stood back straight. She felt defensive. She took a deep and hollow breath.
Brandon walked over to the second bed. He looked at the floor, at the wall, to his left, just before the door, and saw Melinda there looking bloodied and not moving. Joshua also looked still and lied on the floor right next to her. In fact, they were lying side by side of each other. “What happened?” He looked back to Sasha. He could easily see what looked like blood covering her white shirt. He then looked to Rachel, and could see the fear oozing out of her in chunks.
“Brandon?” Sasha sat up bringing her elbows beneath her. That caused her to have to wince some. Although the wound was healing, it still hurt a lot. “You’re a walker? You’re one of them.” She couldn’t believe what she felt. It all felt too weird. She didn’t know what to say or what to feel about it. More happened there than what she ever thought was possible.
Brandon looked to her. He felt stronger than he ever felt before. He felt pure. He felt perfect. His mind looked clear. His senses seemed to be alive with all different flavors within them. Michael was also gone. He felt alone again. It all made him feel right. “Don’t be scared.” He understood the feelings they both passed towards him. His mind still flared with everything he did, but with Michael gone, he felt like himself again.
Sasha looked to Rachel. “He’s a walker. He’s a creature of the night.” She could feel his strength. She could feel his heart slipping to a soft and unnatural state. His aura shined with a deep and bright red. If she could have, she would have changed to defend herself right then, but being injured, she knew she wouldn’t be able to try to do it, but she did feel it. If she could have, she would have.
Rachel looked to Sasha quickly, but had to keep her stare on
Brandon. She didn’t trust him, at all. “I know. He’s one of them.” She swallowed an ever-drying mouth.
Brandon nodded. “I am.” There was no argument left in him. “Where’s Jimmy?” He looked to the area between the two beds. There, he could see Michael lying on the floor. He looked like the others did. The one person that he
didn’t see was his friend. With Michael gone, his guilt for what he did to him felt just as alive as the rest of him now felt.
“He went after the black wolf.” Rachel stepped a little closer towards Sasha. She felt safety in numbers. She felt safe with her friend.
Brandon listened and felt completely surprised. During his change, and all of the pain he felt with it, he heard nothing from inside the bathroom. What she told him, however, did make sense. That explained all of them being dead. That explained Jimmy not being there either. That explained the smell of death all around him, and the heavy mustiness in the air. A wolf had to have been there all right. Seeing that everyone was dead, he knew there had been one hell of a fight that he missed. “Where did they go?” He left the sidewall and stepped between the two beds.
Rachel backed up closer towards the dresser behind her.
Brandon saw her actions. “I have to help him. If he went after another wolf, he won’t be able to fight it. Not with the drug still in him.” He spoke his thoughts. He needed to help his friend. He owed him for everything he did. He owed him with his own life if he needed to give it.
Rachel shook her head. “How can I trust you Brandon? After what you did.”
Sasha watched them both. She kept her eyes trained on him.
Brandon shrugged again. “I couldn’t help myself. I know that you don’t believe me, but I couldn’t stop him, Michael, from making me do everything.” He lifted his left arm towards what was left of Michael on the floor. “But I’m me again. If Jimmy needs me, I owe him.”
Rachel looked from him down to Sasha. Can we trust him, was written all over her face.
Sasha recognized the look. She looked back to Brandon. He felt so calm. He felt so determined. She could feel that he told them the truth. “I believe him.” She turned back up to Rachel.
Brandon shrugged again.
Rachel looked to Sasha, and nodded. “All right.” She also knew that she too had to help Jimmy. She knew he would never be able to take on another wolf without being able to change. Knowing that, she knew that she, herself, wouldn’t be able to do much either. She was human after all, but still knowing that, she did know that she had to do something. She would have to help him in some other way. Luckily, and quickly, an idea came into her thoughts. She still had another couple of vials left. She didn’t know if it would be any help for them, but she knew it was her only answer for everything else. If she could use it to even the odds with the other wolf, she would do just that. Besides, Sasha was still wounded, and that meant she wouldn’t be able to change either. All she had left was Brandon to help him, and now she knew he would never be able to fight a wolf with strength after watching what happened with the others like him. She didn’t see any other choice. She turned to him and nodded.
Watching her acceptance of him made him take a deep breath. He turned to the front door, and then looked back to what was left of the back wall. “Which way did they go?” He looked back to Rachel.
Rachel looked to the back wall. She raised her right hand towards it.
Brandon nodded. He turned.
Rachel made him pause. “Brandon, please wait. I don’t know where they went from there. How will we find them?”
Brandon reached the hole and there he stopped. He turned back around. “I can smell them.” The smell of must came from the hole, and from outside it, he could smell it continue off to his right. It smelled so strong; he could almost see the scent of it on the nighttime air.
Rachel nodded, and looked back to Sasha. “You going to be all right alone?”
Sasha nodded. “Go.” She smiled and dropped her head back to the bed.
Rachel nodded, turned to the dresser behind her and went for her bag. She reached inside and took the first vial her hand found, and removed it.
Watching her, Brandon sighed. He saw what she took out of the bag. “Be careful which one you grab.” It was time to tell the whole truth about what he did. “I replaced one of the vials with water.” He looked down to his own feet. He felt so ashamed for everything. It was yet another betrayal. He still couldn’t believe he did what he did. It made him feel dirty. It made him feel uneasy and more.
Rachel looked down to her hand. She turned her right hand over and looked to the vial. The clear liquid swayed within the glass.
Sasha looked at everything, and could see that the fluid inside the vial glowed with a bluish hue. She had never seen water do that before, so she spoke what she saw. “It’s glowing with a blue color.”
Rachel looked from the vial to her. “Are you sure?”
Sasha nodded. Again, she winced. “Water doesn’t glow.” She smiled after the wince.
Rachel nodded. She took Sasha’s word for it. What did she have to lose?
Brandon watched her leave the other side of the bed and move towards him. “You shouldn’t come.” He stared at her face. He looked deeply into her eyes. He had to make things right, but she was still only human. It meant that he might not be able to protect her. Hell, he wasn’t even sure how to fight the damn thing himself. Knowing that, he didn’t want her to come.
Rachel puffed some. “You have no say in this, Brandon. I’m going.” She pushed her way past him, and headed through the hole.
He watched her black hair pass him by, and nodded to himself. Jimmy’s right. She is tough. She’s determined. I now understand his frustration for always trying to keep her out of trouble. It felt hopeless to do it. It even felt useless to try it. He had to let her come. He didn’t have the choice, so he ran after her, and had to move fast just to catch up.
34
Jimmy ran through the trees. He ran as fast as he could go, and luckily, he was able to keep up a good pace. The smell of blood came strong, but he could also tell that it already started to fade. If he couldn’t keep up with it, he knew he would lose it, so he had to keep going. He had to continue. He had to follow it.
He ran into a small clearing just within a circle of trees, and there he paused. Up overhead, the moon shined brightly. Up ahead, the smell carried on within the breeze. Mustiness came strongly on the wind, and with it, he knew the wolf was ahead of him. He left the clearing and ran back into the trees. He ran until he came to what looked like a dirt road splitting the trees from his right to his left. There, at the side of the road, he stopped. He looked around. The area looked more than just familiar; in fact, he knew exactly where he was.
This is Kenny’s road, he thought, looking down both ends of it.
To his left, if he went that way, he knew he would find Kenny’s mobile home. Knowing that, he looked right, and knew it would lead him back to the highway that led back to Old Forge. I’ll be damned. He’s been here the whole damned time. He took a deep breath. The smell came strongest from the right. He’s that way. He’s close. He took in the scent. He let it filter through his body. He could tell that the mustiness was almost gone. There was only a hint of it left on the air. The blood, however, was another story entirely. He could still smell it. It still smelled strong. When he breathed, the smell caught him just right, and with the lack of the musty smell with it, he knew the wolf must have turned back into its human form. He knew why. It’s shot. It can’t stay the wolf. He can’t change until he heals. Thinking that, he knew he had a chance. He would know who it was then. He would be able to fight him as a human. The odds were now equal—they seemed balanced. He had a chance to fight it.
He turned right and followed the scent of iron down the road, and soon, in only a few minutes, he came to a bend in it and could see through the shadows of the trees a building standing there on the left. It looked like a barn. That’s it. That’s where he went. The smell came strongly from it. In fact, it led right to it with an almost seamless ease. I’ve got you, you son of a bitch!
He ran to the side of the barn. He came to a small man sized door at the front of it, against the tree line, reached for a thumb latch handle on its right, and with its cool metal in his hand, he readied himself to open it. He had to p
repare himself for anything. He had to get ready. He gripped the handle of the revolver. He took a deep breath, and opened the door.
The smell became intense. Mustiness flew everywhere around his face. The entire inside of the barn reeked with the stench. The wolf had to be there all right. It had to be there now. Even turning back to human, the smell still came on strong. This is his home when he hunts. This is his den. This is must be the center of his hunting ground.
He walked inside, trying hard to remain quiet. He looked to the center of the barn and could see a dark colored Chevy parked inside it. He didn’t know whose it was, he’d never seen it before, so he went to it first.
He came to the hood. He went around it to the driver’s side, and looked inside the window. He could see nothing but the seat. He looked back to the back seat, and again, he saw nothing. He stood back straight and looked over the roof.
On the other side of the barn, something caught his attention almost instantly. A small room of some type was there, along the far wall, and through what looked like a small doorway, he could see what looked like clothes hanging there, directly across from his point of view. Seeing it, he left the side of the car and made his way towards the room. He crossed the trunk, came to the small doorway, and went to the clothes. Standing in front of them, he took a deep breath. The smell seemed familiar. The smell felt the same. He smelled it before. The clothes even looked familiar. They looked like fatigues. He looked from the clothes, feeling his right sneaker hit something with his toes, and looked down, and saw heavy military style boots sitting idly next to the wall. Again, he took a deep breath and had his mind flush with everything at once. His thoughts flew ragged. His mind flared. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t know what to think about it.
Gary? He looked up from the boots and back to the clothes. To the left of them, he could see what looked like a gun belt hanging on a hook beside them. It had to be him. No one else wore such things. No one else carried that scent. It’s Gary. He’s the black wolf. It’s him. My God, it’s fucking him!
A Werewolf's Saga Books 1, 2, & 3 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets) Page 75
