Captured Moonlight

by Erin Kelly

  The pair of men paused in front of each cage and dropped a paper plate with ground beef piled up on it onto the ground, and then shoved the plate into the crate through a shallow opening that Korban hadn’t noticed before at the bottom of their prisons. It resembled dog food, but his empty stomach didn’t care. They went around and dropped off paper plates of overcooked meat and plastic bottles filled with water along with the food. They were careful not to get too close to any of the cages, silver bars or not. The large one muttered as he served the food. “Feeds these mongrels better than us sometimes, I swear.”

  The smaller one only laughed at that. “Right.” He dropped a plate in front of the cage that held the growling man, who quietly glowered at their captors but remained thin-lipped and silent, even when he eagerly grabbed at the bottle and the plate and began to devour handfuls of the ground meat.

  They paused in front of Korban’s cage, the small one’s eyes lit with amusement as he stared at him through the mask. “Hungry, Mouth?” He snickered.

  Korban growled as his eyes dangerously narrowed. He was famished and thirsty, but if it meant groveling for this man to give him a meal, he had another thing coming. “Not if it means kissing your ass,” Korban snapped.

  The larger guard laughed at that, and the other’s eyes narrowed. “Smart ass, I see. We’ll see how snappy you are after skipping a meal or two.”

  “I wouldn’t eat anything you offered me anyway.” Korban glared defiantly, too angry to let his growling stomach override his thoughts. “For all I know it’s been poisoned.”

  Now the scrawny one laughed. “Ah, if only we could. I would so enjoy that. But I’m afraid we don’t provide an easy way out. Especially not for someone like you, Mouth.”

  Korban’s lip curled at that. “Go to hell.”

  “After you, mongrel.” The little one snarled back then placed the plate down for the man in the cage beside him, kicking the paper plate toward him and knocking some of the meat onto the floor of the British man’s cage.

  They ignored Korban and finished handing out the meat and water, then left the room, leaving the lights on for now. The moment the door closed his stomach rumbled again in protest, but he was still too angry and stubborn to plead to those men for anything. He paced in his cage, doing his best to ignore the others as they chewed and slurped.

  The man beside him stared at his plate and rubbed his temples. Then with a defeated look he not only ate the offered food on his plate, but the precious morsels that had scattered on the floor of his cage as well.

  “They call us monsters, but they are the ones treating us like animals.” Korban muttered softly. He wouldn’t starve to death in one night, but it was becoming more difficult to think with his newly roused hunger and thirst.

  “Assholes... both of them,” the growling man grumbled, then folded and shoved the empty paper plate through his crate so hard it ended up sliding across to Korban’s crate, an inch of it making it into the slot.

  To Korban’s surprise, there was a small handful of ground beef on what he had assumed was an empty plate. He gazed over in wonder at the other man who just smirked. “Just because they don’t feed you, doesn’t mean I won’t try.”

  “Thank you. Really,” Korban gratefully accepted the left overs and though his hands shook a little, forced himself to eat what little food the man had given him slowly. He savored each nibble of the plain, charred beef. “I’m Korban, Korban Diego,” he introduced himself, and then spontaneously added, “Friends call me Lobo.”

  The blond haired man across from him with the collection of sun and moon themed tattoos on his arms grinned. “Friends call me Hati.”

  “I’m Spike,” the man with the blanket piped in after he paused licking his plate clean.

  Korban’s gaze turned to the British man, who seemed even more wearied after finishing their meager meal. He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, then sighed and quietly added. “If you need a name, call me Blaze. That’s all you need to know.”

  “You’re a British werewolf,” Korban commented.

  “Yes,” Blaze muttered dryly, sniffed and frowned. “Imagine my astonishment when I realized that this dreadful virus could be spread to any human, regardless of their homeland.”

  “How did you end up here in New York?” Korban asked.

  “That’s a long story,” Blaze said flatly and glanced to the double doors across the way. “They’ll be back any moment. Get to the point.”

  “You’ll have to forgive Blaze, he’s been here the longest as far as I gather,” Hati supplied grimly. “I’ve been maybe two months now but you catch on to their rules quick.”

  “What is the point anyway?” Spike interjected in a defeated tone. “Those maniacs out there are going to make us fight each other to the death. He’s already made us do it before. I don’t want to feel worse than I already do, getting to know you guys. Especially Blaze.” He glared over at the British werewolf.

  His body language gave his true feeling away though as Blaze turned his attention to Spike and the man flinched. “Do you think I like being their reigning champ? Do you think I like being here the longest? Watching these cages empty and fill again?” Blaze growled and Spike cowered further back in his cage.

  “N-no,” Spike stammered, and though he appeared larger than Blaze, taking up more space in his cage, he still shrunk himself as much as possible away from the man. Even though his cage wasn’t close to his.

  Blaze’s glare softened, but before he could say anything more the double doors burst open again. Korban scrambled to kick the paper plate out of his crate to hide the evidence but it was too late. The scrawny man frowned as they strode over to the cages. The large man gripped a trash bag while he wielded a long, pointed metal stick.

  Drill sergeant frowned at the paper plate outside of Korban’s crate. “Making friends, Mouth? That’s a very stupid idea here. An idea like that will get you killed.” He loomed near Korban’s cage but was careful not to get too close as he taunted him. “Of course, I will enjoy scraping your corpse up from the Pit.”

  Something about the way he said it so casually sent a chill through Korban. The smaller man scowled and stabbed the stick into the empty plates on the ground and stuffed them in the bag that his partner was holding open. “Davey’s already gonna be pissed at us for not watchin’ ‘em eat. Don’t get ‘em riled up now too. You know he likes it when they’re hungry.”

  The hulking man glanced around as his comrade finished picking up the trash and scoffed. He glared at Korban before he turned his attention to Hati. “You got something to say, Mongrel? You got lucky the other night. You may not be so lucky in your next match.” Hati glared defiantly back at him, squared his jaw, but said nothing. The masked captor continued. “Maybe if you aren’t feelin’ as hungry, willin’ to defy the rules still, maybe you need a reminder of who’s in charge here. I think a few days without food for both of you will smarten you up.” As if to bring his point home he snarled at Spike and Blaze as well. “You think it’s some kind of summer camp we’re runnin’ here? Here’s a reminder for all of ya’ll. You aren’t friends, you are monsters, and you’ll be only makin’ it worse if you decide to get soft here. Don’t talk to each other. Don’t bother makin’ friends. You’ll be at each other’s throats soon enough like the beasts you are. So to remind ya’ll of that… I think tomorrow Jimmy and I will forget to bring your meals and water. We got plans anyway, don’t we?”

  The scrawny man- Jimmy- nodded and pointed at Korban with the stick. “This one may not know better, but I thought the Mongrel would. I guess after a day we’ll find out.”

  The drill sergeant only smirked darkly and Korban hated him more as he gloated. “I guess we will, won’t we? Better ration that water you have boys, that’s all you’re gettin’ and tomorrow is supposed to be a hot one.” He paused and sneered down at Korban. “Oh. Looks like someone doesn’t have any, does he? What? Nothing to say now? And here I thought you were stupid. Pretty smart to k
eep your mouth shut now. Save your spit because you’re gonna need it with two days without food or water.”

  Rage rose inside of him and Korban saw red. He lunged forward but remembered the silver and stopped himself, which evoked a laugh from drill sergeant. He spit at the man’s feet, who grabbed the metal stick from Jimmy and swatted the edge of Korban’s cage. Korban flinched backward and he laughed. “Just for that, Mouth, it’ll be three days now.” He snapped the trash bag closed and gestured to Jimmy. “Let’s go.”

  Three days? Though his stomach growled he glared as their captors once again headed out from the room. Spike whimpered as he held up his half-empty water bottle, but didn’t say anything more. Blaze glared at Korban but didn’t say a word. The only one who didn’t blame Korban with a look was Hati, who clenched his jaw and fists as he watched Jimmy and the drill sergeant slam the doors behind them. The lights went out and silence reigned again.

  “I’m sorry,” Korban blurted, to which came the return of nothing but being hissed and shushed into silence. This time, Korban wisely obeyed, though inside he reeled.

  More questions came to mind, questions he wanted to ask his fellow prisoners but there was no way they’d talk to him now. Who was Davey? Was he the one he’d dubbed the drill sergeant, or somebody else? What about this Pit he had mentioned before? The silence and darkness that surrounded them seemed more menacing than before. His empty stomach rumbled again and he laid down on the ground, facing the direction of the double doors.

  He missed his friends and home, but more than anything he missed Sophie. At least she had not been caught in that net with him and wasn’t stuck in this horrible place. Wherever she was, he prayed she was safe.

  10: search

  The next morning Sophie woke up early. The sky was still dark but the stars were starting to fade into the break of day. The air was damp and chilly but her sleeping bag was dry and warm. She stretched and yawned, blinking. For the briefest moment she was at peace, in that place between sleep and awake where she was still with Korban, that the sleeping bag was Korban’s arms around her, and he was snuggled against her, safe and sound. When she blinked again, the sleeping bag was the only thing there and she sighed in disappointment. She closed her eyes again and took in a few deep breaths. She could smell another wolf on this sleeping bag, and wondered if it was their missing pack mate’s. The thought was depressing.

  She would help them find their friend, and hoped that this would be the same path to find Korban. If not... maybe if they found their pack mate, they would help her find Korban in turn. She hoped where ever he was he was safe, and that he had something soft and warm around him.

  There was snoring around her, but she could pick up the sounds of the waking forest around her too. The delicate steps of a deer, the whistle of a light breeze through the leaves and grass; the chirping of an early bird. She could smell the moss and the maples and evergreens, damp with morning dew. Inhaling it deeply, she tried to pick up any other scent, any hint that maybe Korban was nearby. She had no such luck.

  Sighing, she got up, feeling too restless to stay down any longer. She paced quietly along the edge of the camp. Every moment that passed, Korban could be further and further away. Luckily, the others started to wake, as if also just as anxious to begin their search. She rolled up her sleeping bag up and stoked the smoldering ashes that remained for the fire, adding some dry branches and twigs to it to get it rekindled again. She had a good little fire going by the time everyone was awake. Freki lifted both eyebrows in surprise when he emerged from his tent and saw her handiwork. “Good morning, Sophie. You aren’t just some city girl after all, are you?”

  Sophie smiled at that. “You bet your ass I’m not just some sheltered city girl.”

  Geri’s hearty chuckle came as he followed his brother out of the tent. “Good. Do you mind grabbing some more kindling and I’ll put breakfast on? We have eggs and some bacon.”

  She needed a distraction until they were on the move again. As much as she itched to run and search for Korban, it wouldn’t be wise to blindly search for him. She nodded to Geri. “Sure.”

  “I’ll help,” Freki offered and she nodded again.

  “Don’t go too far, we’re going to eat and get back to the hunt as soon as we can,” Geri cautioned as they walked away from the camp.

  They gathered fallen sticks from nearby until the smell of eggs and bacon wafted in their direction and summoned them back to camp. The night before Valkyrie offered some food after giving her a fresh set of clothes, but she hadn’t had much of an appetite despite not eating that day. Her stomach was empty but so was her heart. This morning, however, it seemed her hunger returned. She needed her strength to find Korban.

  They gathered up around the campfire and Geri served up scrambled eggs and bacon on paper plates. Freki sat beside her, while Odin, Val, and Skoll sat across from her. Val’s three children had sleepily emerged for breakfast at her call, the two little ones sat on Odin and Skoll’s laps, while Val’s older daughter, Evelyn, sat close to her mother and stared wide-eyed at Sophie from across the fire. She had a short, stylish hair cut that was dyed black- the signature blonde roots of her family were just beginning to break free at the base of her scalp. “You’re that missing billionaire’s wife,” she gawked, and her mother gave her a look. “What? She is. Like, everyone was looking for you. But they had your funeral and buried you. I saw it online during a live stream. Are you not just a werewolf but like, a zombie too?”

  “Forgive my Evelyn’s manners, she’s seventeen and thinks she knows best,” Val apologized.

  “Seventeen and a half, Mom, and please call me Evie,” Evelyn corrected, then blushed and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I don’t mean to offend you. I never met a celebrity before.”

  Sophie only smiled and shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m sort of used to it by now,” she turned to Evie. “I’m just a werewolf, like your parents and their pack. I promise I’m not the walking dead.”

  “Well, Evie, you’ll be grounded until you’re eighteen and a half if you continue to stare and be rude to our guest,” Val chided.

  Odin cleared his throat and diverted their attention. “I think maybe we should plan out our manhunt so we can get right to it,” he gazed around at his remaining pack. “If what we have found and what I suspect is true, Hati- and your Korban- are in trouble. I also think, based on what we know so far, that there may be other traps like that one out in the woods. I know what I said before, but we can cover more ground if we split into groups. However… I think we need to use the good ol’ fashioned buddy system here. No one goes out into the forest alone. And we should check in at a certain time to make sure partners don’t get lost either.”

  Geri nodded. “Want us to start at that pit from yesterday?”

  Odin finished his food on his plate and pulled out a folded paper map. He pointed to a small red rectangle he’d placed not far from where he’d put an x labelled “The Den”. “We scoured that area yesterday, I don’t think we’ll find much there, but we may revisit it tomorrow. Right now we need to focus on my theory. If there are other traps, this could be set up by someone professional. Someone with the means to afford such advanced wolf pits and removable nets. Someone who knows the area but has the money to invest in… who knows what.”

  Geri growled, “The government.”

  Val frowned but didn’t say anything, and Evie rolled her eyes. “Let’s focus on a plan, not a theory right now, darlin’,” Val looked over to Sophie. “Freki failed to mention with all his antics yesterday that he has one hell of a sniffer. If Hati was only gone for a few days, and he was caught in that trap, he would have been able to trail him if he had so much as a whiff of his scent. Unfortunately it’s been so long now, he wouldn’t be able to track Hati by scent. But if we can find the trap that Korban was recently in, maybe we can still track him down and find out if he ended up where Hati is as well. Where were the two of you staying?”

  “We found an abandoned
trailer and made our camp there.” Hope swelled up inside of her again. “If we found it again, Korban’s scent could be there, or if by some chance he was able to get out of the trap maybe he would be there, or around there looking for me.”

  “If you got me something with his scent on it, or if we found another trap, it could be a good lead to go on,” Freki agreed. “And it would be even better if he was there waiting, then we’d have someone else to help find Hati.”

  Odin nodded, scratched his blond beard on his chin. “All right then. We’ll break into three groups. Group one will be Geri and me, we will go search for any more traps in the area. Group two will be Val, Sophie, and you Freki… you’ll go together and see if you can locate that trailer. Skoll, you will stay here as part of group three and make sure no one else comes to camp… or leaves it.” He gave a pointed look to Evie with that, though his gaze roamed over to his little ones too. “Right now it’s not safe to go into the woods. You three mind your Uncle Skoll. Someone is out there laying traps for werewolves but who knows what their intentions really are. Please do not argue with me on this, Evie. You and Skoll need to stay here and look out for your brother and sister, and yourselves.”

  Evie nodded, though Skoll looked hurt. “I want to help find my brother, Odin, please-”

  “Do not argue with Odin, Skoll,” Val stated firmly. “We need to hold it together in order to find your brother. Don’t go rogue on us now. We have a plan, let’s stick to it. We will find Hati faster if we do this the smart way.” She finished her breakfast and tossed the paper plate into the fire. “Let’s get moving.”

  They nodded, and quickly finished breakfast. Sophie turned away as Val and Odin said their goodbyes to their family, tossed her own empty plate into the fire and watched it burn.