The Puppets and the Strings (A Werewolf's Saga Book 7)

by Michael Lampman

  Robert noticed this too. “No one’s home.”

  Brandon sat on the back seat with Sasha. She cradled him in her arms. She kept him close to her over the long trip. Since being stuck with the dart and the drug, he slept most of it. He looked so fragile, something she had never seen him like before that she couldn’t help herself. She had to stay at his side.

  Sharlia parked at the sidewalk that led up to the front door. The door was open.

  “I do not like this, Rochie. Something is wrong.” She let her red eyes flare and her fangs to show.

  Robert couldn’t agree more. His eyes turned blue. “We should stay cautious.” He opened the front passenger door and climbed out first. With everything he had seen, he already feared what happened. He stopped believing in coincidence a long time ago.

  Sharlia stepped out. She moved around the hood of the car with a blur and joined him on the sidewalk.

  “Take the back of the house. I will go in through here.” She planned their fight. With Rochie with her, she felt confident, but that was all she could feel. She felt terrified beyond words without it.

  Robert looked back to the car. “Sasha? Stay here with Brandon.” He knew she wouldn’t come with them anyway. He knew she had more pressing concerns.

  Sasha did. She didn’t look away from his beautiful face once.

  Sharlia flew to the door.

  He watched her turn into the wind, and with it, he ran to his right. He didn’t know this place all too well, but it didn’t matter. He did what she told him to do, and ran to the side of the house. He found the well-kept yard neatly trimmed. He found the hedges along the side of the yard also neatly cut. It looked like a normal home, mansion would have sufficed, and yard. Everything looked ordinary. That in its self, felt wrong. No Walker ever left their home unprotected like this.

  He continued past the side of the home and found the back yard quiet. He saw no one there. All he heard were the birds singing. All he saw was the setting sun over the hedges that lined the back of the property. He turned to his left, found a back porch perched against the side of the house, and climbed a large set of stairs to the back wall. He found a door, likewise opened, and headed inside.

  He entered what looked like a dining room, moved around the large oval table in the center of it, and headed towards the front of the house. He found a hallway and took it. He turned right, and then headed left. As soon as he did, he saw what looked like a foyer, and stopped. Several people were lying on the floor. They were still. They were in neat and orderly rows. They looked as if they were placed like that. Sharlia was there, on her knees by the fourth body from him and he heard her sobbing for them. They were placed for her to find them like she just did. This made him cringe. They wanted this. They wanted to show her what they could do.

  She heard him join her and her pain. “They did not deserve this Rochie. They did not deserve to die.” She refused to look at him. She couldn’t. She had to keep her eyes on to what was left of her once proud family.

  He bowed his head. “I’m sorry my lady.”

  The body closest to him, a young looking woman, was wearing a nice formal looking blouse. Blood covered it and her face. He could see a single round hole in her forehead just above the ridge of her small and perfect nose. He knew what it was. He hoped it had ended her life as quickly as it looked.

  Sharlia turned from the man at her knees to the woman on the opposite side from him. Gloria looked as lovely as she always did.

  “Why are they doing this?” She looked back at Marcus, took his right hand and held it to her chest. She felt him as cold and lifeless as he had ever felt. “Why are they so cruel?”

  Robert couldn’t answer this, so he didn’t. He just kept his head down with total respect for everything they ever were.

  “My lady?” A soft voice came from behind him.

  He looked to the doorway and saw a young looking naked woman lying up next to the doorjamb of the room to his left. Seeing her, he gasped.

  She was bloodied. She had what looked like a wound on her left shoulder just above her breast. She looked pale. She looked beaten, but she did look alive.

  “Sharlia?” He reached for the young woman, knelt down in front of her and took her head with both of his hands.

  Sharlia watched him, and rushed to his side. She rushed to Amanda.

  “My dear child.” She felt shocked. She felt horrified. She felt relieved.

  She took her left hand in to hers.

  “I am so sorry my lady. They came so quickly. We were not strong enough to stop them.” Amanda felt the sting of everything rushing through her with jolts. The pain made her wince, but the agony of watching her friends die did even worse.

  Sharlia squeezed her hand. It was warm. Her skin felt soft. A Nightshade never felt like this. They were generally cold to the touch, and their skin felt flexible. It allowed them to change in to the bat, which they were—which she was.

  “You do not need to fret this, my child. You all did what you could.” Tears continued flowing down her face.

  Amanda bowed her head. It hurt her to talk, so she couldn’t continue it. Hearing what she did was enough for her anyway.

  Robert heard footsteps coming up the front steps.

  Sasha, with Brandon holding her around the waist with her, stepped through the front door.

  Sharlia turned to them with Rochie.

  Sasha saw the bodies. She saw the death. She felt for both.

  Robert felt surprised that Brandon was moving again. “You should have stayed in the car.”

  Brandon didn’t agree. “I couldn’t stay in there Robert.”

  “Are you okay?”

  He gave him a solemn nod. “I am feeling better. I am feeling stronger too.”

  Sasha nodded with this.

  Robert did too.

  Sharlia stood up.

  Amanda bowed her head, looking almost as if she had just passed out.

  At least she was still alive.

  “Why?” She turned to Rochie. She asked all of them. “Why would they leave her living?” She heard this from herself and it made her tear even more. She hated herself for thinking this way, but she had to do it. She had to know what happened and why. She had to take command.

  Robert shrugged. “I’m not sure.” He looked back to the row of people laid out neatly just in front of the large staircase that ran up the far wall. They looked displayed. Again, they left them this way on purpose. “They obviously wanted it. They wanted her alive. They wanted you to find them like this.” It made complete sense for everything he saw, and now thought he knew.

  Sharlia couldn’t help but to agree with him. “How can they be so brutal?”

  She watched Sasha lead Brandon to the stairs, and sit him down on the bottom step. She then turned from him at the post to the banister. She never would leave his side again. The look on her face said it all.

  Robert couldn’t answer this, so he turned his attention back to the young woman on the floor. “I can help her. I can feel the bullet in her chest. I can remove it.” He wanted to help with this, but he also wanted the woman to get healthy again. They left her alive for a reason, and they had to know what that reason was. She had something to tell them. This too made sense.

  Sharlia didn’t know he could do that. “How?” Of course, he could move objects. She had almost forgotten that. “If you can I would appreciate it if you could.” She offered him a soft glance.

  He nodded with this, and turned back to the floor. He brought his power forward and felt for the bullet lodged within her chest. He gripped it in his mind and pulled it.

  Within seconds, the bullet slid quietly out of her flesh. It then bounced on the floor, just in front of her between her legs.

  Amanda puffed some, but otherwise she didn’t move. She was stronger than she looked—even with her now being completely human.

  Seeing what he could do again, Sharlia stood up. “Can you do the same thing to the drug? Can you remove it from the b
ody?” He did it with a bullet, so why not with something else?

  Sasha thought the same thing. “Didn’t you remove the drug from me?” She thought she remembered that from several years ago. With everything that happened, she wasn’t sure. She didn’t think it would hurt to ask him.

  He stood up too. He let his eyes fade back from blue. “I tried.” He did when they were on the plane flying back from Scotland. He couldn’t feel the fluid as he had done it before. He didn’t know why, but he thought that it had something to do with the fact that it felt organic somehow. He just wasn’t sure. It felt different to him than it had before. “I couldn’t feel it. I can’t.”

  Sharlia accepted this. She didn’t have the choice.

  Sasha did too, so she gathered herself.

  Brandon huffed. “What do we do now?” He was getting tired of this, of feeling helpless and out of control. It was such an unusual feeling for him lately, but it did feel right. It was time that he got back to what he was, and with what happened with all of them, what he needed to be. As for now, he was feeling better. He was feeling stronger. The drug felt like it was wearing off.

  Sharlia shrugged, feeling defeated. She hated it. She needed to move on and take this fight to them. “We must find Kalima, in somehow, in some way, we have to find him.”

  Brandon pouted. “And how are we going to do that?”

  Robert shrugged.

  Sasha stood straight. “We have to go and talk with Kenny.”

  They all turned to her at the same time.

  “And why would we do that?” Robert said it first, beating everyone else to the punch.

  Brandon stood up.

  Sasha reached for his left arm to help him, but he waved it away. She didn’t mind that he did this. It was just him being him again, and that was all that mattered.

  She watched his face and smiled. “Kenny knew Collins better than all of us. He helped him a lot and got inside his head. They were very close.” She looked at all of them, one at a time. “If he can still get inside his head, he may know how to find him.”

  Robert spoke again for all of them, “Kenar couldn’t read his mind. What makes you think that he can now?”

  Sasha couldn’t believe that they didn’t know about them. She thought everyone did, but seeing the looks on their faces, she knew right then that she would have to fill them in on it, so she did. “They were the best of friends, Kenny and Collins. Even when he became Jimmy after the bite, he was able to read him. He was a part of Jimmy. The connection should still be deep—deeper than with anyone else. Kenny will know how to find him, I’m sure of it.”

  Sharlia understood. The humans may call them the monsters, but they were more loyal than any human would ever truly understand—or believe.

  “So how do we find Kenny?” Robert continued asking what everyone wanted to know.

  Sasha looked at Brandon, and right then, right there, felt true love for him again. He was there, standing by her side, and that was all she ever wanted. When this was over, she was now determined to let him know this too. She would never again doubt her husband.

  “He lives with the grandson of Joseph, the man he lives inside of now. The last time I talked with him, he told me that he was going to college in Olympia Washington. He was pretty excited about it.”

  Sharlia felt better than ever. “Then we will go there tonight. We will find Kenar and hope he can find Kalima.” It always felt better to have a plan, especially when danger was on the air. Hope helped the feeling a thousand percent too.

  Robert looked back at the woman on the floor. “What are her gifts?” He knew that Sharlia wanted to take her with them, but he wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not. After all, they let her live for a reason. If it was to be their spy, he didn’t wish to play their game.

  Sharlia knew why he asked. “She does not possess such things to harm us. She will be fine.”

  He trusted her judgment. She wouldn’t give him any other choice anyway. He knew her well enough to know this much.

  “Then let’s head out.”

  Sharlia couldn’t leave yet. “We will, but first, we must give them a proper burial. They deserve this at least.”

  They all agreed with her fully.

  30

  Her kisses were firm. Her taste was something that he just couldn’t explain. If he tried to do it, he just wouldn’t do it justice. It made his head flare in to bright white lights. It made his heart almost calm to the point of sleeping, but then it would race again and flare back with a pounding force. It felt like she was consuming him, body, mind, and soul.

  They spent the entire night kissing, touching, and feeling. They started it by heading to the school. They then headed to the ball fields, and found a spot by a tree. That’s when it started—this started. He just couldn’t let her go. He let her take him away from the world.

  She only released him after what felt like the longest time in his life. He didn’t want it to end.

  “Why did you move so much? It must have been lonely not staying in any one place to make any friends.”

  She sounded so soft. She sounded so concerned. She listened to his every word. She laughed at all of his jokes. She smiled at him in all of the right ways. She was perfect, and he couldn’t believe how lucky he was in having found her when he did. It was too good to be true.

  The question however shocked him. He thought they already talked about this. He answered her anyway. “It was hard. Every time we moved, it was like another week of trying to remember where you lived. I always found it hard to remember that.”

  Angel laughed.

  She let go of his hands, and moved away from the tree.

  The night was cool—too cool for this time of year, but it just made this night feel even better. Sharing her body’s heat made it excited beyond real thoughts.

  He watched her and finally caught his breath. She must have stolen most of them on this night.

  “And your father works for the government?”

  He heard the disbelief in her voice. He could feel it from her too. He couldn’t lie to her even when he tried to—he could feel that too.

  “It’s more than that.” He swallowed hard. His tongue was still there, so that was good too.

  “What do you mean?” She put her hands in to the side pockets of her light jacket and spun back around.

  She wants to know me. He nodded. That’s why she’s asking me this again. She wants to know everything about me. Even with this thought, he wasn’t sure how far he should go with this. He really liked her and wanted to be honest with her. But, how much would she believe him? He didn’t know. With some of it, he wasn’t sure if he believed in it himself. In the end, he decided to go ahead with some of it, and let her answers help him to decide the rest.

  “My father and mother have moved a lot for many reasons. Much of it was to get away from some people.” After saying this, he already regretted that he started it. Not for the truth, but for how it sounded. It sounded like they were members of the mob or something. It sounded like they were running for their lives.

  What she said next, made this feeling intensify a thousand percent.

  “What are you running from, the mob or something?” she giggled after saying this.

  He just shook his head as his face again went bright hot. “Not exactly.” He thought about how best to describe what he knew, and he figured it was best again to keep to the truth. “It was the families—a family.”

  She turned back to him with surprise all over her beautiful face. “They’re running from family?” She thought she understood this.

  He could feel it again. He could feel that she didn’t believe him. It made him stutter some. “I’m…just…”

  “I can see that. I take it your parents struggled to be together and that their families didn’t agree with it.”

  He nodded, trying to show her how much he agreed with her. It was better than anything he could come up with, this much was certain. The truth was alway
s something in between reality and something other than that anyway. He was old enough to know that.

  “We had to move a lot.” He felt like he needed to add something, and this came out.

  She shrugged. “How did you cope?”

  He was thankful for her turning this back to him.

  “I tried to…it was hard. I never stayed any place long enough to make any friends.”

  She smiled with this. “You found one now.”

  She looked and felt bashful. Again, he was thankful for it. He wanted to talk about them. He wanted to talk about anything that didn’t revolve around his parents. He had spent a lifetime revolving around them.

  “Am I just a friend?” He put his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, and as he did it, he shrugged massively hard. He felt exposed, but he didn’t know why. He felt like she could see right through him. He could feel her seeing inside him, and it made him excited and uncomfortable, at the same time. He just didn’t know what to feel, right then. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to think.

  She moved back over to him and reached to him with both arms. She then wrapped them around his waist.

  “You are becoming much more than just a friend.” She hugged him and pressed her face in to his chest.

  God, he loved that.

  “I hope you think so too?”

  He did. “I do.”

  He felt her shiver some.

  “Do you want to go back to the diner and get something to eat or something?” It was cool some. “Get out of the cool air.” He felt completely warm, but this wasn’t all about him.

  She peeled herself away from his massive amount of body’s heat.

  “I would love that, but I need to get back home.” She looked up to him and their eyes met.

  He didn’t want to hear this, and it made him pout.

  She saw his blue eyes nearly shine from within them. “You have the most beautiful eyes.” She had never seen them like this before. It struck her hard.