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

by Michael Lampman

  She saw two people in all black uniforms holding his arms. She saw a young teenaged girl in front of him, also being held by two people. She saw two others standing there too, as they surrounded everyone else.

  “What in the hell is going on here!” she screamed. Inside, she already knew. They had to be the same people that came to her house. They came to find her. They came to find Casey. She now felt true terror with seeing them holding him. She didn’t know what to do. She just froze. She just breathed. She just screamed.

  A voice came from inside the room. “It’s her…it’s the one named Rana. Get her!”

  She didn’t know who said it, but she did see what happened next.

  They came at her quickly. They came for her arms.

  She swung at one of them, and struck the left side of their masked face.

  He yelled some from the impact. His head did move.

  Her hand responded with an overarching pain. The goggles they wore—the helmet too—caused it.

  “You sons of a bitch!” She swung again, but there was too many of them. They overpowered her quickly. Two of them grabbed her wrists.

  They grabbed her arms. The one she hit took her right bicep with an overpowering force and bent her arm up and behind her.

  She felt the pain again, as he twisted her hand. She screamed again.

  Casey heard this and reacted. With his mother coming in behind him, the two holding him relaxed some, and it was enough for him to move. He managed to break free from their respective grips, so he turned. He swung up at the one on his left. The back of his hand struck them under their chin. They flew backwards, and fell to their knees. With them down, he turned to his right.

  The one there saw the other one go down, and he reacted. He swung up with his rifle, and then brought his shoulder down.

  The butt of it struck the boy strongly across his face on his left side.

  The impact caused Casey to fall to his right hand side. He fell hard. The pain flushed his face. The heat raced through his mind, and with all of it, he passed out before he hit the floor. He went completely limp.

  Rachel watched this and screamed, “You bastards!”

  The ones holding her tightened their grips.

  “Just relax Rana. It will be over for you just as fast.” The voice came from the man behind her.

  The one on her right again bent her arm. She yelled with the pain, but suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, she felt her mind clear. She felt her powers flow. She felt the void. She felt the wind move all around her. She felt the strength. It felt magnificent. It felt empowering. It felt perfect. It was about time.

  She even felt smug. “You know what you should never do?” She looked up, felt her power flowing into her eyes. It felt like a fire blasting her face.

  All of them turned to her at the same time. They watched her eyes flare to a bright and flaring blue color. The color shined with their own light.

  “Shoot her!” One of them yelled.

  The two standing in front of her raised their rifles.

  She felt all of them. She felt their minds. She saw their fear. She smiled.

  “You should never fuck with a mother when you hurt her child.” She brought her power forward. She held their arms and legs. She froze them where they stood.

  They stopped and couldn’t move.

  She felt their fears multiply a thousand times over. She turned to the one that bent her arm.

  “Release me,” she ordered him. She felt his arms.

  He let her go, and dropped his arms to his side.

  The one holding her left arm did the same thing.

  Free, she stepped out from in between them and turned back. The vengeance and all of the hatred now filled her soul. What they did to her son was even worse.

  “There’s no reason to fight over me.” She smiled to both of them.

  They felt anger as it flared through their thoughts. It filled them with rage. The one now on her left, the one that bent and hurt her arm, turned to the one that had held her left arm, and they charged each other. They swung at each other, and began to fight.

  They punched. They grabbed. They flew out through the front door behind them, and continued the fight outside on the front lawn.

  She watched them swing and roll. Satisfied, she turned back to her son. She rushed over to him and bent down.

  She took his head gently with her hands. She saw his face. It was already starting to puff up from the swelling. He had a small trickle of blood flowing down from his top lip. It had already turned red, almost purple in color.

  “Casey?” She felt him breathing. She felt his heart still beating as she placed her right hand over his chest.

  He didn’t move.

  In thinking about everything that happened, she now knew a lot. She knew what he could do and what his gift was. She didn’t understand it, but now wasn’t the time for those answers. She would have to wait until they were safe to learn more, but for now, she had to keep the people locked. She used every ounce of her power to do it.

  She was about to lift him up to her, but she felt and heard someone step to the front door behind her. Without thinking, she reached out with her power and gripped him within her mind. She couldn’t take the chance, whoever they were.

  The man, it was a man, froze at the door.

  She turned to him. She saw his pale face. She saw his red eyes. She saw his fangs. She knew instantly what he was.

  “My lady Rana?” He gulped as she froze him instantly at the door. He looked around the room. He couldn’t feel his legs. He couldn’t feel his arms. He couldn’t even move his eyes from side to side. He had to explain things. “I’m David Gorhan. I’ve been sent here by Lord Brandon…to…” He gulped again. “…to defend you.” He winced with this. He knew who she was. He knew what she could do, and in seeing everyone standing still inside this small house, he didn’t need to be reminded of it. Not being able to move, well that helped him too.

  Rachel let him go inside her mind. “Help me with him.” She breathed, relaxed, and turned her attentions back to her son.

  He did move. He felt his legs again, and he used them to walk to her.

  “We have to go. I’ve been ordered to take you to a safe place. I am to take you back to Philadelphia” He looked down and saw a young man. He saw his blood. He saw him hurt. He then looked back to the room. He saw the humans dressed in black. He knew who, or what they were. “Lord Brandon was right. They are the gathering storm.” He didn’t believe it when he told him about them. Humans hunting them, no Walker wanted to believe such things, but now seeing them, knowing it, he hated them even more than he already did. He feared them all too.

  Rachel looked back up. “Lift up him with you.” She stood up and faced the vampire. She then looked back to the others. She had an idea. “How many did you bring with you?” If they were going to find out what was going on, they had to do this. They had to find the answers. She had something here that they didn’t have before. They had to take the chance, no matter how dangerous it was to do it.

  David Gorhan matched her stare. “I have brought my entire family. We are eight and are surrounding the house.”

  She nodded with this. “Good.” She looked back to all of the frozen humans and continued with her idea. “We are bringing these humans with us.”

  He heard the venom in her voice. He knew what she wanted to do. If they were ever going to get answers to what they are, they needed them. They had the chance to get the truth.

  “Of course, my lady.” He saw the young girl still being held by two of them, just in front of what looked like a dining room towards the back of this small home. He saw her blood flow. He saw the human. “What about the girl?” he had to know.

  Rachel turned to her. She knew who she was, of course. With everything that happened, she had forgotten about her. Truly, she didn’t know what to think, but she was sure of one thing. They know about her. They will use her to get to Casey. If we leave her here, she will be i
n danger. She may be a Wanderer, but she was also a mother. We have to bring her with us. But what about her family. We can’t do that to them. She needed to know more about this first.

  “Where are your parents? Where’s your family?” She didn’t want them to worry about her. She didn’t like the idea of any of this. Again, she didn’t have the choice.

  Angel watched everything, and didn’t know what to think. She didn’t know what to do, so she just stood there and did nothing. She just did what they asked her to do. They came to her house. They took her and told her to wait for Casey to come to her. When he did, she said only what they wanted her to tell him. When this woman, she had to believe it was Casey’s mother, asked this of her, she told her the truth.

  “I have no parents. My foster parents are out of town for a couple of weeks. They won’t be home for a while. I’m alone.”

  Rachel sighed with hearing this. She was afraid of this. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t leave her here like this. No mother could do such a thing.

  “We’re going to have to take her with us then.” She looked back to David and gave him a nod.

  David did as she told him. He lifted the boy from the floor, and went back to his friends outside. He told them to bring all of the humans with them, and to bind their hands and legs.

  All of the Gorhans did this. They took the human girl with them and brought her with Rana and the boy. They then each took a black dressed human and loaded them into their cars. The two that had been fighting on the front lawn took some effort to break them up, but they did gather them too. They bound all of them with duct tape. When they were secure, Rachel finally let them go from her power. They didn’t take any chances.

  Finished, they left the home.

  Rachel rode with David. She stayed in the back seat with Casey cradled in her arms.

  “How did you find us?” she asked when they were safely on their way.

  David drove the car. “Lord Brandon told me that Robert the Rock Thrower told him where to go.”

  She petted her son’s hair with an open palm. “Thank you for helping us.” She was.

  He couldn’t imagine why they did. She took care of it. He didn’t tell her this. He just did what his master wanted. Nothing else mattered.

  She now cried some. She looked back to her son, and noticed Angel sitting with David up front in the passenger’s seat. She saw the back of her head. She watched her closely.

  Who is this girl? She’s awfully quiet for some one that just had that happen to them. She should be full of questions. She should be scared. She should be confused, but she’s not. She didn’t like this. She realized that she didn’t trust her. She decided that she would have to watch her. She had to keep an eye on her from now, until she could find out more about her. With everything that happened, she wouldn’t trust anyone ever again.

  She looked back to Casey and his now bruised, but still beautiful face. I’m so sorry Casey. I’m sorry that this didn’t happen the way you wanted it to. I wish I could have taken all of this away so you could be the person you wanted to be. I’m so sorry for that. She was. Jimmy now crossed her mind. I’m sorry to you too Jimmy. You were right. You were right about everything. You knew this was going to happen. I should have listened to you. I should have trusted you. I’m never going to doubt you again. She closed her eyes. She felt tired and somewhat winded. She just wanted to find him and see him again. She wanted to feel his warmth. She wanted to see his face. Right then, she knew she would.

  They headed back to Philadelphia and headed back to the Gorhan home.

  38

  “El, I do wish that we didn’t have to sacrifice them like that.” Martin paced around the room, moving back and forth towards the door and back to the center of the room as he talked. Inside he felt torn. He knew that was a part of their plan, but he didn’t have to like it. It felt like a gamble and such a waste.

  She didn’t agree. “We have to let them know what are plans are Martin. How else are we to get what we need?” She sat on the chair. She sat still. She watched him closely. He looked funny, caring for them like this. She always felt amused by him at times like this.

  He stopped dead in his tracks. “Well it is done.” She was right and he knew it. Again, he just hoped it was worth it. Either way, he now felt confident of everything. Everything happened just as she said it would. He had that at least.

  She agreed with him on this. “Now, all we have to do is get Kenar to do his part.” She stood up. She moved to Martin and stopped at his left side. “Is the room ready for him?” She hoped it was. If so, then she didn’t have to keep giving him the drug. He was so more useful if she didn’t have to give him it. After all, he had to use his gifts if they were going to accomplish everything they were going to do.

  He nodded to her. “The room is ready. We have it charged.” He stilled doubted this, but like everything else, he tried not to. She was right about everything else.

  She felt pleased beyond words. “Good. I shall have to go and pay him a visit then and test to see if he sees.” She nodded with outright glee flowing through her. It just so warmed her cold heart.

  She turned.

  He watched her leave him and head to the door. He now shook his head. Now if we could just control her, all will be well. He thought as she disappeared from his line of sight. Again, he doubted this, he doubted her, but he didn’t have the choice about this either. She had faith in her, so he should too. Again, he just didn’t have to like it, as he didn’t like her.

  39

  He sat there. He stared at the blackness. He thought about everything. Danny was there. He knew how worried he had to be. He also knew of what he probably did.

  Kalima will be out looking for me now. Kenny thought about his longtime friend. A part of him regretted this thought. I hope he can forgive me for getting him involved with this. He knew why. He knew what Kalima wanted. He knew what he longed for, but the other part of him—the one that knew better—knew that he didn’t have the choice. Only he can stop them. Only Kalima can stop all of this pain. This felt right to him. He knew that everything had to happen this way.

  “Hello Kenar.” She opened the door.

  He felt the air from it smack his face, but that wasn’t all he felt. Just before he felt and heard the door close again, he felt a heat race through his mind. It came briefly but was still there. He felt the world. He felt the breath of life. He felt it inside his mind and knew what it meant. He saw everything again when the door was open. When he heard it closed, and heard her voice, everything went dark again. He didn’t know what it meant, but he was now determined to find out.

  “What is this place?” It had to be the room. He didn’t know how that was possible, but it just felt right to him. If it were the drug, he wouldn’t have felt anything. It happened when the door was open.

  She laughed with this. When she finished it, she sat down on the floor in the center of the room.

  He sat at the far wall and leaned up against it.

  “You felt that, did you?” She couldn’t believe how strong he was. It just boggled her mind, more often than not.

  He shuddered some with the sound of her voice. Now more than ever, he knew it. He recognized it, but he couldn’t place a face to go with it. The feeling only grew inside him, just gnawing at him like teeth raking across a chalkboard and blazing his mind.

  “I know you.”

  She laughed again. “Of course you do silly.” She crossed her legs in front of her and got comfortable. The game was ready to begin. “You have seen me before. After all, you were there when I was born.”

  He heard this and focused even more on her voice. “I was?”

  She rested her elbows on to her knees. “Oh yes.”

  “I was there when you were born? How do you know that?” He didn’t believe her at all.

  She bowed her head. “I know what I know.”

  He felt the emptiness of the room. He felt the brief instance of his power when the
door was opened, and went back to that again too.

  “This room…something about it is blocking my gifts.” He thought again about her voice. “I couldn’t read you when the door was open.” He tried to connect everything together in his mind. He felt if he kept going, he could piece it all together. It was just a matter of time to find the picture. He felt sure of this.

  Her voice now grew smug as she watched his face. She could see what he was doing without even trying to read him. She was so much better than he would ever know.

  “Of course you could not do such a thing. You could never read me or my brother.” She bowed her head again, hoping he would understand what she meant. She wanted him to see it without her having to tell him all of it. What fun would that be?

  “What?” Kenny sat up with hearing this. He didn’t know what she was talking about or what she meant with this.

  Her long black hair fell in front of her eyes, so she brushed it back behind both ears. She had to see his face with this. She had to see the realization of everything in his eyes.

  “You know who I am speaking of Kenar. After all, as I have said, you were there. You and Rochie were there when we were born.”

  He gasped. He knew of only one Walker that could block his thoughts. He couldn’t read him—at least not before he let him see him. With just thinking of his friend, he shuddered again.

  She saw his eyes turn to dread. She laughed again.

  He heard her clearly. “Kalima doesn’t have a sister.” He laughed some too. He was sure of many things and this was definitely one of those things. She had to be playing him. It wouldn’t be the first time a Walker would try to play with his mind.

  She shook her head. “So you have thought. You should know. Again, you were there when we were born.”

  He now placed her voice. It struck him so hard that if he weren’t sitting already, he would have fallen over from it. He did know who she was. He could see her face. He could see her red eyes, and her jet-black hair. With it all, he gasped again. He thought she was dead.