by Tisha Wilson
“What about the families of the people who go missing? Someone will eventually notice that-”
“They notice. The families drive themselves crazy looking for their loved ones and I sometimes think that’s the hardest part of my job. Knowing, and not being able to do anything to ease-”
“Excuse me.” They both looked to the door to see that Nurse Watkins had stuck her aged head in the door. “The Doc told me to give you your final instructions and to help you get dressed.”
“Give us just a minute,” he snapped at her. She nodded and left them alone again. Al stood up preparing to leave. “Will you think about it?”
She watched him carefully. He really wanted her to come back here. “Even if I could, I wouldn’t put you in that kind of danger. I think you’re right. As long as you don’t tell anyone what you know then you should be all right. I’ll leave some ammo in your truck though it won’t do you any good unless you have it in your gun at all times.”
He watched her quietly. “So you’ll just ride off into the night, destined to forever be alone? That seems like a crappy end to the book.”
She shook her head sadly. “This isn’t a book. This is reality. This is my reality. You know what they say. Life’s a beach and then you die; only I get to stick around after all of you mortals have checked out. I get to wake up and live this life into eternity.”
*
He watched her leave. He supposed there was nothing else he could really say to her. What else was there to say? He couldn’t tell her that thinking of never seeing her again was eating him up inside more than a little. He would go back to work with his Thirty Eight loaded with silver bullets. He would sit out in the quiet woods and wait and wait and wait for his life to start again. He would never see her again.
He felt so depressed all of a sudden that he was sure the bar would be his next stop. Even that seemed routine of late. Work, bar, work, bar, with little sleep mixed in. Not even when he’d been stripped of his rank in Durham by his ex-wife’s father had he felt this low. Not even when he’d discovered the lie that was his marriage did he feel this low. Al had waltzed in, given him a small taste of excitement and now she was gone again. It occurred to him then that she probably didn’t even know his first name and he didn’t know her last.
Nurse Watkins stepped into the room and he sent her a rakish grin. “How’s my best girl?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Its time for you to get your clothes on so you can stop messin’ up my room.”
“I see how it is. I don’t have to go home but I need to get out of here type deal? You know, people are usually trying to get me out of my clothes. Not the other way around,” he said, causing her to blush. He shrugged and took a deep breath. At least he still had this town and these people he loved.
“I will slap your face if you say something like that to me again,” she admonished as she rushed over to bring his clothes to him.
“It’s not my face I want slapped,” he replied, to which she laughed out loud and slapped him playfully on the arm.
“You better save that for that hot little cookie that just left here,” she replied back on the sly.
“Why Sarah. I knew there was a little something left in there. Taming, watch out for Ms. Watkins.”
“Oh go on with you. You’re nothing but a baby. You better watch out before I clean your mouth out with soap.”
“Ohh. Talk dirty to me,” he said and was glad when she blushed again. Maybe he would try to get on with his life here in Taming. Maybe he would convince himself with time that he was happy here. Maybe.
*
Al reached the parking lot and took a calming breath. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was it so hard to walk away from him right now? She should just wait until he went home, go to his house, fuck his brains out, and then give him the shot and leave. If Bateman were to find out… he’d send a team. She mumbled a curse as she took the helmet from her bike and mounted up. She reached the end of the hospital drive and stopped as emotion overtook her.
She looked at the highway that stretched on and on forever before her. She was supposed to be alone. God had told her as much the day he’d stolen her family from her and she couldn’t stop the pain. She couldn’t die herself. She was supposed to carry this pain on and on. Eight years. It had only been eight years since her world was snatched from her. It was both distant and fresh at the same time. Sometimes she feared that Thomas’s eye color was disappearing from her mind.
Not so much the eye color. She knew that his eyes were brown. But what shape were they? How did his eyes crinkle at the sides when he was happy or sad? What did he smell like? Beeswax and honey? Or was it powder and honey. No. It was Beeswax. He always used Beeswax lip balm. He tasted like honey all the time because of the honey drops he kept in a jar on his desk. She tried to tune everything else out to focus on his eyes but the only eyes she could see were Jerry’s deep chocolate penetrating gaze.
He had eyes like a Native Warrior. If they had been born in a different time he would have been a Chief or a warrior on the planes. He had that silent strength about him. She growled at herself. She had to leave. She had no choice, but it felt like a physical rope tied them together. It was at that moment that she felt it.
Shock coursed through her at the suddenness of it. It came from her left side and hit her so hard that both her and her motorcycle went flying into the tree line. She jumped to her feet, her claws fully extended and the glass plate on her helmet missing half its glass.
“You bitch. This is my favorite helmet,” Al raged as she ripped the helmet from her head and faced the wolf. She could tell it was a female because of the size. Also certain body parts were barely covered up by the fur that covered her body.
Al couldn’t believe her eyes. She was a young one. Usually the young one’s, newly turned, wouldn’t be allowed to hunt so soon. Her body still looked so much like a human’s that Al dreaded having to kill her. The younger they were, the harder they were to burn. The female came at her and just when Al was going to attack her, another one grabbed her from behind, and bit down into her shoulder. She felt the tendon separate from the bone and she screamed out loud before she could stop herself.
She turned, put one finger in each of the beast’s eye sockets, and pushed until there was a gushy popping sound. It howled in pain as it released its hold on her. This one was a male and he raised her above his head and threw her through the woods so hard that a few trees snapped as she cleared a path, and finally came to a stop. He was a strong one. Much older than the female. He must have been the one that turned the younger wolf.
How had she not felt these wolves coming? She supposed that her feelings for Officer Cayman had put her system out of whack. She attempted to get up but realized that she couldn’t move her arms or legs. She cursed. They must have snapped her neck. She closed her eyes to concentrate on repairing the damaged area. She heard the animals enter the clearing and concentrated a little harder. The male picked her up by one leg and began to drag her off into the woods, the female following behind.
Why did they have to smell like rotting flesh? It was worse than road kill. Her head banged over dirt, sticks, and rocks and she was hard pressed to concentrate. It was at that moment that she happened to look over and see two creatures approaching the hospital. They were headed towards the room where Jerry was. One of them smashed out the window and she watched in horror as they both disappeared inside.
*
Jerry was about to pull on his pants, smiling at Nurse Watkins blushing face, when he saw the last thing in the world he thought he’d see out his window. Al made it sound like he would never see those glowing red eyes in the darkness again. Without thinking he dropped the pants, pushed Sarah out of the way, and turned to face the beast that smashed out his window as it climbed through.
The creature got face to face with Jerry and he stood firm, looking it straight in the eye. He would protect the citizens of his town if it was the last thing he
did. It would probably be the last thing he did. The animal just stood there breathing hard and watching him for a moment as if they were having a standoff.
It was Sarah’s scream that burst the bubble and set the beast back into action. It grabbed Jerry and then threw him against the wall as if he weighed nothing at all. The world went black and Sarah’s screams faded away into nothingness.
*
It was hard for Al to keep her eyes on the hospital room as she was being drug away but she did. She watched as the beast who had entered the room passed Jerry out through the window and then Nurse Watkins. Jerry was unconscious and limp. Rage tore through her like a knife and she suddenly felt a stifling clarity. If she survived, she was going to kill them.
She was not going to be friendly about it. She was going to sever heads with her bare hands. They were going to take him back to the pack and eat him. They were going to eat Jerry like he was nothing but a piece of meat. The female clutched Jerry close to her body and the male held Sarah Watkins by the arm with his mouth. It was too late for Sarah, but for some reason they were saving Jerry.
She had never seen them do such a thing, but the way the creature clutched Jerry, possessively, as if she had every right to be holding him, as if he belonged to her… It set something on fire inside of Al. Jerry didn’t belong to her. Jerry didn’t belong to anyone and she’d be damned if she was going to stand by while they chewed his bones to powder. She wouldn’t loose him… not again.
Slowly her fingers began to twitch and then feeling returned to her legs. Her nails lengthened, but something was different this time. As rage and adrenaline built up in her blood she felt her face begin to change. It was subtle, but she could tell that it wasn’t the same. She waited until she had full control of her limbs before she swung her leg up to kick the release panel on the side of one of her boots.
The silver knife slid free and before the creature could react she’d slashed him and he started to burn. The female screamed and attempted to smash her into the ground. Al rolled out of the way, jumped to her feet and did a round house with the knife in her boot, setting the female to burn. She screamed and it sounded so human that Al might have cried for her if she’d taken time to consider it, but she was like a guided missile all of a sudden.
She unzipped her jacket as she ran after the animals that were running off with Jerry and Nurse Watkins. She felt the animals in the area as if they were all around her. Where the hell were they coming from? It was as if every creature in the country were on their way here. Hell, maybe even every creature on the planet. She was a powerful magnet, but not that powerful.
There was something evil in Taming. She’d felt it even before all this had started. Maybe that was what was drawing them here. She almost lost sight of the creatures that were running ahead of her when one jumped in front of her. She easily blasted him. The harder the creatures tried to get away from her, the more enraged she seemed to become.
It was an uncontrollable rage that she hadn’t felt since she’d come home from work that day all those years ago. She finally caught the female who was trying to carry Jerry as carefully as was possible. Alicia brought her down… hard. Jerry went tumbling out of her arms and Alicia buried her fist in the female’s snout. She felt satisfied when she heard bone crunching beneath her fist.
The other one had apparently abandoned Nurse Watkins to join the fight. He clamped on to her arm. But it wasn’t her gun hand. She put the gun right in his face and pulled the trigger. Fiery saliva exploded all over her arm, but she would not be stopped. She dropped the gun and began to pound on the female that had touched Jerry. How dare she even think to touch him? How could God even allow something like this to go on? Where was the justice in the world?
“He’s mine. You hear me, mine,” Al spat in the creatures face as she continued to pummel it. This seemed to enrage the female.
She fought back with a surge of energy. Al wasn’t sure if it was from her wolf’s strength or from a need for self preservation, but the bitch lashed out at her and managed to toss her away. The world went dark for a moment as she hit a tree and slid down it. Get up. I have to save him. Save Jerry. Save MY Jerry.
*
Jerry came to as he saw the creature throw Al hard against a tree. He heard bones snap as Al hit and he winced. This thing was going to kill him and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had no defense. No weapon. It was hovering over him before he was ready and he felt groggy from the combination of pain pills and being knocked unconscious. He was pretty sure one or more of his stitches had popped open and he was bleeding again, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment.
He didn’t know why he put a hand out to ward it off, as if his hand could stop it from ripping through him like tissue paper. If it could do that to Al, he didn’t stand a chance. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. But the searing pain of his arm being ripped off never came. He opened his eyes one at a time and saw it looking at him.
It sniffed him and looked him over as if it were making sure that he was… okay. Like it was making sure that he wasn’t hurt. That sure was a change from being thrown up against a wall. Jerry thought about what Al said. She said that sometimes they kept strong people to change them. Then the most shocking thing happened.
It reached out its hand as if it expected Jerry to reach out to it and place his hand in its paw. He blinked a few times as he looked from the slimy paw, to the blood red eyes and back down again. He shook his head. “No thanks. I don’t think I want to go where the wild things are, but thanks for the offer.”
It looked like it was a little upset and became more insistent that he take its hand. “I said no,” he replied.
“You heard him bitch. No means no.” The creature turned just in time to catch Al full in her face.
Jerry drew in a slightly frightened breath when he saw Al. Her hair was flying out wildly around her head, and her nails had grown so long, that when she wrapped her hands around the animal’s neck, they dug into the flesh and made the creature paw wildly at her arms. Al’s eyes were violet and feline and her face… he backed away quickly when he saw her face.
It was as feline as a tigress. And her teeth. They were long and sharp. Fear twisted his gut as he looked at her. She was not herself like this. As he tried to scoot away from the scene his hand met with cold steel. He instantly took up the weapon Al had apparently dropped and stood up on shaky feet. Al continued to squeeze the animal’s neck long after it quit fighting. She had a glow in her eyes as if she were actually considering eating it.
“I think its dead,” he finally ventured to say. Al turned toward him, her feral gaze landing on him. For just a moment he thought she might eat him next. “But if you need to finish up there, you go on ahead. I’ll just wait over near the hospital… and lights… and people.”
She stood up and he saw her take a calming breath. “That’s right. Take a good look at me, cherie. I told you I wasn’t nothin pretty.” She spread out her arms as if she were a freak show on display.
“I didn’t say all of that. I just said if there’s something else you needed to do to,” he nodded towards the corpse, “then I’ll just wait over in the parking lot or something. I’m not in to watching someone beat something to death, especially when it’s already dead. I mean not that they didn’t deserve-” He stopped when he remembered about Sarah.
He looked towards the hospital. “Sarah! They got Sarah. Where-”
“She was right there,” Al said as she came to his side. He was glad to see her face back to normal, though her eyes were still purple.
“You mean they brought her out here too? Where is she then?”
Al looked sorry for a moment. “They bit her,” she said slowly.
He felt shock course through him at that announcement. “But she’s old. What would they want with her? I thought you said that they only turn strong ones.”
“They weren’t going to turn her cher. I just interrupted them.”
<
br /> “No. She can’t be… she’s not one of them. Maybe we just need to look harder. I-”
Just then an old silver haired wolf who stood on two legs and bore a striking resemblance to Sarah Watkins stepped into the clearing. She still had her scrub tops on. Jerry swallowed as he saw what couldn’t be reality. Sarah had taught him in Sunday School. She had brought him Easter baskets full of chocolate eggs and jellybeans. A terrible sadness rose up in him at the thought of that sweet old woman turning into… this.
“Sarah,” he whispered softly, but she wasn’t there anymore. The creature that stood before him was no more Sarah than he was. He reached out as if to touch her when gunfire filled the air. Sarah fell screaming as she burned. He turned on Al, tears in his eyes.
“Damn you, you didn’t have to do that! We could have-”
“Could have what? Saved her? She was dead the minute they bit her. There’s nothing you could ever do to save her. That’s not in our hands now,” she said as she turned. Shestrode towards the area where her bike lay on its side. He followed hot on her heels.
“Well you wanted to prove to me how much of a monster you were? Mission accomplished. The monster isn’t in your face or in the fact that you fight them. It’s in the fact that you can’t have any more sympathy in your heart for them than that.”
She stopped as she reached her bike and looked down at it with her hands on her hips. “I have sympathy. It just don’t change the way it is. Sympathy don’t make it any easier.”
“So all that matters is what makes it easier for you?”
She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. “You don’t know nothin’ about me to go sayin’ somethin’ like that, hon. You been dealin’ with this for a few days? Wait til its been a few years and then come back and talk to me about what I should feel. Now get on.”
He stopped and looked at her with a hard gaze as she mounted the bike. “I thought you didn’t want me along.”
“Yeah well, somethin’ aint right. If they meant to turn you they would have bit you first thing, not passed you around all gentle like. And they are comin’ here in droves. I think they’d be comin here if I was here or not which makes me think that I am not what they are after.”
