So, just in case it was Casper the friendly ghost, she said, “Thank you.”
Lowering her arms, she rubbed at her wrists before sitting up. Scanning the room, she double checked there wasn’t anyone in there with her that she didn’t see while laying down. Unless they were invisible, she was definitely alone.
Standing up, Anya stretched her muscles, then walked around the room. It didn’t take long because it wasn’t a very large room that she was being held in.
As she reached the bed for the second time, Anya heard the locks click in the door and the bolts slide open. She waited nervously for someone to walk in. When no one did, she let go of the breath she didn’t realize she was holding, and relaxed slightly.
Her heart was pounding so fast, she could hardly hear anything over the beating of it in her ears.
Plucking up the courage, Anya quietly made her way over to the door and opened it slightly. Still nothing, she peeked her head out and looked up and down a brightly lit empty corridor.
More bare brick walls and concrete floors greeted her. A few doors were dotted along the corridor on either side, as well as one at each end. Anya guessed she needed to take one of the end doors, eliminating the others on the principle they could lead to more rooms like the one she was being held in.
Not knowing which one to pick, Anya did the very mature ‘eeny-meeny-miney-mo’ and left it down to fate to decided which one she was going to take.
It was now or never. Anya opened the door further and stepped out. When no alarms immediately rang out, letting everyone know she was escaping, she thanked her lucky stars.
Staying as close to the wall as she could, Anya slowly walked along the corridor to the door at the end. She didn’t have a clue if she was going in the right direction, but she had to just take a chance and hope that she was.
When she reached the end of the corridor, she put her ear against the door to listen for any sounds. Not hearing anything, she tried the handle. This door wasn’t locked, but it also didn’t lead outside either.
Instead, it opened up in to a massive room, the size of a warehouse. It wasn’t as brightly lit as the corridor, but it was light enough for her to easily see inside. Luckily enough, there was no one in the room, otherwise she would have been caught straight away.
It looked like it used to be a storage room of some sort, but had been abandoned years ago if the dust everywhere was any indication.
The downside to an empty room, there was nothing to hid behind if anyone entered while she was trying to get to the door, which happened to be on the opposite side of the room.
With no other choice, Anya decided to run to the other side, crossing her fingers that no one entered while she was half way across.
This best be the right fucking way.
It would just be her luck to make it all the way across the room without being seen, only to be caught when she opened the door, thinking it was the way out. It was a risk that she had to take though, because if she didn’t do anything, she might as well just go back to the room she was first in and wait for whatever twat features had planned for her.
Anya didn’t know what he had planned, but whatever it was, she didn’t want any part of it.
Mind made up, she quietly closed the door, then ran as quickly and quietly as she could across the room. As soon as she reached the other door, not waiting until she caught her breath, she opened the door.
Cool fresh air hit her first, then her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she realized she had been right for once. This was the way out.
Anya scanned the area outside the building. When she was sure no one was around, she crept out, shutting the door quietly behind her. After all, there was no point giving herself away when she was so close to freedom.
It was pitch black outside. There were no street lights anywhere, the only bit of light came from a couple of lights that hung from the top of the large building. From the outside it definitely looked like a warehouse, but the surrounding area didn’t look like any trading estate she’s ever seen. It looked like it had been built in the middle of nowhere. Which wasn’t a good sign for Anya.
Barbed wire fencing surrounded the perimeter of the building, with woodlands on the other side. Anya could only see one road leading away from the fence. She couldn’t see how long the road was, because it disappeared into the woodlands.
Twat features certainly is paranoid. She thought when she only saw one way through the fence.
Luckily for her, he wasn’t so paranoid that he had guards posted at the gate. At least, none that she could see anyway.
Carefully making her way over to the gate, Anya continually looked around her to make sure she wasn’t seen. When she reached the gate, she was expecting it to be locked, but again she was surprised to find that it wasn’t.
Not biting a gift horse in the ass, she quickly made her escape, remembering to shut the gate behind her as quietly as she could so it didn’t alert anyone by banging.
Anya didn’t know which way to go. There was no other building around here that she could hide in, or get help from. So, she was definitely on her own.
Not giving up, Anya followed the road as closely as she could, all the while staying hidden in the overgrowth of the woodland as much as she could.
Luckily enough, the trees and foliage still had plenty of greenery still on them, they hadn’t all gone dormant ready for the coming winter. If they had, she would have been more exposed than what she already was.
Everything was eerily silent as she made her way through the woods. The only sound she could hear, was her own breathing, and even that was mostly drowned out but the thumping of her heart in her ears.
Anya didn’t know how long she had been walking, but when she looked back, she could no longer see the imposing building through the trees. She couldn’t even see any light coming from that direction.
That gave her some hope that she was going to get away without any problems. But Anya should have known better than to get her hopes up just yet. From the looks of it, she still had miles to cover before she got to anywhere, she could possibly get any help, and she still didn’t know if she was going in the right direction. For all she knew, she could be heading away from the closest town. Or even the closest occupied house.
Until then, she only had herself to reply on to get her out of her in one piece.
Anya made it a little further away when she heard what sounded like a wolf’s howl coming for the direction she just came from. She didn’t know if it had anything to do with the place, but since it sounded as if it was coming from there, she wasn’t going to hang around and find out.
Not looking back, Anya picked up speed, going from a steady walking pace to a full out run in seconds. Jumping over rocks and tree roots sticking out of the ground, and dodging branches as she ran as fast as she could around thick bushes and shrubs.
Anya could her something barreling through the woods behind her. Taking a risk, she looked behind her to see a massive wolf hot on her heels. Just as she turned back around, her foot got caught in a bit of root and she went tumbling over.
Righting herself as quickly as she could, she didn’t bother looking back. There wasn’t any point, she knew what was behind her now, and she couldn’t risk falling again. As it was, the animal was almost upon her.
Pumping her arms and legs as fast as she could, she tried to outrun the animal, but deep down she knew it was impossible.
Anya didn’t make it very far when it rammed into her from behind, knocking her flat on her face in the dirt and narrowly missing a large rock sticking out the ground.
Before she had a chance to catch her breath and scream for help, a vicious growl came from above her, her mind instantly taking her right back to the nightmare in the ally. The growl sounded exactly the same. She didn’t know how it was possible, but she was positive the animal from her nightmare was currently stood on her back, pinning her to the ground.
Oh, god no, please don’t let it be re
al. But it was.
What was even worse, the creature wasn’t alone this time. Something even more frightening accompanied the huge wolf.
When it finally stepped off her back, she was roughly pulled up by her hair, and came face to face with an honest to god, demon. Red snake like skin with sharp looking horns on top of its head, and glowing red eyes swimming with evil.
Frozen in place from fear, Anya screamed as loud as she could in her head. A moment later, something was blown into Anya’s face, similar to what Kass had done at the cave.
Anya heard a voice in her head, that sounded vaguely like Connor, say “Hold on Anya, I’m coming!” and then she passed out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
By the time Connor was teleported into the human realm, dawn was just breaking over the horizon. He was one step closer to Anya, but there could still be a lot of ground to cover between them.
Connor didn’t have time to sneak off before the rest of them arrived. Sasha was a lot faster than he thought she would be. Within a matter of seconds, they were all gathered round.
“It’s good to see you haven’t wondered off already.” Rush said as acknowledged Connor stood opposite him.
“You told me to wait, so I waited.”
“Yes, I did tell you, but I didn’t think you would listen.”
Connor didn’t feel the need to tell Rush that he would have been gone if Sasha hadn’t been so fast at teleporting everyone here.
“What’s the plan?” Kellen asked.
“I want everyone in pairs. Sasha’s going to take half of us to the other side of the search area, so that each pair can take a different route. The plan is to all meet somewhere in the middle. Unless of course, one of the search parties come across any sign of Anya.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“What about the extra person? Once we’re all in pairs, there’s going to be one person left on their own.” Autumn asked.
“That person will be Sasha, and she can stay close to me.” He stated.
“Ahh, you want to keep me safe. How sweet, little wolf, but very unnecessary, I can look after myself. Plus, we can cover more ground if I go by myself.” She said.
“Not happening.” He ground out. “I may not have a say in you being here, but am I fuck letting you wonder off by yourself.”
“You really care that much?” she asked sweetly.
“No, I just don’t want to be the one to explain to Anya what happened to you if something does. This way I can make sure nothing happens to you.”
“Keep telling yourself whatever makes you happy.” She said. “I know why you’re really doing it.”
There was a couple of snickers around the group. Sasha was definitely getting under Rush’s skin, and it was rather amusing to watch. It would have been more amusing if they weren’t wasting time instead of searching for Anya.
Not wanting to hang around any longer, Connor slowly inched his way to the back of the crowd. He was just about to disappear in the foliage, but before he could take the last couple of steps, he heard Anya scream loud and clear.
Everyone in the group except Sasha froze, listening for it again. The only problem was, he didn’t hear it with his ears, it was just in his head. But that wasn’t possible, was it?
Connor couldn’t believe Anya managed to make contact with them through a telepathic link, even if it was just a scream, she shouldn’t have been able to do that. Especially if she was just a human.
“How the hell did she do that?” Myra asked, gob smacked.
“I don’t know.” Connor said.
“I thought she was a human.” Aidan said.
“She is, or at least she was.” Connor said.
“Something must have happened already.” Rush said.
“What though?”
Now that was the million dollar question of the hour.
Sasha stayed quiet throughout the conversation. Connor had a feeling she knew more than she was letting on. Otherwise, why would she be so calm when everyone else around her were worried sick about Anya.
Rush must have thought the same as Connor, because he turned to Sasha and said, “What aren’t you telling us?”
“What do you mean?” she said.
“You know exactly what I mean, she’s not human and you already know. So, what is she?”
“Fine.” She gave in. “Anya isn’t human anymore. I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think she’s been turned into a wolf shifter like yourselves.”
“That’s impossible.” Myra stated.
“Not impossible.” Sasha countered.
“It is. Humans can’t be turned into wolf shifters, we’re not bloody werewolves you know, you don’t turn into one of us if we bite you.” Aidan said.
“Aidan’s correct, we can’t turn anyone with a bite.” Rush said.
“Not with a bite alone, no. But if someone were to use magic, it could be possible.” Sasha said.
“So, you’re saying someone with magic has teamed up with a wolf shifter to turn Anya into one of us?” Rush asked.
“Yes.”
“But, why?”
“How the fuck should I know.”
“Is it possible then?” Aidan asked.
Everyone waited for Rush to answer, but he was silent for so long Connor didn’t think he was going to answer.
No one was expecting what came out of his mouth though.
“Yes, it’s possible. But the person with the magic would have to be extremely powerful in their craft to be able to accomplish it without killing the person in question.”
Connor couldn’t have been more shocked if he had just been hit with a wet fish. Anya was a shifter? Was it true? Did she know she was? Question after question raced through his head, and he didn’t have an answer to any of them.
“Shit.” Aidan said. “If that’s true…”
“It means she’s one of us.” Myra finished for him.
“Yes.” Rush said.
“Does she know?” Myra asked Sasha.
“As far as I know, she doesn’t have a clue.”
“When was this done?” Rush asked her.
“The other week, before she stumbled across your realm.”
“That explains how she saw the cave. It was only hidden from humans, if she’s no longer human, she would be able to see it no problem.” Rush said.
“Do you know who’s behind it all?” Aidan asked.
“Unfortunately, no, I don’t. At least, not yet.”
“Assuming the ones who turned her are the same people who have her now, we will all find out soon enough who’s behind it all.” Rush said confidently.
Connor hoped so, he wanted to be the one to end their lives for what they’ve done to Anya.
“How do you think she’s going to take the news?” Myra asked.
“I don’t know.” Sasha said.
“But you’re her friend, surely you should know if she’ll be able to handle the news or not?” Aidan said.
Connor thought about Anya. From what he’s witnessed so far, he thought she would handle the news without a problem. It might take some getting used to, but once she’d adjusted to her new life, he could see her flourishing.
But none of that mattered at the moment though, and it never would if they didn’t get to Anya in time.
They could stand around all night long talking if they wanted to, but Connor had other plans, and they didn’t include standing here one more minute.
While everyone was busy talking about Anya, Connor slid further into the back ground. When everyone started to move around as they paired up, he took the opportunity to slip away unseen.
Wasting no time, as soon as he was out of sight he shifted into a wolf. Covering more ground at a faster pace in this form, meant by the time anyone realized he was missing, he would be well away.
The rural areas made it easier to hide from anyone that might be around. The built-up areas weren’t so easy. Connor couldn’t search them while in wolf form, not w
ithout drawing unwanted attention to himself, especially since wolves didn’t naturally live in this area of the world.
Connor knew they should have brought more people. It was going to take them twice as long to look for her with all the built-up areas they had to search.
It was his fault she ran off in the first place, he knew it without a doubt, and he couldn’t blame her after the way he treated her. He would have done the same in her shoes.
If anything happened to her before he got to her, he would never forgive himself. Nothing was going to happen to her though, because he wasn’t going to let it. He was going to find her, and when he did, he was never going to let her go again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“I told you I wasn’t finished with you yet.” Came twat feature’s voice as she slowly came to again.
Any hope that Anya had of it all being just a really bad dream was dashed with those few words. His was the last voice she wanted to be woken up by. He sent shivers down her spine every time he opened his mouth.
“Fuck, not you again.” She said.
“Afraid so, my dear.” He said. “You will be seeing a lot more of me if all goes well tonight.”
“Why? What’s happening tonight?” she asked him.
“If I told you, it would give away the surprise.”
“I don’t like surprises anyway, so you might as well just tell me.”
“So eager.” He said, shaking his head. “Did no one ever tell you that patience is a virtue?”
“Nope, and even if they did, I would have told them to shove their virtue up their asses.” Anya knew she should watch her mouth, but she’s had enough already.
All she wanted to do, was go home. Back to her normal mundane life. She would give anything to be sat on her balcony watching the world go by, with a nice hot coffee in her hands. But that didn’t look like it was going to happen anytime soon.
“Well, you don’t have much longer to wait.” He told her.
“I thought you said I would be chained differently?”
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