A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2)

by Michael Lampman

  Jimmy looked back down at his hands. He heard the sorrow in his voice. He felt it some himself. It must have been painful. It hurt him, almost like hell coming itself.

  “When our father showed the other walkers what we could do, they allowed us to live. Because of her gifts, the walkers kept her close to them. Our father, more than the others, kept her by his side.”

  “What happened?” Jimmy looked back up.

  “She loved our father. She felt for him. Because of whom we were, being as close as we were; the walkers feared what we could do. They feared it more when we were together.” Robert looked down to his own hands. He could see her face so clearly. He could see her beautiful eyes. Seeing her, he focused on her completely as he continued. “When Satar did what he did—when the war began—she kept with him. She stayed with our father. She watched him die.”

  “How did he die?” Jimmy blinked. He understood where this was going. He nodded as he continued to listen.

  “It was all my fault. I was the reason for it.”

  Jimmy heard his voice crack. “How did you do that?”

  “I wanted Rana back. I wanted to get her safe. I planned the attack to get her. Our father fought to keep her and he lost that fight. They killed him. The humans with me struck him down.”

  Jimmy understood the cracking sound in his voice.

  “Rana hated me for what happened, and blamed me for it.” He looked back up again. He now had tears flowing down the sides of his face. “I let her hate me.”

  Jimmy saw the tears and right then, more than ever, he felt for him. He felt for his friend, and now considered him as such. He now trusted him completely.

  “Afterwards,” he began, paused to wipe his eyes, and finished with it, he continued, “she kept with the walkers. She fought with them, side by side.”

  Jimmy now understood everything, and he showed Robert that much by giving him a hearty smile. He followed it with a strong nod of support. Knowing everything, seeing his pain, he switched gears back to something else. “With her now with him again, I can only assume that now we’ll never know the truth of what happened.”

  Robert sat forward again. “There is of course one other person who knows the truth of what happened.”

  Jimmy sat forward too. “Who is that?”

  Robert smiled. “You.”

  Jimmy didn’t like hearing this. “If I am Kalima, and am blocked, then I guess we’ll never know.”

  Robert shook his head, and didn’t agree. “If we can find out who blocked you, who blocked your memories, we can find out what you knew. We can unblock them.”

  “And how do we find out who did it?”

  Robert shrugged. “I still say that it feels different than most blocks. Whoever did it knew what they were doing. They are powerful too.”

  Jimmy bowed his head. Kenny again raced through his mind.

  Robert saw this in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  Jimmy looked up. “Kenny knew about all of this. I think that he may have been the one that did it.”

  Robert could see the hint of a tear in his right eye. Seeing it, he swallowed heavily. “He didn’t do this Jimmy. He wasn’t that powerful.”

  Jimmy laughed some with hearing this. “He controlled the wind and lightning. If that’s now power than I don’t know what is.”

  Robert smiled. “Back when I knew him his name was Kenar. Whatever his name was now, he would not have worked with Devish. Why he was willing to help Kalima is something that I wanted to discuss with you about because it doesn’t make sense. He wasn’t a huge fan of the walkers, least of all of Kalima.”

  “He wanted to set that right. He regretted it, whatever he did back then. He saw our strength I guess.”

  Robert shrugged.

  Jimmy saw him do it. “He led me to Ross. He led me to all of this, so maybe he didn’t regret it as much as he told me that he did.”

  “Perhaps, or maybe he didn’t know about him—about Devish. Maybe he was just trying to help you like he said he was.”

  Jimmy shrugged again. “I don’t know. With him dead I’m sure that I’m never going to know what he did or didn’t do.”

  Again Robert chuckled some under his breath. “He’ll be back again someday. If we make it through this you can ask him yourself.”

  Jimmy looked down at his hands and then looked back up again. He nodded calmly. “I guess? Whoever did it, we have to find them. They hold the key to stop this. I have to find them.”

  Robert nodded.

  Jimmy sighed long and deeply.

  Hearing him, Robert switched gears to something else. “You should get some rest. I’ll take the first watch.” He gave him a strong smile.

  Jimmy shook his head. “Nah. You’re human—or humanish—I’m not. You should sleep first.”

  This time Robert shook his head. “I’m okay. Go ahead. Lay down. Get some rest.”

  Jimmy was going to fight him harder but then he didn’t feel like doing it. Robert was right. He was tired. He did need some sleep. Finally decided, he matched his stare. “Okay, I’ll go first. I’ll come back out here and relieve you in an hour or two.” He stood up from the sofa and walked to the archway, and stopped when he reached it. He then turned back around. “I never had the chance to thank you Robert.” He smiled.

  Hearing this, Robert lifted his eyes. “For what?” He truly needed to know.

  Jimmy shrugged. “For coming back. For helping Rachel—helping me.” He nodded.

  Robert did the same. “We are who we are Jimmy. We do what we must.”

  We are who bit us. Jimmy nodded again, laughed to himself, turned and went for the stairs. He went up them quickly, found his bedroom, the last door on the right, and went inside the room.

  When he left, Robert turned back to the mantle. Now that he was alone, he needed to have the time to think. They had a long night ahead of him—ahead of them—and knew that he had to be ready for whatever might happen. He had to be prepared. He had to get it right, what he had to tell the elders, and could only hope that he would do it best. He could only hope they would help.

  24

  Rachel sat there quietly until she heard the screams again. They bounced off the walls of the small room and raked her spine. They made her cringe. They sounded worse than they did before, she could tell that much, but they also sounded weak. Maybe he’s dying. She liked the thought of that. She could only hope. When the screams stopped, seemingly, so did her heart. Again, hope was the only thing that she had left.

  When the door to the room opened, maybe a half hour later, her hope vanished all too fast.

  A young looking man stepped into the room. Vincent came in behind him. As for the young man, she didn’t recognize him until he opened his mouth.

  “Hello my dear Rana.” He smiled

  The smile also gave him away.

  “Devish?” She stayed on the floor but did slide herself around to face him. As for the way he now looked it blew her away. He not only looked younger but he also looked completely human. His brown hair looked neat. His face looked neatly shaved and his eyes sparkled like gems. It made her have to blink several times to have it register in her mind.

  Hearing her thoughts made his smile grow larger than before. “I am pleased that you find my appearance pleasant now.” His teeth even looked better than the rest of his model looking face did. “I do wish it would please me but necessity begs the need.”

  “Necessity?” She stood up, using the wall behind her to help her stand. Now that she was, she crossed her arms over her chest. “What necessity could that possibly give you?”

  He walked over to the far wall and lowered his head to the floor. “We walkers wear our disguises well my dear. It helps us for the hunt. It aids us to be able to get close to our prey.” He turned back towards her and lifted his head. Their eyes met. “We do what we must do.”

  Seeing him like this, perfect, and hearing what he said, she cringed. A chill rolled through her arms and ran their way dow
n her back. “You look good to us to kill us. So you can get close.”

  Feeling her body tense up some made him smile again. “Now that I am whole again, I believe that it is time to awaken you my dear. It is time to set all of this right again, just like the old days in which we lived.”

  Again the chills flew. This time they even caused a shudder to flow through her, almost like she was just thrown into a bucket of cold water. Gooseflesh raced over her. It raked her very core.

  He left the wall, passed Vincent, and came right up to her face.

  Being this close to him made her step back, but with nowhere to go; she hit the wall hard behind her.

  He reached out, took her by both shoulders with both hands, and held her tightly. He stared into her eyes.

  He’s going to do this and I can’t let him. I have to fight him. I have to give Jimmy the time to find me. She closed her eyes tightly, meaning, hoping that if he couldn’t see them he wouldn’t be able to do it. She could only hope that it worked.

  Hearing her thoughts, he smiled. “I do need to see your eyes my dear, but do not worry, you will open them for me.” He reached in with both hands to her face and placed them on both sides of her head. He held her face to his.

  Feeling his touch, she squeezed her eyelids tighter. I won’t let him do this. He will never let me see his eyes.

  Again he smiled. “Oh my dear Rana.” He began caressing both sides of her cheeks. “You will look at me my love. You will, I promise you this. The power of wanting this, of wanting to know everything, will overpower your will. You will want to know the truth. You will want to know who you really are.”

  I can’t. I won’t.

  “It is time to be who you are again my dear. It is time to live again.”

  Her face began to warm some, not from his touch, with that, he was icy cold, but it came from within her own skin. The warmth continued from her cheeks up towards her eyes. My own body is fighting me. My God why? Why would I fight against myself? She couldn’t believe what she felt. The warm feeling was now even caressing her eyes. They even went straight to her eyelids.

  “When I can see you my dear all I need to do is to say the words that will release your mind. You do want this, I know you do. You want it back again. You want the truth of who you really are.”

  Hearing this, still not wanting to do it, she opened her eyes.

  His flared with a deep redness that almost seemed to burn straight through hers. However, seeing through them, she noticed that he had nothing behind them. They seemed and felt hollow. He had nothing there. He didn’t have a soul. He didn’t have life behind them.

  “Let the darkness rise. Remember Rana. Remember, remember, remember Rana.” He smiled.

  Instantly her mind flared with a shot of light. She could see what looked like a fire burning right in front of her. It looked so blinding that it should have hurt her to look into it but it didn’t. Inside the flames she could see herself. Her eyes flared with a bright blue glow. A sudden blast of wind now struck her face. She could even feel her own black hair blow off her brow. The woman, herself, smiled.

  The images came fast. They came on the wind. They blew her mind.

  She could see herself standing by Devish’s human looking face and body. He was wearing something that looked like a robe, and she knew that it was. She could see crème colored bricks built into the walls. Suddenly, and quite instantly, she remembered everything about the place she was. She remembered everything that she was doing, and did. She looked at Devish and saw a stick, maybe a spear or something like one, plunged through his chest. Seeing it, her eyes watered over as she felt his pain. She felt his fear. She feared herself.

  She closed her eyes and screamed.

  Devish, still holding her, released his grip. Inside his mind burned. The burning came from her. It numbed his mind. It swept it and it nearly spilled him to the floor, but he caught himself before he fell. The power of her release almost blew him away. If he was still weak, as weak as he was, she would have crushed his very life.

  She lost all control in her legs and because of the lack of feeling in her; she slipped down the wall and fell back to the floor. She continued screaming. Every image burned through her like fire itself.

  Devish watched her fall. He loved the feeling, seeing her do it. All of those memories coming at her all at once were like being caught in flames. They spread quickly. They touched every part of her flesh.

  Who am I? What am I? Her mind turned. She rushed both hands to her face. The burning raced between then and they touched her very life.

  I have to fight this. I have to fight the memories.

  But she knew that she couldn’t let them fight him. She knew that she couldn’t let them get to Devish.

  He is my purpose. He is the reason that I’m here.

  The burning began to turn into an all-out pain.

  No! I must not do this. I can’t. I can’t let this happen.

  Her screams turned into a moan—a long agony of an ever reaching horror.

  I am Rana. I am the true me.

  She could see him. She could see the black wolf as he burst through the doors. His powerful strength shattered the air around her as he moved with speed.

  He is the strength of pain. I must not let him get to him.

  The black wolf came for her. She saw herself rush him, letting her power come forward as she tried to stop him from moving on.

  I must stop him. I must stop him from taking him away—from taking away my life.

  The black wolf stopped. She had him within her mind—within her strength.

  He is the pain. He is the reason for all of this death.

  Devish watched her moan. He watched her squeeze her own head. He watched her as her mind turned. “That is right my dear. Remember what he did to you. Remember everything he was. Remember everything that he caused.”

  I must stop him. I must fight him. I must kill him now.

  She now saw herself as a little girl, living in a cool and damp place. A man, her father, came over towards her as she sat on the floor. He took her into his arms and held her tightly to his chest. She felt the warmth of the embrace, even though he felt terribly cold to her touch. She looked up to his face and felt overwhelmed with the pale coldness of his skin. His burning red eyes looked down to hers and smiled showing his fangs.

  “I love you my dear Rana.” He spoke to her with warmth. It warmed her mind. It touched her heart. His embrace felt so right.

  “I love you too papa.” She returned his smile.

  “You will always be my truth Rana. You will always be my reason for continuing on in this life. You will always live as my dear, sweet little girl.”

  Papa? What happened to you papa?

  Now she saw herself much older, turning as a deep colored orange glow billowed around her face. A hot fire burned her skin. She looked right, and there, her papa stood and was surrounded by several humans. One of the men, there were four there total, swung with a golden colored blade that struck her beloved papa in the chest.

  He hissed out with the pain that he felt from the blow.

  “Papa!” she screamed as another of the men sent his golden blade into his neck.

  His blood sprayed all over the man’s face.

  “Run Rana! Run!” Her father gasped with air. His eyes faded to a dim and dark glow.

  She then watched him die. As she did, she screamed again.

  “My dear Rana, they had to do what they did.”

  She saw Rochie, her brother, standing there with her in the trees. He looked the same as he always had, but now, she hated him for being there with her. She told him that much already. “They had no right to take him away from me Rochie. Those damned humans had no right to kill him.”

  “They had no choice.” Rochie stressed, but she found herself no longer trusting his words. “He would have killed so many more if he had lived. He would have continued killing until there were none left.”

  “He was my father. H
e was your father, or have you forgotten?”

  Rochie bowed his eyes. “I loved the man that he used to be Rana. I loved the father he once was.”

  “You are a fool Rochie for trusting others not like us. You are a fool for trusting them.”

  Rochie now had tears in his eyes. “I stand by my feelings Rana. I stand by what I must do.”

  She saw the tears and hated him more because of them. “You are no longer my brother. You are no longer my kind.” She turned, feeling the hatred for everything he was. She felt the burning of it turn again inside her chest.

  He hated me. He hated my father. He let them kill him. He turned against his own family.

  She blinked, and now saw a gray colored brick wall in front of her. A man, Devish, stood by her side. She watched him as he wrapped a solitary arm around her shoulders as she cried.

  “You have chosen well my dear Rana. You have taken a stand for the just. You have chosen to stand with your kind.”

  She looked up to him and turned. “I will stand with you. I will avenge what they did to my family.”

  He stood with me. He gave me a reason to live.

  She blinked.

  She now saw the full moon hanging low over a hillside out within the trees. The moon sparkled all around her face. Someone was there with her, but she couldn’t see his face. She couldn’t see who it was, but she did know him. She loved him entirely.

  He hurt me. He caused me nothing but pain.

  She opened her eyes as the burning pain that was wrapped around her suddenly stopped. With it gone, she looked up.

  Devish smiled down at her. “The pain moves on my dear as you let yourself become you again. Let Rana now stand as one with me again.”

  I am Rana. I am who I am.

  She took a deep breath. All of her memories were now so clear. He was right. She is Rana. She is the person that she always was.

  Devish reached down with his right hand towards her face. He opened it for her. “Welcome back my dear, dear Rana.” He smiled. “Take my hand and be one with me again.”