by D. Levesque
“Hey, I heard that!” I shout to her.
“You were meant to!” she yells back.
“Shall we, ladies?” I ask the other two.
“Shotgun!” yells Sylvana.
“That’s fine. I get to sit in the back with Brandon,” says Lina, in a sultry voice.
“Shit,” says Sylvana with a sigh, “I didn’t think that through.”
Laughing, we all get into the vehicle, and Johanne starts her up. “Listen to that. That, my friends, is an engine. I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s not as good as a proper truck, but I will take it over your Volvo any day,” she says, stroking the dashboard as she revs the engine.
“Speaking of, where is my Volvo?” I ask curiously since my mother did kind of make us pass out when she brought us here. “I hope it’s safe.”
“According to Trent, he left it in the garage. He has someone watching your place to make sure nothing happens,” Johanne says absently as she sets up the only phone we have with GPS on it.
“Well, that’s good,” I say. I don’t want to lose my Volvo. I had her too long, and she was my first car.
“All set, says we will be there in three hours and 40 minutes.” Johanne snorts. “Yeah, if I was your grandmother.”
“Just remember Johanne, no speeding tickets all right?” I tell her with a laugh.
“I have never gotten a speeding ticket in my life,” she says indignantly.
“Oh, and why is that?” Lina asks her curiously.
“Because I can always outspeed a cop and ditch them,” she says with a grin, looking back at her in the rearview mirror.
“Just get us there in one piece,” I tell her with a grin.
“Yes, sir!” she says, giving me a salute.
For the next three hours, or just under that, we talk about nothing and everything. True to her word, Johanne got us there in less than three hours and 40 minutes. It took us just under two hours and 20 minutes. Johanne seemed to have a sixth sense when cops were around, and she would slow down just before passing one. I asked her what her trick was, and she said cops loved certain places to post themselves to make it easier to catch people. And with the GPS, she was able to guess where they were.
We had decided to stop about ten minutes away from our target's location and run the rest of the way in. One of the things we had with us was a harness for the duffel bag. It seems that the Were were used to this kind of thing and had designed gear that was modified for them. This way, in their Were form, they were still able to carry things. As I was the bigger one, we decided I would carry it, meaning the girls got the light stuff, and I was left with the big bag of weapons.
Johanne slows the yellow Humvee and stops on the side of the road. Once she sees there are no cars coming from either direction, she pulls to the other side of the road and onto a depression in the woods she somehow found. Once we start driving on it , we see it’s an old abandoned road that was probably last used over fifty years ago. It’s not even a road, but more a patch of dirt, covered in grass and brush. When she gets about twenty feet away from the main highway, she stops the vehicle and turns it off.
We all get out and stretch, which is much needed after sitting in the vehicle for over two hours. I stand there watching the girls and enjoying the view. Lina sees me looking and exaggerates her stretch, showing me her enormous breasts in all their glory. Damn, I love my life now, I think with a grin.
“Right, so did you want to transform, stud?” Lina says with a grin.
“Oh, I have a surprise for you all,” I tell them with a grin of my own. I hadn’t told them, but I was going to be running in my Incubus form. Reaching down inside me, I bring it out. The pain is still pretty intense, but it doesn’t bring me to my knees this time. Once complete, I am standing there with horns on my head, my black tail behind me, and my feet- still no clue what happens to my shoes- are now black right up to my knees, and are harder than rock.
I look up, and the girls are staring at me in astonishment. “Like it?” I ask them.
“Oh my Gods!” Lina says, rushing up to me and touching my horns, tail, and even reaching down to touch my feet.
“Brandon, why do I feel the urge to take you right now,” she growls at me.
“Oops, give me a second,” I say, remembering the fact that in this form my pheromones will cause that. I think of dampening them, and look at Lina to see if it’s made a difference.
She shakes her head and looks at me with her head tilted. “All right, it’s not as bad, but I still want you,” she says with a grin.
“That was heady,” Sylvana says with a shaky laugh.
“Fuck, next time we are together Brandon, you need to turn that on,” Johanne says with a grin. I look at her in shock. Johanne, our little strict military background girl, just said that?
Lina goes up to her and hugs her. “Our little girl is growing up!” she squeals.
Johanne blushes but hugs her back.
“Roger?” I call out.
“Here,” he says, appearing suddenly.
“Can you pass me my belt for the daggers? I want to have them both on me for this,” I tell him.
“Gotcha, catch.” Without warning, the belt hits me in the chest .
“Jesus fuck, Roger!” I yell at him, rubbing the spot with one hand while holding the belt against me with the other hand.
“Those who sleep, something something,” he says with a chuckle.
Putting the belt around me, I look down to make sure it’s secure. Then I look up at the girls, and they are looking at me strangely.
“What?” I ask them all.
“How do you expect to keep up with us in that form, Brandon?” Johanne asks, confused.
“Oh trust me, I can outrun even you in this form,” I tell her with a grin.
“Brandon, I am the fastest Werewolf in the USA. You can’t beat me,” she says with a laugh.
“Right, want to bet on it?” I ask her, my grin getting bigger.
“Sure, what do you want to bet?” she says, now sounding unsure of herself.
“Hmm. Let’s make it simple. I win, you need to make me, or bring me, breakfast in bed for a week?” I tell her.
“All right, and if I win, you need to bring me the same thing,” she says, holding out her hand.
“Deal,” I tell her with a laugh.
“Roger, Daggers,” I yell.
Suddenly two daggers come flying at me, but in my Incubus form, they seem slower than before. I catch them easily and place both of them into their sheaths. Grabbing the duffle bag, I use the straps to secure it to my back and then look at them.
“You all remember the location from here?” I ask them. Once they nod, I say, “Your turn, girls.” andWithin seconds, I am surrounded by a black Werewolf, a black Werejaguar, and a gold and white Werefox.
“Now, keep up ladies,” I tell them and take off running. After about a good five minutes of running, I stop near a fence which I assume is the one for the property. None of the girls have passed me. I am not even panting, but as the girls reach me, I see that they are, even in their Were form. They all transform into their half-hybrid form.
“I win, you owe me breakfast in bed for a week.” I turn and look at Johanne with a grin.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Brandon. How fast can you run in that form,” Johanne says, trying to catch her breath.
“Not sure. I haven’t tried going all out,” I tell her with a laugh.
“Wait, you weren’t running all out?” Lina says.
“Nope, not even winded,” I tell her.
“Yeah, I am not winded either,” Roger says next to me.
“Oh fuck off, Roger,” Lina says with a laugh.
“Well, I need a break now,” Sylvana says, chest heaving. She lies down on the ground in her half-hybrid fox form, which I have to say, does wonders for her human form, I think with a grin.
“How is it that that form can be so damn fast compared to us on four legs!” Johanne says, mystified.
<
br /> “I would say it’s my endurance and the muscles. I am not sure, but something tells me I am much stronger in this form as well.”
“Well, whatever it is, it works for you. I wonder if we would be faster in our half-hybrid form now that we have your blood,” ponders Sylvana.
“I am willing to find out,” Johanne says with a feral half-wolf grin.
“Well, first let's scout around to make sure that the areas where I need to place all those circles of protection aren’t compromised. Shall we split up and meet back here once you have checked your designated spots on the maps?” I tell them, handing them each a photocopied map of the land around us, with marks I had made where I wanted to place a circle.
Once all the girls nod and take their maps and head out, I look down at mine and try to find something in my surroundings that corresponds with the information on the map. Once I do, it gets easier. I remember doing this with my uncle John all the time. It was one of the things he showed me when I was growing up. With the marker I want to check first in mind, I head out with Roger floating beside me.
Quietly I say to him, “You seem quiet.”
“Honestly, I am not sure how to act around everyone. I don’t remember the last time I was near so many people at once. Especially ones who knew I was there, since I kept hidden most of the time,” he says quietly.
“Can’t you be yourself?” I ask him.
“That’s just it. I don’t know what myself is, Brandon. I was created to be a Guardian of this world, but that job has lost its purpose since the Elveesians left. I don’t have a purpose anymore except to go into a pod for sleeping, hoping one day that they return. They never gave me instructions about what to do after they left.”
“Wait, you're saying that you are on your own?” I ask him. “So what exactly is a Guardian? You said you were the Guardian of this world, the technical side, but didn’t go into details.”
“Ah, I was the Guardian of this world in order to protect it from disasters that would destroy it. But not against anything that was magically based. Which is why I said I could not help much with the Void. Now, if an alien comes from out of nowhere with ships, I can help.”
“Wait, there are aliens out there? I thought the Elveesians created other races because no one else was out there?” I ask him, confused.
“That’s right. But the Elveesians created many races that they did not give magic to, or the ability to do magic, so they only had science. Those are the ones who I am to protect the world from.”
“All right, but if you are there as the technical Guardian, who is there as the magical Guardian?”
“No one. They never imagined that something magical like the Void would come back, I assume. The Elveesians were almost Godlike, but not infallible.”
“Great, so it’s up to us then,” I tell him with a deep sigh.
“Something tells me it’s more like, it’s up to you,” he says.
8
“Great,” I tell him, just as we run up to the first location.
Looking around, I don’t see anyone, so I kneel down and cast the first circle of protection. I can feel the power being drawn from my pool, or I guess my lake. Standing up, I look around to get my bearings, and look at the next spot on the map. Once that’s done, I keep going from one location to the next, casting at each one. I had arranged it so that I would be cutting across the larger circle to backtrack back to the girls, with them checking the strength of my circles at specific intervals. They were casting their own circles at the same time.
After a good hour has passed, I make it back to our original spot, and I am the first one there. Since I don’t need to say the words for the spells, I can cast them much faster, so I am not really surprised that I am back before the others. Sitting down and leaning against a tree, I close my eyes and listen to the sounds of the woods. I can hear birds and small animals moving around. I can also hear water somewhere off in the distance. Hmm, the map didn’t show a stream. It must be really small.
“What are you doing?” Roger asks, breaking the quiet and making me jerk in surprise.
“Jesus!” I exclaim.
“What are you doing?” he asks me again, curiosity in his voice.
“Enjoying nature,” I tell him.
“Why?” he asks, now sounding confused.
“What do you mean, why? Haven’t you ever just sat in the woods and listened to nature?”
“What’s the point? It doesn’t do anything.”
“It’s not supposed to do anything. It’s supposed to do something for you. It lightens your stress. What do you normally do when you feel stress?” I ask him, now curious myself.
“I inject chemicals into my body,” he says, liked I asked an idiotic question.
“You should try this instead one day,” I tell him, shaking my head.
Just then, Sylvana walks out of the bushes. She sees me sitting down next to a tree and heads over.
“Done,” she says, and sits down as well.
“Anything?” I ask her.
Shaking her head, she says, “Nope, it was all clear.”
“Good.” A few minutes later, I see the other two girls come into the clearing we are in. Lina sits between my legs and leans into me.
“Done,” she says, purring in her half-hybrid Werejaguar form.
I look up at Johanne, who has a pensive look on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I found something, but I am not sure. I need your help,” she says. She takes a deep calming breath. “I think I found a burial site. A very large burial site, and some of the bodies I am smelling are fresh.”
“Shit,” I say, standing up and bringing Lina up with me. “You’re sure?” She doesn’t answer but only nods. “What do you need my help with?”
“I think one of them might be alive, but I can’t heal,” she says.
“Shit! Let’s go!” I tell her.
With her leading, we all follow her to wherever this burial site is. Fuck me, what is someone alive doing there? Is this Melissa Newborn’s work? Or the Void inside her? I know they feed on pain, but damn, what did this person go through, and how could they still be alive? After about ten minutes of running after Johanne, I smell it. The smell of decay, death, and other things better not mentioned. One thing about having an enhanced sense of smell, you can’t turn it off.
As we get closer to the smell, Johanne slows down. We walk about another ten feet before she points at something, and we all get a shock. There are bodies everywhere, all in various states of decomposure, from skeletons to half-decayed. We hear a very low moan, and looking at the pile of bodies I see one that should be dead, but it’s not.
“I couldn’t remember the healing spell properly,” Johanne says, frustration in her voice.
“It’s all right,” Sylvana says, going to her and holding her tightly.
The body in question belongs to a male, and I use that word loosely now. He has been skinned alive and his hands have been cut off. He has no eyes, and his tongue has been cut out. The reason I can see that is because his lower jaw is missing.
“What the fuck? Who did this to him?” I say in horror.
“Can you help him?” Johanne asks me, almost begging.
“I am not sure. I can try, but Jesus. I don’t know,” I tell her truthfully.
Going to the man, I kneel and put my hand over him and I cast healing, over and over about a dozen times. By the twelfth time I am panting, hard. His skin has come back, his lower jaw has somehow regrown, as has his tongue, but his eyes and his hands I can’t do anything about, I guess. At least he isn’t bleeding out anymore, and I can see that the end of his arms are now healed over, instead of open wounds. I might have a lake of power, but it seems using it heavily like that does take a toll. And it also seems I cannot heal everything.
“Who are you?” he croaks.
“Don’t talk yet,” Johanne says, and she runs to the bag I had dumped next to a tree when we had arrived, and grabs one of the
water bottles from it. She opens it and slowly puts it up to his lips. The man is so desperate for it, he lifts his damaged hands to grab it, but then realizes he can’t.
“It’s all right, I got it,” Johanne whispers to him. Once he polishes off the bottle, slowly and with some coughing, he nods his head.
“Thanks,” he says.
“What happened to you?” Johanne asks him.
He laughs bitterly. “What happened was fucking Ms. Newborn. I don’t know what she is, but she isn’t fucking human,” he says, coughing up some blood.
“What do you mean?” I ask him quickly. Sylvana can see he hasn’t got much time, so she casts a healing spell.
“Mel al bah mae deou.”
“Don’t know how you folks are doing that, but Jesus, thank you. However, you might be too late. She took out my liver, kidney, and I am sure my spleen,” he says, pointing to his stomach with his damaged arm, and that is when we see the huge scar that I had missed with my healing. The thing goes from his navel to his upper chest.
“Whatever Ms. Newborn is, she was the one who did this to me. And she enjoyed every minute of it. She kept me drugged up just enough to not be able to move, but not enough to take away the pain. She had a mirror and made me watch it all. The sad thing is, they promised me power beyond my dreams. But when she asked me to kill that child she has there and I said no, she decided to use me to teach a lesson to her juniors,” he says with a twisted lip.
“There is a child there?” I ask him in surprise.
“Yeah. I overheard them say that they were going to somehow ‘infect’ the child, but that it didn’t work. Whatever that means. And so they decided to kill her. They asked me if I would do it, but I’m sorry, I refuse to kill a child,” he says with a sigh.
“Is the child still alive?” Sylvana asks him passionately.
“Yeah, they said they were going to keep her alive for now since they need to test why it didn’t work. The infection, I mean. Are they trying to do chemical warfare?” he asks.
