by Stead, Nick
I didn’t know it at the time but the bullet had ricocheted, causing damage to more than just my heart, and it was still lodged somewhere in that mass of screaming nerves and ruptured tissue. It had embedded itself in such a way that it no longer lined up with the entry hole it had created, and the shifting flesh wouldn’t be able to push it out as it had the last few times I was shot.
I’m not sure I was even truly aware of what the woman had said to me and whether I willed the transformation, or whether it took hold regardless like any of the body’s natural responses designed to ensure its survival. But as she drew the bullet out, the fur began to sprout along my skin and flesh and bone started to shift and become lupine. And as my form grew more wolfish, the bomb site the bullet had made of my chest began to rebuild as tissue knitted itself back together, my heart becoming whole again and fully functional. That first beat of renewed life felt like an explosion of blood rushing through my arteries, but it was a relief to feel it pumping stronger than ever as my body sought to repair the damage.
The last of the pain faded away as the change completed and I lay on my side on the luxurious softness of a proper bed, panting heavily. I tried to growl questions at the woman who’d saved me like who was she, and how was it possible for me to have survived a mortal wound to my heart, but I couldn’t form the words with my lupine vocal cords, and even though the transformation had healed the damage, I was still weak.
“Easy, wolf. There will be time for questions later. Rest now, and recover your strength.”
Drowsiness crept over me, giving me little choice but to do as she said. I gave in to the beckoning darkness once more, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I don’t know how long I laid there, slipping in and out of consciousness, but when I opened my eyes for long enough it was to find the woman sat watching over me. I was more aware of my surroundings this time and it seemed I’d been taken to a little cottage which had an old world feel to it, as if I’d somehow gone back in time to the past Lady Sarah and several of the other vampires I’d met seemed to be stuck in. But the woman’s scent seemed human and daylight was streaming through the window so whoever she was, she couldn’t be a vampire. She offered me a chunk of raw meat with a kindly smile on her pretty face and a warmth in her turquoise eyes that most vampires were lacking.
I felt some of my strength returning as I gulped down the meat, but my eyelids still felt heavy with tiredness. Much as I wanted to learn more about this woman and how she’d saved me from certain death, I couldn’t keep myself from falling back into darkness. Except this time I wasn’t alone. Like a parasite bound to its host, my nightmares latched back onto my weary mind and I didn’t have the strength to fight free of their clutches.
I found myself back on the moors which should have been my final resting place, but this time it wasn’t the Slayers hunting me. A dark shape was stalking towards me, one that filled me with a sense of dread. I tried to run but every time I twisted my head round to look back at it, the thing was drawing ever nearer. Until I looked behind and it was no longer there, but stood blocking my path when I turned back round. I came to a sudden stop, feeling my heart thudding in my chest as I panted for the oxygen my body craved. And as I looked at that robed figure, a beam of sunlight revealed the face of my adversary from within the depths of his cowl.
The grinning skull looking back at me was no worse than any other horror I’d faced over the last year, and yet the cold stab of terror turned my blood to ice. Sockets empty of eyes somehow still held the weight of time and a force so utterly unstoppable that none could hope to stand against it. My despair returned stronger than ever, along with a sense of sheer hopelessness at my plight.
“I will not be cheated!” Death thundered, and my terror reached new heights as I felt my heart stop again.
I fell to my knees, clutching my chest with one hand and reaching out as if for help with the other, but there weren’t even any hallucinations to accompany me in my final moments now. Was I to die here, truly alone this time, cut off from everyone and everything I’d ever loved before the curse robbed me of my human life?
Again I felt that longing to see my family just one last time before I slipped away from the mortal coil, but Death’s skeletal fingers were reaching for me and there was no escaping his grasp this time…
Still in wolf form, I broke free of the nightmare with a pitiful whimper and just as my mind cleared of that terrible image of Death’s grinning skull bearing down on me, I heard his voice in my head once more.
“Are you so arrogant as to think your wolf’s blood will protect you from ME? I will claim you eventually, and next time you will not escape.”
A shiver ran through my lupine body. I couldn’t even console myself with the thought that it was only a dream, knowing as I did that dreams were far more than random images conjured by the brain while we slept. Was it just a nightmare, or was it something more than that? I had no way of knowing, but even after I’d fully woken, I still felt like Death was coming for me.
I couldn’t explain why the dream unnerved me so, especially as I didn’t exactly fear dying, even though I’d already found I couldn’t just let myself give up on life. Yet my heart still pounded in the grip of fear. What had the woman done to me?
It had grown dark in the time I’d spent in my troubled sleep and the cottage was now empty. A fire burned in the hearth, casting eerie shadows that seemed to dance and mock the terror I’d allowed the nightmare to inspire in me. But I was grateful for its warm glow, especially once I returned to human form and the cold air slid over my skin in an icy embrace.
Another wave of exhaustion hit me as the change completed and I had to lie back while my body recovered, until sleep threatened to creep over me again. Perhaps it was a mistake to transform but I’d been feeling stronger for the meat I’d eaten earlier and the rest I’d had, and I was determined to get some answers. Whoever the woman was, she appeared to have gone off on some errand while I slept, but I would insist on speaking with her when she returned. In the meantime I planned to have a look around, and it would be easier to explore the room on two legs instead of four.
I didn’t want to nod off again until I’d had chance to try and find out a bit more about what was going on, so I forced my weary body upright into a sitting position, feeling my heart pounding in my chest as if that simple act had been a great exertion. I welcomed the feeling after the unsettling sensation of it stopping, and I looked down at my body to find it as flawless as ever. The transformation had repaired the damage as normal, leaving no trace of the wound that had almost cost me my life. Yet so dire a wound should have killed me quicker than my body could bring on the change to heal itself. Again I had to wonder, just what had this woman done to me after I’d been shot?
She’d left me a blanket folded on the end of the bed, which I wrapped around myself for warmth, then with another effort of will I got unsteadily to my feet. My muscles protested but I ignored the aches and pains shooting through my legs as I shuffled around the room, searching for any clues as to who my saviour might be and why she’d gone to the trouble of saving my cursed life.
My curiosity only grew as I took in shelves lined with herbs, incense, candles, and vials of what appeared to be various oils, and cupboards containing more of the same. I could see no evidence of the modern world – no gadgets lying around or batteries to power them, and there were no electrical sockets, which again made me feel like I’d travelled back in time. There was even an old wooden mortar and pestle for grinding the herbs, and as I made my way over to the table in the far corner I could see a stack of parchment and a quill dipped in an ink bottle. There looked to be an open book on there as well, which might give me the answers I craved, but as I drew closer I thought I could see something moving out of the corner of my eye, like a shifting of shadows. The nightmare still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help but replay the image of Death’s skeletal fingers reaching for me and I half expected to find myself facing that robe
d figure stalking out from the gloom. But when I looked around for the source of the threat, it was to find – nothing. The only movement came from the twisting shadows cast by the writhing flames, the cottage still empty of anyone other than myself. Somehow that wasn’t as comforting as it should have been, and when I turned back round my eyes continued to dart nervously around the room, as if I could penetrate the shadows and force them to reveal their secrets. But the cottage remained shrouded in mystery, until I reached the wooden surface covered with the clues I’d been hoping for.
Even in the dim light from the fire the pages of the book were clear to see. Passages in a foreign language lined the aged paper, formatted in a way that at first made me wonder if I was looking at poetry. But there were a few small bones scattered around the table and as I turned the pages it was to find most of them were covered in occult symbols, clearly for the use in various rituals. I’d seen all I needed to guess the woman’s true identity, and I fell back from the table in shock. She was a witch!
Chapter Nineteen– Danger in the Shadows
My mind raced as I stumbled away from the table, towards the door. Lady Sarah had told me on the morning after my first transformation that witches were ‘in decline in this modern world’. I knew a little about some of the infamous historical witch trials and I supposed in a way I couldn’t really blame them for joining the Slayers if it was their one chance to live. They were only human after all. Even though they’d gained supernatural power through the practice of magic, that didn’t make them either undead or demonic in nature. They remained human, and though I’d thought of them as traitors before to turn their backs on the supernatural world they were a part of, there was no real reason for them to turn against humanity. If there were so few of them left as Lady Sarah had once suggested, it seemed likely they’d all chosen the side of the Slayers, and that meant I had to assume this new witch was also an enemy. Whatever twisted motives she had for saving me, it couldn’t be anything good, and I felt my only chance was to get away before she returned home and I found myself at her mercy.
I didn’t have enough strength to run from the cottage. The best I could do was a fast shuffle but it felt painfully slow. And much as I would have liked to keep the blanket for warmth, it soon became a hindrance, slowing me even further, and I was forced to drop it and suffer the sting of the bitter air on my bare skin once more.
As I passed through the doorway, I again had the unnerving feeling something was hiding in the shadows, but my nose couldn’t detect any strange scents and my ears picked up no sounds other than those made by my own body. I tried to focus on my escape but I had the nagging feeling there was something I was missing. Was it Death coming for me, just like I’d seen in the nightmare? Or were more apparitions conjured by my own mind on their way to haunt me? At least the latter couldn’t physically hurt me, and I half hoped it was no more than another hallucination, though I wouldn’t exactly welcome the torment they often brought me.
Once outside, I found I was still in the middle of nowhere, out on the moors. Even with my enhanced senses, my eyes struggled to penetrate the darkness, especially after being around the fire in the cottage. Any natural light was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds, and I was faced with a wall of blackness so complete, it seemed almost like a solid barrier which my sight struggled against. I had no option but to run blindly through the darkness, my uneasiness at the feeling that something was lurking in the shadows mounting with every step. But still my other senses failed to pick up any signs that I wasn’t alone, and still that brought me no comfort.
I hadn’t gone far from the cottage when a slither of the waxing moon broke free of the clouds, providing just enough light to break up the shadows. And once again I was sure I could see movement in the darkness. Something was out there with me, I felt certain of it then.
The moon would soon be full again and as it continued to break out of its cloudy prison, it illuminated the area around me, the ghostly light so strong that I could see my own shadow. But that wasn’t all I could see. Directly in front of me there was another shadow, a patch of darkness the light couldn’t touch. And the moonlight revealed that on this night the shadows had teeth, bared in a feral snarl just like my own in wolf form.
The creature looked like a huge black dog with glowing red eyes, but I knew it couldn’t be a mortal animal. I felt my wolf half reacting to its presence, and he was just as uneasy as I was at how it had so suddenly appeared, without any warning. There should have been the sound of its movement or a scent for me to detect, yet even though my eyes could see it, to my other senses there was still nothing there, as if the dog was made from the very shadows it hid in. And if this thing wasn’t a flesh and blood animal, what chance did I have against it? At full strength I am one of the greatest predators to stalk the Earth. You know this: you’ve felt the power in my jaws when I ripped the life from your mortal body. But that night I was still weakened from the mortal wound that should have killed me, and the transformation I’d undergone without the energy needed to support it. There was no way I could transform again without feeding first, not even partway to wolf form, so I was forced to face this thing as a human. And in my weakened state I was no longer the predator, but the prey to this other beast. My only hope was to push my body onwards, even though I knew I would never outrun the thing if it decided to give chase.
I tried to keep from staring into those demonic eyes as I stumbled on, wanting to give the dog as little reason as possible to attack. And I knew all too well the workings of the canine mind – direct eye contact was a challenge to dominance. I was also careful not to completely turn my back to the creature, taking a path that I hoped would allow me to go around it, without directly turning away and behaving like prey. Though there was no way of telling how the thing would react. Since it was supernatural in nature, its mind might not bear much resemblance to a mortal dog, even though it looked like one.
At first it seemed my ploy was working. The creature made no move to attack, though its eyes never left me. But then it charged, and still lacking the strength to run or to fight, once again it seemed I was doomed.
The beast leapt and sent us crashing to the ground, pinning me under one of its huge paws. As I lay there resigned to my fate, I found myself back in the night I’d been bitten by the black werewolf who’d awoken my lupine nature. I’d thought I would die at the jaws of the black wolf, though it turned out I’d never been in any real danger – he’d recognised me as a fellow wolf descendant and deliberately passed on the curse as a last desperate act to keep our race alive. But at the time I’d expected him to kill me, and so had Lizzy, the one friend who wouldn’t leave me to die as the others had, those four who’d been more concerned with saving their own skins. No, Lizzy had refused to run even when I told her to leave me, and she’d helped drive the wolf off. But I’d left Lizzy behind with the rest of my human life, and there was no one to save me that night.
The dog lowered its great head towards my throat, but there was no warm breath on my skin which again made me think it was made of nothing more than shadow, even though physically it was very much there. It had a weight to it like a real animal, and in my current state it was beyond me to push it off my prone form and make another bid for freedom. I’d used up too much of my body’s reserves already and unconsciousness beckoned again, so I gratefully slipped into the blackness, knowing I would at least be spared the same pain I’d visited on my own victims. Then I knew no more.
I awoke to find I was back on the bed in the witch’s cottage, the blanket I’d discarded now draped over my naked body. The witch was sat watching over me and the huge black dog lay on the floor on the right side of her chair, glowing eyes fixed firmly on me. I yelped in shock and sat up, but when it became clear my life wasn’t in any immediate danger, I settled with my back to the wall and eyed the two suspiciously. I still wanted answers, so I started by asking “Who are you?”
“I’ve been called many things over the years.
Satanist, pagan, witch. But my name is Selina.”
“So you are a witch!”
“I am, and you are right to be wary; too much trust will get you killed in our world.”
“Yeah, especially when every other kind of spellcaster I’ve met has been working for the Slayers. So why did you save me?”
“It was not your fate to die out there on the moors.”
Real or imagined, the grim reaper I’d been seeing seemed to disagree with that. But I didn’t voice the thought out loud, instead replying “The way you talk about my fate, it’s like you’ve seen my future or something.”
“Indeed I have. You have a great destiny ahead of you, young wolf. Would you like to hear it?”
“I make my own fate,” I growled.
“As you wish.”
“Why am I here anyway? Am I your prisoner?”
She shook her head. “You are free to leave whenever you choose, but I would advise you recover a little more of your strength first. Here, I brought you some more meat.”
“How do I know you haven’t poisoned it?” I asked, sniffing the raw flesh and eyeing her suspiciously.
“Why would I make the effort to save you, only to kill you myself? I admit, I did task my familiar with watching you and keeping you here,” she said, gesturing at the shadow dog. “But only because I knew you would not be strong enough to leave too soon. However, if you are truly determined to leave now, I will not stop you again.”
Her words did nothing to ease my wariness, but the meat was too tempting to resist. My hunger overruled my sense of caution and I tore into it ravenously, feeling more of my strength returning as the raw flesh slid down my gullet and into my stomach. Once I’d eaten, I was able to stand again without too much protest from the muscles in my legs, and I strode almost effortlessly towards the door. Selina was as good as her word, making no move to prevent me from leaving or to take her blanket back from me. I looked back at her, a part of me wanting to stay and potentially make a new friend. But she’d neither confirmed nor denied any involvement with the Slayers, so how could I trust her? For all I knew, the Slayers had decided they wanted me alive again for some twisted purpose, or maybe this ‘great destiny’ she kept speaking of was as a sacrifice to fuel some powerful ritual. She’d not given me any real answers about why she’d saved me and I knew that no matter how badly I wanted to find a new friend now the vampires had turned against me, I had to assume the worst. Though if she did mean me harm I couldn’t explain why she was letting me go, unless she was really that confident she could recapture me when she needed to. There were no clear answers, so I turned away and stalked off into the night and the isolation of the moors once more, still wrapped in the witch’s blanket.
