The Way Home

by Shannon Flagg

  From somewhere across the room, someone cried out. There was always someone crying out or simply just crying. There was always noise and never light. Susan wasn't sure just how long she'd been there and it didn't really matter. She'd had her shot, failed, and this was how it ended. All that was left to do was wait for the inevitable.

  In some ways, she was surprised that she'd lasted this long. Her wrist was most certainly broken, her whole body was pretty much one big bruise inside and out. When you added on how rare food and water were, and the injections of what she assumed were a narcotic to keep them from causing too much of a fuss, it was pretty clear that she paying the price for the innocents who had died because what she was had pushed Rick over the edge.

  This was all her fault. It didn't matter that she hadn't known, she should have considered it. She should have known Rick better, well enough to realize that her reveal was a mistake. Instead, she'd blindly thought that love meant acceptance. With Rick it hadn't. And now she realized what she'd felt hadn't even been love.

  Susan knew that she hadn't known what love was until Houdini. From the first time she'd seen him, she'd felt something. It made her mad now, how long she'd wasted pretending that they would just play parts, when she wanted him as bad as he wanted her. She'd been so scared of the idea of being with someone, and it felt ridiculous. Because of her, they'd lost months. Her instinct had told her to trust Rick with her heart but not Houdini. How fucked up was she?

  There wasn't any time to think about that as footsteps approached. “It's time. The moon is rising and all of you are going to get to die the animals that you are. Going to be a lot of handsome trophies.” Rick spoke with a confidence that made Susan feel sick. “I know that I'm going home with a bear.”

  Susan was flooded with fear as the blindfold was removed from her eyes. Rick was kneeling in front of her, a sadistic smile on his face. “Look at that,” he reached out, touched the side of her face. “Look how scared you are.” He let out a laugh. “Don't worry, there's still a few hours for you. You're the main event, Susan, and you're going to watch all these other things die before we get started.”

  <#<#<#<#

  There was so much blood. Puddles of it, piles of what had been people only minutes before tossed on the ground like garbage. It hadn't been hunting, or anything close to a sport, it had been a slaughter. Large cages held the people, fear forced them into the change, and then the cowards just let loose. Susan had kept her eyes open only because Rick threatened to cut her eyelids off if she didn't.

  It was somehow worse to watch the second wave, to know what it felt like to run with such fear on your mind and the desperate thought of actually escaping offering a sliver of impossible hope. But it was a lie; there was no hope. There was no light at the end of the tunnel. There would just be pain, so much pain, and then nothing. Blackness.

  Susan didn't want to die. When it all came down to it, she wanted to live. She wanted to go back to Center City and be happy, but once again happy wasn't in her cards. All she could do was sit there and wait, so that's what she did. She waited, watched her brethren run into the woods, and heard the cries as they were taken down one by one. There was the sound of several shots, but it seemed many hunters were choosing to use a bow and arrow.

  Rick would choose a bow and arrow, or a knife, as he thought that guns were too impersonal. He'd said so several times as they watched the events. He'd also stroked her hair, petting her like one would an obedient pet. Susan knew he was taking pleasure in her reactions, feeding off her fear, but she couldn't be strong. The fact that she wasn't crying was something, one last small comfort.

  After the last hunter had returned, dragging the body of a panda behind him, Rick rose to his feet, dragged her to her feet by the hair. “And now it's time, finally time, for the final hunt of the night. The hunt that has been years in the making. Most of you know who Susan is, about the chain reaction that she started when she opened my eyes to the world right beneath the surface. After tonight you can visit her any time you'd like. I think I'll keep her in my living room, one hell of a conversation piece.”

  In that moment Susan knew there was one thing that she could do, she would not change. She would not end up mounted in Rick's living room. Rick released her hair, grabbed her wrists and used his knife to slice through the heavy rope. He expected her to run once she was freed, it was clear on his face, but she didn't run; it was the hardest thing that she'd ever done.

  “Look, she's so scared that she can't move.” Rick laughed and so did the crowd. Someone threw a drink at her. People cursed at her. Children taunted her but she remained where she was. “Perhaps I need to give her a little incentive.” Pain tore through her like fire as the knife slashed across her back. She felt blood pour down her skin, but still, she remained where she was. “What are you doing, you stupid fucking bitch?” The knife bit down again. “Move. Run. NOW!”

  “No.” Susan shouted the word, her voice more powerful than she could have imagined or hoped for. “No.”

  “Yes.” Rick grabbed her by the back of the neck. “Michael, bring it out.” It was a kid, a toddler, who couldn't have been more than two years old. “That's Chase. Found him when we grabbed the mother, a whiny little fox. Father's human, though, so he's got like a fifty fifty chance he won't turn furry, right?”

  “Something like that,” Susan looked over at the boy. He seemed comfortable with Michael and to be nicely dressed and cleaned.

  “I was going to keep him. See how he turns out. I'm thinking now, since you're not going to run maybe I should start out with him. He walks pretty well even if I doubt he'll be a satisfying chase.” Rick let out a loud laugh. “No pun intended. Like I was saying, if you don't run, he'll do.”

  Susan shut her eyes, inhaled a deep breath. “I'll run if you let him go. Take him to town and drop him in a public place. Give him a chance.”

  “Even if I agreed to that, how do you know that I'll actually do it?”

  “Swear on your mother,” Susan replied. Some things never changed; Rick had always been a momma's boy. There was no way that had changed, even if he hadn't seen her in years.

  “Mom? Come on out here, Mom. Let me swear on you. In fact, Michael, give the boy to my mother.”

  When Minnie Redmond stepped forward, Susan realized that she'd been the only one who'd truly believed that Rick was gone, and it pissed her off. “They knew?”

  “You were the only one who didn't, Susan. I was in their house when you were there, several times, it was quite an experience to hear you grieve for me. You were so passionate, so distraught. Really, it would have been sweet if you weren't what you are.”

  “You're really a sick fucker, aren't you?” The only thing that Susan could manage to feel was disgust. “Guess you came about it honestly.” The insult to Minnie got her a sharp slap to the face from Rick. When her head snapped to the side, she saw a face she recognized. Fire was supposed to be dead, just Michael was supposed to be dead. When would the surprises stop? He met her eyes and Susan was almost sure he winked.

  “Get out of here,” Rick snapped to his mother. “Drop the kid and come back. You can help us prepare her for stuffing.”

  No, she wouldn't. Susan would run but she wouldn't change. She'd made up her mind, even with the moon high in the sky there were some things more important than giving in to what you wanted. She'd run until her legs wouldn't carry her another step, then she'd hide. She'd die eventually, but she was going to die anyway, and at least this way she got to save one life in the process. It would in no way make up for all the lives lost, but it wasn't nothing.

  Minnie started to walk away with the boy, with Chase, who seemed to be just about to fall asleep. Susan hoped that he did amazing things in his life, and that if he was different, like her, The Hunters would just be a whispered story when he was old enough to turn and run. While Rick was distracted, of course he'd have to watch his mother go, she gave him what she promised and ran.

  She made for the
trees, reached them just as someone cried out that she was moving. Susan didn't look back, instead she relied on her instincts, dashing and darting through the forest to get as far away as fast as she could.

  The desire to change pulsed through her, it was like arousal building up slowly and making blood pump hard and fast. It was a distraction she couldn't afford. With effort, she forced it down, locked the beast deep inside. There was no way she'd risk giving Rick what he wanted. No way.

  Susan changed direction, moved towards the sound of running water. She found a small stream and stayed hidden in the woods as she followed it along. She stayed still, eyes shut and ears trained to pick up even the slightest sound. When she heard nothing, she leaned against a tree and tried to catch her breath and to think.

  Rick wouldn't be far behind her, he couldn't be. He was a skilled tracker and there was never a time when he'd be more motivated. It would be foolish to stay here much longer, he'd most likely follow the stream as she had. A twig snapped somewhere behind her and once again she was on high alert. She needed to move, to stay low enough that she could use the underbrush for cover and hopefully get eyes on whoever had shown up.

  It wasn't Rick. She could be sure of that. He wasn't the type for stealth, not when he was so pissed off. She'd hear him before she'd see him; it wouldn't be like this. Several minutes passed without another sound. Either she hadn't heard anything, and was losing her mind, or it had been an animal or someone simply moving past.

  Susan let herself relax, tried to figure out her next move. Maybe it was running or maybe it was the fresh air, but her head suddenly felt clearer than it had earlier. Though she'd come into the woods fully expecting to die, suddenly she realized that she could live. If she was smart, if she managed to avoid Rick, she could find her way either out of the woods or so deep in that he wouldn't be able to follow.

  Hope flooded though her mind and body, drowned all the fear and all the pain. For one glorious moment, the future was a possibility and then it wasn't. There was a whoosh of air and then a stabbing pain through her shoulder. Susan's only thought as she fell forward was how foolish she'd been to believe that she could have a chance. No, there were no second chances, not with the events which she'd set in motion, the lives lost because of her.

  Chapter Fourteen.

  It was too dark in the woods to see much and eerily silent, there were no little animals scurrying around in the underbrush. Houdini figured they'd realized trouble was coming, or The Hunters had been picking off anything that moved. When they'd first started out, there had been several gunshots, but for the last half hour or so, nothing.

  Houdini didn't like the nothing or the near darkness; without the advanced eye sight of his traveling companions, Deacon and Shepard, he couldn't tell where he was going. The guard that they kidnapped had been more than willing to talk; he'd actually pissed himself before Houdini could so much as give him a few encouraging smacks.

  He was frustrated, starting to wonder if the kid had lied to them after all, when the sound of a shot shattered the silence. Immediately Houdini knew, just knew, that it had something to do with Susan. Without waiting to see if his friends followed, he took off towards the direction the sound had come from, or at least the direction he thought that it had come from.

  He'd never run so fast or hard. There was a break in the trees; the light from the moon unobstructed and bright, allowed him to see Susan face down on the ground. Houdini thought he might have called out for her, or maybe he just screamed, he wasn't sure how he made it to her side, but he was there, on his knees. “Susan,” he wanted to roll her on her back, but the arrow embedded in her shoulder made that impossible. “Come on, Susan.” His fingers found the pulse point on her neck. “Thank you,” he felt relief as he felt her pulse beating. It was weak but it was there. “Susan.” As gently as he could, Houdini rolled her on her side. The arrow tip hadn't come all the way through. “Fuck.”

  He didn't know why she wasn't opening her eyes, but just at a glance he realized that there was more than just the arrow to worry about. She was skinny, too skinny, with bruises just about everywhere. Houdini screamed.

  Deacon and Shepard came up behind him. “We've got to get her out of here, now. She needs a doctor and we don't have a doctor because she's the fucking doctor.” He couldn't be losing her again, it was not possible. Fate couldn't be that cruel.

  “What about him?” Shepard questioned.

  “Him, who?” Houdini looked up from Susan and over to where Rick was laid out on the ground. “Motherfucker. Is he tied up? What the fuck?”

  “Most likely the person who shot him tied him up,” Shepard knelt down next to the man, peered at the wound on his leg. “Must have hit him in the head or something, knocked him out, because the wound wouldn't have.”

  “I've got her,” Deacon knelt down, placed his hand on Susan's side to keep her in position. “Go and handle him.”

  “No, not here. He's already wrapped up like Christmas, let's get him somewhere where we can make him talk. Going to need him to name names, so that we can be sure we take all of The Hunters down.” Houdini didn't know how it was possible he was rational, but he was. It was a moment of extreme clarity, they needed to get the information before he could take his well-deserved revenge on the man on the ground. But first things first, getting Susan safe and the information that they needed. “We need to get her out of here. Now. Her pulse is getting weaker.”

  “She needs to change,” Shepard told him. “She'll heal if she changes, it will be instant.”

  “She's not awake, Shepard. How can she change?” Houdini demanded.

  “We need to wake her. Houdini, you've got to remember that this is for the greater good.” Shepard rose to his feet, walked to them and knelt down.

  “What is?” Houdini realized an instant too late what Shepard was about to do. Susan's body bucked as he pressed his hand down next to the arrow, hard. “I'm going to kill you.”

  “This is necessary. She needs to change or she could die, look at her.”

  Houdini looked down at Susan, sighed and nodded. “Fine, but if it has to be done, I'll be the one doing it.”

  “Get on with it, then.”

  Houdini exhaled a deep breath, wrenched the arrow lightly. Susan cried out this time, her eyes opening. They were wide, frightened and he didn't even think that she saw him. “You need to shift, Susan. Shift so you can heal. Come on, Susan. Focus and shift.”

  “SHIFT!” Shepard shouted the words and yanked on the arrow. Susan jumped up to her feet, a expression of fear on her face. Houdini could only watch, transfixed, as the air around her began to shimmer. He felt a rush of something and kept his eyes on hers. He still wasn't sure that she saw him; there was no recognition or relief on her face.

  How much had happened to her? Had it broken her? Houdini went to step forward, but Shepard grabbed his arm. “Give her a moment.”

  “I'm going to give you the beating of your lifetime for hurting her like that.”

  “I suspected as much but it was worth it. Just watch. Give her some space. It takes some time to adjust after.” Shepard patted him on the back. “Let me know when you want to go a few rounds once this is all over.”

  Houdini just nodded, eyes locked on Susan as the woman he loved disappeared. A beautiful black bear emerged in her place. As different as she looked, her eyes were the same. He didn't know how, but he knew that she saw him then. She reared back on her hind legs.

  “Don't run.” Deacon spoke from next to him. “If you run, she could chase you.”

  “I'm not running.” Houdini took a step forward. He wasn't scared of the bear, of Susan, because he knew that it was her. She recognized him. He knew it as he took another step forward. Both Shepard and Deacon spoke up, cautioning him not to get too close, but he didn't listen to them. She towered over him, still up on her legs. “I missed you.” Houdini wasn't sure exactly how much she could hear or understand but he wanted to try. “I love you, Susan.”

&
nbsp; The bear dropped down to all four legs once more and he took it to mean that she understood him. Houdini took another step forward, extended his hand to touch the shiny black fur. Before his hand could connect, the bear turned and, with speed he hadn't realized possible, took off running for the trees.

  “Susan!” He called after her, prepared to follow, but Deacon grabbed his arm. “Get off of me.”

  “Give her a little time,” Deacon suggested, voice low and calm. “We don't know what she's been through, but I can tell you, a run will make it better. Besides, while she runs, you can deal with that piece of shit.”

  “We're taking him back with us.”

  “That's not a good idea, Houdini.” Shepard chimed in as well.

  “That fucker is not dying quick or easy, and we need whatever he knows.”

  “We'll get it out here. You'll get it out here.” Deacon's tone had changed, it was slight but Houdini knew what it meant. This was his President tone, the one that said he was laying down the law, and Houdini's input wasn't going to be necessary.

  “With what? One knife? What information are we going to get from him out here? Tell me?”

  “Just got a text from Mason, they found the base of operations and it's a treasure trove.” Deacon smiled. “There's no reason in the world that fucker should still be breathing.”

  Houdini let it sink in for a moment. This was what he'd been waiting for since the day that Susan disappeared, and now it was here. She was here, even if she wasn't next to him, she was alive. He wasn't sure that she was well, which only fueled the anger festering inside of him.

  He turned to Rick, who had apparently regained consciousness and decided escape was his best option. It was almost comical the way he was attempting to move across the ground like a worm. Actually, a worm was a fitting comparison, though it was a little insulting to the worms. Houdini crossed over to him. “Hello, Rick.”