Growl

by Elaine Pierson

  Lacey shivered at the coldness of his voice. She quickly ran over to one of the buildings away from the streetlamp and flattened her body against it, hoping that in the darkness the man wouldn’t be able to find her.

  “You can hide little girl, but I’ll find you” he said and chuckled.

  It sounded like his voice was all around her. She covered her ears with her hands and yelled back at him. “What do you want? I don’t have any money. Just leave me alone!”

  Her fear was almost to the point of being uncontrollable and the familiar buzz of electricity on her skin was getting harder to control. Her powers were on the verge of breaking free of her hold. Not being able to control her powers completely had always been her weakness. But now it might be what saves her.

  “I don’t want your money, little girl. I want to play a game. It’s called predator and prey. And you’re the prey...so guess what that makes me” the man said.

  This time it sounded like he was right next to Lacey. She ran from her hiding spot and darted across the street and into an alley between two large buildings. Her breathing labored with every breath she took. She was tired and she knew that she couldn’t outrun whoever was after her but she was going to give it her best shot.

  She had just rounded the corner of one building and was about to cross another street when she heard the footsteps of someone running behind her. All of a sudden a lot of whistling rang out in the darkness, followed by hoots and howls by several different men. She felt like a deer in the middle of a forest surrounded by a bunch of hunters.

  Not knowing which way she should go, she froze where she stood. The footsteps behind her slowed and came to a stop.

  “You’re not giving me the hunt that I was hoping for, little girl. I expected you to be more challenging than this.”

  Terrified, Lacey turned around expecting to see a scary looking man. A thug or gang member with piercings and tattoo’s covering his skin, but what she saw shocked her. Standing mere feet away from her was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. He was average height but taller than her with a body that showed he liked to stay in shape. He was all lean muscle. His short cut black hair hung over his forehead just above his dazzling green eyes. She stared at him in shock.

  He chuckled. “Like what you see, little girl? Most human women do.”

  Lacey shook her head to clear it and looked up at him. “Why are you following me? What do you want?” she asked stubbornly, sure that she had somehow gotten herself caught up in the middle of a college prank or something. Given how unfrightening the guy looked, she no longer felt threatened by him.

  The man took a step closer and Lacey wrapped her arms around herself. She couldn’t believe what he did next. Reaching his hand out toward her, he lifted a strand of her hair and sniffed it. Stunned, Lacey quickly moved away from him. “What the hell are you doing? Just stay away from me” she said and turned away from him. She started to walk away and he grabbed her by the arm.

  The second he touched her, she released the hold she had been trying so hard to keep on her powers and the man was thrown backwards nearly twenty feet. His body crashed into the building behind him. He grunted loudly from the impact and fell to the ground. Lacey didn’t wait for him to get up, instead she took off running. She heard what sounded like a wolf howling and forced herself to go faster.

  She ran so fast that she didn’t have time to stop when someone suddenly jumped out of the darkness into her path. She slammed into a rock hard body and fell to the ground. The impact from the fall was sure to leave a few bruises. She scrambled to get to her feet, but she was dazed and a little disoriented. The footsteps of several different people sounded all around her. They were closing in on her. She quickly composed herself and tried to run again but the man she crashed into grabbed her by the arms and held her tightly. “You’re not going anywhere so stop fighting me” he growled near her ear.

  As soon as the words left his mouth, Lacey knew what she had to do. She threw her head to the side and the man was tossed backwards away from her and landed in the street. A sudden surge of adrenaline coursed through her, waking up her exhausted body. Her powers were on overdrive and she was done running away. She was afraid but more than that, she was angry. She had been stalked and chased and now these men wanted to play some kind of sadistic game with her. She had had enough.

  Lacey stayed where she was as about ten men came out of the darkness all around her. She turned around in a small circle and looked at each of them intently. They all looked similar, young and in good shape with athletic builds. They were all dressed the same; tight tee shirts and dark jeans. Some of them wore black leather jackets. They looked like gang members only without the tattoos, piercings and scars. More like a gang of preppy college boys or male models. Why were they bothering her? She didn’t wait for the answer.

  She held her arms out to her side as her body tingled with what felt like a surge of electricity. She glared at each of the men, daring them to come near her. She had never been so brave before and she had no idea where her newly found courage had come from, but she was thankful to have it.

  Several of the men charged toward her at once and she threw her arms out at them, lifting them off the ground and tossing them backwards into the buildings behind them. The remaining men stared at her in shock, unable to believe what they saw.

  “Get her!” someone yelled from the darkness.

  Two more men ran at Lacey. One of them managed to grab her arm, only to get forced backwards when she focused her powers on him. The other man stopped when he saw his friend fly past him.

  “You want me! Here I am, come get me!” Lacey shouted through the blood that was filling her mouth as it poured from her nose.

  No one made a move toward her. Instead they just stared at her with wide eyes. Lacey used her powers to pick up some boards that were piled up near one of the buildings and hurled them through the air, striking a couple of the men. Their shouts of pain fueled the rage that was building inside her. They had chased and terrified her and now it was her turn to scare them. Everything around her - trash from the street, broken boards that fell from the boarded up windows, and bricks, all soared through the air around her, striking anyone that was close enough to get hit.

  Several minutes passed before a crippling pain hit Lacey in the head. She faltered in her strength and everything fell to the ground around her. She grabbed the sides of her head with both hands and fell to her knees. The headache that seized her was so fierce that her vision blurred to the point that she could barely see. She screamed out in pain. It felt as if someone was stabbing her repeatedly in the head. The men stayed far away and watched as she struggled against a pain that none of them had caused. After catching her breath, Lacey spit out a mouth full of blood from her nose as more of it dripped from her chin onto her shirt.

  “What the hell is wrong with her?” One of the men yelled.

  Lacey got to her feet and turned toward the alley behind her. With her hands still gripping her head, she ran into the darkness hoping that no one would follow her. She looked up when she was halfway down the alley and for the first time since she had gotten lost, she saw cars driving by at the other end, and lights and people. She wanted to scream out for them to help her but she couldn’t find her voice. She was barely able to breathe through her pain so there was no way she could scream. She glanced over her shoulder to see if the men were following her. They were watching her from the entrance of the alley, but made no move to follow her. A jolt of relief settled over her.

  She was almost to the end of the alley, almost to safety, when someone stepped away from the building, in front of her. It was the same man she saw earlier, the one who liked to call her ‘little girl’. She stumbled to a stop in front of him. “Get out of my way” she said weakly.

  He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her with confusion in his eyes. “What are you?”

  Lacey looked up at him with heavy lids. She felt like she was goin
g to pass out at any moment. “Move!” she said more forcefully and tried to push past him.

  The man studied her for a second then grabbed her by the arm and shoved her hard against the building. Her head hit the brick wall, sending a new jolt of pain to her brain. She resisted the urge to lash out at him. Doing so would only cause herself more pain.

  “I asked you a question, little girl. And you will answer me. Are you a witch? How did you do that to my men?” he yelled in her face.

  Lacey chuckled halfheartedly and wiped blood from her nose with her hand. “A witch? That’s a good one. I don’t think anyone has ever called me that before.”

  “If you’re not a witch then what the hell are you?” he growled.

  Lacey knew the man was getting angry with her and if she didn’t get away from him, he was probably going to hurt her. But she didn’t think she was strong enough to use her powers again, so she did the next best thing. She took a deep breath to center herself and brought her knee up between his legs as hard as she could. He instinctively grabbed his crotch and doubled over. A string of cuss words echoed through the tiny alley as he yelled at her.

  Lacey took the opportunity to try and escape but unfortunately she didn’t get far. Someone grabbed her from behind and picked her up around the waist. She struggled in his arms but his grip on her was too strong. He set her down roughly on her feet in front of the man that she had kneed in the groin. His face hid his pain well as he glared at her with a look that shook her to her bones. The way his perfect lips curled into a snarl and his rage filled eyes bored into hers made her shiver.

  “Give her to me, Zack!” he yelled.

  Zack chuckled and tightened his hold around Lacey’s waist. “You sure about that, boss? This one is feisty, she already kicked you in the nuts. You sure you want her near you again?”

  “Now Zack!”

  Zack pushed her toward the man that appeared to be the leader. Lacey looked up at him. He grabbed her face roughly and growled, “You shouldn’t have done that.” His breath was hot against her skin as he breathed heavily, his mouth less than an inch from her face.

  Lacey knew she was about to die. She quickly summoned the last remnants of her strength and forced everything she had into one last attack. The man’s hands immediately left her face as he was forced backwards. He didn’t fly through the air like earlier but he was tossed backwards a good distance. She turned to face the other men that surrounded her in the tight alley. “Get out of my way or I will kill you all” she warned with a ragged breath, hoping that they wouldn’t call her bluff because she truly had no strength left.

  The men reluctantly moved to the side and Lacey staggered toward the opening of the alley. She was only a few feet away when she heard the leader of the group yell from behind her. “What the hell are you idiots doing? Go get her!”

  But it was too late. She stepped onto the sidewalk, mere feet from a bright streetlight. Completely drained of energy, she collapsed on the concrete. Several people walking by stopped to help her. They were all asking her questions at the same time and she couldn’t understand any of them. Her fight to stay conscious was over. Her eyes fluttered closed and she welcomed the darkness.

  *****

  Cole stood in the darkness of the alley and watched as the pedestrians helped Lacey. Once the ambulance drove away with her inside, he turned to his men. “Kevin, follow that ambulance and bring her back to me” he said to his second in command.

  Kevin started past him. Cole grabbed his arm. “I want her alive and untouched. She’s caught my interest and I think I’ll keep her...at least for a little while.” He smiled. “I’d like to see what else she can do.”

  Kevin nodded and left the alley to follow the ambulance. Cole gave his pack one glance and walked past them, disappointed that none of them were able to detain the girl. He growled in frustration when he heard Zack talking to the others.

  “Did you see what that crazy bitch did? I can’t believe she hit Cole in his family jewels and he let her live. If a woman hits me in the nuts, I’m going to rip her heart out.”

  “Zack! Shut the hell up before you really piss me off. Tonight’s hunt is over. Go home” Cole yelled over his shoulder.

  Zack’s head snapped up and he stared at Cole’s back as he walked away. Who the hell was he to think that he could talk to him like that? Alpha or not, Zack didn’t care who Cole was, he wasn’t going to tell him what to do. One day, Zack thought to himself, he and Cole were going to clash and he intended to be the victor. He was a born leader not a follower and he was finding it harder every day to stay under Cole’s control when all he wanted to do was kill him and take over the pack.

  Chapter Three

  Lacey woke up in the hospital with remnants of a massive headache still lingering. She lifted her head from the pillow and glanced around the room. There were two other beds besides hers but both of them were empty. She lifted the sheet covering her to see what she was wearing. She grimaced when she saw the blue and white hospital gown. Slowly, she sat up and moved to the edge of the bed. After a few minutes, she got up and went to the small closet by the sink and looked inside for her clothes. Thankfully, they were there. She quickly changed clothes and tried to think of a way to leave the hospital without getting caught. After the night she had, all she wanted to do was climb back in bed and sleep. But she couldn’t.

  First of all, she hated hospitals. And second, if she stayed she was going to have to answer a lot of questions that she had no intention of answering. No doubt the police would be called about her attack, which she desperately wanted to report but couldn’t do so without telling the police her name. Then her mom and Tom would be notified and she’d be sent back home and then to the loony hospital. No, thank you.

  As much as she hated doing so, she was going to have to leave the only safe place that she had found since arriving in Carol Springs.

  Lacey opened the door to her room and peeked out into the hallway. At first, she didn’t see anyone but then a man came out of the waiting room across the hall with a soda in his hand. Her breath caught in her throat when she recognized him as one of the men who had attacked her in the alley. She eased the door closed and leaned against it. Her mind whirled as she tried to figure out why he had followed her and how she was going to get away from him.

  She thought about calling a nurse in and asking for help but then she came back to the same problem. The police would be called and she’d have to tell them who she was and that she was a runaway.

  After taking a few minutes to pull herself together, Lacey moved over to the window. She let out a relieved breath when she saw that she was on the first floor. She slid the window open and started to climb out. Halfway out the window, she realized that she had forgot her backpack on the bed. She quickly climbed back inside and put it on her back then jumped out the window. She had just slid the window closed when the door to her room opened and the man from the hallway stepped inside. She ducked down and crawled away from the window. Once out of eyesight of the window, she got up and ran.

  *****

  Kevin scanned the room. Lacey’s scent was still strong in the air but she was nowhere to be seen. Kevin opened the bathroom door and looked inside. Then he checked under the bed. She was gone. He let out a fierce growl and stomped over to the window. He pushed it open and sniffed the air. “Damn it” he cussed when he caught her scent. She had escaped right under his nose. He jumped out the window and followed her scent.

  Lacey ran across the hospital parking lot and across the street, dodging cars as they honked their horns and flipped her off. She couldn’t help but notice how alive the city was even after midnight. She pushed the thought away and looked for a place to hide. She ran into the first open business she saw, which happened to be a pizza parlor. She closed her eyes and hid behind the wall by the door, and tried to catch her breath. After a minute, she peeked out the window to see if the man had followed her. She spotted him on the opposite side of the street. He was stan
ding under a streetlight with his nose up in the air.

  “What is he doing?” she said to herself as she watched him sniff the air in several different spots.

  “Can I help you?”

  Lacey jumped, startled by a woman’s voice. She spun around and glared at the woman standing barely a foot away from her. The first thing she noticed was the waitress’s long wavy red hair. Even pulled back into a crappy ponytail, it looked amazing. Lacey shook her head, “No, I don’t need anything” she said in a rush then changed her mind. “Um, yeah, actually I do...where’s the bathroom?”

  The red-headed waitress pointed to the back of the restaurant and Lacey rushed past her.

  Once in the bathroom, she locked the door and slid down against it to the floor. She laid her head on her knees and tried her best not to cry. But the reality of the nights events were catching up to her. She was alone and scared and didn’t know how much more she could take. Her lip quivered as she tried to hold in her tears, but after a few seconds she could no longer fight against it. Within minutes, she was in full sobs.

  How could so much bad stuff happen in one day? What was she going to do? Where was she going to go? Question after question popped into her mind and she didn’t have the answer to any of them. She sat there pondering the hopeless situation she was in.

  A little while later, someone knocked on the door and Lacey jumped up and backed away from it, praying that the man hadn’t found her.

  “Hello in there...sorry Miss, but its one a.m. and we’re closing.”

  Lacey recognized the waitress’s voice. She let out the deep breath she was holding in and unlocked the door. She opened it to find the waitress standing in front of her with her hands on her hips. She looked Lacey over from head to toe.

  “Are you alright?”

  Lacey quickly wiped at her eyes. How was she supposed to answer that question? She definitely wasn’t alright but telling the woman that she had ran away from home, got attacked by a group of what she could only assume were gang members, ran out on a hospital bill and was currently hiding from one of the men who had attacked her earlier was not a good idea. So instead, she just nodded.