Growl

by Ashley Fontainne

  Without thinking, I bolted. My small, furry feet kicked up dust and debris as I raced down the road toward Dane’s. I forced my body to remain its current size, knowing if I changed and arrived in my other form and Hattak’katos was there, things would take a serious nosedive. I couldn’t risk a fight with my enemy when people I loved were close enough they could sustain damage from the epic battle between two gigantic creatures. As my paws ate up the ground, I willed myself to remember this was a reconnaissance mission, not a full out assault.

  If he’s hurt one hair on Dane’s or Ms. Emma’s head…

  I stopped at the edge of the Witherspoon property line and scoped it out. Though the front porch light was on and the landscape was dotted with garden lights, the rest of the house was dark. I ducked under the fence and crept through the thick, damp grass to the back of the property. The smell adhered to the driveway and waned as I made my way to the backyard. Moving away from the disgusting odor allowed my instinct to kill relax a bit. I paused next to the wooden trellis covered in vibrant red roses and listened. My heart slowed down when I heard the rhythmic breathing of Dane and Ms. Emma from their rooms upstairs. My heart settled back down and the fur on my back relaxed when the sounds of bugs and other nocturnal creatures greeted my ears. If Hattak’katos was near, the natural inhabitants around the Witherspoon place would fall silent.

  Though I had climbed the sturdy trellis several times in the dark during the last year, I had never accomplished the task with such ease or silence. My claws were like little spikes that dug into the soft wood, and within seconds, I was sitting on the windowsill, watching my sleeping lover.

  From across the room, my eyes caressed the body of my sleeping mate. His head was cocked to one side, and his raven hair splayed out across the pillow like shimmering black gold. Seeing him made my new reality so much harder to bear. A low mew of sorrow left my lungs when I noticed last year’s yearbook rested on his chest, opened to a page that had my junior picture. The knowledge that I would never wake up again next to his body, smell his scent on me, marry, have children, grow old together, tore a hole in my chest. No college in Memphis. No trips to Greenville to pick out my wedding dress or a walk down the aisle on the arm of my nervous father. Thoughts of the life I would not be able to live swelled inside me, and the pain was unbearable.

  No, I wouldn’t ruin my life or the lives of those I loved. I could end all of it and destroy this unholy curse, by killing Hattak’katos. If what Nahu’ala said was true, which I had no reason to doubt, the curse could only be passed on from one generation to the next through the lineage of the carrier. So if I could find out who Hattak’katos was in his physical state and determine if he ever fathered any offspring, I stood a fighting chance to stop the madness. If, indeed, the hairy fleabag spawned a band of little hairballs, I would just wipe the entire group out. Then there wouldn’t be anyone or anything for me to protect the Tree from. It would be breaking the rules I was to follow by not engaging the enemy unless the Tree was in danger, but so be it. After all, Papa Joe broke the rules when he took Nana to the waters, and no harm came from that. So if I could stop Hattak’katos and ensure the Tree’s safety forever, what could go wrong?

  Renewed hope welled up inside of me. The muscles in my back haunches tightened, and I leapt from the windowsill onto Dane’s bed without a sound. With tentative footsteps, I crept up to where his beautiful head rested and rubbed my head against his strong chin. He moaned and turned his body away from me, so I buried my paws in the silky waves of his hair. I stuck my nose in the mound of blackness and inhaled his aroma. Drunk off of my love for him and the intense, new ways my body could connect with him, I had to force myself to back away and remember why I had come here. It wasn’t to ravage Dane’s delicious body (which I really wanted to do at the moment). It was to make sure Dane and Ms. Emma were safe.

  I jumped off the bed and padded over to the bedroom door. It was cracked just a hair, so I poked my head out and sniffed the air. The scent of Hattak’katos barely registered. He hadn’t been in Dane’s room, thank Heaven, but he had been somewhere in the house. From the location of the scent molecules, I surmised it had been downstairs. The hallway was clear, so I trotted off and down to Ms. Emma’s room. When I peeked inside her open door, she was sound asleep on top of the covers, a thin sheen of sweat glistening on her head, arms, and legs. A conversation I’d had with Dane several weeks before popped into my mind. Dane had told me his mom was going through the change, and he was tired of the house feeling like a freezer. Said Ms. Emma was having trouble with heat surges and kept the thermostat down to sixty. I watched her chest rise and fall for a minute just to make sure her breathing was normal before I turned around and walked over to the top of the stairs. When I did, the smell became stronger.

  It was coming from the kitchen.

  I went through every room in the lower level, sniffing and investigating, and saved the kitchen for last. The beast hadn’t been in any other room except the foyer, the hallway, and the kitchen. When my feet stepped on the cold tile floor, the scent nearly knocked me over. Unable to stop myself, I jumped onto the counter and made a beeline for the two empty coffee cups and the large bouquet of fresh flowers next to them. My lips curled back, and I couldn’t stop the snarl in response to the stench from the cup to my right.

  He’d been here. Inside the house!

  Whoever Hattak’katos was in his human form, he wasn’t a stranger. Dane didn’t drink coffee, but Ms. Emma did, and it seemed she felt comfortable enough with the bastard to let him inside her house and have a drink with him. I didn’t need to get any closer to understand the flowers had been brought in by the same hands, for the rotten smell of my enemy masked the aroma of the lilies and roses.

  Then, it hit me. Like a freight train barreling through my mind, the answers to all my questions slammed into my head. I jumped off the countertop and sped back up the stairs to Dane’s room. I forced myself not to look in his direction, for I knew the distraction of his body under the covers would overpower me. In one long jump, I cleared half the room and was out the window without making a lick of noise. Seconds later, I was down the trellis and loping through the front yard.

  I ran faster than ever, my paws pounding the warm pavement. The Witherspoon spread was less than two miles from my destination, and I reached the driveway in record time. The trail Hattak’katos left was so strong it was almost like a shimmering light. The horrid smell whipped me into a frenzy. Just as I cut across the street and darted under the construction tape, the voice of Nahu’ala thundered in my mind.

  Go home! Now is not the time! Something is wrong.

  Unlike before, when the commanding voice of Nahu’ala resounded in my head, I didn’t cower or feel overcome with the urge to comply with his orders. I was beyond rational thought, my senses to kill and maim controlled me now. When I saw the same vehicle in the back parking lot with the Illinois license plates, surrounded by the appalling stench, I was beyond livid. I was less than thirty feet from the construction fiasco at the main building when searing heat scorched through me. In mid-stride, I went from small housecat to magnificent beast. The unstable ground and remaining debris that had yet to be cleaned up by the construction crews shook when my massive paws struck the ground.

  I chuffed and snorted, my low growls calling Hattak’katos out from inside the building. He didn’t answer, so in a few swift strikes with my paw, I destroyed his car. The front, back, and side windows shattered when my heavy paw made contact with the roof. The second swipe took the driver door clean off the hinges, and the third one caused all four tires to explode when I jumped and landed on the roof. In the distance, I heard the baleful sounds of hounds yapping from the noise, but I didn’t care. I wanted Hattak’katos’s blood to fill my mouth with its coppery taste; I needed to feel chunks of his flesh rip from his body. The urge to clamp my jaws around his soft throat and crush his airway turned me into a snarling, growling, drooling maniac.

  I jumped off the dem
olished sedan and in two short steps was in front of the entrance to what was left of the main building. He’d been there within the last hour; the scent was that fresh. Determined to drag his furry torso outside and destroy it like I’d done to his car, I started to lower my head and use it as a battering ram through the makeshift entryway but stopped when another smell invaded my nostrils. A flash of white caught my attention. I shook the anger from my mind and forced my trembling body to hold still while I read it.

  The game has begun. Guess where to look next? Make sure to play in human form,

  or you and your loved ones will regret it.

  The smear of red at the edge of the paper sent shockwaves of fury through me. It was Meemaw’s blood. I roared with anger, the sound so loud the glass from some of the newly installed windows in the front of the main building shattered. The enormity of the words crushed my soul, for I knew Hattak’katos was at my house, and my family was in grave danger.

  I had no choice but to obey and play his game if I wanted to save their lives. The painful truth exploded through my mind and was followed by the change in my body. Back on two feet, I ran through the quiet of the night toward my house, my mind numbed with dread over what I would find once I arrived.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Just like earlier at Dane’s, I stood still at the edge of the driveway and scanned the area around my house, trying to control my breathing. The place was dark. The entire street was quiet. Not even the dogs barked when I ran by. I choked back an angry sob at the fresh stench of Hattak’katos as I walked up to the front door, which was wide open. When the rhythmic sounds of life from my parents in the living room hit me, I almost collapsed from joy. Careful to sidestep the sections of the porch I knew creaked when stepped upon, I crept up and stopped at the doorway and peeked in. Mom and Dad were sound asleep on the couch, blissfully unaware of the horror that awaited them upon waking.

  I slipped inside and shut the door behind me without making a sound. I paused and contemplated waking them but decided not to involve them. I gave them both a good once over to make sure they weren’t injured. My pulsed quickened at the knowledge they were fine. No, I wouldn’t subject them to what was about to happen. This was my fight—my burden to bear—not theirs.

  I turned and made my way up to the second floor, mindful of the spots of Meemaw’s blood. My heartbeat increased in intensity each time I saw a new droplet of red. Though it wasn’t a large amount, which meant the injury was superficial, it was still her blood. Spilled by a monster who shouldn’t exist and wouldn’t any longer after I was through with him.

  The scent trail led straight to my room, which is where Meemaw had been as she watched me change. Anger flooded my mind when it dawned on me the hairy bastard must have been hiding, watching, waiting for me to leave so he could snatch her. Sure enough, a large smudge of vibrant red was on the windowsill and had begun to trickle down the wall. He must have snuck up behind her and knocked her down. My body shook from anger at the thought.

  Please, God, let her still be alive.

  I spun in a quick circle and took in every spot in my room, looking for the next clue, but I knew I wouldn’t find it. I could tell from the scent trail he’d only walked in and right back out. The nasty stench hadn’t adhered to anything else, never veered from the straight path into my room and then back down the stairs. I paced around and tried to think. He wanted, no, he craved, to know the location of the Tree. Hattak’katos had killed thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people—almost wiped out an entire race to find it. It was his wicked life’s quest. He was trying to distract me from my purpose, my new destiny, by toying with my emotions. Maybe he thought he could break me. Kill my friends, kidnap my meemaw, thinking it would be too much for me to handle, and I would cave and show him the way.

  Be strong, Little One. He will stop at nothing to learn the secret. Nothing.

  My knees buckled as a wave of dizziness slammed inside my mind. I collapsed in the middle of my bedroom floor in a crumpled heap. The minute Nahu’ala spoke inside my head, I knew Meemaw was facing more than just being a kidnap victim.

  She was bait.

  Hattak’katos would lead me to her body in hopes I would be overcome with grief and take her, just as Papa Joe had done with Nana, to the Tree for healing. I had to figure out where he took her and get to her before it was too late.

  Think, Sheryl! Where would he take her?

  My head thumped from the overload of information and stress. Too many thoughts and images fluttered around. It was like I was in a ticker tape parade in Times Square. In frustration, I shot up from the floor and stared out the window, my sharp eyes scanning the quiet town for any signs of movement. When my phone rang, time seemed to stand still.

  Because it was Dane’s ringtone.

  My mouth felt like I’d stuffed it with a wad of cotton, and my body froze as I stared at the phone in the middle of my bed. The sweet, tinkling chimes of the bells I’d assigned to Dane beckoned me to answer, but somehow, I knew when I did, my world would be destroyed.

  God, please. Let him be calling to tell me about a nightmare he had. Let him be horny and looking for a midnight romp in the sack. Let him have had an argument with Ms. Emma and want to talk about it. Anything, anything, other than what I know it is. Please?

  My limbs thawed and in one quick move, I was across the floor and on my bed. I snatched the phone up before the fifth ring.

  “Dane?” I whispered.

  “Dane is…indisposed at the moment. He asked me to relay a message to you, and don’t worry, you won’t need to take notes. It’s quite simple to remember. Ready?”

  The deep voice drummed inside my head. His sarcastic, mocking tone almost drove me to madness. I wanted to reach through the phone line and grab him around his neck, silencing his wicked vocal chords forever. Though I’d never heard it before, I knew who it was, and why he was calling.

  “Yes,” I grunted, my body tense, every muscle on edge.

  “You’ll find us all by following his blood. Oh, and remember the rules. Come in human form. Change, and they’re as dead as a sack of meat. Mmm, and I’m sure just as tasty.”

  I never had a chance to respond because my hand crushed the phone into tiny pieces. Sharp slivers from the screen embedded under my palm, but I didn’t care. It took every bit of strength I could gather to keep myself on two feet, instead of four, and my screeching growl of torment to remain inside me.

  Leaping out of the open window and onto the roof, I jumped and rolled in the soft grass. An invisible clock was ticking away precious seconds in my mind, counting down the time left I had to find Meemaw and Dane before Hattak’katos took their lives. As I ran through the streets of Junction City, it dawned on me I heard no sounds. No bugs, no nocturnal creatures. Nothing but the faint sounds of traffic from the freeway miles away. Even the nightlife recognized all hell was about to break loose in Locasia County and scurried off to hide from the brewing battle.

  In the distance, I saw a crackle of lightning skitter across the black sky. The storm was close, and judging by the electrical surges in the air, it was going to be a wicked one because it wasn’t a natural storm. It had been conjured. But the thunderstorm would pale in comparison to the storm I was about to bring down, right on top of the furry bastard’s head.

  Within minutes, I was close to Dane’s house. I didn’t need to stop, for the scent of his sweet blood was like a living entity I could almost see. When it hit my nostrils, I had to literally wrap my arms around my chest to hold my form. Hot waves of anger bubbled and churned inside me. Forcing my body to comply and not change was too much. I stopped and bent down, throwing up in the ditch. While I heaved onto the dry grass, I could hear Nahu’ala whispering inside my head, encouraging me to stand strong and not give up. With my final retch, I silenced his voice, determined to listen to my own instincts, rather than his.

  Once finished, I stood up and wiped the back of my hand across my damp lips. My mind was alone, free from the s
ound of Nahu’ala. At that moment, I made the conscious decision to absorb every nuance, every inch and responsibility of my new life. I felt the melding of my mind with his and we became one. I was no longer Sheryl Ilene Newcomb. I was Nahu’ala, guardian and protector of the Tree of Living Waters. My role—my destiny—was to protect it. Nothing more, nothing less.

  A new plan began to take shape as I stared at the road in front of me. To accomplish it would require help, even though I knew I wasn’t to involve outsiders. I knew where the final showdown would take place, with whom, and why.

  So, instead of following the scent trail of Dane’s blood, I ran to the house of the one and only man who I knew could, and would, help me. I prayed I had enough time, and the strength, to reach inside his mind and bend him to my will before it was too late.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Thirty minutes later, I stood in front of the crumbled entrance to the main building at Cohestra. The safety lights blinked in the distance, casting eerie shadows across the empty parking lot and building. The note from earlier had been removed. What replaced it was a dark stain of Dane’s bloody handprint on the porous wood. Though the building had sustained heavy damage from the tornado, sections of it were still intact. I pushed the dilapidated door aside and stepped into what once was the lobby. My heightened vision made it seem like the overhead lights were on, as I navigated my way through the debris and twisted pieces of metal and sheetrock toward the water packing plant in the back.

  With nimble moves, I picked my way through the mess. The aromas of Dane and Meemaw were intermixed with the stench of blood and of Hattak’katos. He was close. I could feel the negative, evil energy surround me. It permeated the air like a thick cloud, making my eyes water and forcing me to hold my breath before madness overcame me.

  I made it to the center of the plant, the place where the water treatment and distribution center had once been. It had some damage to the ceiling and the walls, but the main floor was untouched. Two massive pieces of steel about twenty feet high, each in the shape of bullets, stood like silver statues at opposite ends of the room. My throat clamped shut and I couldn’t breathe when I saw Dane and Meemaw. Dane was to my right and Meemaw to my left, both crudely tied to each water cylinder with thick rope around their waists.