Uniquely Unwelcome (The Shadow World)

by Brandy Nacole

I nod at Ethan, letting him know I understand. Then everyone moves at once. Ethan shifts into his wolf form while lunging at the creature closes to him. Danika throws energy from her hands, throwing two of the creatures into a tree. I grab Coy around the waist while turning and kicking a creature that was lunging for him. I shove him under the table and tell him to stay put before turning back to the action. I don’t want to move too far away from Coy. After my dreams and knowing how easily Coy can be ripped apart, I can’t leave him defenseless.

  There are three creatures closing in on me. A part of me feels sorry for these creatures because I know they have been experimented on and turned into weapons. One has a wolf head with a human body, and claws for hands. One has webbed feet and hands with a huge body mass and gills for ears. The third one looks almost normal except for fangs and long talon claw fingers.

  Wolf man lunges at me but I kick him back. The one with webbed feet starts throwing punches at me and I’m able to block each blow. He’s throwing punches up and down, side to side, but he never makes contact. Fang Boy grabs me by my hair yanking my head back giving Webby the chance to sucker punch me in the stomach.

  I gasp and try to pry Fang Boys’ hands out of my hair while kicking at Webby. Webby grabs my right foot as I kick, but I use my left foot to propel myself up tagging him in the face. Then I shove him off with my right foot. My hands are on Fang Boy’s shoulders so I use the momentum from my kick to flip over his head, ripping out some of my hair. Ouch!

  I land behind Fang Boy, and shove him down on the ground, then I jump up on his back pinning him to the ground. He makes the wrong move by lifting his head and shoulders trying to get up. That gives me enough room to smash his head back into the ground, snapping his neck.

  Now that I have one down, I go for the other two. My head throbs from my hair being yanked out. I see Wolf-man coming at me from the right and Webby coming from the left. I use all my body strength to kick out at Wolf-man again pushing myself up once again to land on Webby’s shoulders. He tries throwing me off but I wrap by legs firmer around his throat. He rips his webbed claws into my legs. I ignore the pain and see Wolf-man getting up.

  Before I lose my advantage I grab webby by the head and start twisting. He fights for a minute but then I hear the unmistakable pop and down we go. I don’t want to be pinned under his corpse so I roll off his shoulders as he hits the ground.

  I try bounding to my feet but am once again yanked around by my hair. For a split second I lose focus. After this, I’m seriously going to think about whacking it all off. I try to ignore the pain that is ripping through my head and think about what leverage I could possibly have.

  Wolf-man yanks on my head again, trying to drag me off somewhere. I lose my footing and go down on my knees. Wolfie doesn’t stop to let me regain my footing instead he keeps pulling. No matter how much it hurts, I relax my body, going limp so he’s pulling me completely by my hair. Then I use my hands and grab his knees yanking back as hard as I can. Instantly his knees snap, dropping him to the ground.

  I want to cause him extreme pain but knowing we’re still in this battle with no end in sight, I make a quick move. Since broken necks stops most creatures, I give it a try. It works.

  I look back to check on Coy. There’s a green scaly looking woman clawing at him. He’s still under the table fighting her off but if she gets a good hold on him, he’s done. The woman is bending over in-between the bench and table. I slam her head into the wooden bench. It doesn’t knock her out but it stuns her for a minute. While she’s still bent over, I punch her in the back breaking it, then I roll her off the bench.

  She screams in agonizingly inhuman screech. It’s a high pitched scream that sends agonizing waves of sound through my ears. I grab my head trying to get a bearing on things but all I see is red. Then the pain just stops. I look up and see Jared standing over the woman. Her head is completely severed. A large machete in Jared’s hand is now dripping with her blood.

  “What are you doing here?” Not that I’m not grateful for the help, I just didn’t expect to see him.

  He smiles broadly, “Having some fun.” With that he turns and leaps at the next creature coming at us.

  I turn back to Coy, who is still under the table. “You okay?” There’s blood running down the side of his face and on his arms.

  “Yeah, you?” He starts to come out from underneath the table but I stop him.

  “You need to stay here. Look in my bag and see if there are any weapons you can use. But whatever you do, stay under here. Got it?” He nods and I turn from him hoping he sticks to his word.

  Shock hits me when I turn around. There are a dozen or so creatures dead on the ground. Danika stands over a creature lying on the ground with blood running out its eyes, ears, and mouth. Another one is pinned to a tree with a large branch stuck through its torso. Ethan has blood all over his fur. He has one creature on his back and another one pinned underneath him. He quickly rips out the one’s throat and then throws the other one off him. They both seem to be holding their own. I see Jared wielding his machete, chopping limbs off of every creature in his path. There has to be fifteen or twenty creatures remaining.

  A creature starts moving towards me but then stops and starts walking back. I start to take the advantage and move on him, when I’m grabbed from behind. Even though I can’t see my attacker, I know it’s the cloaked man. His hand is over my mouth and he’s pulling me back from the fight into the shadows. I try fighting him but it’s to no avail. He has my arms pinned and I can’t get any leverage with my feet.

  Once we are out of view from the others, he releases me. I turn ready to rip into him. I go to punch him in the face but am repelled by an invisible shield.

  “You cannot harm me Racquel.” His voice is muffled by his cloak but it still sends shivers all over me. “I’m very well protected.” He has his hand on a pendant that is hanging from a thick rope on his neck. I wonder if he would be so well protected if I yanked that necklace off him.

  “What do you want?” I give up the fight knowing it’s useless.

  He chuckles a little bit. The sound of his laugh is making me nauseated. It sounds full of hate and power. “You.”

  “Why me?”

  “You are so valuable my dear.” He steps toward me and I take two steps back. “Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you. Well not yet anyway.” Just the threat of his words knocks the wind out of me. “You could keep me from having to harm you. All you have to do is stop this nonsense. You will not find the answers you are looking for, nor will you find your friends.”

  Enraged by his threat not only to me but to his captured victims, I take a step toward him. “What do you want with them?”

  “You will find out in due time, my dear.” He continues stroking his pendant. I try once again to remove the cloak that is shielding his face but it doesn’t move.

  “Silly girl, your powers do not work on me. Now listen very closely. I want you to take your friends back home and forget all about this. If you don’t I will kill them and you. As much as it would pain me to do so, I will if I must.”

  He moves toward me again. I try to step back but I can’t. It’s like my body is stuck in place and no matter how hard I try, I can’t move. He touches my face, running his thumb over my cheek. “Such an extraordinary creature you are. Very soon you will see just how extraordinary you truly are.”

  He removes his hand from my face and takes a step back. He bows ever so slightly saying, “Until we meet again, my dear.” Then he vanishes. I don’t even get a chance to blink before he just disappears.

  I hear the fighting going on behind me and turn to run back into it. I try shaking off what just happened as I come back into the clearing. It will only cloud my judgment. There are only three creatures left standing. Ethan jumps on one and tears it to shreds. Danika pins one to a tree and I see blood running down out of her nose. I know she’s getting drained so I run over to her and take over.

  She slumps
to the ground beside me once I have the creature under my control. I kick at the creature as I release my hand-hold on her. Her long frog legs tense as she prepares for a quick getaway but she doesn’t make it: I jump on her back and with one smooth move snap the creature’s neck.

  Jared cuts the other last one to pieces, leaving us in silence. There are dead bodies lying everywhere, many of them in pieces as the others lay at odd angles. Coy has crawled out from underneath the table and is walking toward me.

  Danika is still lying on the ground by my feet. “Are you okay?” I ask. She nods her head as she clutches her side. I notice Jared standing off to the side, unsure of what to do.

  When Coy reaches me he grabs me, pulling me into a tight embrace. At first I try to resist him but then I relax, giving in. Right now, being held by him just feels good. I wrap my arms around him burying my head in his chest, trying to hide the fact that I want to sob all over again.

  Coy softly whispers in my ear. “God I’m glad you’re okay.”

  I don’t say anything. I know my voice will crack up and I don’t want to show that weakness here in front of everyone. I look to the side and see Ethan coming up to Danika. He hasn’t changed back into his human form yet.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see a creature in the shadows behind him. I’m about to warn him but the words don’t come out of my mouth fast enough. The creature jumps up on Ethan’s back pinning his arms around his torso. Ethan starts snarling and snapping at the creature that actually looks normal. That is until I see the massive scorpion tale sticking out of his backside.

  I tear away from Coy to help Ethan but I’m too late. The creature slams his tail right through Ethan. Ethan collapses to the ground, his growl turning into a whimper as his body goes slack.

  I go to jump on the creature but Jared is there before me. He jumps through the air with his machete raised high and slices off the creatures head. Green blood starts squirting everywhere, burning everything it touches.

  Danika screams and runs to Ethan’s side. He’s back to his human form, which scares me because Lycans do that when they’re close to death. Blood is gushing out of his stomach, running down his sides making puddles on the ground. The creature punctured right through his back, slicing all the way through his stomach.

  Danika is shaking him and yelling for him to wake up. “Ethan. Ethan get up. Come on get up.”

  I grab her hands to stop her from shaking him anymore. “Look at me. Danika look at me.”

  Danika looks up from Ethan. Blood is still running out of her nose. Tears start welling up in her eyes to spill down her cheeks.

  “Listen to me. We have to get him out of here. He needs serious help.”

  Jared comes and kneels beside her. He tries consoling her but she just shoves him off. “Where? Where do we take him?”

  I look up at Coy but he just shakes his head. “We can’t take him to the hospital. They won’t know how to treat him. Plus we would have to explain a lot that we can’t.” I nod in agreement knowing his right.

  Danika is starting to panic. “Where then? We have to do something.” She places her hands around the wound as she rocks back and forth. “Why isn’t he healing?”

  I don’t answer her question, I’m afraid it will send her over the edge. I’m sure telling her that the poisonous blood that came from the creature is more than likely eating him away, just like it’s eating away at Jared’s machete. It’s preventing him from healing.

  So instead, I try coming up with a solution. “How about the Lycans? They can help right?”

  “Maybe, but I don’t think he will make the trip.” This sends Danika into a complete panic. I glare at Coy, he could have left out the not making it part. Jeez.

  “Listen let’s get him back to the hotel. You can call the Elders on the way. Maybe they can help.” They’ve been able to help with everything else.

  Danika doesn’t look too sure about it but at least it’s something.

  Jared has on a big black trench coat that would hang past Ethan’s legs. “Jared, give me your coat.” I command.

  He looks like he’s about to protest but then I give him a look that shuts him up. Coy hands me his jacket too. “Tie this around his stomach. It will help with the bleeding.” I take Coy’s jacket and tie it as best as I can around Ethan then put Jared’s coat on him.

  “Okay Jared, you and I will carry him back.” Once again Jared goes to protest but stops before it leaves his mouth. Together we are able to pull Ethan up between us and start to drag him back to the hotel. I have Ethan’s left side and Jared has his right. We have his arms draped around us, so it looks like he just passed out.

  On the way into the hotel, Coy makes a remark about drinking too much. Danika is on the phone with the Elders the whole way. Once in Ethan’s room, we place him on the bed. I’m unsure of how the situation is going to turn out.

  Ethan has blood all over him. His skin is pale, his breathing is shallow, his pulse is slow and unsteady. Danika gets off the phone and without a word she rushes out of the room. Coy brings me the towels from the bathroom and I apply them to the wounds. Ethans losing a lot of blood. If we don’t stop it right away it’s going to be too late.

  Danika rushes back into the room with a duffle bag, that she places on the bed next to Ethan. “Racquel, get me some water.”

  I hurry off into the bathroom looking for anything I can put water in. The ice bucket will have to do. I return into the room with the water and see candles lit all around Ethan.

  I hand Danika the water and stand back. Danika gets out different types of herbs and puts them into a cloth bag. Then she sets the bag into the water and chants something I can’t hear. Once she’s done, she pulls the bag back out and places it under Ethan, against his back. Then she does the ceremony again, and places another bag on his stomach.

  Next, she pulls out a huge clear crystal with jagged points all over and places it over his heart. She brings out another cloth. This one she wets and places it on his head.

  I stand there watching her do all this and feel extremely helpless. I want to but I’m not sure how. I watch with fascination as she pulls all these ingredients together with determination. Never slowing, never showing weakness over her concern for him. She just looks determined and sure this is going to work.

  Danika places her hands on each side of Ethan’s waist and starts chanting. Her nose had stopped bleeding, but it has started bleeding again.

  “Danika are you sure you should be doing this?” I ask as sensitively as I can. The nose bleeds are a warning to the Witches. Whenever a Witch, especially a young Witch, uses a lot of power and their bodies become weak they get that warning to slow down.

  Her voice cracks a little when she answers, “I have to.”

  She goes back to chanting. The candles flicker a bit and then their glow starts touching Ethan. It’s mesmerizing and amazing to watch. The candles seem to be channeling energy into his body, healing him as it touches his skin. But then the flickers and dims.

  Danika curses out loud. Then her phone rings. She snatches it up and answers it knowing who’s on the other line.

  “It’s not working.” She pauses for a minute as the other person speaks. “Okay, I understand.” Then she hands me the phone. She doesn’t say anything just looks back at Ethan.

  I take the phone, unsure of who it is. “Hello?”

  “Racquel, honey, listen to me, okay?” It’s Eldrida, the crone of the Elders. “Danika is weak from the battle. You are going to have to help her channel energy into Ethan. Do you think you can do this?”

  My heart speeds up and I start to panic. “I don’t know how. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

  “You can do this honey. Just concentrate on your energy and send it through to Ethan. You can do this.” Then she hangs up, no more pep talk or instruction, just a click and she’s gone. I sit the phone down on the bed and look at Danika.

  “You have to do this Racquel, please.” Danika is look
ing at me, silently pleading for me to help. With my heart pounding I walk over to Ethan’s side in a silent agreement.

  “What do I do?”

  “Place one hand on his chest, right over his heart. Place your other hand just above his wound.”

  I do as she says. Ethan’s skin is cold to touch. I’m hoping that’s from the nights chill and not his impending death. Danika starts chanting again but I don’t know what she’s saying.

  Instead of worrying about the words, I concentrate on my energy like Eldrida said. At first I don’t feel anything. After pushing my focus, I begin to sense it. I feel this light hum in my body that seems to be getting louder as I concentrate on it.

  Then I see it, feel it, and sense it. It’s a radiating feeling, pulsating through my body in a pale blue glow. I concentrate on that humming light and push it through my hands into Ethan’s body.

  I don’t open my eyes, but I can still see the room become lighter through my eyelids. It’s probably because of my added energy. As I reach out to Ethan, I can feel what’s left of his energy combining with my energy and Danika’s. I can also feel the presence of the Elders. Somehow they’re here with us, helping save Ethan.

  A bright light explodes through the room as a jolt of power rips through my body. My skin tingles as my insides warm and tingle. The jolt fades as quickly as it comes. I hold my breath as I open my eyes. Ethan’s eyes are still closed but his breathing seems better.

  Danika stops chanting and removes the bags of herbs on his stomach. I step back to let her work, wondering if that’s all it takes. The wound isn’t completely healed up but it’s better. Now it’s just a slight laceration that is starting to blot up. Danika starts crying and lays her head on Ethan’s chest.

  I look over at Coy who looks back with hope. I shrug my shoulders, unsure of the outcome. Jared is standing off in the corner watching quietly. I reach over to check Ethan’s pulse. It’s definitely higher now.

  Danika sits back up and places the bag back over the wound. “He needs to rest now. Only time will tell.”

  “So we did it?”