by Tia Wilson
When Tulimak was alerted to the escape he went down to the cells. He ordered his men to lock up the guard who had allowed himself to be duped. This guard would now be one of Tulimak's subjects. One of the test subjects was screaming louder than usual about how it burnt and he wanted it out of him. The other was much calmer and he was listing off information about a location, going over every detail. He was speaking in a non stop stream of words, how the soft earth felt under his feet, the texture of the leaves brushing against his shoulder, the sound of cars coming from a road running close to the forest. On and on the man spoke in a rush of word.
The man rocked back and forth as he spoke, his eyes glazed as he stared off into the middle distance. Tulimak approached him and put his hand on the mans shoulder who didn’t seem to notice. The man started to describe a faded sign with an image of a smiling pig wearing an apron and serving up links of steaming hot sausage to a smiling man at a diner counter. Tulimak looked down at the man hardly believing what he was hearing and knowing he could have a major breakthrough on his hands.
Someone knocked on the door of his office dragging Tulimak out of his memories. “Enter,” he said in a booming voice.
Slattery came in and following him a few feet behind on all fours was the feral. As soon as it entered the room it froze and sniffed the air, its bald head swaying from side to side. The feral passed by Slattery and made its way across the wide open office and towards Tulimak who was standing at the windows overlooking the compound. When it got close to him the feral made a low humming sound coming from deep in its chest.
“Is it ready?” Tulimak asked as he looked down at the feral before him.
“This one has been thoroughly conditioned to your scent. It knows you are the alpha,” Slattery said.
“And what about the preparation with that black bear bitches bile,” Tulimak said.
“We start the first dose now. The first few hours the feral will be useless to us as it assimilates Annes bile. After it goes through that painful process it will be ready to track Grace. Twice daily doses of bile will keep it attuned to Graces scent no matter where on the planet she goes,” Slattery said with obvious pride in his voice.
“You’re sure of that?” Tulimak said with a raised eyebrow.
“Nearly one hundred percent. As far as we have been able to ascertain the feral is some how connected to Grace through ingesting Annes bile. Part of it is smell, the rest we are not so sure,” Slattery said.
“Very good and how many doses of the bile do we have,” Tulimak said in a cold voice.
“Enough to keep an eye on Graces location for a very long time. By my estimation we can keep track of her for up to a year. Where ever she goes our feral here will be able to track her down,” Slattery said.
“Prepare the dose,” he ordered Slattery.
Slattery took a metal tube from his inside pocket and handed it to Tulimak. “We have designed the lid so that when you screw it off it extracts the exact amount of bile needed. You touch the end of the dispenser against the feral’s tongue and the bile is administered. Not a drop is wasted.”
The feral was on all four in front of Tulimak and when he reached out and stroked the pale skin of its head the deep internal humming stopped. The feral rubbed its cheek against the side of Tulimak's hand and sniffed at his skin. It sat back and looked up at him with its mouth open and the nub of its tongue flicking from side to side in its mouth. Heavy black cord had been used to sew its eyes shut over empty sockets, making the whole face look flatter and lacking the definition of a humans face.
“It knows whats coming,” Slattery said. “It just doesn’t know that it’s a new shifters bile. Annes bile will work its way through the ferals body burning away all traces of the previous bile we have dosed it with. If its survives the purge then it is ready to go.”
“How many die when a new shifters bile is introduced to the host?” Tulimak said with cold indifference.
“Fifty percent,” Slattery said.
“Acceptable odds. Do we have more on ice?” Tulimak asked.
“Several more ready to be deployed if this one fails you,” Slattery said.
Tulimak unscrewed the metal tube and withdrew the dispenser. It was a clear glass tube with a bubble half way up the stem. Inside the glass bubble was a dose of the pale green bile, no bigger than a pea.
The ferals fingers began to drum on the floor when the scent of the bile reached it. Slattery rested his hand on the butt of his gun ready to react if the feral darted forward. Tulimak stroked the back of the ferals neck and tilted the creatures head back. It tried to extend the jagged edge of the stump of its tongue out of its mouth, hungry for the bile. Several of its teeth where missing from experiments on alternate bile delivery mechanisms. Tulimak touched the glass dispenser on the rough surface of its tongue. The ferals tongue looks no different than a pigs Tulimak thought as he remembered seeing one being slaughtered when he was a young shifter.
He stepped back and resealed the metal tube. The feral began to moan in an inhuman tone, high pitched and like a dagger to the ears. It thrashed its head from side to side and the fleshy nub inside its mouth jutting forward. It rolled onto its back and thrashed around and then curled into a ball wailing in pain.
“Shall I take it back to the cells? It can take bile introduction a few hours to destroy the previous one,” Slattery asked.
Tulimak looked down at the creature on his floor as its body shuddered with spasms of pain, the muscles in its arms flexing in painful cramps. “No. Leave it here to ride it out. Do you have any updates on Graces movements?” he asked.
Slattery took out his notepad and flipped through a couple of pages and then said, “She was picked up by our man and driven into town. She had no suspicions about him. She booked herself into a motel for the night and she told our driver that she was heading north in the morning. As instructed we will observe her until she leaves the town.” Slattery put his note pad away and watched Tulimak for a reaction.
“Very good. When the time is right she is going to walk us right up to the front door of the black bear clans town all thanks to our creation. Make preparations for me to return to the city tomorrow. Have quarters readied for the feral, it will stay in the pit until we need to call on it. There are interesting times ahead for us Slattery. Things are going to start ramping up very soon. Can you imagine anything like this happening under my fathers rule,” Tulimak said looking at Slattery.
Slattery shook his head.
“He moved at a glacier pace. Always weighing up every damn angle. Making progress for the clan over hundreds of years. It’s time that a new generation took over and sped up the process. I’m tired of waiting for things to unfold over hundreds of years. Thats the old way. The new timetable is here and everything is about to change a lot quicker than the black bear clan could ever expect,” Tulimak said turning his back to Slattery and looking out the window.
“What do you want to do about the mongrels that left the compound last night? We believe they are part of a roving band of possibly one hundred of the creatures,” Slattery said.
“You have eyes on them?”
“They are being tracked and we can intercept them at any moment,” Slattery replied.
“Good. Lets not rush in yet. I want to see how this plays out. Those freaks are up to something. Keep me up to date on their movements.”
“And when we know what they are up to?”
Tulimak didn't hesitate and said, “Kill them. Fly some guards in from the eastern compound and have them ready. When a weed has taken hold the only way to get rid of it is to scorch the earth and then salt it.”
“Some of them might be worth keeping for experimenting on,” Slattery said in a halting voice.
Tulimak turned and faced Slattery and his lips where drawn back in a snarl. “Good thinking. Have we ever had the chance to experiment on a mongrel before?”
“This would be our first opportunity. It might open up some interesting avenues of
research,” Slattery said.
“Sometimes Slattery, you impress me. It’s that kind of thinking that will make a case for keeping you around,” Tulimak said letting the implication hang heavy between them. “I leave in the morning and this compound will be left in your hands for the time being,” Tulimak said turning away again and signifying the meeting was over.
Slattery glanced down at the writhing feral on the floor as he passed and left the office without saying anything else.
The ferals pitiful groans of pain faded away to background noise as Tulimak stared out the window. I was always in your shadow, he thought, would you be proud of me now if you saw the strides I was making towards one clan of shifters ruling everything. I don’t care what you think anymore, you became an out of touch politician more interested in keeping the peace than any kind of conflict. How could you let our clan drift so far from our original ideals, we are a warrior race and living side by side with those other shifters is not something we should ever have to stomach. I saw how the powerful men of our clan used to look at you father, they respected and admired you. It made me sick to think that a once great shifter who was feared by all was now respected by his generals as a politician. What happened to the great beast who single handedly killed four treacherous shifters at the battle of Red Lake three hundred years ago.
You were a titan among our clan, ready to destroy any pretenders to your title. You had respect, but most importantly others feared you. What changed in you that you were more interested in sitting around talking your way through issues affecting our tribe, instead of acting like the ruthless warrior you used to be. You went from fighter to politician in the space of a hundred years. I lost respect for you. I always want to be looked at with nothing more than fear by both my closest confidants and enemies. Respect is for old shifters whose time has come. Change is coming and I want to be remembered as the roaring bear at the head of the charge.
The feral continued to writhe in pain as it thrashed about on the floor. After a while its high pitched moans of agony became relaxing to Tulimak as he sat at his desk with his eyes closed and images of a new white bear empire danced behind his eyelids.
25
Grace
A light breeze swept through the centre of Twin Rock and Grace got up from the pagoda at the edge of town as she began to feel cold. She let out a dull moan as she stood up and held onto the wooden railing steadying herself. I feel like I’m a hundred years old, she thought as she stretched out the tightness in her muscles. The worst of the biles symptoms were still working its way out of her body and everywhere felt achy and her brain felt like it was wrapped in steel wool.
The last two days had gone in an emotional haze of missing Tom and sorrow at the loss of her friend. Is it wrong that I felt relief for not having to face Annes husband and children. Early yesterday morning she had heard a knock at the door across the hall and Grace had pressed her ear against her door to hear what was going on in the hallway outside. It was Elder Silas and judging by the pained sounds, he had informed Annes husband about his loss. Grace had felt a hollowness inside like the plaintive whistle of a breeze through a copse. She wanted to go out and offer the man some kind of solace but was frozen to the spot and unable to do the right thing. She heard Elder Silas tell the man, “It’s best if you and your family come with me know,” and within a couple of minutes she had heard them all leave together. They crossed the road in front of Graces apartment and climbed into a pickup truck being driven by a man with a thick bushy beard. Elder Silas gave the driver a nod and they drove out of town in the direction of the mountains and the wilderness beyond.
No one called to check on her so for the last couple of days Grace had spent the time walking up and down main street and sitting at the pagoda at the edge of town and thinking. She had seen no one she knew during this time and Elder Franklin and Elder Silas were no where to be seen. Self pity was not a trait Grace thought she had back in the real world, in the time before she knew about shifters, mongrels and what other supernatural creatures existed that she just wasn’t aware of yet. Now she was feeling nothing but doubt and pity for herself.
I don’t think I have ever felt more alone, Grace thought as she headed back towards town. I am completely cut off from anyone I know and no one will give me any answers about what is going on. I am sick and tired of being told I am someone special, some sort of chosen one and yet no one will give me a straight answer. What would the Elders do if I turned around and walked out of town swearing never to look back or help them with the coming war. The thought of leaving the town behind and running away from everything appealed to her. I can’t be the woman from their prophecy Grace thought feeling herself get angry. If I was truly the chosen one I wouldn’t even consider turning my back and leaving the shifter world behind.
Grace looked up and he was standing in the middle of the street looking at her. Tom was back and Graces heart began to beat wildly in her chest as she ran towards him. Tom began to run towards her as he smiled broadly. All thoughts of leaving faded as she began to run. The aches in her joints eased with each stride that brought her closer to him. Grace could feel a smile spread across her face as she got closer to the man she loved.
Tom swept her up into his arms and then pulled her close to him. Graces body tingled as he held her in his tight embrace. Their lips met and all doubt, pain and worry disappeared as fireworks exploded behind Graces closed eyes.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” Grace said pulling away.
Toms eyes danced over her face, his smile wide as he looked at her.
“Nothing could have kept me from seeing you again,” Tom said.
Everything around them faded away, the cold wind, the sound of birds singing from the eaves of the diner, as they kissed again. Tom kissed Grace on her neck and said in a serious tone, “How are you holding up? the Elders told me about what happened.”
Grace stepped back from him and wrapped her arms around herself and said, “I’m still in shock, trying to process what happened. I can’t believe Anne is gone and,” she didn’t finish. Grace fell to her knees and threw her head back and let out a bellow of pain. The town around her rippled and warped and the colours began to desaturate. Everything went to black and then out of the darkness a new reality popped into focus. Grace could feel rough wooden boards under her hands and knees. She looked around and people were huddled in groups around burning lamps belching thick black smoke. Everyones eyes were downcast, no one looked at each other. The walls of the room were wood and covered in a wet slick of condensation. The room tilted and a wooden barrel in the corner moved and water sloshed over the side drenching a young boy pressed close to it. I’m on a boat, Grace thought to herself.
She tried to look around and it felt like her body was bound in steel. Her view flickered and she was leaning in close to a womans ear and saying, “I’m hungry, I can’t hold on much longer.” The woman turned to her, hollow blue eyes surrounded by pale skin and said, “Hold on just a little longer Anne. We are nearly home.”
The room lurched and Grace felt cold water splash around her ankles. People began to shout. Men pushing weak and frail women out of the way as they moved towards the front. Babies cried in painful wails. A powerful stench of rotted vegetables and human waste filled Graces nose. Her eyes watered as she looked around at the people pushing towards the set of wooden steps leading out of the hold. The walls began to twist and distort around Grace and then her ears were filled with the noise of crackling static.
She was on her hands and knees breathing hard, tears streaming out of her eyes. “What happened,” she asked through gasps of air. “I was on a boat. I think it was a flashback to Annes past.”
Tom helped her up and dusted off the dirt from her knees and hands. “It’s the bile. The Elders told me about what happened. If you are still getting flashbacks to Annes past,” Tom said and stopped abruptly.
“Tell me, whats going on,” Grace demanded as she wiped her eyes.
Grace shrugged it off and said, “Tell me Tom. Please don’t treat me like the Elders and leave me in the dark.”
Tom looked at her and said, “I need the Elders to confirm it fully, but I think if you are still seeing visions of Annes past then you are still linked to her.”
Grace looked at him and bit her lip, not wanting to say out loud what she hoped he was saying.
“This could mean Anne’s still alive,” Tom said and hugged her tight against him.
“How do you know this?” Grace asked.
“When someone ingests a shifters bile they become linked to that shifter forever. It unlocks a doorway between the two people allowing the recipient to experience sequences from the shifters past. The only way to break the bond is through death. If you are still having visions it means Anne is still alive,” Tom said smiling broadly.
Grace looked at him with her mouth agape and then said, “We have to go back and rescue her from that hell hole. We need to go back now before Tulimak tortures her any more. Round up your team of men and get...”
“Grace,” Tom said interrupting her, “we can’t go rushing back there, what if this whole thing is a trap? We need to talk to the Elders to see what our best course of action is.”
Grace looked at Tom in disbelief and said, “We can’t wait around, Tulimak is a mad man. We have to rescue her.” Her voice began to quiver and Grace collapsed into Toms strong arms and sobbed against his chest. The events of the past week came flowing out of her in hot tears rolling down her cheeks. I can’t sit around and do nothing, she thought, as Tom ran his hands down her back to soothe her. I need to go back and rescue my friend. She let the tears flow knowing that she was utterly helpless to do anything for her trapped friend and ultimately the decision would fall to the Elders on what to do.
