by Mia Rose
“What were you going to say, Noelle?” Gabriel asked, fingering through the keys to find the freezer room matchup.
“I was asking what would happen tonight, that’s all,” Noelle said calmly.
Gabriel slid the key in the lock. The key halted halfway. He pushed and twisted again and heard a tiny clank inside the freezer room. He pushed open the door and saw the lights on the freezers sitting opposite.
“The dumb fucks, I told them to turn all the freezers off. There are only two that’ll have meat for tonight,” Gabriel said in an angered tone. “What’s puzzling though, is how the door was locked from inside. For fuck’s sake.”
Maria pointed to the door at the far end of the freezer room. “Where does that go?” she asked, pushing Noelle into the room.
Gabriel opened the door and stood to listen. He pulled his head from back in the passageway as the smell of rotting meat wafted into the room.
“That leads to a basement cover, it hasn’t been open for years,” Gabriel said, now taking the rope from Maria and unfastening the binds from around Noelle’s wrists. She stood rubbing the red burn rings on her wrists as Gabriel picked up the key and placed it into his pocket. “There’s no point screaming, either, no one’s gonna hear you in here, and if they could they aren’t gonna help you,” Gabriel replied with a smirk on his face. He ushered Maria to the door and began closing it behind him. “If you feel hungry, there’s plenty of meat in the freezer you can sink your teeth into,” he said laughing. “Oh! I forgot you’re only a humble HUMAN!”
Gabriel slammed the door and Noelle could hear the key turn, and then the lock closed firmly into position. Gabriel’s bellowing laughter echoed as he walked down the hallway with Maria.
Noelle waited ‘till all was silent and pushed on the lever with her hands. It was solid, and there was no way she could pick the lock even if there was anything to use. Gabriel had made sure her pockets were empty before bringing her from Maria’s apartment. Noelle stood in the center of the room staring at the door facing the hallway, and to the cover Gabriel had mentioned. Maybe it was possible to open it, even if he'd said it had been locked for ages.
Noelle opened the door and stepped into the hallway. She raised her arm and held it tight to her mouth and nose. She tried not to breathe in as she stepped forward into the darkness. Her hand brushed the wall as she stepped on things that made her slip. Noelle crashed to the floor with her hands breaking her fall. She started to push herself up as her hand rested on something that felt wet and sticky, and then she held her hand to her nose. The smell of death and decay overwhelmed her senses, and she began retching. Vomit rose up her throat, yet she fought it back and stepped over what she guessed were bones and decaying carcasses.
The floor cleared, and Noelle continued walking into the darkness while shuffling her feet. Her hand rubbed against her jeans to get rid of the gooey mess that had oozed between her fingers. Noelle inched her way forward and heard a noise in front of her. She stood and listened. Can I hear someone sobbing? Has Gabriel locked someone else in here too?
Noelle moved forward more, and saw the outline of a person in a narrow beam of light that shone above them. A thought struck her. What happens if it’s someone who’s halfway through being turned?
Noelle froze.
She heard a voice in the dark. “Who’s there?” the voice asked.
Noelle recognized the voice. “Edmund, is that you?”
“Noelle, what are you doing here?”
Noelle thought it a stupid question. “Same as you, I’m also trapped.”
Declan made sure Dustin was comfortable. He had food and water at the side of his bed. He could tell he’d be fine, but it was going be a little while before he was back to full strength. Gabriel loaded the crossbow and laid it on the bed next to Dustin. He explained that if anyone came through the door (including him), he would need to shoot. The bolts weren’t silver, so Declan would be able to sustain a shot, and recover. As long as Dustin was safe, that was all that mattered.
“You need to get going if you wanna get to the Towers before dark,” Dustin wheezed from the bed. “You’re lucky it isn’t winter, you would’ve had to run, rather than drive.” Declan smiled and stood up from the side of the bed.
“I had thought about that to flex my legs, but I don’t know what I’m up against, so I want to conserve some energy,” he replied, walking to the bedroom door.
Dustin took ahold of the crossbow in his fingers and Declan stepped to the top of the stairs. As he pulled it close, he was reminded by Declan to shoot whoever entered.
Dustin acknowledged with the words, “Yeah, I got it,” and a cough. Declan knew Dustin would be okay, and he'd done a pretty good job of recovering thus far, probably because he was a military veteran. He had enough skills to endure the worst of war, and a near-death experience was like another day at the office for Dustin.
Declan tied the string to the door, it was a little, early, warning system for Dustin if anyone entered. They’d hear the clank; the clank of tin cans rattling in their ears, and he’d be ready for them.
Declan stood on the gravel outside of his old home and called for his inner wolf once more, just for practice. The witch was right about him being faster, and he could change in the blink of an eye. No twisting and contorting his bones as he morphed into his wolf this time around. It was literally, “Wham, bam, thank you Ma’am,” and he was ready. Declan changed back as he strolled to his car. He sat in the driver’s seat and took some deep breaths. He made his way back up the track to the main road. His mind was full of thoughts of what eventualities he might encounter, he also had thoughts of Noelle, and if she had arrived yet. If she were there looking for him, she would’ve visited the coffee shop.
Declan thought that it was an excellent place to start, he could have a cup of his regular, and stake out the Towers for a couple of hours, just as darkness fell. He had plenty of time for his mind to fill full of thoughts, the trip into town was a comfortable, forty-five minutes. Saying his house was in a remote area was an understatement. He thought back to the night Dustin had found him. That might’ve been why he’d stood on the road freezing his nuts off, for what felt like forever. In truth, the road leading to his old home wasn’t really frequented by much traffic, and that was the reason not many drivers had contemplated stopping to help.
Declan exited the trees and made his way into the outskirts of town, it only took a few minutes to bypass them, and downtown took mere minutes from wherever you were in the Creek. Declan found a parking space a few minutes from the coffee shop, and one that was out of sight. He guessed that some of the pack had sided with Gabriel, and any advance warning he got of Declan’s presence would take away the advantage that he now had. Declan looked to the sky and saw the start of a storm. That might work in his favor because his approach would be masked by the crappy weather.
He stood in the shadow and watched the coffee shop. He stared with his assertive eyes through the glass. It’d been months since he'd been there, so any new tenants in the Towers wouldn’t recognize him. Declan breathed slowly and became motionless. His senses heightened as he focused on the coffee shop. He heard the faint chatting of customers, and laughing as friends gathered for an early, Saturday-evening brew. He recognized a couple of faces, but only by sight, and they wouldn’t associate him with what was going happen at the Towers. Declan sniffed and embraced the smell of the freshly brewed coffee, and a thought crossed his mind. I can’t remember what my regular drink was. He decided on strong and sweet; he could do with another caffeine ‘kick in the ass,’ just to get him in motion.
The old, familiar, bell rang above Declan’s head as he walked into the coffee shop. He saw some of the customer’s nodding their heads as they recognized him before they returned to their conversations or their laptops. He sidled up to the counter and looked at the large menu written on the blackboard, right above the counter. Declan took a stab at one he'd never had before, a Latte Macchiato, but with a
double shot of espresso. That should perk me up a little.
“You new around here?” the barista asked?
Declan leaned on the end of the counter shaking his head. “Nah! I used to be a regular in here, but I’ve been out of town for a few months.”
The barista stood at the machine as Declan looked at her slender body from behind. His eyes ran up her skin-tight, Lycra leggings, and her ass looked as if it had to be prized in. Her ass wasn’t large, it was her leggings that were overly tight.
“Double shot you said?” the girl asked. Declan nodded in agreeance.
The girl poured his cup “to go” and slid it across the counter. Declan picked up two sachets of brown sugar, and shook them a couple of times before he ripped the corners off. He crumpled the paper and picked up another two. He shook, just like before, and then did it again, so it was a total of four times, altogether.
“Eight sugars?” the girl asked.
“I’ve got a busy evening ahead, I need some extra energy.”
The girl winked and smiled. “She is a lucky girl, then.”
Declan smiled back at the girl and winked. He wasn’t sure if her knee’s buckled, but she definitely had something running through her mind.
“I might see you again,” he said, popping the plastic cap on his cup and walking to the door. She blushed and batted her eyelashes, just as he expected she would do.
Declan stood on the sidewalk and the hot cup began burning into his hand. Now, he had to position himself to look at where his real home was… Clifton Towers.
He walked the two blocks with the cup resting in his fingertips. He stood at the corner of the street and looked for a prime vantage point to stand to watch. Declan spotted a store that was having some construction work done, and where some scaffolding sat across the sidewalk. It was covered from the road by a large tarpaulin. He walked under the scaffolding, he checked for any holes he could spy from. The tarp was as good as new until he brought his inner wolf to the surface and his nail turned into a claw. He pushed his claw through the tarp and ran it sideways. A narrow gap appeared, as easy as A, B, C. Declan pulled up an empty cable drum and sat with his eyes peering through the slit.
“Right then Gabriel, let’s see what you have in store for me.”
“In life, as in chess, forethought always wins.”
Chapter 20
On Ice
“Stars can’t shine without darkness.”
Gabriel strolled down the wide, marble staircase. He strutted like a king who was parading in front of his minions. But not all were minions, and many were hoping he’d slip and break his own damned neck. He wore a gold trimmed t-shirt and was waving his hand like Liberace, or the Queen of England.
Mutters of “What a dick” ran through the pack below him, a few that were met by snarls from Gabriel’s avid followers. A little jostling broke out between faction members, and it was easy to see the pack was split into two.
“Whatever you’re doing, stop it,” Gabriel boomed from his new speaking area on the stairs. “You’ll have more than enough time for that in a short while. The room’s undergoing the last preparations, and we have more than enough going on to keep your tiny little egos satisfied.”
Maria could see a few raised fists followed by chants of “Rel, Rel, Rel.” She wondered why they’d chosen “Rel” and not “Gab” as their chant, which seemed to make more sense. Perhaps that’s why they were following him, and not hanging onto the hope that Declan would make an appearance.
Gabriel commenced his march down the stairs as someone belted out “Declan!” from the rear of the pack. Silence fell in the apartment lobby, and the crowd parted, leaving one sole member standing by himself. Gabriel approached him, and the pack member stood, shaking. A few giggles started and then they turned into laughs as the guy stood alone. He proceeded to pee his pants. A dark stain appeared around his crotch, and a puddle of yellow liquid ran around his feet. Gabriel neared him and put his hand on the kid’s shoulders. He held his head close and called his inner wolf to the surface. The audience gasped, and without much effort, Gabriel’s head turned into his wolf form. His fingers dug hard into the kid's shoulder and made his body lean at a forty-five-degree angle.
“You’re lucky you’ve pissed yourself, I was gonna rip your head off and stick it on a pole. Any more talk of Declan and I’ll do just that. Now, clean your mess up and get into the basement.” Gabriel’s words snarled, and he spat saliva into the kid's face.
“Sor—Sor—Sorry, Sir, I won’t mention his name again,” the kid stuttered before raising his fist. “Rel, Rel, R…,” he started to mutter, before Gabriel pushed him down to the floor, and into his own puddle of pee.
Gabriel walked among the pack as everyone stepped away from him as he neared each of them. His finger pointed. “Now let that be a lesson to all of you. If I hear as much as a Dec, I’ll personally kill you there and then,” he snarled, as his head returned to its human form. “He’s the one who deserted you and quit, and I was the one who stood by you and stayed.”
He walked through the pack as the gap closed behind him, and they all began to follow. Gabriel led everyone to the basement under the apartments. There was complete silence the entire way.
“Are we all secure, doors and windows?” he yelled out.
“Aye, aye, Sir,” Gabriel’s men shouted. “All locked up. No way in and no way out.”
Gabriel raised his arms. “Let the show begin,” he boomed from cheers from all the pack.
It didn’t matter who the pack were rooting for, this was one night they'd all been waiting for. Which female was going to make the cut and become Gabriel’s alpha mate?
The double doors of the basement opened. Gabriel sauntered in and took a glass from the scantily-clad waitress. He eyed her up and down, her heaving bosoms were held in by her lace-frilled corset.
“Damn girl, why aren’t you fighting for me?” he asked. The waitress giggled. “Li’l ol’ me isn’t worthy of someone like you,” she replied, licking her top lip.
Gabriel reached to his pants. “You want to bet? I can make you alpha right now if you want,” he whispered into the girl’s ear. “Saying that, you can always make your way up to my apartment when all this is over, you won’t have any scratches on that pretty little face of yours,” he replied, now caressing her cheek with his fingers.
The waitress batted her eyelashes as Gabriel walked into the basement. He sat in his large leather chair that’d been set as his throne for the evening. A large, dark red, velvet and gold cover was draped over the top. Gabriel sat in his chair and crossed his legs and began drinking from his glass.
He watched the throngs of pack members filtering into the large basement area. All of Edmund’s gear was pushed way back into the dark corners and sat out of sight.
The basement walls had all been covered in dark red fabric apart from the area where the girls would be fighting for their place next to Gabriel. This was lined with clear plastic sheeting; the type used to wrap bodies and dispose of them in the forest, or at least that’s what they used it for in the movies.
All the pack filtered into the basement and hit the bar immediately. Gabriel spared no expense in making this a night to remember. He'd become a rather wealthy person when he'd called in his policy. Gabriel wasn’t the smartest kid on the block, but he wasn’t that stupid, either. He didn’t give Edmund all the cash for his experiments. Out of half a million, he'd forwarded just over a hundred grand. That was money well spent, and Gabriel was in possession of a case full of elixir to protect himself and his chosen ones against the effects of silver, and both Declan and Noelle had both lost their inner wolf. And unbeknown to the pack, the final event of the evening was choosing someone who would take on the huntress at her own game.
A fight to the death it would be, Noelle against the chosen one, yet not Gabriel’s new alpha, she was to be his for the evening, and he didn’t want the chance of losing her before he had his mating ritual.
Gabri
el knew in his mind, that it was supposed to be a joint hunting ritual, yet they still had no idea what hunters were out there. Word was, the hunters were re-grouping and building up forces, and they could’ve left a few to catch the pack unaware. That was another area that Gabriel wasn’t so stupid about. His new manta had become, “Don’t get into a fight you might lose, always make sure you can win.”
Maria stood close to Gabriel, and it wasn’t out of choice. If it were up to her, she’d shove his own silver bullet down his throat, and hopefully, his body would disintegrate before her very eyes. Maria was a devout follower of Declan, always was, and always would be. It wasn’t a crush because she hardly knew him, really. That was, apart from the time they got close at the camp before he left on his trek to find the witch. Maria knew there was only one woman for Declan and she was to be the main event of the evening. Maria felt the palms of her hands becoming clammy, and she really had no idea if Declan was going to make an appearance. And if he did, was he a wolf, or was he human? In all the questions she asked herself, not one of them she could answer.
Gabriel held his hand to silence the crowd. He stood. “We’ll have the first round of fights which I think is six, and then we’ll have a break. I have some delicious meat in the freezer room. Not as much as I hoped, because someone didn’t turn all the freezers off,” he said at the top of his voice, while he glared at Anthony and Stuart.
“We did turn the freezers off, didn’t we?” Anthony asked Stuart.
Stuart nodded. “Yeah, I know we did. Oh well! Too late now.”
Gabriel reached into the black bag Maria was holding. “Tanya,” he shouted holding a ball with her name on it. “Versus Susanna.”
The two girls walked to the outlined area. Tanya pulled off her t-shirt and stood there in a white tank-top and no bra.
Gabriel raised his hand. “We all wanted to the death, I know, but we need each and every one of you. Just to the point of being close to death,” he said as he smiled an evil smile. “FIGHT!”
