The Spiked Wolf

by David Shiels

  The man released one hand from the drill while still able to maintain a stalemate, then delivered yet another back handed slap to Jessica, his long arms easy to reach her effortlessly. The recoil from the slap had one foot of Jessica land in the vomit pool on the floor, sending her off on a slide. She released her hands from the drill in an effort to cushion her fall but she was too slow, smashing her head hard as she landed. Her grip on the drill finally now released, the man powered it up and aimed it towards an unconscious Claudia.

  “Sir?” A rough accented voice came from the doorway

  The drill powered down.

  “What is it, Stone?” Badger’s voice was high and angry, it sent shivers down Stones spine.

  Stone’s eyes fixed onto the lifeless looking body in the operating Chair. She had been so nice to him and merely an hour ago was smiling and flirting with him. Now here she was with torn clothes, blood stained, a strange object sticking out of her, a pale ill looking complexion, and one of the men who he respects most in the world leaning over her with a drill. The lovely woman who had spoken to him about her child was also on the floor, holding her head, looking slightly dizzy.

  “Well, what is it Stone? Do not piss me off, not today, and especially not now” His voice somehow rose even higher.

  He yanked his eyes away from Claudia and placed them onto badger.

  “S-Sir, there’s been an important call from HQ, you really need to take it, they say there had been developments and they need to speak to you right now” He felt sweat clam up under his headgear.

  “Fine!” Badger slammed the drill down hard on the table, leaving it dented. He looked down at a defeated Jessica. “You have your way for now, woman, give the girl a short break, analyse what you have extracted so far, then get back to performing more experiments”

  Jessica said nothing and slowly returned to her feet while the large man walked off, his feet making loud banging sounds as each step thumped down hard on the floor.

  “Stone” Jessica placed her hands on the table to steady herself “Please take this woman to be with her friends, I’ll call for her when I am ready to continue”

  “Sure thing Doctor Jessica” The man walked past her, giving her bruised face a sorrowful glance.

  “Wait” Said in urgent manner. “I need to release this spike from her body”

  Stone watched as Jessica carefully removed the large spike from Claudia’s rag doll body.

  After Jessica had finished he released the binds that bound Claudia, picked her up then walked her out of the room.

  Bad Cop

  She was now getting used to opening her eyes and not being sure where she will be when she awakens.

  This time she was in a very cold room, however, her body instantly ignited as the pain she felt all over her body kicked in, she really felt like she was on fire, and before she could fully take in her surroundings the pain would cause her to curl up into a small ball, hoping that holding herself tight would somehow calm the constant throbbing pain: It didn’t. It was the first time in years that she wished that her father was literally by her side to comfort her; she felt as if she was really in over her head this time and the hope of a last minute save was running slim.

  Shivering from pain rather than the cold, she peeked her head over her knees and scanned her new surroundings; instantly mental pain was felt alongside her physical pain as she felt she was having a nightmarish moment of deja vu.

  Inside the room, which was reminiscent of a slightly wide hallway, were Lisa and Studley, both currently sleeping. Claudia noted that Lisa was still lying on her lazy fat backside, while Studley was still situated like a statue with his back against the wall. Claudia looked down the dimly lit room with contempt, she was stuck in a hell with two of the devil's finest children.

  The silence of the outside world was worse than any loud noises. The only sound that kept Claudia company were those of Lisa’s slow, long snores and Studleys odd twitches and moans as he probably dreamt about chasing some dog around and around the garden, then stabbing it.

  The sounds echoed and overlapped each other, and soon Claudia found herself noticing the pattern both of them made and soon they were just noises merging together. She felt like this place would send her insane. It had only been five minutes since she had regained consciousness.

  However it was something to focus on, making her pain fade slightly into the background as she focused more and more on the timings of the sounds. Eventually the ball she had formed out of her body fell to the side and she entered into a painless sleep.

  “Wake up!” A man’s voice, a familiar voice, a dreaded voice “Wake the hell up I said!”

  Claudia woke up for the second time in the same dim cold room. She had thought that waking up the last time was like being in hell, this time it made it seem more preferable however depressing it was.

  She awoke to Badger bent over her, pushing her with his hands and brushing his feet against her body, his face was close to hers and his breath was heavy, making her find it hard to catch her own breath, and felt for a very small moment that she was going to suffocate.

  Now that her eyes were open Badger was quick to announce to her why he wanted her awake and paying him full attention.

  “No time for games now you murderous bitch, tell me how to stop these wolves!” He pushed harder and harder with each breath that passed his lips.

  Claudia moved her head away from his to give herself room to breathe, followed by giving her first genuinely honest, modest answer.

  “I have no idea...” And that was all. She didn’t want any more pain but she didn’t know what else to say, she had the snarky rude responses in her head but this man was in power, he reminded her of her father when he was mad; she knew when to back down from certain people. Not many of them were in the world, but this was one of them.

  “The tests we took did not help us in the slightest, we could not find any links between you and the wolves that aided our efforts to stop them” He didn’t stop to catch his breath “Right now the American army is facing a huge army of wolves and it’s not looking good” His voice grew larger, sending further shivers down her spine, adding onto the layers of fire and ice that already plagued her flesh.

  Claudia kept her head facing the ground, she knew she was involved with the wolves and somehow she was responsible for them, but she didn’t know how to stop them and she wouldn’t even if she knew how; they were all she had left, the only power, respect and future she had. She needed to rebuild herself and somehow survive. The American dream was no more, but seeing it fall to ruins might be the next best thing.

  Badger released a sharp kick into Claudia’s stomach; she felt the foot dig deep, the man really put a lot of effort into it.

  A slight squeal of delight came from Lisa, a smug grin appearing on her otherwise pained face. The man paid her no attention and continued sticking his boot into Claudia.

  Once that got boring he dragged Claudia up by her sweat ruined hair and slammed her back hard against the wall.

  “Tell me what I need to know, I saw you control that wolf in the interrogation room! God damn it woman haven’t enough people died?!” He grunted.

  He released a few punches into the exact location where his boots had recently been, the agony caused Claudia to expel air from her mouth; She couldn’t release a sound but kept her head up towards the ceiling. She thought that her ribs were going to soon break.

  After a few more well placed punches and repeated threats, the man threw her to the ground, watching as she crawled away into the nearby corner.

  Badger knew that further assaulting the girl was going to get him nowhere, so he stood up and faced Studley. The young man was giving him a look of admiration. He had never met anyone with such an extreme case of autism before, he found himself despising the guy. Why wasn’t he leaping to his twin sisters defence? He wondered that maybe he was one of those homosexuals. He wondered if his twin would have the same lack of empathy.


  “If you won’t reveal how it all ends, maybe your twin brother will instead?”

  Badger cracked his knuckles before smashing them strongly against Studley’s jaw. Studley’s face swung to the left while the rest of his body remained exactly like a statue.

  Studley returned his head to where it was and remained looking at the man. It was a test. This man was giving him a test. He had to take this punishment and show the man that he is capable of joining the army.

  Claudia watched on from her corner, sat on her side like at the beach.

  “Oh my god! please stop it, not my lovely brother” Claudia tried her best to sound like a concerned sister, her wounded body helping her deliver the lines perfectly.

  Lisa looked at Claudia with absolute disgust, she knew exactly what game she was playing. How could she use her mentally ill brother as a shield to absorb pain for her?

  The man believed Claudia’s pained cries for her brother and continued to pummel the young man's face. Teeth loosened in his mouth as badgers heavily ringed hands collided with the special man’s face in many different areas.

  Studley was physically in intense pain, his body however showing no signs of it. His mind was focused on impressing this man with his prowess. He did not understand the situation at all.

  Claudia continued to plead and beg for fake mercy for her brother, being sure to stop when the man would face her. Lisa wanted to do her own begging and pleading but Claudia’s voice was louder, meaning she wouldn’t have any impact

  The man moved onto to using his knees, adding in many blows to Studley’s ribs. Cracks could be heard echoing throughout the room as ribs were smashed.

  Lisa, unable to see her big brother take anymore abuse, decided that it was time to teach this big bully a lesson. She painfully picked herself up and threw her entire body onto the back of Badgers. He may have been 6’3 and weighed sixteen stone, but this young overweight girl packed a lot of weight herself, it felt like he was back in the African jungle carrying a thirty stone rock on his back for charity.

  Lisa stuck her teeth into Badgers neck, used her hands to scratch his face and used her feet to latch onto the inside of his crotch; she had a complete firm hold over him. Badger spun around as he tried to release himself.

  Claudia, seizing the moment, ignoring all of the pain she felt, ran up to the large man and, without even a second thought, plunged her fingers deep into both of his eye sockets. It felt to her like she had pushed her fingers into the centre of two boiled eggs. Badger screamed as his vision turned completely black. The pain he felt caused an extreme amount of adrenaline to rush through his entire body, giving him almost bear like strength. As Claudia stepped back he reached behind and grabbed Lisa’s head with a single hand, effortlessly pulled her over his head and slammed her directly onto the ground in front of him. She fell hard onto the floor, a bone crushing sound being heard as her right arm was crushed beneath her weight. She let out a soundless scream as she writhed.

  Studley looked on through swollen eyes, still wondering if he had passed his test.

  As Badger grabbed at his eyes and swung wildly around the room, a voice came through the radio that was latched onto his belt, it calmed him down slightly as he paused to listen:

  The Truth Revealed

  “Sir, there has been a development with the test results. Ms Blight has found a link between the cells of the wolves and of those of the woman. She has found that when the woman’s cells die, the ones of the wolves weaken; they seem to react with each other. In other words: If you kill the woman it is likely the wolves will die with her. It’s not a guarantee but we have our backs against the wall”

  Badger, still full of rage over his loss of sight, stayed completely still, relying solely on his senses to locate his prey.

  Claudia heard the message loud and clear, she knew that this was it, she had nothing else to fall back on. She had to escape or die. She noticed the key card hanging from his belt on a small keychain, all she would need to do was release it and she could escape from the room, and the rest she would make up as she went along.

  He was ready for her. She thought she was fast but he was faster, he heard her the moment she moved in closer, grabbing her directly around the throat with both of his large strong hands. She scratched hard at his hands, digging her nails as deep as they would go, breaking the skin and drawing blood.

  He slammed her into the nearby wall, as hard as his current bear strength let him. Claudia felt all of the air escape from her body; she felt limp and faint. His hands tightened, Claudia instantly felt life drain from her body as she struggled to regain the lost air. She stared directly into his dark blood stained eyes, the pulsing purple veins covered up the majority of the white making him looked like a hybrid human zombie; alive, but so dead in the eyes. She was unsure if he was able to look into her terrified dying eyes, but she was too weak to hide it.

  Lisa, still feeling pain all over her body from the explosion, and now with a broken arm added to it, forced herself onto her knees, and using a trick she learnt from a friend in school and quickly unlatched the keycard from Badgers waist. He paid her no attention, too focused on draining the life out of Claudia.

  Lisa spared a glance for what was happening right next to her. She would love to see the death of the bane of her life, but right now her instinct forced her to save what she cared about: Herself and her step-brother.

  She limped over to Studley, barely able to hold herself up, and shook him by the shoulders.

  “We need to get out of here, right now Studley!” She found it hard to express how urgent this was.

  Studley looked at her with those innocent eyes and said “I need to see who wins” then he turned back to the man strangling his sister.

  “I will get help, I promise, I love you” She whispered it in a low voice while she stroked his face, but before she could begin to act on her promise, a familiar noise was heard from behind her, a noise she never wanted to hear again, a noise that has disrupted her sleep since her first time hearing it.

  The man began to cough uncontrollably, releasing his grip on Claudia as he fell to his knees. Then the screaming began. Claudia knew it all too well. Her destiny was not to die here. A big smile developed on her face as she knew the threat was over.

  She was back in control, back where she belonged.

  True Power

  The large man began the transformation: he felt excruciating pain as his knees snapped back upon themselves. He felt the big muscles in his biceps explode as they popped and shrank, like air releasing rapidly from a balloon. His felt his insides twist and turn as they moved location and changed shape.

  Lisa could not bear to witness this again, if she did then sleep would never claim her. She limped as fast as she could towards the door, and then quickly swiped the key card against the small red monitor. The door slid open but before she could enjoy this small victory she was faced with yet another blockade; Stone was standing directly in the doorway.

  He slammed the butt of his rifle into her face, smashing her nose. As the large woman dropped out of his vision he could see what was happening at the back of the room. He had seen the videos. He knew exactly what was happening. He positioned himself and rested his rifle on his shoulder. He aimed at his target.

  Her beautiful eyes, her smile, her sexy accent, her luscious hair. Brief false images of her sitting on the edge of his truck, naked, with her legs spread. Him with his penis hard and ready to penetrate his target, her lips as soft as ice cream on his rough damaged lips. The chemistry igniting both of their passions.

  This hesitation cost him. The transforming Badger flung a premature needle towards stone, it was softer and shorter than a normal spiked wolf needle but it had enough velocity and sharpness to pierce deep into his unprotected forehead. Blood dripped down his face as he slumped to the floor. He then began having a seizure.

  Lisa, now with a bloodied face and a broken nose added to her injuries, slowly crawled across the floor, too wea
k to even stand anymore. She didn’t even have the strength to crawl over the twitching body of Stone.

  “I guess it was me that turned mister angry into one of my many servants” Claudia’s voice had lost all of the fear and agony that blemished it just moments ago. It was back to being filled with arrogant smugness.

  “I think you’ll make a wonderfully fat lazy servant” Claudia squatted down over Lisa as she futilely tried to crawl out of the room.

  Claudia softly placed her hands around the big girls neck, then stuck all of her nails just deep enough to penetrate her skin, ending the ritual by dragging them around the until her nails reached the roots of Lisa’s hair.

  Claudia stood tall and proud as she turned around slowly in three hundred and sixty degrees, admiring the work she had performed, the screams from Lisa and Stone rung beautifully in her ears even though she knew the sound was worse than that of a pack of cats having a fight in the middle of the night. She wished she had known she was able to do this long ago, it would have made dealing with certain people so much easier. Just one single scratch could have saved her a whole heap of misery, but she was grateful she at least got a free ride to America.