The Spiked Wolf

by David Shiels

  She went to bed by herself. She only slept with Reinwolse when it included sexual intercourse, and there was beginning to be less and less of that.

  A Return In Time

  She woke the next morning. Red light shot through the glass ceiling. Yet another beautiful warm day to visit the beach. Renwolse said he would visit her later but she didn’t believe it.

  The beach was only a twenty minute ride from the city and the view along the way was breath-taking. Beautiful misty valleys, crevices filled with flowers of every colour possible. There was so much green that a naturist would have a heart attack.

  Now it was boring.

  She rode in a small white carriage with no roof and kept her eyes closed along the way. Three wolves pulled her along at a gentle pace creating a soft breeze that accompanied the sensual heat.

  The beach was big and wide and appeared suddenly from the thick forestry that covered the winding path.

  Claudia always chose to be near the water. The tide never came in on this planet, so there was no fear of being pulled away into the seemingly endless sea.

  She removed her thin black robe and lay on a long plank of smooth wood in a small white bikini; she didn’t know why she wore it. Old habits learnt from her old life still lingered here. Two wolves stood at either side of her and slowly swatted two large pieces of leaf. Another held a small plate of fruit. She was bored of fruit. Once the food taken from earth had run out all she could eat was the food generated by the planet; fruit. She missed meat, she missed lobster, she missed sitting in restaurants refusing to tip waiters who gave her extra special service, expecting to make more money out of her.

  She shook her head to dispel these thoughts when she saw a figure walking towards her. At first she assumed it was Reinwolse but it looked feminine and quite short.

  She sat up and watched the figure come closer. It was a Japanese girl, she had tattered long black hair. Her face was smooth and young. She was wearing a heavily stained kimono.

  She pulled two blades out of her pocket and threw them at the two wolves cooling Claudia down. They fell dead instantly as the blades pierced their fragile skulls.

  “Who are you?!” Claudia demanded. She was extremely intrigued. Were there humans on this planet? People to make suffer? To rule over? She had so many mixed emotions of fear and excitement.

  “I’m here to make things right”. The girl spoke as she threw another blade.

  Claudia rolled back and ducked behind her seat. The blade sunk hard into the wood. The girl had strength despite her scrawny exterior.

  The girl ran and jumped on the wooden plank. Claudia stood and karate chopped her feet sending her to the sand. The girl recovered by flipping back onto her feet.

  “You need to die” The girl said, with absolute finality.

  Claudia’s blood bubbled at this and she charged at the girl. The blood rage overtook her reasoning to run and get help.

  The girl was quick, quicker than Claudia. She punched Claudia in the throat before she could even swing her arm then quickly spun behind her and grabbed her in a hold. She had both her arms tight around Claudia’s throat with a blade in one hand. Claudia attempted to push the bladed hand away as best she could but the girl was pushing hard. The blade crept ever closer to her neck.

  “Stop this!” Shouted Reinwolse. He had been alerted of the girls presence by wolf scouts. He was accompanied by ten other wolves. His heart beat fast; If the girl managed to kill Claudia then everything would be for nothing.

  “Get this slant eyed bitch off me!” Claudia whimpered.

  “I want my sister back and this is the only way! I’ve trained a long time for this moment” She spat on Claudia’s hair as she shouted. Claudia could smell her putrid breath.

  So it was this girl who had been killing volves. Claudia knew she hadn’t killed so many, yet each day more names would be announced missing.

  She whispered into Claudia’s ear. “You must listen to me” Desperation filled her voice “If I kill you then everything returns to how it was before any of this happened.”

  “You mean if I die, time returns to before the wolves attacked earth?” Claudia spoke louder than she should have and Reinwolse heard every word.

  “Yes” Ming replied.

  Reinwolse held up the stone amulet that was bound around his neck. It began to sparkle.

  Claudia thought about this as quickly as possible: If she died she could go back to her old life; her old position of power that she could work on expanding. She felt empty here. Life was going nowhere. She had experienced so many strange things in the past six months that she was willing to believe this girl. She loosened her grip and the blade dug into her neck.

  “No!” Reinwolse growled. The wolves all shot hasty arrows, barely missing Claudia and clashing hard into Ming, she flew back onto the floor, her face splattered with arrows.

  Reinwolse ran to a bleeding Claudia, pressing his hand to her neck.

  “You let her do this?!” Reinwolse asked shocked and appalled. After all they had been through.

  “I’m goddamn tired of wolves” Claudia said weakly, and then her vision turned to black as calmness entered her body.

  Outbreak: Day Zero

  Home

  Birds chirped nearby while the sound of traffic filled the air as car’s beeped, roared and skidded.

  Claudia’s head jumped forward just before her eyes sprang open, as if waking from a terrible nightmare. She held her hands around her neck, expecting there to be a gashing wound squirting blood. She looked around with wild eyes and immediately they filled with tears as the realisation set in; she was home, back in her deluxe studio apartment in the heart of St. Petersburg. She slowly slid out of her four poster king sized bed while still scanning her surroundings and walked bare foot on the sleek pine flooring.

  It was one large elegant room. It had everything that Claudia needed when she wasn’t working. It was in pristine condition; everything looked new and untouched.

  Claudia opened a set of doors that led onto a balcony. The sound of vehicles increased as she slid it open; a sound almost forgotten.

  She looked over the city. Small snowflakes were dropping from the sky, gently stroking against her once again pale skin.

  She stood there for some time, looking at the world around her; the cars rushing around the busy streets, people swarming in their usual unstylish, drab clothing.

  The sky was dull, dark and cloudy. A scathing contrast to the world she had just exodus from, but she was happy to be back in it.

  She went to her kitchen and ate. It had been months since she had eaten any of her favourite foods. She indulged in more than she should have and felt slightly guilty afterwards; she couldn’t afford to get fat, she needed to be in power to do the things she wanted to do now, and to be in power she needed her looks.

  A phone bleeped on the counter. Claudia opened the phone and saw that she had a text message.

  Axel.

  She looked at the corner of the phone and saw the date. Today was the day she was due to go on her small adventure with the handsome Swede. She closed the phone and threw it inside the empty rubbish bin.

  She had to go see her business.

  Claudia showered and dressed herself; she wore a black top with black leggings with a small slim fitting dull gold jacket. It felt good to have her own clothes back and be able to wash herself with her expensive products. Her hair hadn’t felt so good in months.

  As she approached the door of her apartment it opened and in walked a small middle aged brown faced woman.

  “Miss Claudia” Said the woman in a hard to understand accent.

  It was her maid. She didn’t really need her but she liked telling people that she had someone clean her apartment every day.

  “Um, excuse me but what do you think you’re doing?” Claudia barked. “What if I was walking around naked when you walked in? How dare you”

  “I’m so sorry Miss Claudia, but you are usually at work at-” Th
e woman’s voice crawled to a whisper.

  “Just stop! I cannot understand a word you are saying”

  She stared at the leather faced woman, her head aimed to the ground. This woman who could barely speak Russian, with hardly any friends or family; Claudia wondered how hard she would beg for her life. She looked at her neck and wanted to know how much blood would gush out if she reached over and jabbed a pair of scissors into the throbbing vein. The urge became stronger the longer she looked, her hands almost involuntarily reaching for a nearby weapon.

  Claudia stopped herself. She didn’t want to get blood on these clothes. She walked past the woman, through the door and slammed it hard behind her. She let out a loud breath. She felt perspiration build up all over all body: how long could she hold these feeling at bay?

  She rode the elevator down to the ground level and approached the large main set of glass doors. Next to them was a young valet talking to a middle aged woman. Claudia waited a few steps away from the door and began gently swinging her hips. The man noticed Claudia then quickly dashed to open the doors for her.

  “My apologies miss Claudia” Said the blushing man.

  “That’s more like it” Claudia giggled. She walked through the open doors and onto the busy main street.

  She strode down the large steps onto the main street. Dirty people everywhere. She pondered getting into a taxi but for this day, she wanted to walk.

  She strutted along the pavement, head held high. Her glamour and grace stood out like jewels in a rusty crown. Heads turned. Cars almost crashed. Men wolf whistled. Children looked at her, mouths open wide in awe. Women gave their significant others deathly glares knowing all too well that Claudia could steal them away at a moment's notice.

  She loved it. She had missed this attention, this power. The influence over the beasts felt too fake. But this she had earned.

  She arrived at her business. Hundreds of people were coming and going up the grand steps. It had felt like a lifetime since she was here. Her last image of this place was that of sickening negligence from her staff.

  She walked up the steps, nodding, smiling and giving half waves to those people of importance. Her staff members knew better than to talk to her.

  Her heart pumped slightly as she walked through the open door into her favourite place in the universe.

  It was exactly how she remembered it.

  The chandelier was swinging smoothly. The Canadian pine walls were beautifully shining, currently in the process of being cleaned by an old fat Indian woman. The statue of her father stood proudly on the balcony.

  She walked through the foyer. It was a hive of activity. Felicity was on the reception, her body turning stiff as Claudia rounded the circular table.

  “Go-go-good morning Miss Claudia” Felicity stammered.

  Claudia let out a smile as she remembered her last memory of the girl; her being diced by a wolf. Felicity was surprised by this smile and gave a bigger one back. Claudia scowled. Felicity turned her face away.

  She continued further into the building, down one of the many hallways of offices with glass walls. Her presence was like a darkness descending upon every worker, once it struck one person it became like a chain reaction and each one felt it enter them. Claudia stood and stared. She loved how tense their bodies would be the longer her gaze lingered. She saw sweat appear under armpits and on foreheads. She didn’t want to lose this again. She ruled the world in one timeline, achieving a dream, and she will do it again in this one, achieving a new dream.

  A serious looking woman in a grey business suit hastily approached Claudia.

  “Miss Claudia, Victor is here to see you; he is waiting in your office”

  The woman walked off just as fast as she had come.

  “Victor?” Claudia said, befuddled.

  She walked to the elevator and pressed the button to her office in almost a daze; she wasn’t sure what to think of this. Her heart pounded in her chest the closer she came to the top floor.

  The doors to her office opened in a slow dramatic fashion. A suited grey haired man was by her desk looking out of the window. Claudia edged into the room, her heart beating faster than it did even during the war on the wolf planet.

  The man turned around, causing Claudia to burst out into loud tears. She ran towards the man with her arms stretched wide.

  “Daddy!!” She screamed as she placed her arms around him. “I’ve missed you so much”

  “For what do I owe this pleasure?” Victor laughed and stroked Claudia’s hair “I’ve only been gone three days”

  “You’re not dead?” Claudia looked up to him and sniffled.

  “What disgusting individual told you that? You know I travel a lot”

  “It doesn’t matter, you’re here now” Claudia beamed a large smile, revealing all of her teeth, and then rested her head on his chest. “I have so much to tell you”

  Clauda had never felt such happiness in her life. She never dreamed she would ever see her father again. She knew she was blessed and she knew she was going to have a fantastic new life. She wanted this moment to last forever.

  But it didn’t.

  Claudia felt a rumbling all around her; she looked up and saw the world around her shaking and shimmering. She glanced up to see the face of her father now replaced with a black empty crawling void. Her scenery slowly changed as pieces of the fabric around her twisted and lifted up into an endless whiteness. She let out a squeal as she strongly gripped the fading figure of her father; it felt like she was losing him again.

  Claudia was alone, surrounded by soundless white. She fell to her knees, her face smothered in runny mascara.

  After a few moments, the dream dissolved.

  Outbreak: Day One hundred and eighty-three

  A Fitting End

  Claudia felt dizzy. She felt the mental anguish she experienced in the dream still linger on. However, physically she had never been better: she felt energetic and full of life.

  Yet…

  She couldn’t move her arms.

  She couldn’t move her legs

  She opened her eyes.

  Standing in front of her was Reinwolse; A smile on his face.

  Claudia assumed she was underground. She was in a small room; the walls, the ceiling and the floor were all made of mud and dirt. She couldn’t move. She was wearing a large sparkling white dress.

  “It was a close call there Claudia” chuckled Reinwolse “Almost lost you.”

  “Where am I? I shouldn’t be here!” Claudia snapped.

  Reinwolse paced back and forth in front of Claudia.

  She was held tight against a glowing wall of dirt and earth. Vines and roots bound her arms and legs. A large piece of a tree trunk was halfway out of the wall above her head.

  “You know I can’t let you die, but I also can’t let you run free any longer” Reinwolse spoke with determination. He truly felt he had no choice but to do what he was doing.

  “All those months you did not see much of me was because I was creating this thing you are now, and forever, bound to.” He walked up close to her face. Claudia looked at him with a gobsmacked expression.

  “I knew living on this planet would not satisfy you for long, but I thought we had longer. I really enjoyed the rough sex.” He licked her face and she grimaced. She began to see him like she did her brother.

  “Let me go, you can’t be serious!” Claudia said, both dramatically and sarcastically. She held back because deep down believed she would get out of this. She had an army of wolves who would come and save her. She knew this. She had been saved in so many deadly situations that she didn’t feel fear any longer.

  “No, I cannot let you go.” He replied bluntly “While you were possessed by the evil of the stone, it whispered to me what I must do to have a long future as a ruler of this planet, and perhaps the entire universe. I cannot let you go, ever.”