by Wilson, Tia
The unseen thing made a sound like the rustling of a pile of dried leaves and Grace could feel its presence getting closer to her.
She gasped and her eyes flicked open. Her heart was hammering in her chest as the billowing threads of the nightmare floated away from her.
“Are you awake,” Anne said in a weak voice.
Grace breathed deeply as the images from her nightmare began to fade away. “I am. I was having a nightmare about being buried alive.” She said and paused to allow her breathing to slow down, “How are you feeling?” she asked in a groggy voice. Grace sat at the edge of her bed and stretched out her tired limbs. Her whole body felt stiff and bruised and her brain felt like it was experiencing a combination of the worst hangover and a sudden jolt of caffeine. Her mind felt alive and also mired in a web of throbbing pain.
“I can feel myself getting stronger. My wounds are knitting themselves closed as we speak. I think we might have a shot at this,” Anne said smiling. Her lips were still pale and a small amount of colour had started to come back into her cheeks.
“What does that feel like? I mean, healing so rapidly,” Grace asked.
Anne furrowed her brow for a moment and then said, “Its hard to explain. It feels completely normal if that makes any sense. The wound in my side, as it heals and the skin and damaged flesh knit back together I can feel a slight tingle and sometimes a burning sensation in the area. As it heals more the whole process seems to increase in speed until at the end it’s like a light switch coming back on, one second I can feel weakened and then flick,” and Anne gestured turning a switch on with her finger, “I feel a hundred percent again. It can be a little maddening for my husband sometimes. I’ve seen him with a bad cold and it seems to drag on for a week or two. The few times I’ve been sick the symptoms can be gone in as little as an hour.”
“Do you get the same diseases as humans,” Grace asked getting up and stretching her legs. It felt good to be moving again and she could feel some of the hang over like effects begin to fade as she paced back and forth.
“We are immune to a lot of the things that make you sick. There are some shifter specific diseases, somewhat similar to your influenza. Most of the time we shake it off in about an hour, but that hour can be hell,” Anne said laughing.
“I’d be happy to suffer through the flu if it only lasted an hour. I’ve had it a couple of times and its a pretty hellish two weeks,” Grace said.
“I’ve seen my husband with it and it looks like a terrible thing to catch. Those kinds of diseases seem to be few and far between for us. For all I know we are actually catching things all the time and our shifters immune system fights it off before we have a chance to feel anything. Actual injuries like broken bones or cuts can hurt us, and depending on the strength of the shifter the healing time varies. There are tales from our past of some of the strongest of our kind surviving beheadings. The old story goes one of our bravest and strongest warriors was cornered while shifted into a bear. His attackers were twenty strong and armed with guns, spears and bows and arrows. They cornered him and peppered his hide with poison tipped arrows. This only seemed to anger him and so they men who were armed blasted him with musket fire, followed by a barrage of spears. Once the smoke cleared the bear made one last attempt to escape, killing five men in the process. The odds were too much and his injuries sustained too many with no time to run and heal. The surviving men managed to rope the shifter and staked him to the ground. They then cut off all his paws while he roared in pain, and then finally decapitated this most fierce of warriors. Usually the men would of kept the head and the pelt as a trophy but they all believed that the beast they had fought was possessed by an evil spirit and no one wanted anything to do with it. They dug a shallow grave, salted the body and buried it. The men then studded the grave with religious symbols that would stop any evil escaping, or so they believed,” Anne said.
“Is that what they thought they were dealing with?,” Grace asked, “some sort of demon from hell?”
Anne nodded her head and let out a pained groan as she sat up. She put her hand up to show Grace she could get up on her own. “Through the years we have been mistaken for all sorts of mythical beings, ghosts, goblins, demons, you name it. So these men covered the grave site with symbols they believed would stop the demon from every returning. The legend goes that the great bear warrior was able to heal, even though his body was hacked to pieces. The men had made a mistake by burying all the parts together. When he healed and rose from the ground he hunted down every last one of the men who had tried to slay them and killed them in the most vicious of ways,” Anne said.
“Do you believe the story?” Grace asked.
“No, not really. It’s a story we got told to as kids. Something to display the indomitable spirit of the shifters that had roamed the earth before us. I always wanted to believe it, that we could come back from something as severe as dismemberment. Who knows where these stories come from, maybe there is a grain of truth to it and it gets exaggerated out of proportion as the generations pass it down,” Anne replied.
“We have similar tall tales too, although ours have less of a chance of being real. If someone told me there was a secret race of flying shifters, after all I’ve seen the last few weeks I’d totally believe them,” Grace said sitting back down and rubbing the muscles of her legs.
“How do you know about them?” Anne said with a perfectly straight face.
Grace looked at her friend for a beat and then burst out laughing. Anne joined her and then winced and clutched her side still laughing. “Too soon,” she said smiling.
Anne got up and walked with a limp to the cell door and ran her hands across the painted metal surface. “Solid steel and reinforced,” she said turning to Grace, “no chance of busting through it.” She pressed her ear against the door and listened and then crouched to the keyhole and peered through and then sniffed. “Key hole is blocked I cant see anything. I can hear what sounds like three to four men near by. A radio is on and it sounds like they are playing cards. I can smell something cooking. I think we might be close to the guard quarters,” she said and sat back down on her bed.
“Do you think thats all the guards? Grace asked.
Anne closed her eyes as she listened, her shifter senses picking up more than Grace could ever perceive.
“It sounds like the guards are the only other people in the building. The rooms around us all sounded empty,” Anne said.
“So whats the plan,” Grace asked.
Anne ran her hand along her bandaged side exploring how she was healing and said, “When they come to fetch us in the morning do nothing. Act weak and exhausted, as soon as we get outside the cell I will shift and take out the two guards. Hopefully I can dispatch them before the other two arrive. Once all of them are taken care of I’ll catch up to you. When I tackle the first two guards I want you to run and get out of the building as quick as possibly, don't look back. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Should I not stay and try to help with the guards,” Grace said.
Anne laughed and nodded her head and said, “I like the sentiment but you wouldn’t have a chance against those brutes that brought us here last night. You get out of here fast. You go back the way we came as that is the opposite direction to the guard quarters. Once you get outside you book it as fast as possible away from this place. I’ll be right behind you.”
“But,” Grace said trailing off.
“Look,” Anne said in a stern voice Grace had never heard before, “the odds are stacked against us. We have one chance at this. Please promise me you won’t hang around. I can take care of myself. You run as soon as you get the chance. Deal?”
Grace nodded her head and said, “Deal.” She got up from her head and ran her finger along the cold steel of the heavy duty door.
“Do you have any idea of what time it is?” Anne asked her.
“It could be close to morning. I think I drifted in and out of a light sleep for a few ho
urs,” Grace said leaning with her back against the door.
“I think you’re right. Judging by how much my healing has progressed it feels like it could be early morning,” Anne said shrugging her shoulders, “apart from that I couldn’t say. All we can do now is wait and rest.” Anne lay back down on her bed and closed her eyes.
Grace stayed at the door sniffing the air. Is that a steak I can smell cooking she thought to herself as her stomach rumbled. It doesn’t matter she thought as she sat back down on her bed feeling another dark cloud surround her. Lying back down and closing her eyes she tried not to think too much about plates piled with fries, a juicy steak and a cool glass of beer. Stop doing this to yourself she thought as her stomach made an even louder noise.
The two friends lay in silence not knowing how much time was passing by until Anne sat up and said, “Someones coming our way. Keep calm.” She lay back down on her bed and closed her eyes. Grace lay still in her bed her eyes transfixed on the grey metal slab that was a portal to the outside world. A metal hatch slid open at the top of the door and two eyes stared in looking at both women.
“Breakfast time ladies,” said a voice with a heavy accent, “stay in your bunks. Any movement and I will snap your ankle like a twig.” The metal hatch was slid back with a clang and keys rattled as they opened the door.
Bright light streamed in from the corridor and backlit two guards, one was holding a tray and the other had his hand on the butt of his machine gun. The guard stepped into the cell and put the tray on the floor. He pushed it across the floor with his boot. Coffee sloshed out of the plastic cups and into the two bowl of grey looking porridge.
“Eat up, keep both of you strong,” said the guard with the buzz cut and thick bushy eyebrows, his face betrayed no emotions as he watched the two women. Once the other guard was out of the cell, the door was slammed shut and bolted and their cruel laughter echoed down the corridor as they walked away.
“Pricks,” Grace said and retrieved the tray from the floor. The porridge looked grey and lumpy and had a thin layer of coffee floating on top. Grace prodded it with one of the supplied plastic spoons. It had the consistency of paste. Her stomach rumbled and she didn’t care anymore, she needed food. She but her bowl and mug on the floor beside her bed and brought the tray over to Anne. “Do you need me to help you?” she asked handing her it.
Anne poked the gelatinous mass of the porridge and said, “I might need help keeping it down,” and she tried her best to smile at Grace.
Grace returned to her bed and tasted a spoonful of the porridge. It was thick, gloopy, very sweet and still warm. She shovelled spoon after spoon into her mouth and licked her lips when she finished. She took a sip of her coffee and it was weak and watery. She downed it in a couple of sips and sat back on her bed. “I’ve had worse,” she said.
Anne finished hers off and pushed the tray away. “You’ll have to tell me about that sometime.”
“An old boyfriend. Cooking was not his speciality,” Grace said.
“I think we’ve all been there before,” Anne said lying back down. “I can feel my strength coming back to me. I think the wound has nearly knitted its self closed. If we are lucky we will get another few hours of rest and I will be close to full strength. We can do this, I can take those guys down. The element of surprise is on our side.”
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you were going to make it through the night. At one point you were so pale and your breathing was so laboured. I was sure I was going to lose you, it was the scariest night of my life,” Grace said with a shake in her voice.
“It would take more than surgery from a deranged doctor to finish me off. What I wouldn’t do for an opportunity to have a few minutes alone with him. That man is sick and twisted. The black bear clan outlawed any kinds of experiments on shifters a hundred years ago. There have always been rumours that the white bear clan have been secretly experimenting on their own kind or some of ours if they cross paths. They have no respect for shifter life, always trying to figure out how to improve on our abilities. It makes me sick to see them working with someone like this doctor. The elders are going to freak out when they hear what the white bears have been up to. I have a horrible feeling that this could be the end of our prolonged peace times,” Anne said looking over at Grace, “this could be all part of the prophecy.”
“What exactly does your prophecy say?” Grace said surprising herself at how angry she sounded.
“I only know parts of it. The elders have always kept the whole picture secret from the rest of the clan. Thats the way it has always been, no one ever really questioned it. All I know is someone arrives and joins our clan,” and she nodded over towards Grace, “after your arrival dark days are upon us. Things get worse before getting a lot better. That’s all I really know. Most of the clan thought it was just another of our old stories handed down as some sort fable. It wasn’t something we really talked about at all, as it was something that was actually going to happen.”
Grace let out a sigh and said, “Back there, back at Twin Rock the elders told me I was going to lose everything and I will have to make tough decisions in the future. None of it seems real to me. Could the elders be wrong about me?”
“I suppose it’s possible. I think if they picked you and had Tom track you down then they must of had a very good reason for that. I know that’s not what you want to hear. Maybe if,” Anne said stopping suddenly and cocking her head to the side. “The guards are coming, remember the plan.”
Grace felt a flush of panic course through her body, she balled her hand into fists and pressed them into her sides to stop them shaking so much. Her eyes where wide and transfixed on the door. The hatch opened with a clink and someone peered in and said, “Stay in your bunks.” Keys rattled and the door swung open. They are going to know what we have planned Grace thought as the door opened and the first guard stepped into the cell. They will see straight away how scared I am as she clenched her jaw and tried not to scream. The guard stepped to the side, his eyes darting back and forth from each bed. The doctor stepped into the room and Grace felt like it was ice water running through her veins. The doctor was smiling as he entered and said, “My two favourite patients. Time for a check up.”
This is not how it’s meant to go Graces mind screamed as the Doctor walked towards Anne resting in her bed. If he checks her bandages our plan will be stopped even before it starts. Grace lay on her bed feeling like every muscle was tensed. The doctors shoes echoed with each footstep as he got closer to Anne. She was lying on her back and looked like she was lightly dozing as the Doctor approached her, at the sound of his footsteps she turned and her eyelids fluttered open weakly. “How are you doing this fine morning?” he asked in a light and breezy voice.
Grace wanted to shout at him and tell him he is a monster for what he had done to both of them. Every muscle in her body was telling her to get up and run, but she couldn’t turn away from what was slowly unfolding before her eyes.
“Tired and sore,” Anne said in a croaky voice.
“I can get you something for that. It should also help with any irritation around your wound” he said pulling up Annes shirt to look at the bandages. He gently pressed his hand on her side and Anne let out a pained wince. “You are coming along very well, you have only a slight amount of swelling,” he said with pride.
The Doctor moved his hand along her side feeling for swelling and the side of his hand brushed against the catheter. It came loose from the bandages and clattered onto the floor. Everything seemed to slowdown. The Doctor glanced down at the surgical tubing on the floor. His eyes began to widen and his mouth started to open as started to say something. He never got a chance. Annes right arm swung up and Grace could see the sharp claws already ripping through her skin. The force of the blow ripped off the doctors lower jaw and he fell backwards in a spray of gurgling blood. The guard in the cell fumbled with his gun as the first splashes of the doctors blood drenched his face. Anne leapt from th
e bed and pinned the guard against the wall and tore out his throat. She released him and he sank to his knees holding his neck as his life flowed through his fingers.
The guard outside the cell rushed in and aimed his assault rifle at Grace and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun going off was like a series of explosions and chunks of masonry rained down on top of Grace. A line of bullet holes ran up the wall only inches from Graces head. Anne had grabbed the guard from behind and forced his arm up a split second before he pulled the trigger. Annes legs were wrapped around the guard and she had one arm around his neck and the other forcing his hand holding the gun up into the air. He pulled the trigger again and bullets ripped into the ceiling sending chunks of plaster flying and smashing the lightbulb with a pop. The guard stumbled backwards and slammed into the wall hard. Anne grunted and her grip loosened. The guard lowered the gun and the barrel bobbed in Graces direction. The black void at the end of the guns barrel bobbed and weaved looking for its target. Grace was backed against the wall frozen in terror waiting for the second when the bullets ripped through her flesh. The guards eyes bulged with fear and anger. He’s going to kill me Grace thought as she watched his finger about to press the trigger.
Anne grabbed the the guards head between her two hands. His eyes opened wide with terror and he looked directly at Grace as if he was pleading for help. With a sickening snap Anne jerked his neck to the side snapping his bones. He stood there his eyes fixed on Grace and his lips moving as he worded something silently. His arms sagged by his side and then his knees gave out and as he slumped to the floor Anne rolled away from him.
Grace was holding her mouth shut tight with her hand, she couldn’t take her eyes off the dead guard still standing across at her.
“We go now,” Anne said in an inhuman growl.
Grace turned to see her friend in mid transformation. Flesh ripping and falling from her in steaming strips. Her bones cracking and moving under her skin as they reconfigured. Part of Annes face and one of her blue eyes peered out from the rippling flesh of her face as it elongated and started to sprout fur. Her teeth began to fall out and clatter across the floor. Graces stomach churned at the transformation unfolding before her eyes.
