by Dean Murray
“Five,” Allison chimed in.
“Sorry Al, you don’t really count.”
She pouted, so I humored her. “There are five of us, including Lucy. So, we just need to reach Lucy, and we should have no problem getting back out, five against three.”
“It's too dangerous,” Jason countered. “I'll call Dan’s old pack. For this, they will come. In the meantime I will try to stall Dan, and I will go alone,”
“Oh no,” I replied. “You aren’t pulling any of that gallant hero stuff with us. I, for one, refuse to be left out of the rescue.”
“Me too,” Allison chimed in.
“Me three,” added Max.
“Then it’s settled,” I said, turning back to Jason. “We go in together.”
Jason shook his head. “You could all be killed. He's not going to kill Lucy, but I don't think he will be as considerate with any of us. It's too risky.”
“It’s even more risky with just you going in,” I replied. “At least with all of us we have some chance of success. How long will it take for Dan’s old pack to get here?”
Jason met my eyes and tried to stare me down. I slowly crossed my arms and tilted my head to the side, staring back. Allison and Max came to stand on either side of me and mimicked my stance. Jason slowly nodded his assent, but he did not look happy about it. Too bad he didn’t have a choice.
Jason sighed. “Okay, here’s the plan . . . ”
The plan was that we would take Lela, in cuffs, with the pretense of making a trade. We knew Dan would never go for a trade, but if we could distract him with conversation, maybe one of us could get near Lucy and free her from any restraints she might have. The idea was that no matter what happened, Lucy would have as much chance of escape as the rest of us.
I was trying really hard not to think about the chance that we might not all escape. In the meantime, should we fail, we would hopefully have Dan’s pack riding in to rescue all of us. They were based in Utah, so they would have to fly. If they were able to get an immediate flight out, we would still have two to three hours before they arrived.
We went back inside and Jason went into the kitchen to call the alpha of Dan’s old pack. I listened to Jason’s side of the conversation as he detailed all that had happened. After a few minutes more, I heard the phone click into the cradle.
Jason came back into the living room. “They're coming.”
Max cleared his throat, turning everyone’s eyes to him. “What about me and Lucy? Will they make us go with them?”
Jason didn’t answer, instead he said, “You don’t have to come with to the ranger’s station, Max. You can just go home now.”
Max crossed his arms at the wrists, then drew them to his sides, like an umpire calling someone out. “No way. I’m coming. We’ll just have to worry about the pack when the time comes.”
It was settled. We gathered Lela up and trooped out the front door, faces stern and somber: a vampire, a human, a teen wolf, another wolf who was terrified enough for the rest of us, and a half-demon without a clue. Bad guys beware.
Chapter Eighteen
There is a bumpy mountain road leading to the old ranger’s station. We were all piled into Jason’s car, bouncing as we crawled along. I was in the front passenger seat with my trusty fireplace poker across my lap. Lela was in the back, sandwiched between Max and Allison. Allison had traded in her not so effective pepper spray for a baseball bat we had found in my garage, though that probably wouldn’t do her much good either.
I kept having to remind myself to breathe. My love for Lucy was all that kept courage running through my veins. The closer we came to our destination, the less confident I felt in our ability to pull off the rescue. Despite Jason’s assurances, I wasn’t convinced he could take Dan in a one-on-one fight.
Jason claimed that vampires were simply stronger than werewolves, though he did admit that Dan was stronger than any other werewolf he had ever met, confirming Lela’s claims. It wasn’t just Dan’s fighting skills that made him dangerous. Dan had more physical strength and speed than he should have, than any werewolf should have.
As for Max, I was even more worried. The unknown, at least to us, pack member had bested him pretty easily outside of Lucy’s house. Max claimed that his opponent got downwind and snuck up on him, but that fact alone made me think that Max wasn’t a match for him.
I was the wild card in the situation. Including me, we were three against two, given that we couldn’t trust Lela to join in the fight and Allison wouldn’t be much help. I was stronger than I used to be, but I wasn’t sure by how much. I didn’t think that I could trust my new-found strength in the upcoming battle. I’d proven that I could deal a hit, but taking one, well . . . I was not looking forward to finding out how that would go.
“Please don’t give me back,” Lela urged, breaking the silence and my train of thought. “I can’t go back to him.”
“We’re not going to give you back,” I said. “You’re just an excuse to get inside.”
“But what if you lose? He’ll take me back! I can’t go back!”
I’d had enough. I took off my seatbelt and leaned into the backseat, getting in Lela’s face. “You helped Dan attack us. As far as I’m concerned you’re the reason he has Lucy. Now you’re going to help us get her back, and just be happy that you’re still alive.”
Lela cowered and pressed herself back against her seat as much as possible, hiding behind her long, dark hair, trying in vain to distance herself from me.
“Calm down Xoe,” Jason said in a voice that was meant to be soothing. He had replaced his ruined shirt with a dark green cotton t-shirt from his trunk. Max and Allison had frozen in place, each shoved as far away from me as possible.
I glared back at Jason, a snarl on my face.
He spoke slowly, “Remember what happened the last time you lost your temper?”
I couldn’t think. All I felt was white-hot rage. It felt like burning embers were eating me up from the inside. This wasn't what usually happened to me when I got angry. This was something new.
“Remember what happened with Brian?” Jason urged just as calmly.
The memory of Brian’s scared face came flooding back to me, sobering me and chasing away my anger, most of it anyhow. My temper had never been this bad, not even close. It was an all-too real reminder of my . . . heritage. I sank back into my seat and crossed my arms, embarrassed by my outburst.
The bouncing of the car lessened as we began to slow. Jason pulled off to the side of the narrow road and stopped the car out of sight of the ranger’s station. If a large enough truck came by, it wouldn’t be able to fit past. Luckily, no one came up this way anymore.
Jason turned in his seat to look back at Allison. “You are going to wait in the car, in the driver’s seat, in case we need to make a fast getaway.”
“No way!” Allison argued. “You guys are so not going in there without me!”
“It makes sense Al,” I said, trying to placate her, because I agreed with Jason, “you’ll do us more good out here.”
It was better for everyone if Allison stayed outside. She would be out of harm’s way, at least farther out of it than the rest of us, and we wouldn’t have to worry about protecting her while we were trying to protect ourselves. I was reminded that I was supposed to protect myself, and my heart sped a little.
Allison’s face contorted into an angry pout. “Fine.” She was not happy, but I’d rather have her mad at me than dead.
We emerged from the car, Max holding onto Lela by her cuffs and me gripping my fireplace poker. As we began walking toward the hideout, the unusually warm air gave my skin an electric tingle. My earlier bravado with Lela had worn off. I was all nerves now. I stopped walking. “Umm, remind me again what the plan is?”
Jason stopped beside me, laying his hand on my arm, “You don't have to go in Xoe. In fact,” he gave me a small smile, “I would prefer it if you didn't go in.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m
fine. Let’s go.” I was so not fine. What was I thinking? I didn’t know how to fight. Until tonight, I had never even been in a physical fight with a human, and now I was expected to fight werewolves with a fireplace poker? I looked up at the sky, trying to keep myself out of full panic mode.
The moon stood out in the middle of the darkness, still mostly full. Tall pine trees cast ominous shadows across the dirt road leading to the abandoned ranger’s station. Another warm breeze blew my hair back out of my face. Sweat beaded on my forehead.
Jason’s tall, shadowy form led the way toward the abandoned building. I was next, with Max following a few feet behind us, dragging Lela along. I could hear Lela muttering, “No, no, no . . . ” under her breath. I had to admit, I sympathized.
We approached the small, log cabin style building. It looked dark and empty. Had Lela led us astray? I looked back at Max. He nodded, confirming that Dan’s scent was in the area. Jason motioned for us to stop.
Jason crept forward to the wooden door. He paused, as if sensing something, then suddenly rammed his shoulder against the door. It flew open inwards, slamming on the wall inside. All was quiet. Jason stepped into the dark interior of the building. From where I was standing, it looked empty. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. This felt like a trap.
Jason whipped back toward us. “Max!” he shouted.
I looked back toward Max and Lela just as a dark figure barreled into Max. Max, Lela, and the attacker tumbled into the bushes at the edge of the road, out of sight down the four-foot drop. I started to rush to the area where they had disappeared into the foliage, then paused in mid-motion at the sound of male laughter.
I turned back toward the ranger’s station as a short, stocky man came sauntering around the side of the building. His shadowed face revealed a full beard and completely bald head. Small, beady eyes were swallowed by his protruding brow, emphasized by his lack of hair.
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting you guys to be this stupid,” the man mocked arrogantly in a gruff, scratchy voice.
“Were you expecting to be outnumbered?” I asked with false bravado.
“By the two of you?” the man laughed, “Sorry, no competition.” He started to walk forward. “You think you scare me?” He chuckled to himself.
Jason stepped into his path. Jason spoke to me in a dead-pan voice, “Find Lucy.” His eyes never left his opponent. “Go!” he shouted, just as the man rushed him.
I went. I ran into the ranger’s station and began searching frantically, holding my fireplace poker ready to swing. The mostly bare room was still. I saw some dark shapes in one corner and ran to the largest shape, thinking it was Lucy. My heart dropped as the shapes revealed themselves as some bunched up tarps and half-empty gas cans. I checked behind the counter and in the small bathroom. Empty.
I backed into the main room and examined the floor. The moonlight shining in from the large wood-framed windows helped me to make out several sets of dusty footprints. One set led to the back door. I stopped to listen. I could no longer hear the sounds of struggle outside. I started to run back to the front door, but forced myself to stick to the plan. Our attacker’s purpose was likely to distract us while Dan escaped with Lucy. I couldn’t take that chance. I turned and ran to the back instead.
I stumbled out the backdoor into the woods. “Lucy!” I shouted. I started running down the trail that led away from the ranger's station. I continued shouting for Lucy as I ran. Drawing attention to myself probably wasn’t the best tactic, but I couldn’t think of how else to locate her.
Tree shadows played tricks on me, making me see hidden attackers at every angle. What if Lela had lied? Who knew how many wolves Dan had actually gathered? Suddenly, I was on the ground. A thrill of pain shot from my arm through my body. I raised my unhurt arm in weak defense as I waited for my unseen attacker to deal their next blow, but the blow never came. I struggled to sit up, looking for what had taken me down. There was a gnarled tree root sticking up in the middle of the trail. We had bad guys aplenty, and I was taken down by a tree root. I was afraid to look at my arm. I had a feeling it was broken.
There was a sound from within the trees to my left. I stayed sitting in the dirt and tried to calm the noise of my ragged breathing. I peered into the shadows in the direction that the noise had come from. “Lucy?” I whispered hoarsely through gritted teeth.
I heard the sound again, it was a soft whimper. I folded my arm gingerly against my chest, clenching my teeth against the pain. I struggled to my feet and followed the sound of the whimper, abandoning my poker in the dirt where it had fallen. I looked down to find that the underbrush had been trampled on one side of the trail. I ventured farther away from the hiking trail, following the trampled path. I stumbled through the vegetation, wincing each time a hidden root or rock jarred my arm, until I noticed a dark figure huddled on the ground.
I clumsily ran to the figure, keeping my hurt arm pressed against my chest with my good arm. Lucy was tied and gagged. Her restraints were only rope, not silver chains. I knelt beside her and she started whimpering again, eyes shut tight. She was still in the jeans and tennis shoes that she had been wearing earlier that night. Smartly, she hadn’t dressed for bed, else she’d be out here shoeless and in pajamas.
“Lucy, Lucy it’s me,” I whispered.
“Oe?” she asked through her cloth gag.
“It’s okay Lucy, you’re safe.”
I crouched next to Lucy and used my knees to keep my hurt arm pinned across my chest so I could use my good arm to untie her hands. I struggled with the ropes for several minutes, but was finally able to free her arms. Lucy rolled into a sitting position, ripping off her gag. She started working on the rope around her ankles.
“Where is everybody? Where’s Dan?” she whispered frantically. “We have to get out of here!”
“I know,” I whispered back. “We need to be quiet, okay? Can you walk?”
“Yeah, I think so. I don’t think I’m hurt.” Lucy slowly rose to her feet. I carefully got up, bracing my bad arm against my stomach with my good arm again.
“What happened to your arm?” Lucy gasped.
“I fell. Can you help me tie it in place?” I glanced down at the rope that had bound Lucy.
She nodded, pulling off her hoodie. She picked up the rope and managed to Macgyver a makeshift sling for my arm. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth together as she slipped the contraption around my shoulders. I had to squat down so she could reach behind my neck to gingerly tie the rope in place. As her wrists passed my face, I noticed raw rope burns around them. A pang of anger at Dan stabbed my stomach. I took a deep breath and managed to contain it, not wanting to lose my temper again.
“Is that okay?” Lucy asked, then before I could answer she added, “Where’s Dan?”
I let all of the worry I was feeling fill my face. “I was hoping you could answer that. I thought he’d be with you.”
Lucy shook her head. “The two guys that took me brought me straight here. I haven’t even seen Dan.”
I nodded. The two guys Lucy was referring to had to be the two that attacked us; the one that knocked down Max and Lela, and the bald man. That left Dan completely unaccounted for. “We have to go.”
I crept back toward the ranger’s station with Lucy following closely behind me. I tried to make as little noise as possible, but I felt dizzy and clumsy with pain. We stopped a short distance away from the dark building.
I turned to Lucy. “Allison is waiting down the road in Jason’s car. Go wait with her.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I have to find Max and Jason.”
“I’m coming with you.”
I gave her a worried look, but I knew the stubborn set to her jaw. It was a look that she, Allison, and I had in common, and Jason and Max for that matter. It was a wonder that our group functioned at all. Here’s hoping we could all stay alive and continue to function.
Lucy was coming, and I had to admit I was glad
for the company. We crept around the side of the station to the front door, where I had left Jason to face off with the bald man. The moon cast empty, still shadows all around. A chill crept up my spine. Something had gone terribly wrong. I should never have left them to fight alone. I crept to where Max had fallen into the bushes. Empty. That left the ranger’s station.
I had a fleeting urge to run back to the car and Allison, drive away, and pretend like none of this had ever happened. But Jason and Max were here somewhere, hurt, or maybe worse. I tried to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. Please don’t let it be worse. They were here because of us. They came to save Lucy, to protect Allison and me. We couldn’t leave them.
Taking a deep breath, I crept back toward Lucy and the ranger’s station. Realizing my intent, she turned to walk into the building ahead of me. I saw movement on the other side of the door. “No!” I shouted, just as arms reached out and pulled Lucy inside. She let out a small scream that was cut off as soon as she disappeared into the darkness.
It was just like the stupid people that get killed in the horror movies. The whole time, you’re shouting at the screen, telling them to run and call the cops. Whatever you do, you should never go back into the creepy dark building. Well, I was going in at full speed. I skidded into the building and came to a halt. I spun around just as the door slammed behind me. I was face-to-face with more features I didn’t know. Dan’s third pack member.
The man was tall and dark. He leered down at me with nearly black eyes, holding Lucy tightly against his chest with one hand clamped over her mouth. He didn’t seem to notice her struggling and kicking against him. He smiled at me, revealing large, square teeth. Dan’s voice behind me brought my attention back to the room.
Max was lying in the back left corner with the tarps and gas cans that I had mistaken for Lucy earlier. Lying very still. What I could see of Max’s face was covered in purple and black bruises, his mouth swollen and bloody. Jason was in the opposite corner with his back to the room. What I assumed were Lela’s cuffs were now around his wrists. I had no idea how they had unlocked them given we’d left the key at my house. Jason was just as still as Max. I looked around the room for Lela, and noticed a wolf peeking out from behind the counter. It had to be Lela. I hoped it was Lela, and not the bald man. Either way, we were missing one person. The wolf looked terrified, if a wolf could look terrified.
