by C L Amos
“Oh? And you didn’t think to look in this big shiny box?”
“I did not sir! I will examine it at once.” He stepped closer and smelt a strange smell, almost like ammonia; why would they keep cleaning products in such a fancy case? He opened the door and saw the distinctive digital timer counting down… 20…19… He turned to Jim, “Run Sir!! It’s a bomb!”
Jim shouted and frantically called for an immediate evac as he bolted for the door…but there was no time, and before he could exit, a loud explosion erupted behind him ripping up all the loose boards and shelving, thrusting it out in all directions. Jim felt his eardrums burst as the shock wave hit him… his two security guards hurled him to the floor and covered him with their bodies as the wave of dust and debris came rolling over them.
Meanwhile, the young sweeper tasked with chasing the little boy eventually arrived at a small window. He had chased the little boy down a host of alleys as he bobbed and weaved through traffic, ran through apartment blocks and over roof tops … the little boy was quick and nimble footed, losing sight of his tracker halfway to his destination, but his tracker was a bear and he had the little boys’ scent. He followed carefully but methodically, and he noticed the boy slowed down… obviously sure that he had lost his tracker, as his route stopped zigzagging and covering multiple terrains; instead it straightened out as he reached his final destination. The sweeper sat on top of a small covering above the small window. He glanced back in the direction of the warehouse and as he did, he saw a bright red light mimicking the dawning sun – there was a blinding light followed by the unmistakable loud sound as the shockwave rocked his body and the energy of the blast dissipated through the ground. He immediately called the head controller and ordered a medical team. He knew that a blast of that size would have taken out everyone in the vicinity. He then ordered backup and pinged the location of the safe house as he pulled the pin off a gas canister and lobbed it through the window. He secured his mask and went in; he managed to shoot three dead as the group of wolves tried to flee in every direction. One had taken cover and proceeded to tackle him to the ground before the officer shifted into bear and made short work of the comparatively small wolf. By the time he reached the exit the remainder of the pack had fled.
Chapter 7 Flying Ambers
Julia knocked on Sasha’s bedroom door, “Are you awake, sweets?”
Sasha’s head felt heavy as she lifted it from the pillow. She glanced at her watch and it was already after eleven. “Shit…, Sorry, I must have killed my alarm.”
Julia opened the door and went and sat down next to her on the bed. “Everyone is waiting for you downstairs.”
Sasha shook her head… “What do you mean? Who is everyone?”
Julia leant down and kissed her head and took in a deep breath… “The elders… Tom…Pete is on his way and some guy who claims you gave him and his small pack permission to stay on Mischa and Ben’s farms for a while… well at least till the heat dies down in town?” Julia tilted her head to the side and pointed at her nose. “Although they haven’t admitted it, I am gathering that the heat they are referring to has something to do with the explosion that rocked the city a short while ago? Seems you really were a busy girl last night.”
Sasha sat up, “Yeah! It feels like it was a lifetime ago.” Julia’s words sunk in. “Wait, did you say explosion?” Her heart dropped, “Where?”
Julia stood up and handed Sasha a pair of shorts and a t shirt out the cupboard, “A warehouse close to the business district. It’s all over the news.” She took Sasha’s hand, “Come… it looks like we all need to fill in the blanks from last night’s little excursion.”
As they hit the passage, the distinctive sound of arguing emanated from the lounge, Julia broke off into a jog, “Oh shit, that sounds like Uncle Pete!”
Sasha followed closely behind and as they entered the lounge. Pete had the smaller man in a chokehold up against the wall, with the man’s feet dangling a few inches off the ground.
Sasha shouted, “Let him go, Pete!”
Pete increased his chokehold, “You don’t understand… I know him… He is one of your mother’s spies!”
“I know Pete… now put him down and I will explain.”
Pete let go and the man dropped to the floor. “I don’t trust him…”
She shrugged, “Pass me your phone.”
Pete shook his head. “She didn’t?”
Sasha held out her hand and took the phone. “Mom, if you are listening, which I am pretty sure you are, I told you no secrets… we cannot be divided in our fight against the High Council. All the secrets and under-handed bullshit stops now!”
Pete interjected, “It’s a little bit more complicated than that.”
Sasha nodded, “She thinks this is some sort of religious cult. Guess what? She is fucking right. Let’s call a spade a spade. We are all in the service of the mother Goddess…Julia, Tom and I have been called for a higher purpose… a destiny which is fast approaching at a lightening pace regardless of whether we wish to believe in it or not. Some things are out of our control and the only thing we can do is have faith in the Mother and hope that she guides us so that we can avoid a catastrophe!”
Pete put his arm around Sasha, “Janey lost faith in the Mother Goddess the day you were taken… she was filled with rage and anger and she never forgave her for not protecting you from Jim and Marcelle.”
Sasha shrugged. “She still has her faith. You can’t be angry with something you don’t believe in…”
She took out the burner phone and called her mother, “Have you been listening?”
Janey swallowed hard, “Sasha, I can’t talk to you right now, there are a lot of angry people running their mouths off this morning and I need to try to keep the peace… I will call you later.”
Sasha looked confused, “She hung up!? I just want to get everything out in the open, get us all on the same page - we need each other if we are going to get through this in one piece.”
Julia put her arms around Sasha, “Have faith, your mom will come around eventually! It’s just going to take time and you will have to carry the faith for both of you for now. Eventually your love and compassion will help her to free herself from the deep-rooted anger that has scarred her and separated her from the Goddess for all these years!”
Sasha held Julia tight, “I hope you are right… we could really use an ally right now and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Tom interrupted, “You still haven’t filled us in on what happened last night! Like why I had to kill an owl? Why we found a wolf pack on Ben’s farm? Why there was an explosion in town? Any of it sound familiar?”
Sasha shook her head… “What a crazy night…” She filled them in on the attack, her brief conversation with Jim, James rocking up at her door, the phone call with her mother, escorting James to the warehouse and flying back… She turned to the man still trying to clear his throat, “The bomb blast is all on him; I only found out about it when Julia came to wake me.”
The man eventually spoke, “We left James in the warehouse and set the timer. We figured Jim would start looking for him around 8:00am, so we set the bomb to detonate at 8:30… hopefully, we got the fucker.”
Tom grabbed the remote and switched on the TV. The bombing was being broadcast on every channel, the flying orange ambers filling the sky as the fire department tried to contain the fire. There was no mention of who was hurt or what had caused the explosion… the council were keeping a very tight lid on the story for now as they made plans and moved pieces into position.
Sasha was taken back and started pacing in a panic… “Holy fuckballs!! Did you try and assassinate Jim? Are you fucking insane? You and your pack have got to leave immediately!! Oh my god, the High Council is going to see this as an act of war… what the fuck was my mother thinking… well it’s no wonder she couldn’t talk. We can’t have you anywhere near here; the mountains are going to be swarming with sweepers searching for you and you
r little pack and you’d better hope and pray they never find you!”
Pete grabbed him again, “Did Janey order you to plant the bomb?”
The man shrugged, “No, it was my idea… I thought we could end it all, but we encountered shit right off the bat. A tracker arrived at our door just as the blast went off, and we scarcely managed to escape … the prick killed four of our pack!”
Pete dropped him, “Get the fuck out of my site… your stupidity might well have just put a nail in the coffin of the Faction. The High Council is going to go on a blood hunt if Jim dies.” Pete walked off, visibly upset, “I need to check in on your mother; she shouldn’t have to deal with this fallout on her own.”
Julia ran after him, “Is there anything we can do?”
Pete smiled at her, “Just focus on finishing your training… we are going to need strong leaders when the dust finally settles…”
Sasha’s phone started vibrating, flashing bright yellow… the alert had come through… she was being summoned to the compound.
She grabbed Pete and showed him, “This can’t be good!!”
Pete nodded, “I should go and be with your mother, she is going to need me…” he looked over at the twins, “and after this, my presence here would just give the council the green light to scorch the farm and everyone on it. You are going to have to play a very careful game… most importantly, you are going to need to protect these two.”
Chapter 8 Yellow Alert
Julia’s head flung back as if she had been possessed and she fell on the floor, shaking.
Sasha exclaimed, “What’s going on?”
Tom rushed over and placed a pillow under her head, “Her visions don’t always come as calm, gentle expressions of the future… the more violent they are, the more they wreak havoc on her body.”
Sasha was concerned, “How long do they last?”
Tom held Julia’s head gently between his two hands, “There! There Sis, it’s alright, I got you. Everything is going to be okay, just focus on my voice and you will come back to me.’’ He glanced over at Sasha… “She used to spend days in trances when she was younger, but now she can usually pull herself back within an hour or two.”
Sasha gasped, “Wow, that long?”
Julia’s convulsions finally stopped. Tom reached underneath her and carried her over to the couch, and gently covered her with a blanket.
Sasha’s phone flashed yellow again. She didn’t want to leave Tom and Julia, but she also knew that this was the only way she could keep them safe. If she didn’t return soon, she would draw unnecessary suspicion. She knelt over and kissed Julia on the forehead. “Take care my angel… I will be back soon.” She stood up, pulled Tom to the side and showed him her phone. “I have been summoned again and I can’t leave it much longer … I have to go.”
Tom was worried, “How long will you be gone?”
Sasha frowned and shook her head. “I honestly don’t know, but there is a good chance they are preparing for some sort of retaliation or at very least a show of power… either way, keep your pack on high alert and have them ready to evacuate on a moment’s notice… I will do whatever I can to keep you safe.”
Tom gazed down into her eyes… “I don’t know how I am going to survive without you!” He lowered his head and kissed her gently, “What if this stupid event has changed the timeline… what if we are plunged headfirst into a war? Maybe that’s why Julia is having such a violent vision?”
Sasha kissed him back, “I don’t know, but at least if I am there, I will have some idea of what’s going on and what they are planning and that might give us the edge to stay just one step ahead.”
His head swirled; the pheromones were taking control of their senses, and he picked her up and carried her into the hallway, “I can’t do this! The thought of not seeing you or being able to touch you is driving me insane.” He pulled down her shorts and lifted her one leg over his hip, undid his zip and thrust his hard cock up into her soft, supple vagina. Sasha felt weak and unable to argue. She groaned as she rotated her hips around his erect penis as she massaged her erogenous zone, heightening the sensation for both of them. She bit down hard into his neck which drove him insane with insatiable lust as he thrust and rotated his hips to match Sasha’s grinding motion. Their bodies so in tune, they climaxed almost simultaneously and just smiled and kissed one another as they rode out the pulsating orgasmic waves. Sasha let out a loud groan as she dropped her leg back to the ground, “I must remember to bite you more often.”
Tom held her hips, “If you stay, I promise you can bite me all the time…”
Sasha pushed him away gently, “I have to go. It’s the only way I can protect my family!” She smiled as she rubbed his beard. “I want you to carry on with your meditations and keep practicing your different forms… connect with each one… get to know their strengths and weaknesses intimately before your fourling birth.”
Tom nodded, “I hope you are back before then!”
Sasha kissed him, “I will try my best but, in the meantime, please keep your phones close,” She looked deep into his eyes, “If I send word you may only have a few minutes to get the pack out of here…” Her phone started to buzz again; the alert had changed to red. She shook her head… “I have to go,” she held his hand as long as she could before carefully placing the two phones in a pouch, stripping off her remaining clothes and taking flight towards Jim’s complex.
She made a quick stop at her apartment to hide the burner phone and change into her tactical uniform. She arrived at the complex, which was a hive of seemingly un-coordinated chaos. She waited in line behind several other operatives; no one seemed to know what the fuss was about or the reason behind the alerts. She eventually reached the security check point, gave her name and rank and received a color and a letter and was told to report to the third floor Office Suite B for further instructions.
Once inside, she saw several sweeper units climbing into blacked out SUVs and open-air trucks, and she heard from one of the commanders that they were to sweep the lower districts and bring in every wolf changeling for questioning. If they resisted, they were ordered to shoot them on the spot. Sasha panicked. She knew that Tom and Julia would be targeted next, and their wolf pack would be heavily scrutinized. She ducked into the bathroom on the third floor. She knew that texting Tom from her work phone would be risky but hoped with the hive of activity and the sheer enormity of yellow alerts being sent out that just maybe her message would get through undetected. She hit send and flushed the toilet, composed herself and exited the women’s bathroom and made her way down the narrow hall to Office Suite B. She opened the door and was met with stark silence. She checked the frosted label on the door… Office Suite B… and she shrugged and walked in nervously. The door clicked behind her and her heart dropped into her stomach. She realized instantaneously she was in an interrogation room; the large, mirrored wall was fitted with one-way safety glass and was able to withstand close quarter automatic machine gun fire.
She pulled a chair to the center and sat down. She was nervous… had they traced the call… did someone give her up…were they just suspicious and looking for information? “Why the fuck am I in an interrogation room in the middle of an obviously serious crisis? Surely my skills are better utilized out in the field?”
The voice came over the intercom, “What do you know about the bombing of a warehouse this morning?”
Sasha shrugged, “Only what I saw briefly on the news. Would you mind telling me what is going on?”
The voice came over, “The bombers were wolves.”
Sasha shook her head, “I still don’t see where the fuck this is going… get Jim down here… I want answers.”
The voice came over again, “Jim is unavailable, I have been tasked with questioning you.”
Sasha shook her head, “This is bullshit, are you going to arrest every wolf in the district and question them?” She pulled out her phone and dialed Jim… she hoped he would answer but
doubted he would, and to her surprise Marcelle answered, “Oh, good, a voice of reason. Marcelle, is Jim around? I need to speak to him.”
Marcelle cleared her throat, “That’s not possible right now… what can I help you with?”
“I am stuck in an interrogation room regarding a bombing…surely my talents would be better suited out in the field? I am one of the best operatives you have.”
“I will send someone along to get you shortly, sit tight.” She ended the call.
Sasha sat back and placed the phone in her pocket when a low hum started to emanate from the air vents… she reached for her phone, nervously swiping down to her last message, and as she pushed delete the gas began burning her throat and eyes… she began choking as her lungs began to burn as the gas corroded her airways… within a few seconds she collapsed, her body hanging lifeless as it slumped over the chair. As her life slipped ever further away her hand slowly released its grip on her phone, and with one final exhale, it dropped in slow motion, eventually coming to rest lying face down... the message to Tom still open, deleted before he read it.
Two minutes later, two guards entered Office Suite B in full tactical gear and gas masks. They placed their hands under Sasha’s armpits and began dragging her lifeless body to the door. One guard stepped on and crushed her cell phone as he made his way to the door. They tossed her into the hallway and closed the door behind her. The corridor was littered with corpses - the extermination of wolves had already begun. A small man with a tablet marked off and collected each number and its corresponding letter from the corpse before they were piled one after another into the refuge chute. They lifted Sasha’s lifeless body and hurled it into the chute, gravity pulling it down the slippery surface at an ever-increasing speed that came to a sudden stop as her body hit the other bodies, which were already piled up ten high in the skip. She lay twisted and contorted as lifeless body after lifeless body hammered down into the skip, burying her in a sea of wolfling corpses. Her skip was one of three such skips. The first one, already filled to capacity, was being hoisted on the tipper truck… from here the bodies would travel less than a mile down to the incineration plant at the bottom of the complex. This is where the corpses would be used to fuel the furnace that supplied energy to the behemoth building.
