In the Life Afterword: A Supernatural The Long Night Sequel

Issue #14: One Shot...a Supernatural TLN Sequel

I wandered around in the woods for at least half an hour, my LED flashlight searching for any signs at all. The flashlight hovered back and forth for a moment on random forest scenes, and I continued on, having found nothing.

Then I spotted red and white on the ground. I kneeled down. A dead dove lay on its back, its cream colored feathers whistling in the summer breeze. I passed my flashlight over its open still eyes, shimmering like rubies.

  Then there was screaming, like a couple of adolescent girls. My eyes narrowed and I took out one of Carter’s flare guns. Paul and Steve barreled past me. “Run!” They cried, their only effort to save me. I then heard the wingbeats and saw red flashing eyes. I pulled the trigger the same moment I turned to run, An eagle the size of a horse was following us, his eye glowing red.

I swore, as I heard him still following us. That was the thing about flare guns. You only get one shot with each gun. Branches smacked past my face, panting heavily, my heart racing. I never expected this.

We had managed a dead end, pinning ourselves between a lake and a forest. I turned to face Keith, who had shifted back to human form. He began to walk forward, his nail extending, becoming longer and more talon like. I reached into my belt, pulling out the second flare gun.

“Wait,” I growled, getting in between Paul and Keith. “We can settle this!” I shouted, “There’s no reason this needs to end in a blood bath.”

Keith glared, “Stay out of this Wolf.”

My eyes narrowed, no one in this place had called me that. Except for one. “So it was you who saw me in the hotel that night.” The night when he had dropped the glass and it had shattered, and in my own surprise my eyes had flickered.

“You don’t honestly think that a bunch of drunken Hunters found you all by themselves?” Keith replied, confirming it. There was a few errors though.

“I’m not a freakin’ werewolf,” I snapped, staring past the rifle of the gun and into his terminator eyes.

He stepped forward, “Perhaps not.” Keith admitted, “but there is something more than meets the eye with you, am I right?”

I ignored him, “Why would you want to kill your own brother?”

“Why would you want to pull the trigger right now?” He said bringing his attention back to me. “Simply a means to survive, with weirdoes like my brother, running around and filming freaks like us—” I glared at him, “—we are being endangered, that’s the thing about myths and legends, we live best when we aren’t believed in. Because the moment we are believed in, there is someone out there with a gun.”

He took a step forward, and my eyes glowed, “Don’t move!”

He was lightning quick, I pulled the trigger the same moment he batted the gun away, gripping my shoulder with his talons. I was thrown against the trunk of a tree. I had missed him, my last shot was in vain. Thunder rolled and lightning struck a nearby tree.

A cry escaped Keith’s lips. His body erupted in fire and he vanished.  I crashed to the ground, my eyes locked on Carter. He lowered the flare gun staring at me, a few yards away.

The storm may have been brought by a thunderbird, but it didn’t disappear just because he was gone. Lightning struck and Carter collapsed.

“No!!” I cried, on my feet in an instant, pushing past Steve and Paul. Carter laid on his back, his eyes closed, he wasn’t breathing. My hands went to work. Pumping up and down on his chest, trying to get his heart working again.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

 Steve and Paul stood by, not doing anything to help.

“Call 9-1-1 you moron!” I snapped.

I continued to count, ignoring the blood rolling down my shoulders. I focused all of my attention on one thing, and it wasn’t me.

 “The nearest hospitals an hour away.” I heard Paul say. I gave him a cold stare, my eyes shimmering with tears and anger.

  

Steve put his hand on his friends shoulder. “Just do it.”

 Then he kneeled down next to me, “Anything I can do to help?”

I was trying not to lose count of the compressions I was doing, “You could shut up!” I snapped. Suddenly Carter lurched into a sit up positing, I jumped out of the way just in time for him to retch on Steve’s shoes.

 Sweat beaded my body as I sat in the grass, my arms shaking, Carter stared at me momentarily and he finished coughing.

 I panted heavily, “Well, there, I hope we’re even.” A vague smile escaped my lips.

  

His eyes softened and he laid back down, breathing out heavily, “Not even close.”

I went from sitting to laying down. Now crickets chirped and thunder rolled in the night. All was almost normal again.

 Steve went to go rinse his shoes off in the lake. Paul was quiet, staring in the spot where his brother had been. I took out Carter’s phone and programed my number under the title Irene, the person he knew me as.

  

I stood up wearily, my shoulder disabling my normal movements. “Well, I better get going before the ambulance gets here.” If I stayed there the paramedics would be either filled with questions, or I’d be in complete protest as they attempted to stitch up my shoulder where Keith’s talons had broken the skin. They’d do it all with sterilized silver tools of course. Best to leave when I had the chance.

Steve was thinking differently, “Don’t you think you should be checked out?”

 I shook my head, “I’ll tend to it later.” On my own time and terms. Truth was, I'd probably be stitching myself up in my car again.

 I focused on Carter, “No one will know I was here right?” He looked at the phone number I had just programed and closed his eyes and nodded.

 My eyes fell on Steve and Paul. “And you?”

 “Didn’t even see a thing.” Steve replied. I nodded and turned to walk away.

 “Wait,” I was Paul. I stopped dead in my tracks, turning back around.

 “Is my brother really dead?” My eyes went from Paul to Carter. He looked as uncertain as I did.

  

“Honestly I don’t know, anything’s possible.”

 “Could we uh, have your number too—” Steve asked, “In case he comes back?” My eyes narrowed and my automatic thought was hell no!

  

“I’ll contact you in the future.” I said, briefly thinking. If I feel like it. “Until then keep your eyes open.”

I turned and walked away.