Wolv

15 - Dying of the light

Dang it!! I stopped at the end of the trail and stared back up the rapids. I wanted to keep going, I wanted to finish the journey that I'd started; yet, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself to leave her. I growled angrily, slowly inching my way back. I'll never get anywhere at this rate! I realized that I liked Nadie a lot better when she was still unconscious. She'd been a lot less maintenance.

I fell down to all fours, and began racing back up the trail, loping like an animal. My body didn't argue with me; finally, it seemed like I'd found a comfortable way to move around. I was no longer in the tween state, where walking on two legs or on all fours had been painful.

Nadie sat at the riverbank, drawing ripples in the water with her fingers, smiling to herself all the while. I trotted up to her, and stretched myself back into a standing position.

"Hey! What did I tell you about counting to one hundred?"

She turned and smiled at me, wobbling back and forth. "I got bored. There were so many numbers to count...I got mixed up!" Oh, it's gonna be a looong night. I took her hand and pulled her back into the trees. Once she'd sat down, I slapped her across the face lightly. Her smile turned into a scowl.

"Owww! What was that...for?" I slapped her lightly again and again.

"C'mon, sober up already!" I grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Wake up!" She snapped her own hand up and cuffed me under my jaw, catching me by surprise. "Hey!"

"You were hitting me! Why are you so mean today?" She dragged out her words in her shrill, whiny voice, and continued to stare at me darkly. Oh, for the love of--

"Nadie, I can't do this! I don't have time! Would you puh-LEASE wake up alre--" My stomach, without so much as a warning, heaved mid-sentence, and I turned away just as bloody vomit shot out of my mouth. My stomach heaved again, then again, and I yelled out with each pang. I fell forward onto all fours again, feeling my stomach beat itself against me. My eyes began to blur themselves white. Somebody kicked me in the stomach, and I vomited again, plastering my hands with blood. I glanced around me, looking for my assailant. Nadie stared at me wide-eyed from against her tree, trembling in fear. I felt the kick again, and tore off my shirt. My abdomen tensed, and I felt my insides kick yet again. Beneath my skin, something moved. My ribcage lurched around inside me, prompting a surprised yelp from Nadie. It's happening.

Nadie began to sob, babbling loudly through the drugs that coursed through her. "I wanna go home! Stop it! Stop it! I wanna...Don't do that! Why are you doing that? Stop it!" She stood up and stumbled towards the waters, crying as she went.

"Nadie--ah!--wait! Stop!" I strained my eyes to clear, and I crawled towards her, grunting in agony. "STOP!"

But I couldn't move fast enough. Whatever had just happened inside of me, it had incapacitated me--at least, for the moment. Nadie continued walking forward, oblivious to the fact that she had already reached the edge of the shore. She stepped out into thin air, and began falling forward. Time slowed as I watched her fall into the rushing waters as I lay on the rock, helpless. There was no way she'd survive a trip down the rapids, even if she wasn't drugged.

"No!"

She fell in with a splash, and began floating down the river quickly, heading straight for the cascade of rocks ahead. No, no, no, no, no! Please, don't take her from me, too!

A red blur shot past me and dove headlong into the waters, landing right next to Nadie. A wolf's head emerged from the waves, and powerful jaws bit down into her tee-shirt. The wolf began furiously paddling to shore, dragging Nadie along, who was sputtering painfully.