I REMEMBER THE CAR BREAKING DOWN trying to leave town. It wasn't a memory that I constantly returned to - I sat in the passenger seat, next to my mother as we drove eastwards. Towards dawn, that's what she called it. The look in her face couldn't match the scene any more perfectly. Her eyes emitted radiance - her hair glowed softly under harsh light of the afternoon sun. It wasn't dawn, but, it didn't matter. That was just the way of Lux. Towards dawn.
The air was sauna-hot, and despite our windows being turned down, the car felt like an oven on wheels. And of course, it broke down; steam curling from the crevices along the bonnet. Walking behind Louella in the abysmally cold water, I craved the unbearable heat.
Lux, I whispered silently. The name, along with the memories of that day were more then just something I've neglected to return. The memory felt raw as the skin beneath a fresh scab - sensitive to touch and fresh, yet strangely fimalliar. A memory slithering under my skin, too deep to be seen, but there. I could feel it.
Louella climbed up an old lader at the end of the tunnel and pushed up a metal grate before slipped through to the floor above.
The room was far from simple - cobblestone ran across the floor in a spiral pattern with the grate at the epicenter. I could hear a faint grinding noise, similar to that of rats sharpening their teeth. Holding cells lined the edges of the room. Cells that seemed all to familiar.
"The back up generators are in the next room. Come on." Louella said. Her voice sounded hasteful as she sprinted up the stairs. I could understand her haste, the room was overwhelmingly eerie and would drive even the fearless away. Besides, I was tired of being in the dark.
The generators in the next room wasn't what I expected. The Shepards building was always known for being a cutting edge corner stone in the technology sector and one would expect everything in it would be just that - state of the art. Yet, the generators were rudimentary. I assumed they could only hold a dim light across the compound - not enough to power the main elevators.
Louella pulled down a lever and a rusty mechanical hum spread throughout the room, sending vibrations through the floor. And where was once darkness, was now a harsh red glow.
Ding
I jumped as the doors of the small elevator popped open. "How is that working?" I recalled my breath.
"No clue. It just does. Oh, are you okay with tight spaces?"
"Tight spaces. You want me to get in there?"
"Yeah, pretty much. It's easier then taking the stairs." She hopped into the small box., "Lou hates this kinda thing... "
"So that's why you're here? Because she's afraid of tight spaces?"
"Yeah. I guess... " She said as I joined her. The fit was tight but it worked, the doors shut.
"Wouldn't this place be crawling with reminants? I don't see your bow... "
The lift jerked as the cable whined, pulling us up. "I'm sorta useless with that thing."
I ran my hand over the bandage on my leg, recalling the day her arrow pierced through me, slicing my skin like mere butter. Walking had been hard after that and, I still can't run. "I'm sorry... " She whispered. I knew it was Lou, the hunter, not her, but I could still feel the apologeticp tone in her voice.
"Hey, Louella." I whispered as the elevator stopped. The door opened to a small kitchen on one of the user floors. The reflection of the red glow on the silver counter tops dominant most of the room. Louella hopped out.
"Yeah?" She walked over to the back of the kitchen and pressed open a door that led to a long corridor.
"It's about Lou. Since our last incident, she hasn't... you know?" I kicked the tip of my shoe into the ground.
"Has she taken control? No. I won't let her." She ran her hand through her hair. The dye may have faded, yet under the red light, it was the colour of sunset - a deep, bleeding red that consumed the skies and brought everything to an end.
However, Louella never seemed like the kind of person who could be the hunter I've first met in the hoods. She wasn't the one who sent arrows into me, promptly taking me down. She was kind, despite the world being harsh - risking her own life by saving someone she hadn't known.
The next room was more familiar - the large circular structure lined by stairways and large monitors onto the opposite end. We were in the main hall - the same room I stood in as I watched Johnathan Orwell address those who were still in the building before I've lost everything. Without the overwhelming number of Shepards and Peacekeepers buzzing around, the room seemed bigger now; I felt uncomfortable.
"The graves. Do you know who they belong to?"
It took a while to register her question. First, I was surprised by her voice against the sudden silence. Then, it was the amount of sadness that took grasp of it. I finally answered,"No."
My heart thundered in my throat as a voice boomed from behind us - filed with static; one of the monitors sprang to life as the fimalliar message repeated itself.
The wolves have destroyed us. They've brought the fire.
"Johnathan Orwell." I whispered, "He's in one of the graves, isn't he?"
"I guess you could say that."
My eyes were still fixated as the clip cut and replayed at the moment the little girls eyes were visible, still as vulnerable and fimalliar as I remembered it. And yet, I still couldn't place my finger on who she was. "The little girl. She's besides him in the grave."
"No. She didn't die that day." Her voice was colder now, not as cold as Lou's, but cold. I followed her as she walked up the stairs, the clip still playing on the monitor behind us. "Tell me," She spoke again, "why were you in the building?"
"What do you mean?"
"That day. Everyone had the reasons for being here. May it be they were a Shepard, a Peacekeeper or a..." her thoughts trailed off. "Either way, everyone had the reason . Do you remember yours?"
"I..." I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember anything about the Shepards building before the day of the fire.
"I know who you are. Your name."
My name?
That's when hell broke loose.
~~M. H~~
Guys, I'm really sorry about not updating last week😓
I've been super busy as late, balancing college and life but I swear, I'm putting the most I can into giving my amazing readers (yeah, that's you guys) the best I can possibly do.
Love
Micheal Hendricks.
YOU ARE READING
The Burning Wolf
Fantasy"Ever since my childhood, I've been fearful of wolves. Their fangs, always barred, left a lingering sense of fear along with bedtime stories we have all been told. The wolf was a menacing creature, one that shouldn't be taken lightly... "
