Raptio: The Ritual Abductions of Humans by Werewolves

Chapter 37

'Really. I thought werewolves were control freaks and liked things like, straps, and chains, and dungeons, and....''

'Not me.' He cut in, looking nervous, but he flicked back to normal. 'Not even in a sexual way.'

My mouth dropped. 

'Don't flatter yourself, princess. Escapees don't exactly turn me on. I like them willing.' 

I blushed, but thankfully. I couldn't help but feel like that was a slight insult towards Eric. My now new best friend Carl, thankfully, interrupted. 

'I'm a monk and celibate, but I'm not deaf. Please stop discussing your leisurely activities, Grayson.'

Grayson sat down on the van floor, close to my head. For someone who had just woken up, I suddenly felt very sleepy again. Whatever had happened, clearly it had been exhausting. My head fell back on the pillow and I was lost again. 

This time, I woke up with a start. No one was in the van, but I could hear. Everything. It burned my ears and my brain. It was too much, I couldn't even scream, as it only added to the noise. Still being strapped to the bed, made it impossible to cup my ears with my hands. Silent tears began to roll down my cheeks, as the van doors burst open. Grayson was there, he jumped in loudly, which made me cry more and he cupped my ears with his hands, drowning out as much noise as he could. He mouthed quietly, I'm here, I'm here. 

His scent hit me like a ton of bricks. It was musky and male. All male, and made my whole body boil. But I couldn't tell whether I was angry or sexually excited. I growled at him and snapped my teeth together, but he held my head in place. A woman stepped in, it was Xenia, the female that I had met at the diner. I barked. I actually barked at her. What was I doing? She drew back her fist and punched me square in the face, knocking me  nearly unconscious. I could feel Grayson unbuckling the straps and carrying me in his arms off the bed and out of the van. I could hear everything, even though no one spoke. The crunch of Grayson's boots against the pine needles, his fast breathing and his heartbeat ricocheting off his rib cage. There was more people around us, but I didn't know who they were and I couldn't see them, as I was looking up at Grayson's face and the blue sky. He looked down at me and grimaced. He almost looked apologetic as he just let go of me when he stopped. I fell backwards and landed in mud, the sound crashing into both my ears and body. I could still see the sky but I was surrounded by mud and soil that was stacked up high all around me. If anything, I would say Grayson had chucked me into a hole. 

'Grayson,' I whispered, still sensitive to sound. I tried to drown out everything. I focused everything on Grayson as much as I could. I couldn't see him, but somehow I knew he was still there. I could smell him. 

I focused on his scent, then his breath, the movement of his chest as he spoke quietly. I focused on his words.

'........ she's in transition, has been for the past two days. We had to stop at pharmacies to get the drugs to keep her knocked out. She doesn't remember the attack yet, I don't know how. I guess that happy memory bullshit worked. It's a miracle we've got her to you in one fucking piece.'

He was speaking to someone, I tried to focus on the air around him and I could feel the slight change. Someone else was talking. 

'.....work is to be done. She will remember. It can't be avoided but she's in the best place to remember. Throw the sleep bomb.' 

I yelled when the small ball flew into the hole with me and burst into smoke upon impact, the smoke covered me, so I couldn't see the mud or sky anymore. I coughed and spluttered for air, until I lost consciousness and blacked out again.

When I woke up again, I wasn't in the smoke or the mud hole. I was in the woods, surrounded by tall thin trees. There was no sunlight, but it wasn't dark. The white sky couldn't even show me what time of day it was. The only thing I could assume was that it was day time. It was slightly cold, but I still felt warm. 

I heard the snapping of twigs and I spun around. A wolf stood before me, amber eyes stood out on a brown coat. I could tell she was female, I didn't know how but I knew that much. If anything, I thought she was familiar to me, like I'd known her before. Suddenly, she pounded towards me and I screamed, but she went straight past me, almost like she didn't see me. I followed her, but she was too fast. I tried to pick up speed, but it was a losing battle. She was gone, though I kept going. I needed to find a way out. I tripped over branches and loose rocks. The air was thick with condensation and it stuck to my skin. It was only then I realised, I was in some sort of priests robes. It was thick and making me sweat more than I liked. I felt the liberation of taking it off, before I realised I was standing stark naked in the middle of a forest, chasing down a she-wolf. 

I tried to think back to where I'd been before, but I couldn't remember. In fact, I couldn't remember anything. I panicked and began running through the trees, not caring about anything. I couldn't remember anything. I couldn't remember anything. 

I stopped when I realised there was a man standing 50 ft ahead in an open clearing. Stalking closer, I took in his muscled back, his naked buttocks. He was ankle deep in a small pond, which was odd. Who would anyone stand in a small pond?

As i neared the tree line, the man turned around. He stood unabashed, his man hood on show. I blushed and looked away, and then looked at his face. He had kind grey eyes and was looking at me, longingly. I felt like I'd known all my life, but then his face changed. He grimaced, and yelled in pain, as a scar began to develop down the side of his face and spread towards his neck. Now he looked at me, full of disgust.

'Bitch,' he growled, stalking towards me. I screamed, but he froze, not being able to take his foot out of the pond and on to the dry ground. He kicked his legs, water spraying everywhere, but it was no use. He couldn't leave the pond. 

'He's not going anywhere,' a female voice said from behind me. I turned my head to see a woman with sapphire blue eyes, she was leaning against a tree. 

'Who is he? Why is he stuck?'

The woman shrugged. 'How should I know?' she said, moving to stand towards me. 'This is not my head. This is yours.'

'My head,' I thought out loud. 'But I don't know anything about me.'

'That's all thanks to him,' the woman said nodding towards the man who still seething, standing in the pond. 

'Him?' not believing her.

'He helped you to not remember, to distract you from something horrific and the transition. If you had remembered there and then before you came here, it would have been too late. He saved you.'

I couldn't believe the angry, scarred man had saved me. Right now, he looked like he wanted to kill me. 

'But how could he save me? Why would he want to? I mean, he's still trying to get out of the pond to kill me.' I pointed to the man, who was still thrashing in the water.

The woman laughed out loud. 'Sure, he wants to grab you, throw you to the ground and then.... kill you.'  She continued chuckling .' Awww.'

'It's because you're remembering him from before he saved you. On a day to day basis,  this is what Gray is like to most people.'

'Gray?'

'You know him as Grayson.'

'And what about you?  Do I know you?'

'My name is Maya and you're not remembering me. I'm with you, right here in your head,' she said, poking my forehead with her finger. 

'Why are you in my head?'

'Because, Amalia. We're going on a hunt.'

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Publish Date: 13th June 2018

Word Count: 2025