Perfectly Imperfect

Chapter Six

I was tired. So, so tired.

Not just lack of sleep kind of tired. But the bone-deep exhaustion, the kind that really made you want to just give everything up, to stop caring. My new acquaintances had been a pleasant distraction to the repetitive life I had lived for so long, a world swimming in hurt and loneliness. But I could feel myself returning to that complacent stage. 

My drive to escape had been extinguished for so long that it had felt bizarre to have executed a plan to facilitate that very thing. Now I just wanted to sleep and not wake up. The cuts on my back had scabbed over for the most part but fresh blood seeped from some of the deeper lacerations. I had no mortal injuries, nothing severe enough to have me die before I saw the outcome of my friend's journeys.

I briefly allowed myself to fantasise about how different my life would have been had I been born to/as a werewolf. Parents abandoning or abusing their children was practically unheard of. They were all such a tight-knit community that the notion of alienating anybody that was considered family was foreign to them. I had once yearned for that kind of connection with people but now I didn't feel capable of that emotion anymore.

Maybe it was because the people in this cell had been the only nice people I had ever spent an extended period of time with. I wasn't sure why my head was choosing this particular moment to have an existential crisis or some deep self-awareness moment. I was in the middle of trying to figure out at what particular moment in my life my emotions went so wrong when Tom jumped up excitedly.

"They're here," He jumped on the spot excitedly, "Alex, they're here!"
I smiled a little at his antics. He really was the little brother that I wished I had.
"Father? Father! In here." He shouted at the door, his gaze flung to me. His eyes were lit up in an unnaturally bright blue. Was that his wolf? They were crinkled in excitement, "Damien is here too. He's going to love you!"
He was positively vibrating with excitement at the prospect of seeing his family again. I didn't have the heart to tell him that his brother would probably not love me, but in fact quite the opposite.

There was more scuffling, the sounds of fighting much clearer now.
"Tom? Tom!" A man shouted
"Here Father!" Tom shouted back, like a tense game of Marco Polo.

"Move everybody away from the door, Son. We're going to have to knock it down." His dad warned. Tom was already following his order, moving the children as far away as he could, there was really no need to.
"The key is in t-" I tried to say but the door had already flung completely off its hinges and across the floor. The noise echoed around the room painfully. 

"Tom!" The attractive older man ran over to his son, scooping him up in a strong embrace. They definitely looked alike. He seemed hesitant to let his son go but it was clear he had other pack duties to attend to. Like the small issue of freeing the rest of his pack who were encased in silver.

"I'm okay father. Let's get everybody out of here, I have so much to tell you." He had already reverted to his more 'adult' persona, his focus switching to the pack now that he had confirmed his son was okay. The Alpha's gaze dropped to mine, I looked at the floor immediately. It was a reflex now, I couldn't help it. I also didn't want him to be under the impression I was trying to issue a challenge or something, I was still new to the whole Werewolf thing.

Before he could say anything a man strode through the door, "Father, they've be-", his gaze shot to mine but this time no amount of willpower allowed me to train my eyes to the ground. This man was the most beautiful man I had ever seen in my life. Or maybe not a man, he looked around 19. He had the typical strong jaw and pure jet black hair look but those deep-set baby blue eyes had me positively captured. For a fairly young guy, his shoulder span took up the entire doorway. 

A heavy silence settled on the room like a blanket. Shouldn't we be trying to get their pack out of here, I thought? I snapped myself out of the trance and looked at the floor. A growl replaced the silence as it echoed. It wasn't a threatening growl but it scared me nonetheless. 

I shuffled awkwardly. What was going on, why were they not leaving.
"Well, this is certainly interesting," The Alpha said dryly, he was amused, "Let's deal with one issue at a time. We need to get these cuffs off."

The room exploded into action as some other pack members, who had filtered into the room at some point during my trance with the gorgeous man, tried to break the cuffs with their bare hands. They didn't get very far, and got severe burns as a result. I snook a look up at Damien to find his gaze still locked on me. 

I shrunk further into myself. Well, before the Alpha executes me I may as well help them get out. I slowly stood up, the Alpha and Damien were still looking at me. My legs were unsteady as I stumbled out of the cell and down the corridor, scanning the masses of bodies slung around the room. Blood was splashed up the wall like some poor attempt at redecorating. 

"Don't let her leave." I heard the Alpha whisper.
"Wasn't planning on it." It was his voice. It shot tingles down my back, made me hyper-aware.
I had to refrain from rolling my eyes, it's not like I was stupid enough to try escape.

The room was filled with that metallic smell that derived only from blood. I flipped some of the bodies over, looking for one in particular. Ah! Leant in the corner, blood pumping from a huge gash in his chest was the guard who was stationed outside my room nearly 24/7. He had the weird electronic key to the doorway and the standard keys for the cuffs.

I started shuffling through his pockets, they had to be here. I watched him take them out every single time they brought a new prisoner in. My fingers touched the cool metal. Before I could grab them a large meaty hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me. I went tumbling into him.

I looked up, he was still alive. His canines had fully extended, his eyes glowing, I think it was a partial shift. He was weak from the blood loss, I assume, since his grip was faltering. I wound my hand back and punched him as hard as I could in the face. My left hand still in his pocket I yanked out the keys and fell backwards, away from him. Seconds later Damien was in front of me and snapped his neck.

When I punched him his head had shot back and into the wall. It hadn't knocked him out but it had stunned him enough for me to get away. His other hand had nicked the side of my face with his claws. Just a superficial wound, it wouldn't scar, just a minor scratch.

I looked at the keys in my hand, that was them. Damien was staring at me again. I shakily got to my feet and trudged back into the room. I was hyper-aware of the exact distance Damien was away from me at all times.

I went to Charles first, since he was the closest. And began simply unlocking each cuff one at a time. I tried not to move them around too much so that it wouldn't burn more of their skin. What I didn't expect was how weak he would be from having being chained to the wall for so long. He immediately flopped on top of me when the cuffs had released him.

My legs were already shaky and I was weak from being malnourished for so long but I managed to hold his weight up for a few seconds before Damien grabbed him. I repeated the process, learning from my previous mistake, stepping out of the way to allow the other pack members to catch them when I finished. 

Joseph sagged into two pack members arms and I turned to face the Alpha, I looked at his chest to avoid eye contact. Damien had remained near me the entire time, silent. So is this where they kill me? I swallowed to try get rid of the lump in my throat. Tom was looking at me wide eyed, I gave him a watery smile.

"Could you, like, yknow, in the woods instead of here. I'd rather not die here." I asked, there was a limit to how polite you could be while asking for the privilege of choosing the location you died. 

The Alpha chuckled, mumbling something like "I like her."
I could have misheard though, that damn adrenaline was back and ringing in my ears making it difficult to concentrate. I also had a pounding headache.

I could still see Damien staring out of my peripheral. It made me uncomfortable, like being under a microscope. Did I have something on my face? Other than blood, I mused.
Tom came over to me as we began walking out of the cell, "Told you they'd like you." He whispered.

I smiled, maybe the kid was right. Maybe today wouldn't be the day I die.