The Story Continues...
Brent P.O.V.
That voice must have been the most beautiful one I had ever heard. Aside from Liza's, of course. It brought hope. Hope, that not all was lost. Hope, that we could still survive. Hope, that we could get out of this nightmare.
Don't give up. Her voice whispered to everyone in turn, and I could feel the strength surging back into my bones.
I caught sight of the owner of the voice as the moon slid out from between the clouds. She stood proudly on the roof, her red hair flying around her face with the wind. A white bandage was wrapped around her neck, and I could just catch sight of specks of blood seeping through. She showed no signs of weakness though, and her face was stony as she glared down at the scene below her.
If Liza was an angel, then Rosie should be compared to the devil. A devil from heaven.
Elijah was the first to recover. His hand snapped to the gun on his hip, but Rosie didn't miss the movement either.
"Don't move." she ordered, her gun aimed directly at him, and his hand stilled. Her gaze suddenly turned to the rest of us. "In fact, none of you move. Everyone just stay very clam. Nobody will move until I say so. Understood?"
What was she doing? I thought in confusion, my eyes flickering back to the still body of Liza. Just shoot Elijah, and let's get the hell out of here.
Trust her, I told myself firmly. She knows what she's doing.
All of us remained unmoving as she carefully scanned the scene in front of her. I saw her eyes pass over Liza, but no emotion showed in them. Her stare was now fixed on something above her friend's body.
Finally, a sneer of hatred curled her mouth.
"You!" she snapped, pointing a finger towards Lidia. The muscles under Lidia's brown fur tensed, and she barred her teeth, another sliver of saliva dripping down Liza's neck.
"Answer my question. Are you Lidia?" Rosie continued, putting both hands back onto the gun.
Lidia didn't move. Her eyes were fixed onto the barrel of the gun, which could just be seen glinting in the dim light.
Rosie took aim. "I'm giving you five seconds to answer. 5, 4, 3," I saw Lidia's eyes tint with fear, but she still held her head defiantly, refusing to answer. "2, 1." Lidia stayed silent.
"Wrong answer." Rosie said, smiling sweetly. "But it doesn't really matter who you are anyway. What matters is that you have to get the hell off my friend."
"0."
A shot rang through the silence, sounding more like an explosion. It hit Lidia straight in the chest, and her face was an expression of shock as she tumbled backwards, her body curling in agony. She slammed down onto the concrete a moment later, and she didn't move again. Red liquid was already matting her fur together, and it pooled in dark splashes onto the ground.
Then it was silent again.
"Go get'em boys." Rosie said, lowering her gun. Everyone was still frozen, and I had no idea what she was talking about.
Then wolves streamed into the plaza. They wore red strips around their necks.
We're saved, I rejoiced, a smile starting to turn up the corners of my mouth. That was before I noticed more of Elijah's wolves slinking out of the darkness, lining up for battle. The way they positioned themselves unconsciously told me that they were much more experienced in battle, and to add to that, they had strength in numbers.
Elijah stood silently on the other side of the plaza, not the smallest morsel of emotion on his face. His eyes flickered to mine, and we stared at each other for a few long moments in a silent battle. Finally, to my surprise, his lips twisted up into a sneer, and he lifted his hand up. With the tiniest flutter of his fingers, his wolves lunged forward. Then I saw why he was smiling.
Liza was still in the middle of the plaza. Right in the centre of the oncoming slaughter.
Red bolts of lightning coloured my vision, and I heard a vicious growl come from somewhere in the distance. It took a moment to realize that it was mine, but by then I had already thrown my two guards metres in the air, and was running forwards.
I lunged forward and slammed on top of Liza's body just as the world exploded over me.
Shielding her body with mine, huge gusts of air buffeted my back as wolves lunged and fought over us. Something warm splattered on my bare arm and then dripped down my skin. I refused to move to wipe it away, not allowing anyone the slightest chance to touch Liza.
Her ragged breathing came from under me, and I refused to let my mind believe that she was dying. But I felt her pain in my leg, in my back, in my stomach. The wounds that I didn't have throbbed with an urgency which told me that she was slipping away from me.
I needed to get her out of here.
It was a futile thought though. There was no way Elijah would let us escape from the fray, and if his gun didn't get us, one of his wolves would. I could only lay here and pray that she would be able to hold on until the fight was over.
I felt her move weakly under me, and automatically changed my position so I wasn't crushing her. "Brent?" she breathed softly, and I almost started to cry in relief. A horrible voice in the back of my head had been dreading that she would never wake up again.
"It's alright, princess. I've got you." I murmured to her, wincing as a wolf's blood-slick fur brushed against the side of my face.
"Why does it hurt so much?" she said, moaning quietly as she turned her head. Her eyes were still closed, and I willed her to open them, so I could see the beautiful blue storm that raged within them.
I smoothed the hair out of her face, daring a glance upwards. A moment later I had to avert my eyes again, but the images of the carnage were burned into my brain permanently. "You're fine. This is just a dream. You'll wake up in the morning in your bed." I told her.
She gulped in enough shallow breaths to release a shaky laugh. "You're a terrible liar, Brent."
"Am no-" I was cut off when I was slammed off of her body by a wolf. I crashed onto the ground about a metre away, and my head slammed against the concrete. Trying to sit up, I collapsed down onto the ground almost instantly, the dizziness in my head too much to control. I could feel blood sliding down my neck, and knew instantly that it was my own.
Liza's piercing scream sliced through my pain.
In a second I was up onto my feet, charging at the wolf. He spun off her body as my fist collided with the back of his neck, and I felt his neck snap under the force of it. A couple of other wolves finished him off soon after he spun back into the fight, and he couldn't even struggle.
I turned back to Liza, who was gasping on the ground. The wolf had flipped her onto her back by sinking his teeth into her arm. The fresh wound was spilling blood through the tatters of her black shirt.
Her eyes were open now, but they didn't show the fight that I had expected. They were scared. Wide and scared, and completely vulnerable to the horrifying world around her.
That terrified me the most, I think. Not the fights going on around me. The deaths of my pack. But the fact that Liza, my Liza, the bravest girl I had ever met, that took everything on without hesitation, wasscared.
All her barriers had been knocked down. All the walls she kept up to keep from showing her emotions. They had cracked, and I could finally see the absolute terror that had been plaguing her for as long as I had known her.
She might have a hard front, but she was still the vulnerable girl inside.
I crouched down next to her, ignoring the danger around us, and gently stroked her face. She leant into my touch and smiled softly. Then her eyes fell shut, and I had to reassure myself that she was still breathing by leaning in closer.
Thank you.
Her whisper caressed its way through my mind like velvet tendrils. Then it dissolved, erasing all traces of it ever being there, except for the warmth that it left.
Without a second thought, my frame started to shudder. I glided through the transition easily, and soon my body was stationed over Liza's, protecting her from anyone who tried to come close. Being careful not to step on her with my paws, I rolled her over with the tip of my nose, grateful that she was unconscious. Then hooking my teeth around the loops of her pants, I picked her up much like a parent would pick up their cubs.
She swayed under me, her arms just brushing the ground. With a glance around me, I spotted the nearest way out.
Then I sprinted.
Wolves noticed me barrelling towards them, and barred their teeth, but I ignored them completely. They snapped at my legs and my tail, but I weaved and ducked between them. One managed to catch me on my shoulder, but I shook him off. His claws left long gashes under my fur, but they were only shallow.
I was almost to safety, when I heard a distinct noise.
The gun clicking would have been lost in the much louder howls and barks if I hadn't been looking out for it. The sound was too quiet for Rosie's, and I knew I had been right. If the wolves wouldn't have been able to stop our escape, Elijah would.
My ears pricked in the direction of the sound, and my head swivelled in suit. I caught Elijah's cold eyes in the dim light, and I watched his grimace as he raised the gun.
A sandy form crashed into his side, knocking Elijah onto the ground. I heard a shot go off the next second, and a whimper followed. Wes limped away, his side bleeding profusely, moving out of the way as Elijah got back onto his feet.
His cold eyes glared at mine, and he fired another shot. But by then I had whipped into a dark alley, and I felt the bullet's speed whip past my tail, missing it by centimetres.
We had made it.
A glance at Liza's bloody form told me differently.
*********************************
Liza P.O.V.
A cool cloth on my forehead helped me fight the burning battle inside of me. A trickle of water ran down the side of my face teasingly, licking past my parched lips and then over my chin. Each breath I took rasped against my dry throat, and when I tried to take a larger breath, my body rejected it in a fit of coughing.
"Take it easy." a familiar voice cautioned me, but I couldn't quite place it in my memory. The person flipped the wet cloth onto the cool side, their hands cold against my burning skin, and then they disappeared from my senses.
Taking their advice, I tried to relax into the pillows. The bed was hard, and I didn't have to think twice to know it wasn't my own. A light sheet was thrown over me, but something was still weighing down on my body. My eyes remaining shut, I forced my hand to brush over my stomach, and I felt the tell-tale bumps and ridges of bandages through the sheet.
"Oh." I whispered, and my hand dropped back down to my side. I should have known. I seemed to spend most of my time in some kind of unconscious or injured state these days.
What fun.
As I lay on the bed, I felt my senses start to awaken again slowly from their haze. The room smelt slightly musty, and as I slowly cooled down, my fingertips became much more sensitive to the smooth sheets surrounding me. I heard the soft sound of someone shifting their weight somewhere in the room.
Then I heard the pain.
My eyes flew open, and I took a moment to take in my surroundings. An unfamiliar bedroom with walls painted a pale lilac colour surrounded me. The room was dimly lit by the streaks of sunrise through the window, and a dark silhouette stood by it, looking out.
It was from outside that I heard the pain coming from. I thought I would have long learned to deal with the noises of death after this night, but every howl still struck a chord inside of my heart. If we ever survived this night, I knew that those sounds would be branded into my memories for as long as I lived.
I was already wishing that I could have stayed half-deaf.
Taking a hoarse breath, I struggled to pull myself up. I propped myself up against the headboard with only a few twinges of pain, so either I was still numb, or my wounds were only shallow. Somehow, I didn't believe the second one, no matter how much I wished it.
The person at the window turned around at the noise, and walked closer.
"Ms. Edwards?" I gaped, and she smiled a little ruefully.
"Long time no see?" she joked, as she came to stand next to my bed.
"But, Ms. Edwards-" I started again, still not believing my eyes. The whole night had been surreal, but having my English teacher on the battle field as well? That was just wrong, like two completely different worlds were colliding.
She interrupted me with a wave of her hand. "Call me Eveline. Or better yet, Eve. We're not in the classroom."
"Yes, but Ms. Ed... Eve-"
"How are your wounds? You were out for a couple of hours, so I was afraid that you had lost too much blood. But now you seem to be healing, if a little weak." she cut in again, pulling down the sheets a bit to inspect my bandages. I had one wrapped around my forearm, and then another around a thigh. That one hurt the most. The largest bandage was pulled tight around my stomach, covering my back as well.
"You're a doctor?" I asked.
"I took a first-aid course a while back." she explained. "I know I wouldn't be any good as a fighter, so I put myself forward for a medic. Luckily, they were short, so I got the job."
There was a minute of silence before I asked the question that I had been trying to put off. "How's it going on outside?"
She grimaced, and then sighed. "Not good. They've been at it for hours, and both sides just keep on sending reinforcements. But our side is running short... We won't be able to keep up for much longer."
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "How long?"
Her face was pained. "An hour, maximum."
I had to hold back a gasp at the figure. How many dead did that mean? How many families torn apart, how many children sent to their deaths? I gulped. How long before it was all finished? How many of my friends were still alive? Wes? Kane? Hailey? Rosie? How long before my own death happened?
"Have you seen Brent?" I asked quietly, and to my relief, she nodded.
"He's still out there. Been fighting ever since he dropped you off here." Ms. Edwards said, going back to stand at the window, back into the shadows. "So, you two are mates?"
My hand reached up to rub the bite mark on my neck. "Unfortunately, yes." I admitted, and she shot a glance back at me. When my smile told her that I was only joking, she gave me a small smile in return, and turned back to the window.
"You two go well together." she said, and I couldn't help the blush that crept up on my cheeks.
I pretended to scratch my nose, trying to hide my burning cheeks. "How so?" I asked curiously. It was actually a question that had plagued me for hours, wondering why the gods had chosen us two to be together from the other six billion people on the planet.
"Hmm..." she thought, leaning against the window pane. "It's difficult to say, really. Both of you are like fire, strong and free-willed. Technically, that should just make an inferno, but instead, you seem to cancel each other out. You tame each other's passion."
My whole face flamed up at her words, but I could see where got her idea from. It was true, both of us seemed incompatible, and it was true that he drove me insane most of the time. But remembering the wonderful moments, the tender moments, the happy moments - those were the ones I wouldn't give up for anything.
I was about to reply, but then I saw her flinch. Her hand pressed against her mouth as she continued to watch the scene outside, as she struggled to hold in tears.
"What is it?" I asked quietly, half-wishing that she wouldn't tell me.
It took her a few moments to recover, and then she left her eyes downcast. "Anton- I mean, Mr. Stoikes... he's dead."
It took a moment for my brain to place the name. My Physics teacher. Who enjoyed humiliating me in front of the class. Who had taken pleasure in making sure his class was as miserable as he could make it for me. Who had obviously hated me, and who I had hated just as much in return.
So why did the news send a painful twinge to my stomach?
Maybe it was because his death overcame all hatred. Maybe it was because he wasn't just an anonymous stranger, he was someone who I actually knew. Or maybe it was because I finally understood his hatred for me.
"I'm sorry." I said softly to Ms. Edwards, because she was taking it much harder than I was. Adding to the fact that she had known him for much longer, she had seen his death with her own eyes. Murder, in other words. Because that's what this was, cold-hearted murder.
With a grimace, I swung my legs out of bed from under the sheets. As soon as my feet touched the ground, a crippling shock shot up my injured leg and my breath came out in a shaky gasp.
Ms. Edwards spun around as she heard me. "What are you doing! Stay in bed!" she cried.
"No." I said with determination through gritted teeth, my eyes clenched shut to fight the pain.
"Are you crazy? Those wounds are fresh, you'll make them worse!" she exclaimed, trying to push me back into bed by my shoulders.
I met her gaze. "Let me go to the window." I demanded, refusing to be moved by her tear-rimmed eyes.
"Why?" she asked, her voice beseeching. "Do you want to see fight?"
I nodded.
"You want to see death?" she asked in disbelief.
I scowled. "Do you?" I countered. "You're not standing by the window because you want to see death, you're standing there because you want to know who's death it is. My friends are out there, and I can't sit here without knowing if they are dead or alive."
Her eyes betrayed her shock, and I knew I had struck gold. Moving her aside, I pushed myself up, but my leg couldn't take the weight. I was about to crumple onto the floor, when I felt Ms. Edwards' hand around my waist, supporting me. With her help, I managed to limp over to the other side of the room. I leant on the windowsill, and breathed a huge sigh of relief, but then her hand disappeared, and I struggled to keep myself up. She returned a moment later with a chair in one hand, and she helped me sink into it.
"Thanks." I said breathlessly, taking huge gulps of air. My face was sweaty, and I could feel my hair plastered against my forehead. My leg was on fire, and it took me a minute to get my breathing rate back to normal.
She didn't reply, and kept up a stony silence as she turned my chair in the right direction. If I looked up, out of the window, I could see the first streaks of light from the sun streaming over the buildings. It was almost morning.
"This is what you wanted to see?" Ms. Edwards said, her voice low, and then pointed downwards. Bracing myself, I followed her finger until my eyes rested on the plaza.
"Oh my God."
*********************************
Uncontrolled tears fell from my open eyes as the minutes passed. My hands were clenched tightly on my lap, and the salty water from my face dripped and then trickled down the white skin there. Ms. Edwards' hand was clamped around my shoulder, but I barely felt it.
After the first minute, she had tried to pull me away from the window, but I wouldn't move. I was hypnotized by the life, the death, the never ending pattern that played out beneath me. It drew me towards it, until my face was pressed against the cold window, my breath fogging up the hard glass.
If this was real life, then what was worth living for? How could someone inflict so much pain, so much hatred, so much agony onto someone else? If this was life, then why hadn't we all turned into the monsters with frozen hearts that I saw killing with my own eyes?
It wasn't just Elijah's pack. It was their, our, my, pack. They slashed and shattered with as much cruelty as their enemies. There was no remorse, no pity, no compassion in any of their snarling faces. Their eyes were just as hard and bloodthirsty as each other, until they all turned into the same, uniform machines.
Shoot. Snap. Kill.
Broken bodies lay on the ground. Their limbs torn, their bones crushed. Some stared with blank eyes into the orange morning sky, but even more bore the expression of grimace of excruciating pain, forever etched onto their faces.
That red liquid was smeared everywhere. Blood. On faces, on fur, on skin. On walls, on windows, on the ground. The essence of life. Splattered everywhere as skin broke, with no regard or reverence to its purpose. Carelessly discarded.
The still fighting fought on top of their fallen comrades. The bodies were overflowing into the surrounding streets, as the main plaza grew too full to walk on. More often than not, I caught sight of a red cloth, fluttering in the wind, as its owner lay stone dead on the unrelenting, bloodstained concrete.
I caught sight of my friends more than once. There was Hailey, her small frame tirelessly fighting off the enemies, her persistence winning over strength. Even as I watched, her teeth sunk through the neck of a limping wolf, and she tossed him aside with a flick of her head. Her mouth dripping with blood, she went for her next victim, her eyes crazed.
The ever rising sun shone a bright halo around Rosie's head. Her face was smeared with sweat, and her arms trembled with exhaustion from holding her heavy gun. Each time her bullets ran out, someone would come back, supplying her with another. Kane circled the base of her house, decapitating anyone who dared to come close. A dark gash ran from the top of his thigh to his paw, and several more tears ran down the length of his back, from where he had been too slow to fend off the attacks.
No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find Wes anywhere within the slaughter. I desperately prayed that the worst wasn't true, but the rage that Hailey fought with told me differently. Gone was the timid, gentle girl I knew. She had been forced into a world of violence, and consequently, her mind had been forced away with from her. Her eyes were unlike I had ever seen them.
A hand on my wrist brought me from my trance. Ms. Edwards was kneeling down beside me, her cool fingers tugging at my tightly intertwined hands. Looking down, I saw that my torn nails had ravaged cuts into my knuckles, but I didn't feel any pain. There was only numbness.
I obediently pulled my hands apart, and placed them limply on my lap. Ms. Edwards nodded slightly and got up, only to return a moment later with a wet piece of tissue paper. She dabbed at the cuts, and I watched as the white material slowly darkened into red.
Then she was gone out of my vision again, taking her place behind me. One of her hands gripped the chair and the other rested on my shoulder. We looked out of the window in tense silence, the need for words dissolved with the humanity of the people beneath us.
The second story window allowed me to see the plaza and a few of the branched off streets. And even that wasn't enough. The fighting continued far out of my line of sight, and it made me wonder how many streets there were in this town, just like this one. How many dead? How many still fighting?
Just like I couldn't close my eyes, my ears were tortured with every onslaught of the attack. The symphony of howls and screams echoed in my brain, slamming into my skull. It resonated unbearably, every noise multiplied, until the slightest sound was agony. It shuddered in my head, and I doubt that these cries of terror could ever be erased.
Then there was the sun, shining its hopeful light onto the world. The sky was clear, a void of any marring clouds. It was only blank, nothing more. Only the black, fading into grey, fading into blue, fading into a rainbow of colours. Streaks of orange and pink dominated the sky, but the light was still dim and grey as it fell to the ground.
"You've been here for over an hour." Ms. Edwards whispered next to my ear, barely heard above the sounds from outside. "You need your rest."
I didn't move. She pushed lightly on my back, "Come on, Liza. Please."
It was the way her voice cracked that snapped my mind back into reality, like an elastic band returning to its original form. For a moment, everything that I had seen disappeared from my brain, clouded by a white screen, and I turned my head slowly to look at her.
I coughed hoarsely, trying to force the dry words out of my throat. "I can't. I have to see." I said, my voice broken. It sounded more like a pathetic plea than anything.
"You've seen enough." she said firmly, and tugged on my arm. Just then a bolt of black caught in my peripheral vision, and my head snapped back to the window.
A blur of darkness. Darkly stained teeth. Death.
The wolf was thrown aside, his neck snapped. I saw his eyes. They were wide with shock, and as he collapsed onto the mound of his dead friends, he tumbled down. When his body rolled to a stand-still, his face was buried into mounds of fur, his body just becoming one of many.
His murderer was moving onto his next victim. His movements showed purpose, and he leapt through the air for a split second, before crashing down on a wolf's back. Teeth glinted as he gnawed at its neck like a vulture. The wolf collapsed under him, and he stepped off gracefully, licking his chops.
There was no doubt about it. The way he moved was beautiful. His proudly arched neck. His calculated steps. The perfect symmetry of his jumps. Each of his elegant movements excluded deathly confidence.
Even before I met his eyes, I knew who he was. A sudden revulsion gripped me, and my brow broke out into a fresh sweat. His black eyes studied me through the glass for a moment, a single moment, before throwing himself at another wolf. Ending another life.
A killing machine, that's what he was. That's what he had turned into. Bile rose up into my throat, and this time I couldn't keep it down. I dry heaved, my head between my knees, as I struggled to stay conscious. I was faintly aware of cooling hands on my head pulling my hair back. My loud breathing echoed in my ears, mingling with the snarls.
His eyes had been blank. No emotion - no sorrow, no regret, no nothing. Just emptiness. He was empty, a hollow shell.
My Brent.
A monster.
The stinging tears on my raw cheeks were the last things I felt before I slipped into the blackness.
********************************
I sat bolt upright, my hands clutching the sweaty bed sheets. My head was spinning, and my eyes shot around rapidly, searching for the snarling monsters. Once I recognized the lilac walls and realized that it had only been a dream, I fell back into the damp pillows. My ears rang with the sounds of my loud breathing, and a shaking hand reached up to brush my plastered hair back from my face.
Ms. Edwards turned around from my former seat at the window to check on me. She saw my wide eyes and asked, "Nightmare?'
I gulped. "Something like that."
It had been worse than a nightmare. It had seemed so real. The dark alleyway. My dead friends. Brent's bloodshot eyes fixed on me as he lunged for my throat.
Shuddering, I tried to push the memory away. Too real.
The trembling inside of me still hadn't stopped, and as I sat up again to push the clinging sheets off of me, I saw my hands quivering. I forced myself to take deep breaths, and I closed my eyes. Slowly, the shaking subsided, but the rattled feeling inside of me still remained. Like something that been pushed out of place.
Brent's eyes.
"Do you want to come back to the window?" Ms. Edwards asked, and I opened my eyes to look at her again. "Something's happening."
"What?" I asked, but my voice came out in a whimper. I cleared my throat loudly after that, but the movement grated painfully inside, causing me to wince.
Her eyes showed pity, but she didn't comment. "I think you should come look for yourself."
I cringed at the thought of facing the carnage again, but I nodded. She walked over and helped me limp my weak body back over to the chair. My back and stomach were only a dull ache now, but the pain in my leg wouldn't allow itself to be contained. It burned with an intense fury, and I ground my teeth hard against each other to keep from screaming.
"Are you alright? Should I bring you back to bed?" she asked, concerned by the tears springing into my eyes.
I shook my head. "No. It's fine."
Before I turned to look out of the window, I focused on a notch in the wooden window sill. "How long was I unconscious?" I asked, not taking my eyes away from the hole.
She sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't have a watch. I would guess around half an hour, but I couldn't be sure."
"Thank you." I said politely, and then carefully looked down at my lap to put my fingers back into their careful entwinement. My fingers pressed against the wounds I had opened before on my knuckles, and I ran over the dried scabs. I felt Ms. Edwards looking over my shoulder, so I relaxed my fingers and took a deep breath.
I turned my head up to look out of the window with bleak eyes.
The half an hour I had been out hadn't changed the scene in front of me. There was still the death. There were still the dying. The only change that I could make out was the increase in bodies, and the decrease of those still fighting.
"What did you want me to see?" I asked tiredly. My eyes skipped quickly over all the fights, not wanting to catch sight of a piece of black fur. How could he have turned into this? How could-
Ms. Edwards interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up gratefully. "Look over there." she told me, pointing towards a side street. "Do you see the big black wolf over there?" She saw me blanch back, and quickly added, "It's not Brent."
I shoulders sagged as I relaxed, and I tried to peer into street. My eyes were tired, so tired they hurt just to keep open. The harder I looked, the more insistent the throbbing at the back of my eyes became.
I don't know how long I could keep on fighting. To say awake. Or for survival.
"Who is it then?" I heard my voice ask, but it was distant. I dug my nails into my skin, and the pain helped sharpen my focus. My eyes narrowed as I tried to make out the dark wolf that was moving towards the main plaza with determination, not even pausing to fight.
I heard her swallow hard. "It's Brent's dad. The Alpha."
I hesitated for a moment. "What's he doing here? I thought he wasn't going to be in the fight. He was going to stay behind the lines, controlling everything."
"He was."
Her short reply was enough to tell me that something wasn't right. Something had gone wrong. He was changing the plan.
"What is he doing?" I heard Ms. Edwards mutter to herself, and was surprised to hear her voice tinted with hysteria. "He's not supposed to be here. He must have some sort of plan. He must have altered it, but why hasn't be told us? He was supposed to keep us informed...-"
Her voice trailed away, but I knew she hadn't stopped talking. My brain had just stopped listening. I stared outside, pinching my skin every few seconds to make sure that I stayed awake. I tried to follow Brent's dad's path, but my vision kept on becoming blurry and I would lose sight of him.
He resurfaced a minute later at the edge of the plaza, where I spotted his black fur shimmering in the morning sunlight. His presence was ignored by the fighters, and he stood motionless, watching. I saw his eyes glint in the sun as he turned his head. He seemed to be looking for something. And waiting.
Suddenly, his whole body curled up, and when he straightened out, he let out a howl. My hands shot up to cover my ears, but the sound still bombarded through the barriers and struck straight into my brain. It rattled the windows and a tinkling noise was heard as broken shards of glass rained down onto the ground. Even the buildings shuddered, as if a cold chill had passed through them.
I threw myself backwards as our window cracked as well, and his next howl shattered it completely. My chair toppled to the floor, but Ms. Edwards caught it before it, and me in it, could crash onto the floor. Most of the glass lay on the inside, the cut pieces gleaming rainbows in the sunlight.
"What is he doing?" I shouted in panic, but it was barely heard above all the wolves below, their shocked barks ringing through the streets as glass and roof tiles fell on them. His next howl reached a new pitch, and my ears couldn't take it. I curled up against my knees, my wounds overshadowed by the new pain in my head, as his howls seemed to rattle my brain around.
"Make him stop!" I heard myself yelling through my covered ears, but he didn't. His wailing howls kept up for another minute, and then another. My head was ringing, and I could feel myself slipping into unconsciousness again. I almost welcomed it, grateful to have an escape from the pain.
Just as I was on the brink of shutting down, he stopped.
An eerie silence enveloped the town. The fights had stopped. Everyone was silent.
".... on, Liza." Ms. Edwards' words seeped like puzzle pieces into my brain, none of her words making sense. "...open...take off... don't...." Her words were like foggy images, too blurry to make out completely. I rocked my head back and forth, sending new shockwaves through my head.
Cold hands grasped mine, and they pulled. My hands were dragged away from my ears with force, my arms too stiff to change their position. As soon as my ears were buffeted with air, it seemed to whistle straight through. A low moan escaped my mouth, and I fought to cover my ears with my hands again.
A person had them pinned to my side, refusing to let me move them.
"Please," I whimpered, my voice sounding on the verge of tears.
The person wouldn't let go. "Come on, Liza. You can do this. Just open your eyes." a feminine voice urged me. Her breath smelled like peppermint, but I also caught a whiff of a very faint perfume, almost masked by the smell of sweet and dirt around me.
"I can't." I groaned, the sound of my own voice harsh to my ears. "It hurts too much."
"Then fight through the pain. Be strong." the woman said, her persistence relentless, "You've gone through much worse."
Yes I had. I reasoned, with an edge of bitterness. Too much pain. Too much for one person to bear. Too much in one day. Too much for a lifetime.
"Do you promise..." I started, but had to stop to catch my breath, "that after this, there will be no more pain?"
"Liza..." the voice warned.
"No, I can't take it anymore." I gasped, my voice creeping up on desperation.
There was a sigh. "Yes, I promise."
With that assurance, I took a deep breath. I pried my eyelids open, and instantly, the bright sunlight burned into my eyes. Too bright, too white. With a gasp, my eyes snapped shut again, my whole body trembling.
"I can't."
Those two words, my own words, terrified me. I was helpless, vulnerable. I wanted to, but I couldn't. And there was nothing I could do about it. Tears started to well up in my aching eyes, beneath the closed lids, but I forced them back. I didn't want to be weak.
"Can you try again?" the woman asked, and I remembered that Ms. Edwards was with me in the room. Why wasn't she kneeling over in pain then?
I ignored her question - I knew it would be a no. "Are you alright?"
"What do you mean? Of course I'm fine." she said, a surprised note in her voice.
"The howl... too loud. Ears... hurt..." I said quietly, hoping she would understand my stuttered words.
I felt her put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. "Werewolf senses. None of us were affected."
I was silent for a few moments, and then a painful thought swept through my brain. "Rosie!"
"She's alright." she said with another squeeze. "She tumbled down the roof, but Kane caught her. He sprinted away with her a moment later. He'll take care of her."
A nod of my head sent sharp spears diving back into my head again, and I ground my teeth together. From then on, I remained completely still. "Good." I said through my teeth. "Now can you please tell me what that was all about."
Instantly, her voice sounded pained. "The Alpha... he was challenging the other pack's leader."
"Why?" came my reflex response.
"It's an ancient pack tradition. When two werewolf packs fight against one other, the leaders can choose to fight each other instead. The winner will be the victor of the battle, and the loser will have to surrender his pack." she said, but she sounded distant, like she was reciting out of a text book. I knew her concentration wasn't really here, but on the scene outside.
My brain started to throb even more as I tried to understand her words. "So, what you're saying is, is that Brent's dad is going to fight the other alpha, and if he wins-"
"-he'll have saved us all." Ms. Edwards finished for me.
"Why are you so worried then? Elijah much older, it'll be an easy fight." I reasoned. It was logical, Elijah was a grandfather, and Brent's dad would be much more agile and fit.
"Elijah?" she asked in confusion.
"The other Alpha."
I could hear the frown in her face. "You know him?"
"We've met." I said darkly, refusing to let the painful memories surface. I think Ms. Edwards understood that, because she didn't question any further.
"The other Alpha, or Elijah," she said slowly, tasting the new name on her tongue, "is known to play dirty. That much I know about him."
That isn't very surprising, I thought. "Still, why are you so worried?" I asked again.
"It's a fight to the death."
I wasn't surprised. No Alpha would surrender his pack willingly, leaving them to the mercy of their enemies. The werewolf world, I had discovered, was a cruel one. Ruthless, in the sense that they could kill without a second thought, because they had been ordered to. In a way, it reminded me of the ancient civilizations, the Romans - though they acted civilized, they were still barbarians within.
It seemed as the human world had progressed, the werewolf's hadn't. They still had family feuds, a dictator of an Alpha, and their fights were always settled with battles. It was almost as if I had been sucked back through time.
"There's the-... Elijah." I heard Ms. Edwards say, and I tried to open my eyes again. A crack of white light shot through the gap, and I flinched before shutting them again. Did I have permanant damage? Would I ever be able to see again? I gulped.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"He's stepping into the plaza. All the fighters are getting out of the way - they know what's happening. He's very big; huge. Our Alpha is coming out of the shadows. They're facing each other off. Oh no..." she trailed off from her report, her voice filled with dread.
"What is it?" I asked in concern.
"Our Alpha... he's injured. He has a gash along his back, and there's something stuck in his foot. He's limping." she said, and I heard her footsteps as she was drawn closer to the broken window.
"Why would he challenge Elijah then? If he is so hurt?" I said, a little angrily. Why would he do something so stupid? If he died, we would all be doomed.
Ms. Edwards sighed. "You do not understand. Our pack would have fallen within the hour - he's doing this so maybe some of us can be saved."
"So now he's being noble?" I said in disbelief. I didn't believe it. He only cared for himself, and that he survived. That was the only reason he changed all those children, so he would have a better chance of surviving. Wasn't it?
"He's not as bad as he seems." Ms. Edwards said softly. "He's a good man on the inside."
Her voice was strangely adoring of the man I hated. I was about to ask about it, but then she interrupted me.
"They're stepping forward. The fight's about to begin."
She fell silent. For one moment, there was no sound at all. For one moment, I could pretend everything was gone, that we were safe. For one moment, I wasn't here.
A feral snarl split the silence. The next second, I heard the sounds of two bodies colliding against each other. Teeth snapped. A whimper. Then more barks echoed around the plaza, and they rushed at each other again.
The sounds were terrifying to listen to. Handicapped by my senses, I could only imagine what the fight looked like. And the sounds didn't paint a pretty picture in my mind.
I heard Ms. Edwards suck in a sharp breath, and another whimper followed. Brent's father must have taken a hit, and for a second, my hatred for him faded. He wasn't only fighting for himself now, he was fighting for his pack. For us. He knew of the sacrifice that he might have to make, but he had put himself up to it anyway.
Perhaps he really was noble.
Perhaps... he wasn't really the villain I thought he was.
My fingers laced together, my raw knuckles stinging. With a moment's hesitation, I started to pray that Brent's father would win. I pleaded silently, hoping that it would do some good. It was the least I could do for him now.
Ms. Edwards was chanting for him under her breath as well. "Come on. Come on. Come on." she whispered so softly it was barely audible, but it was still there.
A low growl from below made it to my ears, and then there were more snapping teeth. I had no other way of knowing what was happening except for the noises they made. I had no idea who was hurt, or who was winning. Actually, it was more important to know who was losing. It made all the difference.
I tried to open my eyes again, and the same white light hit my eyes as I pried them open. But this time I persisted, and soon my flaming eyes were staring straight into a colourless void. The pictures soon started to fade into blurry shapes, and I could just make out the rectangle of the window where the light was at its brightest. Then I had to close my eyes again.
So I wasn't completely blind then.
"Don't." I heard Ms. Edwards warn, and my mind came back to the fight. But her warning was too late, and a moment later, I heard a howl of pain from below. It reverberated through my body, and I shuddered as it passed through me like cold water.
"Who?" I asked, but she didn't reply. Their snarls mingled together, joining in a harsh melody. Bodies collided one time, and then another. From what I heard, neither seemed to be gaining the upper hand.
Agony filled howls filled the air, and instantly more barks filled the plaza. It sounded like the spectators were angry, and even Ms. Edwards hissed under her breath.
"That cheat." she spat, and presumably Brent's father's howls subsided into pitiful whimpers. Then he pulled himself together, and flung himself at Elijah with more force than ever.
Then there was a sharp snap.
A body fell to the ground.
The dead sound echoed around the plaza.
I sat frozen with bated breath. Who was it? Were we saved, or doomed?
Elijah's dry chuckle filled the silence. "Now, that was entertaining, wasn't it?"
No.
"Could someone please remove the body?" Elijah continued, and the sounds of something heavy being dragged away was heard. "Now, down to business. Tradition states that the victor receives everything from the defeated pack, and they can choose what to do with them. So, what should I do with you lot?" I could hear it in his voice that he was smiling, and it sent shivers down my spine.
"We could take you as slaves. Lock you all up. Take your women. Oh, the possibilities are endless." he said with a loud laugh, "But there are only so few of you left. Hardly seems worth the hassle really."
He snapped his fingers. "I know. Let's make this simple."
"Kill them all."
Silence, as everyone took in his words. His order. Our deaths.
A ferocious roar filled the town, and a chill flew down my spine as I recognized his voice. I heard his loud footsteps as he ran, his paws hitting the ground heavily. The sound ceased - he was airborne. A growl ripped through the air, and then flesh tore. A human scream.
It went quiet again.
Then his voice filled the air.
"I claim myself victor, as Alpha after my father's death!" he shouted, his words trembling with power. "This battle is finished! Terrah Pack, you are at my mercy. I order you to leave this place, and never return onto our territory."
Nobody moved.
"I said go!" he roared. "Do not give me the chance to change my mind!"
They didn't need to be told twice. Paws thudded against the concrete as they fled, never pausing. A few barks were ordered, and the town rumbled with the stampede. The message spread through all the streets, and soon, the wolves' speed had carried them all the way to the edge, where they could barely be heard.
Finally, you could hear the birds start to chirp.
"Tend to the wounded." Brent ordered, his voice hard and demanding. "Round up all the medics and bring them here. Leave the dead for the time being, there are lives to save."
The wolves hesitated, unsure to having Brent give them their orders. Soon though, they started to roll into action, and as most of them changed back into their human forms, a light chatter filled the plaza.
"I have to go." Ms. Edwards told me, coming closer. I was surprised to feel a warm tear drip down my shoulder from her cheek, but then her footsteps were already walking away. She stepped through the door, and then her footsteps thudded on the stairs.
I was alone.
My mind reeled. Part of me was still back when Elijah had told us that we were all going to be killed. We were all as good as dead. How had that changed?
Brent...
And then I wasn't alone.
There was someone watching me.
I could feel their eyes on me.
I knew it wasn't Brent. I could still hear him downstairs, spreading out commands, completely in control. I hadn't heard anyone come in, no footsteps, no one coming up the stairs. Which could only mean one thing.
They had been here all along.
"Who's there?" I demanded, turning my head. I willed myself to open my eyes, but my brain fought against anything that could cause more pain, and stayed stubbornly shut.
"Aren't you a helpless little lamb?"
Her hot breath was right next to my ear. Panicking, I whipped my head around to face her, but my chair lost its balance. It crashed down onto the floor, and I heard wood splintering as I rolled away. My wounds screamed as they were pulled open. My head rebounded against the hard floor, and my eyes shot open.
I couldn't make out her figure. It was blurry around the edges, but I could see patches of colour. There was a lot of black around a round shape that I presumed to be her head. Her pale skin creamed together with her surroundings as she moved, but there was one thing I couldn't miss. The dark, red patch blooming around her chest.
"Why would he leave all alone here without protection?" she said scathingly, leaning closer. I tried to pull away, but any movement tore at my body. "Surely, he would keep a better eye on you. Aren't you his precious mate?" She spat out the word like it was poison.
"Stay away from me." I said, my voice wavering and weak.
"But then again," she continued like she hadn't heard me, "he has a whole pack to deal with now. How do you feel about that? That he finds his pack more important than you? Feeling hurt, dejected? Because you certainly aren't going to be his most important thing now, are you?"
I bit my tongue to keep from shooting back a retort. I knew it would only make it worse.
I saw her body crouch down beside me, and I was too petrified to move. "What does he see in you anyway? I've heard stories about your bravery and your fire. Where's that now, huh?" she spat, prodding me in the stomach, where her claws had torn into my skin. I flinched. "Was it all an act? Something to actually get him to like you? Wait till he sees you like this."
I refused to answer, not willing to give her the satisfaction. I glared stonily at the ceiling, trying to get my eyes to focus again.
"Tell me something. Was he happy when he found out he was your mate? My guess is that he hated it. Why would he want to a human? He only used you to get his full power. Why else would he want to be with you, slut?"
"Speak!" she ordered, digging her fingers into my stomach again. My body arched in agony. "Show me that impressive fight that you boast about."
"I. Don't. Boast." I said through gritted teeth.
"Oh," she exclaimed gleefully, "there we go. I was getting bored."
"Get away from me." I snapped. "You wouldn't want to be here when Brent comes looking for me."
She laughed lightly. "You really think he's looking for you now? Didn't I say? His whole pack is depending on him now. You're the last thing on his mind."
"You wish." I snarled.
"You think I'm jealous?" she said, and I nodded. The movement of my head sent it back into pain, and I grimaced, trying not to show it. She chuckled. "Far from it, sweetie. Jealous that he wanted you, and not me? Sure. Jealous that you have him now, and I don't? Not at the slightest. I have no feelings for Brent whatsoever anymore. All I want is revenge."
"On me?"
"On Brent." she corrected me, "And it just so happens that you are the thing that will inflict the most pain on him."
I sighed. "What do you want from me then?"
I think I caught her lips curling into a smile. "Intense pain. Torture. Death. That kind of thing."
The door opened downstairs, and loud footsteps walked inside. "Liza?" I heard Brent call. "Are you in here?"
I couldn't help the small, smug smile that appeared on my mouth. "Told you so." I whispered at my enemy, who had stiffened as soon as she heard his voice. She rose slowly, her body still tense, and I saw her head turn from the door, to me, and back again.
"Liza?" Brent shouted up the stairs, more concerned this time.
"This isn't over." she muttered angrily, backing over to the window. "Watch your back, because I'm coming for you. I won't forget."
"I look forward to it, Lidia." I said dryly, and then she ducked out of the window. I heard a couple of shouts in the street below, but I knew she wouldn't be caught. She was too cunning for that.
"Liza! Answer me now!"
I turned my head back to the door. "I'm up here." I yelled. Instantly, I heard him bound up the stairs, and then the door was thrown open. His warm arms wrapped around me, and pulled me tight against his chest. I cuddled closer, breathing in his familiar scent.
"Why are you on the floor? Are you alright?" his velvet voice asked, and I wished he would just talk some more. How could it be fair, that he had been blessed with looks, a strangely amazing personality, and the most beautiful voice on the planet? Those poor other guys out there, they didn't stand a chance against Brent.
My Brent.
"I'm fine." I assured him, snuggling closer. I decided not to mention Lidia's visit. He would go hunt her straight away, and right now, all I wanted to do was have him here. Her promises were still echoing warnings in the back of my mind, but I knew there would be time to tell him. Later.
"You smell good." I murmured, and his chest shook as he chuckled.
"Now that is what I call a compliment." he said in amusement, "I'm covered in dirt, sweat and blood, and somehow I still manage to impress my lady."
The reminder of the bloody fighting brought back painful memories of him. I took a deep breath before I admitted, "I was scared of you, you know, when you were out there, fighting. You had this crazed look in your eye, and you were only killing, and killing. I thought I had lost you for good."
I felt him stiffen. "Are you no longer scared?"
I smiled. "No. I know you would never hurt me."
"Or would I?" he said darkly, and I looked up just in time to see him grin mischievously. Then he was tickling my sides, and I was giggling hysterically. But then his fingers dug in just a little too deep, into the wounds of my stomach, and I flinched.
He stopped immediately. "I'm so sorry!" he apologized, "I forgot that... you were laughing... too much... so sorry-"
I cut him off with a breathless sigh. "It's alright. But please, can you just get me to a hospital now?"
"Your wish is my command." he said, his teasing self back, and then he carefully scooped me up into his muscular arms. He was careful not to move me too much, especially my leg, which was now throbbing relentlessly.
"I can't wait for those pain killers." I muttered, and he laughed as he walked out of the door, cradling me in his arms. He walked carefully down the stairs, my arms looped around his neck.
We were almost out of the front door. "I'm sorry about your dad." I said quickly, not wanting to be confronted with more death before I apologized for this one. Brent stopped in his tracks, and he looked down at me.
"I forgive him, you know." he stated, and I was shocked by his confession. "All the horrible things he has done in the past, he took responsibility for them. He was the one that caused all this trouble, and he knew he had to be the one who fixed it. I can forgive him, and be happy. I think that's what he would have wanted."
My hand reached up to cup his cheek. "Yes, he would have wanted that."
He smiled gently. "Now all of this is over. Life can go back to normal."
I shook my head. "Life's never going to be normal, Brent. You're a werewolf- an Alpha werewolf actually, and I'm a human. Don't count on things being too smooth along the way."
"I would never dream of it." he said, and then he softly pressed his lips to mine. It didn't come with the shocking intensity that it had been before. It was a warm, tingling sensation, that spread from my lips into my blood. My whole body heated up, and when he pulled away, I was positively glowing with happiness.
"I'm glad to have met you, Brent Harris." I breathed.
His smile grew. "I wish I had met you earlier, Liza Macdonald."
I had to laugh a little. "That wouldn't have been a good idea. We would have ended up murdering each other."
"True." he grinned, pressing his lips to mine again. I pushed him away after a few seconds.
"You have to stop doing that." I scolded him, feeling myself start to glow again.
He growled playfully. "I can do whatever I like to you." My cheeks flushed pink.
"Don't count on it." I said firmly, but I was smiling as well. "Now take me to the hospital, or I'm going to faint."
"Are you sure that isn't because of my supreme kissing skills?" Brent teased as he started towards the door again. After a few steps we were in front of the door, and he was just about to open it.
"Hm... Let me check." I said cheekily, and then pulled his face back down to mine again. I could feel his lips smiling against mine, but he didn't pull back. That wonderful golden glow seeped through my blood again, and a slow warmth spread. My blood soon started to boil with the heat, and my hands curled around his beautiful hair instead, straining him even closer.
We both pulled back at the same time, breathing heavily.
"To the future." I said, as if our kiss had been a toast.
He gave me a crooked smile. "To the future, princess."
Then we just smiled at each other like the love struck fools we were.
"True love stories never have endings."
-Richard Bach
THE END
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So guys, this will be the last message I ever write after a TMH chapter. I better make it pretty awesome then, shouldn't I? I was actually going to make this chapter a lot longer. There was supposed to be an epilogue too, but when I just wrote that final sentence, I knew that the book was finished. Just like that. I swear my heart stopped at that moment. It was the most amazing feeling, finishing a book, and I hope I can feel it many more times in the future.
So, now the question you're all going to be asking. Will there be a sequel? Well, you can probably guess that since the ending is so open, with so many unanswered questions, this is definite sequel material. Lidia obviously is going to come back, their pack is in tatters, and finally, our two lovely main characters haven't said the 'three words'. Yes, the I LOVE YOU, is still to come, and I left it like that for a reason.
So now you're going to be like, start the sequel! Maybe I will, maybe I won't. In the future, of course. Most of you probably know what I'm going to do this summer, or if you hadn't heard it, let me inform you. - I'm going to edit TMH. Scraping some parts, putting new scenes in. Rewriting the first chapters, definitely.
And then yes, my long term goal is going to be to get it published. Now, I realize that this is probably really unrealistic. But hey, there's no harm in trying. So for this summer, for you guys, this means:
1) No sequel
2) No new story
I know you guys hate me with a burning passion now, but that's just how it's going to be. But there's a surprise that I'm going to reveal when I post the Author's Note in the next 'chapter' - I need to thank everyone. Keep your eyes pealed! So yeah, more info then :)
Oh yeah, and finally, what do you think of the LAST chapter of TMH? Was it good for you, bad? Tell me your thoughts :D
Thanks!
And never forget: ICH LIEBE EUCH! (I love you guys!) <3
Song: Stone Hearts and Hand Grenades - Leona Lewis
P.S. I thought this song fit Liza and Brent perfectly. I hope you'll agree :)
Dedicated to: YOU!
And thanks to: Dev and Kat for editing!
Picture: His Bunni - THANK YOU FOR THE AWESOME PICTUREEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah, and one last thing: I FINISHED MY FIRST BOOK EVER! :D AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Just had to get that out there ;) Oh yeah, one last thing (I mean it now!) What do you think of the final characters? I know a lot of you disliked Liza, has that changed? Still adoring fans of Brent? Like Rosie, Wes, Hailey, and Kane? Any last thoughts on Brent's dad? (haha, I told you I had something special planned for him) Elijah? Ms. Edwards?
Merci beaucoup! :D
Okay.... I'll publish this now.... :P