The tunnel led to the other side of the field, we had walked for some time before we reached it. We were now on the outskirts of the city, a long line of people that were slipping in between trees trying to remain as hidden as possible. I didn't know who the invader was here, whether it was another vampire causing problems or if was my darling, soon to be ex-boyfriend. Whoever it was, it was enough for the entire commune to vacate in secret. I could at least see now, although the light wasn't much better here. As we walked along the edge of a river, I toyed with the necklace hanging around my neck. It was very heavy, a crystal ball pendant, a gift from Linus. Angrily I jerked it from my neck, the fine silver chain snapping. I looked at the ball, its delicate crystals glinting in the limited light. Taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the feelings of hatred caused by the betrayal, I tossed it into the river.
"It's been confirmed." Julius said from behind.
Noah turned and looked at him as we trudged over the tree roots and damp leaf littered forest floor.
"One of his cronies."
"Linus?"
"Yes. A team of Tim's men."
I stopped as I looked to Julius who had been walking ahead of me.
"Who?"
"Tim, his second in charge."
"Rita's boyfriend." I gasped
"Yes, I checked with Curtis." he said as we began to walk again "That was the fellow he saw driving the bus. I also received some disturbing information just prior to the alarm going off." he looked at us with a little concern "Our source has found out that they know that you were at the farm Veronica, how they know is strange, they don't have security cameras, yet they knew you were there."
"Noah?"
"No, there was no mention of him."
"Tracking on my phone?"
"Yes, it seems likely. Do you still have it on you?"
"No." I groaned "I left it at the commune."
I hated being without my phone, it felt like I was naked without it. Noah stopped and lifted his head, looking back from where we had just walked. He wrapped his arm around my waist, defensively pulling me to his side. My skin prickled, as my heart beat just a little more rapidly, something was wrong.
"Out for a midnight walk vampire?" a deep male voice cooed in the darkness.
"What's it to you?" Noah snarled as Julius began to usher the group away in a hurry.
"Oh you know how it is, we are a curious lot."
"Step out of the shadows and stop the childish games."
"Now why would you want that?"
His malevolent chuckle rang through the trees, swirling around us, biting at us. I knew this was no human that was toying with us and I had my doubts about it being a vampire too.
"Why the mass exodus? Humans got you on the run again, vampire?"
What or whoever he was took a step, a branch cracked under his weight, pressing down into the wet leaf litter. All I could see was a pair of highly polished wing tips in the moonlight, the rest of his figure shadowed by the canopy of the trees.
"And yet you have one with you. Interesting."
I could hear him sniffing, repeated short and sharp sniffs followed by a low dark chuckle.
"Once claimed the bond is now broken, tut tut vampire, leaving such a valuable human unclaimed. Better be quick..." he stepped back into the darkness "You never know who is lurking nearby."
Noah grabbed my hand and followed the path quickly, Julius wasn't that far ahead of us.
"What does he mean unclaimed?"
"Linus must have claimed you somehow and you've managed to break it." Julius responds.
Noah gasped as he looked at me, his eyes looking at my neck.
"Your necklace, did he give that to you?"
"Yeah."
"What did he say when he gave it to you?"
"That he wanted to declare it to the world that he loved me and I was his."
I stepped over a large tree root, struggling to remember the words. At the time I had thought he was being all cute and loving but now I was worried.
"Uh, he said 'Veronica Marshall you are my love and I declare it now to the world that you are mine forever, wear this necklace as a symbol to our world that I own your love.' Is it bad?"
"Standard claim phrase." Julius said mildly "Not a vampire's claim though, you know what this means, don't you Noah?"
Noah nodded as he looked at me.
"What?" I said a little cautiously.
"Claiming like that is a werewolf thing. It means he's either come across a werewolf text and taught himself or he's come in contact with one. Either way, it's not good."
"That guy back there, he was a werewolf, wasn't he?"
"Yes." Noah sighed "He is a werewolf."
I watched as the small crowd of vampires began to disperse into the night, men, women and children, all of them vampires that had once been a community now they were going somewhere that was ideal for them. Somewhere they were going to hide from whatever it was that had tried to enter the compound. I couldn't understand why they were running, the place seemed pretty fortified. But it had rattled all of them, their faces were worried.
"Why are you running?" I looked to Noah.
"It was a legion of wolves that had descended upon us Veronica, they have never openly come after us like that, we have always had our occasional run ins with them, but nothing like this. They wanted to start something without any provocation on our part. Everyone is going to another safe house, hopefully they will be able to return soon. Our little group on the other hand will be going elsewhere."
"You mean team super amazing blood suckers plus one?"
Noah grinned with a half laugh.
"Yeah, I guess so. Is he always like that?"
"You mean crazy? Yeah, it's what makes Curtis awesome."
The sound of a child crying filled the air, a soft whimper of a boy maybe around the toddler age. Noah looked around, trying to find the child. There was only our small group that consisted of Julius, Curtis, the big bear of a man which I was yet to be introduced to, Noah and I. We were now at the edge of the city, terraced houses lined the empty street. No child should be out at this hour, unless they were one of us, travelling to their new home with their parents. Yet the quiet wail slipped around us, leaching at our hearts, we were desperate to find the poor child. Curtis and the bear followed what they thought was the right direction, down an alley, Julius was moving toward a set of stairs that led down into a hidden alcove below the stairs that led up to the terraced house. Noah was about to turn around to search the nearby park when something hit me, realisation dawned.
"Stop!"
They all turned and looked at me, moving to me when I gestured.
"Don't you see what you are all doing?"
Each of them all look at each other. Bewilderment was rife.
"You were all going separate directions." I raised my eyebrow at them "You were being split up."
The small group huddled closer.
"Ignore it." I whispered "Block the sound out."
One by one they all blocked the sound, closing their eyes to concentrate. As they did, the sound dissipated into nothing. Julius snapped his eyes open first, alarm rung through him.
"Get moving, now!"
Curtis and the bear led first, hastily moving down the street, Noah and I followed, Julius was by my side.
"Veronica, you need to be keeping an eye on us. That was a werewolf trick and it doesn't work on humans. They call it the bait and separate and they use it to pick us off one by one."
"What about the others?" I frowned at him.
"There is nothing that we can do for them now, we can only pray that they will reach their destination before the wolves find them."
"Is there no defence against this bait and separate?"
"In the confines of a protected space, a vampire is fine. Out in the open like this we are left to defend ourselves with strong minds."
"But you lot weren't that strong." I said mildly.
"We are distracted with getting to our destination, protecting you and besides, it doesn't always work. The wolf has to be a very old and learned wolf or to be educated by one."
Our pace quickened, I looked around the street, the sun was slowly seeping into the edges, tiny fragments of pale light. But the darkness still lingered, in the shadows of the street corners, alleys, behind cars that were parked along the kerb. I wondered if it was the same wolf from the forest or if this was a new one. I knew nothing about werewolves, they were an unknown creature to mankind. If nature was anything to go by, I could assume that werewolves were like their animal counterpart, living in packs, running and hunting together. It was possible that if we saw one, there would be more lying in wait. Was the guy in the forest an alpha? Do they go by that term? If I had time I would ask, if I could catch my breath I would ask, yet somehow I knew my questions would not be welcome at this point in time. One thing I did know, us being on foot wasn't wise. They were following us; how could we escape them when they were keeping up with us?
If there was ever a time for my now departed ex-boyfriend to instil his felonious life into me, this was it. My parents were relieved when I stopped dating Joe, like Noah he looked like he was from the wrong side of the tracks but unlike Noah, Joe actually was from the wrong side of the tracks. My father disapproved of Joe the minute he walked in the door, more so when he started appearing with gifts for me. Gifts that were of the diamond variety, gifts that had things inscribed to other people in them. So it was no shock that one day he appeared with one very fancy car, took me for a ride only to leave the car in a car park of an office building. In that very same car park he walked around, looking at the cars. I wasn't one to abide by such antics, I was the good girl. But still, he persisted and taught me how to hot wire a car. He was all set to take the car for a spin, somehow my father found me and dragged me out of the car park. We sat across the road, in the car watching the scene unfold. Cops were everywhere, my father tapped the steering wheel with fury in his eyes. Joe was hauled out of the car park in cuffs, tossed into the back of the cop car and I never saw him again. When I got home, everything that Joe had given me had disappeared. I was furious at them, a typical teenager really. Now that they were gone, I regretted moments like that. Wishing they were still around.
I looked along the cars, picking the one that was the dodgiest, therefore less likely to have an alarm. Noah looked at me like I was peculiar, I had moved from the side walk and was rounding a very old car. It used to be red, although with the suns daily brutal attack the paint was now a crackled and peeling orange. Removing my jacket, I wrapped it around my elbow and slammed it into the driver's window. Glass smashed everywhere, thankfully, no alarm.
"What on earth are you doing?" Julius scowled at me.
"Putting some serious distance between us and whoever it is that is stalking us."
"You can feel it?" he gasped.
"Yes. Get in."
I unlocked the doors and began to fiddle with the wires. Dread crackled its way through me, tingling up my spine. The shadow was closing in on us.
"Come on..." I snarled under my breath.
It was like the car understood the urgency, it spluttered into life with a few bangs and grumbling at the cold morning. Noah was in the front passenger seat, poor Julius was crammed against the door, whoever bear was, he took up most of the back seat. I couldn't see Curtis, but if this guy is his new partner then I'd be surprised if he wasn't sitting on his lap. It wasn't the wisest idea for me to drive, I hadn't driven in at least a year, but now wasn't the time to be worrying about who was doing what. I looked up into the rear view mirror as I sped down the street, all I could see was bear man's green eyes watching me. He was a scary man. Tall and so well built I thought it was possible that he lived at the gym. His shirt looked like it was about to tear from the strain, stretched over his very fine physique. He had a buzz cut, black hair that was perfectly cut almost like an army standard. Maybe he was army. His head hit the roof of the little hatch every time we went over a bump or found a pot hole. I tried to avoid them, I really did because the death stare I was getting wasn't worth causing issues with him.
Noah guided me deep into the city, twisting and turning through the streets. I could no longer feel the dread; I couldn't feel the shadow either. Relief flooded my mind, relaxing into the rest of my body. The streets were empty, only the occasional newspaper floating in the wind, the odd rat now and then but there were no humans. Noah gestured for a side street, then as I turned into it, he pointed to a garage door that was slowly sliding up. I drove the car into the darkened garage, wondering who was here. Clearly someone was here, someone opened the garage door. Darkness swallowed us up as the door slowly slid back down, I was faced with a large brick wall, the side walls were all brick except for one large metal door. Beside the door was a woman, she was tall with a long thin body. Her black hair pulled up into a loose bun, her skin pale and perfect. Grey eyes watched me, they were so pale they were almost colourless, soft silver flicked through them as she smiled at me. Everyone began to get out of the car, I still sat there a little stunned, unsure of what to do. My mind snapped into gear and I got out of the car, still a little wary of the woman. She was very different; I could tell she was very old but she looked no older than me.
"Welcome." she purred as she guided us to the big metal door, looking at me "I am Amelia."