Bodies laid on the snow, pools of dark blood surrounding them. The people of Corozal moved further into the town, leaving Helda, three others and myself with the former prisoners.
Blood roared in my ears as I surveyed the scene before me, choking back a strangled groan as I saw the teddy bear which a young girl had once held now on the ground, soft music continuing to play from it, barely heard over the sounds of continuous gunfire.
"They don't deserve this." The teenage boy who wore my coat quietly spoke, and I dragged my gaze to him. Sadness had captured his expression, and his hands trembled as he grasped his hair, voice cracking as he continued, "They weren't all like him."
A woman stepped forward then, his mother perhaps, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come, boy." She pulled at him, and he stumbled with her through the snow. I dragged in a painful breath, briefly locking eyes with Helda, but she quickly turned her attention to the others around her and began leading them away. I barely saw the glint of fear in her wide eyes before she'd moved.
My fingers lifted to touch my wet cheeks and saw the tears that were left on my gloves when I lowered them. A gunshot pierced the air again, and I swivelled around, hearing the sharp cry of a boy, who looked to be seven years old. He shook in his thin clothes, and tears dripping down his cheeks and chin as he struggled to climb to his feet after stumbling. He must have been one of the prisoners.
Without hesitation I lifted him, holding his body to my chest awkwardly, my focus now on making sure this boy got warmth. His cries lessened in my hold, and his head tucked into my neck as I jogged towards the vans, gunshots continuing to barrell through the air behind me, the sounds of heart-wrenching cries and howls ringing in my ears.
The noises of the van's doors banging open startled the boy, but I quickly lowered him to his feet inside of the vehicle before he could complain.
"Sit down." I told him, moving further into the van and grasping at bags, knowing that one of them held thick blankets. Papers and other items crashed to the floor in my desperate search, and I exhaled loudly in relief when I finally found a thick blanket.
Shaking it out, I moved swiftly towards the boy again, lowering to my knees, and wrapping the blanket around his body, keeping my hands pressed against it as I searched his face.
"What is your name?" I asked him, my fingers lifting to draw away strands of dark hair away from his grey-blue eyes, my own eyes flitting up and down his body hastily, hoping that his shivering would stop. And it was then, while the boy sputtered for a name, and still continued to tremble under the blanket, that I realized the difference in appearance he had compared to the prisoners.
He was thin, but naturally so, not because of ill-treatment. His clothes, although not the best at providing warmth, were clean and he looked healthy. I could see color beginning to return to his pale cheeks, which still had evidence of his tears.
"Your name?" I kept my voice gentle as I repeated myself, despite my now swirling cautious thoughts. My hands were tightly holding the edge of his blanket, and my eyes were beginning to sting from how hard I unblinkingly stared at him.
My suspicion spiked and his nostrils flared. Grey-blue eyes locked with my black ones. "Alec." The boy answered quietly.
"Alec," I repeated his name and nodded, cleared my throat and spoke again, "Where are your parents?"
His eyes flooded with tears. "My ma is dead now."
Behind us, the sounds of gunfire continued to echo.
"Your mother was a lycan." I said, not surprised when he nodded in confirmation. "And your father...?"
"Is a human. He was supposed to come back to town with my half-sister, but I haven't seen him." His body shook as he visibly resisted sobbing. Misery was etched onto his face, and before I could utter any other words, the vans' doors were pulled open. Helda climbed inside the van, ignoring us as she began searching noisily, cases and papers fluttering down, making the mess on the floor even worse.
She finally left, first aid kit in hand, and I leaned forward, my thumbs wiping the tears under Alec's eyes. "Do not speak of your parents. If anyone asks you about them, tell them that they were killed and you were recently imprisoned and were held in a separate place than the others."
The boy didn't have a chance to question my words, because then loud voices emerged, and I stood from my crouched position, inhaling shakily as I saw men and women approaching. I easily spotted Eric amongst them, and his eyes narrowed when they caught mine.
I could feel my face tightening with tension, and my jaw clenched. Eric paid little attention to Alec when he entered and he shrugged off his coat, tossing it onto the floor. With a grunt he sat on the seat opposite mine, and my eyes lowered to the wound on his stomach.
"The kit." He spoke gruffly, voice coarse as he grimaced in pain. I glanced over my shoulder towards Alec, but his head was lowered towards the floor. I hesitated to move, and Eric's eyes shuttered as he shifted uncomfortably.
I stiffly walked to the cabinets, searching through them until I found one. Wordlessly I opened it and placed it upon Eric's lap.
"You, kid!" Helda's voice called from the outside of the van. Snowflakes blasted inside the vehicle and I shuddered as I turned to stare towards Helda, who still refused to look directly at me since the killing of those in the town. "Come with me."
"Where are you taking him?" I demanded before Alec could move, stepping away from Eric and moving to stand by the young boy, who looked between Helda and myself nervously.
Helda arched an eyebrow, finally meeting my gaze, evidently taken aback by my sharp tone and I fought to keep my expression neutral, which was difficult; my mind was in turmoil because of what had happened not long ago and I suddenly felt protective of Alec. My hand rested upon the crown of his head, fingers drifting through his hair reassuringly as Helda hurriedly explained that she was told that the prisoners would be taking a separate van and would be brought to Corozal.
"Go with her." I finally told Alec, who reluctantly stood, still grasping the dark red blanket. He held my gaze for a long moment, and I knew that he would take heed to what I'd spoken to him about earlier. I walked with him to the van door, and guided him down. A quick look in the distance showed that many were leaving the town, returning to vans, and my nails dug into my palms as I saw the bodies.
Eric was grunting behind me, and I could hear him searching through the kit. Silence fell, except for the occasional sound of exaggerated pained groans coming from the commander behind me, and I knew that the man was attempting to get my attention. But I couldn't face him. Not yet.
My jaw was working relentlessly, and my eyes burned with unshed tears. Throughout most of my life, lycans had been the ones who I'd witness initiate aggression, and I had an inkling that those in that town had no intentions of harming us or others, which completely shocked me. However, to see what the people of Corozal, what the humans had done to the lycans who lived in that town, was disturbing.
Swallowing thickly, I finally spoke, my voice betraying none of the confusion and bitter sorrow I felt. "Why did you do it?"
Eric's exhale was long winded, and I bristled at the irritation held in that sound.
I turned, whipping around to face him. He was straightening in his seat, shirt open to reveal a slash across his stomach which he currently bandaged. His hands slowed and he fixed me with a harsh stare as I neared him.
"What?" My voice was husky and thick as I spoke through the lump in my throat. My hand reached for the kit in his lap, tossing it aside and gaining satisfaction at the sound of it's contents crashing to the floor. "They did nothing to us, Eric." I hissed through clenched teeth, eyes blazing. "I don't understand."
Eric remained seated and two seconds went by before he stood abruptly. I had little time to inhale or breathe before I found myself planted against the wall of the van, back pressing uncomfortably into the metal as Eric gripped my throat with a large hand, blue eyes leveled with my widened ones.
"That tone is not to be taken when speaking to me," He rasped, fingers squeezing the flesh of my neck, holding me firm. His action triggered memories of Kanes and my body completely stiffened with dread as I searched Eric's face when he continued speaking, spittle hitting my cheek. "Lycans aren't to be trusted; they all are the same. Greedy, vindictive, evil beasts. They need to be exterminated from towns, slaughtered if need be. For far too long they've been in control and have wreaked havoc throughout many places. It's time for us humans to regain the power we once had, and killing those cunts back in that town will show many others like them that we will prevail, that we will begin to take back what is ours."
Gone was the man who I'd once come to regard as a friend. All I saw before me was a man who appeared as vindictive and evil as the lycans he spoke of. My eyes slid shut, lips parting in pain and discomfort as he applied more pressure upon my neck, feeling his lips graze my ear as he spoke. "You will soon share this need as well, Liv. You'll understand why these deaths and so many others will be necessary."
He released me, and I turned, gasping in air, fingers gently caressing my stinging skin. Behind me, I could hear others entering the van. None of them paid attention to me, and was instructed by Eric to leave me be, giving an excuse that they somehow believed.
But there was no need for him to give them an excuse to leave me alone, as I would have refused their help; they too shared the same view as Eric, and the realization that I was going to be living amongst people like him shot terror throughout my entire being.
***********
"Alec is staying with me."
Eric nor anyone else could pry the boy from my hands after I made that decision, and I half-carried him to the house afterwards, double locking the doors and immediately moved to the fireplace, noticing how cold the entire house was.
"I have food in the fridge." I told the boy, clearing my throat when my voice shook. "I'll heat it up when I'm finished here."
Alec said nothing, but the floorboards creaking signaled that he was entering the living room. I heard him sit on the couch as fire finally came from the fireplace and I straightened and walked to the kitchen sink, washing my hands thoroughly before preparing the food.
The curtains were all drawn closed in the house, and once upon a time, I would've immediately jerked them aside so sunlight would stream through, but because of what happened today, I wouldn't want anyone possibly being able to look inside the house.
"My pa will look for me." Alec said half-an-hour later when we were seated at the dinner table. Our plates of food were untouched, and my eyes had been lowered, staring at the fork I held limply in my hand on the table. My thoughts were racing, and images of the young girl with the toy would pop into my mind every now and then, the song which had emitted from it still replaying in my mind.
"What?" I asked, lifting my eyes to stare at Alec, who sat hunched over in his chair. He looked tired, scared, sad and my heart squeezed painfully in my chest.
"My pa will look for me. And my half-sister."
"Your half-sister?" I was mildly distracted as I refocused my attention on to my fork, lifting it and stabbing it into the lamb, breaking off a piece yet unable to eat it.
"Yes." Alec finally touched some of his own food, and grasped at a sliced okra. "She'll help my pa look for me. I know it."
I released a soft breath, stomach churning as I eyed the meat. "Really?" I murmured. "What is her name?"
I heard Alec swallow his vegetable and my fork fell to the plate in disbelief when he eventually answered,
"Lilith." Alec said. "Her name is Lilith."
***********
An earlyish update! Sort of lol. What do you all think about Eric's behavior? And this new discovery about Alec being Lilith's half brother? (Lilith is a close friend of Hannes and was in a couple chapters before for those who may have forgotten)
Please Comment and Vote! 💕💕
The next chapter is available on Inkitt.