Nature of the beast (book 1 of the Beasties)

Abduction Zombie Style

Love is a terrifying word. Brandy's innocent out burst, plays in my mind every ten minutes. Wes was the last person I thought, I loved. He used it to twist and turn me into what benefited him. I know Liam is on the opposite side of the spectrum, but it is still hard to put my heart on the line again.

My thoughts are interrupted by Liam asking me a question.

"Sorry, what was that?" I ask. Liam looks at me concerned.

"What do you think about all of this?" He repeated. We had finished giving Liam a tour of the camp, now we are sitting in the meeting tent.

"I have to admit, I don't know anything about the politics of a hidden race, but I do know, I really want to help these people." My words ring true to my feelings. Liam with his stone like face, ponders over what I'd said. Everyone holds their breath, waiting for the answer of their fate.

"If you could do something, what would it be?" Liam asks. I feel like their future is resting on my shoulders.

"I wish I could give them a safe home, where they don't have to worry about weather or not they will survive the next day. It seems like they have to run every time they settle down. It's a cruel way to live. From what I've seen, they are the most peaceful people I've met besides your's, Liam. They don't deserve to be treated like unwanted animals." The tent grew so quiet that if a pin dropped, it would sound like a bomb. Liam's lips quirk up on one side.

"For someone who knows nothing of our politics, you are quite observant and convincing." I blush from his words. He turns to Gavin. "You heard the lady, we will help you, but I will need this little petty feud between you and Canis to end, so I can kick him and his pack off my property. Than we will have a proper meeting with our council members from our packs. In the end of the meeting if all goes well, you're pack will move in on my land for protection, until I can convince the senate to make a gray area where you and your pack will find a new true home with equality." Everyone inside the tent breathed out in relief. "I'm not guaranteeing that it'll go the way I stated, but I will do my best."

"That is all I'm asking Liam. Thank you so much." Gavin said sincerely.

"You really have grown up Gavin. Your mother would be proud." Liam clamped a reassuring hand on Gavin's shoulder. For a moment it looked like Gavin might shed a tear, he nodded firmly instead.

**********

What is that noise? I slowly lift my sleepy eyelids to scan the tent. Brandy is lightly snoring in her cot. The ripping sound continues for one more minute. I turn my head towards the wall of the tent, next to my cot. A new hole the size of a baseball, seemed to of materialized. My eyes fly open. A hand shoots through the hole so fast that there was no time to react. Something pricks my arm. With in seconds, I feel the effects of being drugged. My body is heavy, my brain is sluggish. Even these thoughts are hard to process. A pair of lips grew on to the tent wall. They whisper for me to get up and leave the tent quietly.

The idea to leave takes an exaggerated amount of time to compute. My legs slowly swing over the cot. I get up like a zombie in a B-flic and leave as instructed by the tent. Outside a rat faced woman stands before me. I'm about to turn around to go back inside, when she commands me to stay. My feet remain planted. She checks me over till she's satisfied, including the dilation of my eyes. Content, she demands that I follow her.

I can no longer think, so like a robot I do as she says. We quietly enter through a man sized hole she seemed to magically zap into existence in the back of a heavily guarded tent. Only the guards seem more like over stuffed scarecrows propped against chairs. Once inside, I see a man in the center, tied to a chair, bloody. There is nothing else inside the room. I am told to stay quiet no matter what and not to move. My jaw locks on command. The man seems relived to see the rat faced woman. Her expressionless features give no signs of what her intent is. She walks up to the happy sap, pulls out a small knife, concealed by her hand. At first glance she looks as if she was just checking the damage on his face, when she stepped away, a deep blackness, oozed out of the mans neck. Poor guy didn't even have time to realize he was going to die, until he was gurgling to death. We stood there waiting for his body to stop jerking and his attempts to breath, end.

I should be screaming, crying, fighting or at least trying to help the poor boy, but I feel nothing, even these thoughts take too long for me to react. I know one thing, this event will forever be burned in my memory. When I come down from this high, this memory will come back with a vengeance that will rival a tidal wave.

The woman walks me out of the tent, then picks me up. She demands me to close my eyes. I do as she says. The motion of her running feels like I'm on a boat in a storm. Eventually a deafening darkness creeps in and all thoughts disappears.