- Chapter XXII: One Step Closer -
So much can change, I thought to myself as I neared the Compound. A week ago, I had been a normal girl who went to a normal school and came home to a normal house. Now, here I was, possibly looking death in the face. Not only that, I had been changed. I had changed from normal to different, not only different, nonhuman. I wouldn't have believed it myself if it weren't for my eyes, which Dom had pointed out reminded him of kaleidoscope. Dom. Where was he now? Was he dead? Had Eran already sucked his panther from him? Was he already broken?
Fear drapped over me like a warm blanket in the winter, but instead of being warm, this blanket made my toes go numb. I stopped walking and Sam and Nick went ahead. They hadn't noticed my absense until I began to cry.
I lifted my head then, and through the mask of scents of death and fear, I could smell the forest. The dew drops on fresh summer leaves, the sharp scent of bark, and the sting of wild mushrooms growing in a damp meadow. I could still win this battle.
As we neared the Compound, the hue of red burst into grey and black. Smoke.
"Holy -" Nick was cut off as we walked through the final line of trees separating us from the small shack that led to our secret world.
The shack was completely engulfed by flames. Not only that, but as the flames danced and licked up the sides of the shack a scream emerged.
"Willow!" Nick boomed through the forest. His voice was frantic and desperate. He made a run for the cabin.
"Nick, no! There may be someone waiting for you inside. It's a trap!" Sam exclaimed, throwing his arms around Nick's waist.
"Get the hell off of me, kid! If my mate is in a burning house about to die I'm getting her. I don't care if Barney is waiting in there with a machine gun! Now get off." Nick's fangs were sharp and the orange light bounced off of their purl-like surface. He hissed at Sam and tossed him aside, bursting through the small, off center door to the shack.
A minute ticked by. Two. Three. Four...
"Riley, I'm going in after him. If I'm not back in two minutes find another entrance to the Compound and find Dom and go." Sam said.
I nodded, not sure if I would be able to leave Sam and Nick behind.
Just before Sam ran to the shack, Nick emerged with Willow drapped in his arms, bloody and scared. I let out a long breath at the sight.
"Willow," I said, "let me help."
She didn't respond but Nick looked at me and nodded. I placed my hands just above a wound across her belly and water began to form. Willow shuttered but not out of pain. The thin vail of water was relieving her of the pain. I did the same with the scar across her forehead. The other wounds around her arms and legs weren't as severe, but I covered those too.
"Misty, David... Dom..." Willow muttered, trailing off.
"Willow, I know it hurts, but you have to tell us what's going on down there." I whispered.
"Eran-" She began but bent over, coughing up blood. Nick patted her on the back, "Eran is drunk."
"Drunk?" I asked, confused. What use would a werecat have for alcohol?
"Drunk with power. After it was discovered that you had taken Nick to go visit your humans, Eran got pissed. He went to Dom while we were at breakfast this morning and questioned him." Willow said, shuttering at the memories, "He- He wanted a word with Dom elsewhere, he had said, and I haven't seen Dom since."
"Oh God." I said, cupping my head in my hands.
Willow continued as if she hadn't heard me, "All hell broke loose after his absense was discovered."
"How did he find out?" Nick asked, rubbing her back in reassuring circles. I couldn't help the ping of doubt I felt deep within my heart. Will I ever be reassured by Dom again?
Willow choked out a sob that was followed by a gag, "Misty."
"No." Nick said, standing up.
"She must have over heard our planning the day we were in the cafeteria..." I trailed off.
"No!" Nick said. "David's mate wouldn't betray him like that."
"They took all three of us into an area even deeper than the Compound. It's completely metal and no werecat's powers can work down there minus the Head." Willow continued.
"Misty and I were taken into a cell together and were told to wait our turn. Misty wouldn't tell me what was going on. Then, maybe an hour later, Eran came." Willow said, shuttering.
"He-" She muttered, "He told Misty to come with him. Misty asked why and Eran told her that he wanted to play a little game."
"Game?" I said.
"We need to move. Fast." Nick said, "Willow, where can you hide?"
"I'll get a tree to come get me." Willow said.
Nick must have seen my puzzled expression because he said, "Willow has an affinity for Earth."
With his words, Willow reached her hand in the air and thrust her rist, pulling it back towards the earth. Suddenly, a small woosh of wind russled the leaves of the nearby trees, and two thin pine trees seemed to twist to face each other, and they both bent low to the ground. Each tree offered branches that seemed to have more leaves than the others and picked Willow up.
"Wait!" I yelled, throwing my hand in the air as if the catch them as the pulled Willow through the air.
Nick grabbed my arm saying, "It's alright, look."
I looked up into the two trees to see Willow's arm reaching over the bed of leaves, waving at us weakly.
"You alright?" Nick whispered through the air.
"Yeah! Now go find the others. I'll be here waiting when you get back." Willow replied.
Nick turned to leave but looked back again at the trees.
"I'm alright, Nick. My friends will protect me." Willow must have sensed his unease.
Nick nodded and grunted, walking swiftly towards the cabin.
"Where are we going?" I asked him as Sam and I stumbled after him.
"Into the main entrance. It's the only one I know of." Nick said.
"Wait, I know another way. Follow me." Same said.
Before we had time to protest, Sam was leaping through the brush.
"What is it?" I asked once he had begun to slow down.
"The garbage shoots."
YOU ARE READING
The Werecats: Creatures of the Night (Original)
Teen Fiction18-year-old orphan Riley was just waiting for a bus home from work that night. She never saw it coming. The dark shadow just appeared and pulled her away from the dimly lit bench, and along with it pulled her away from the life she once knew. It all...