Pack Lands

Chapter 14 Prisoner

Nikita held the door open and gestured for Alexis to walk out into the alley beyond. Alexis obeyed and walked slowly past her and into the back alley running behind the bar. She was met by a few random thugs standing in the space. She watched them as they openly appraised her as she walked through the open doorway. Their looks of disdain showed that they did not understand what all the fuss was about. They viewed her as a lowly human and did not feel threatened by her at all. These men viewed strength and power in physical dominance alone and she did not even rank on the same board as them in that department. She was utterly underestimated by them all and she almost chuckled, holding back just in time.

Alexis curbed her smile – she needed to play the weak human and she tried to make herself appear more scared than she was. She did not try to fight off their grasp on her arm, nor did she act at all defiant. If they had known her at all, they would have realised just how out of character that was for her. When they led her to a car nearby and forced her to sit in the back seat between two of the gruff brutes, she meekly did as she was told. She even willingly allowed them to place a sack over her head as they raced off further and further away from the bar and her everyday life.

Alexis closed her eyes and stilled her mind – glad to have something over her head to prevent their lecherous gazes falling on her or their ability to see what she was up to. She looked deep into her mind’s eye and tried to see the way they were driving – it would make it so much easier to escape or find her way back if she knew the way back or even where they might be taking her. Any clue, any hint, a sign, a landmark – something she could recognize! Her body took on the chill that was starting to feel more familiar to her every time she used it, and she felt the heat of the two wolves seated beside her against her cold skin. She never thought she would be grateful that she had been kidnapped by warm blooded creatures before this!

She watched the road unfold before her eyes and immediately knew exactly where they were and which way they were headed. They were headed out of town in the opposite direction of Pack Lands. They obviously knew where they were going as nobody uttered a word about the route, but they chatted amongst each other about meaningless and inane subjects that she blocked from her mind, lest they distract her from her true task.

Alexis wondered how long it would take for someone to realise that she was gone from the bar. She hoped they would know to check the security cameras in the back room of the bar and the camera in the alley way. She was sure the first person they would call would be Deacon – she had a feeling everyone at the bar already knew just how much of a vested interest he had in her. She was certain Deacon would know to look for all the clues in all the right places and he would send help as soon as he could. She also hoped the car would be caught on one of the cameras in the street nearby and at least give them an indication of the direction they were going in. The townsfolk were close, and she knew they would step in to help if they knew it was for her. She also knew Deacon could be very persuasive if need be! She had to let Deacon know where she was and that she was safe, but she started to feel tired and pushed all her effort into keeping her visions of the road at the forefront of her mind.

Alexis took regular breaks from the visions as they drove, allowing her body to warm up when they were on long straight sections of road and dropping in at any points where they turned to try and find any information, she could that might help her find her way back. Her biggest clue came when they turned onto a bumpy gravel road a fair amount of time later. She pushed her mind out as far as she could to see landmarks to remember the road. Her body ached, her skin felt brittle, but she pushed and pushed mentally and spotted an aged wooden board that had an image of a wolf on it. It was a fleeting glance as they passed at speed, but it was enough to notice the faded writing that she tried to make out. All that she could read were the letter “CA” and “LYC”. She stretched her mind to try and recall anything that might match those letters, but the use of her powers was too much, and she felt herself waning, her head dropping to the side and her consciousness fading to black as the cold finally overtook her.