The Calling

Chapter 24 ~ Shannon Taylor

I must have dozed off, because I am woken by something crawling on me, and then I hear something squeaking near me. My eyes are straining from the light, but then once they focus, I see rats, big ones; one crawling on my leg and another on my hip. I let out a screech and wiggle them off me. The rats then run over to the corpse beside me... to be with the others. There's a bunch of them crawling all over the woman's body beside me, and they've already started to eat away at her flesh. Another squeal escapes my lips, then I recoil back and wiggle myself further away.

Oh my god?! I have to get out of here. What time is? How long have I been down here? Where is Ethan? I feel so hopeless... Pull yourself together Shannon, you have been bullied before. Obviously, this is a whole new level... ok let's be honest, this isn't just bullying, this is kidnapping. But I need to focus. I've bested bullies before, and that psycho that brought me here is my biggest, and most terrifying bully yet. He chose to murder his mate in front of me and leave her corpse as an intimidation tactic. You've heard of these types of situations before from your parents' military stories. Think Shannon, think, how to escape?

I take a deep breath in and then out. Time for a pep talk... I am strong, I am smart... I am... I am a Wolf and a Witch hybrid! The first of my kind, and the first hybrid species of the Underworld! Yeah! That's right! Now think, think about what Ethan said. He said that he was surprised that I haven't turned yet, but under duress it could happen. Well, I would say that I am under duress, and it didn't work. So, I can't trust myself to turn into a Wolf.

But I'm also a Witch. He said Witches use their anchor to access their magical power, and I know I have a lot of them. I need to focus on them and whatever sensations I get from them. I close my eyes and think I need more light to see. I squeeze my eyes as tight as I can, and will the lights to brighten in the room. I feel something twitch and burn on my back, so I decide to take a peek and see if it worked... I did it! The light above me is illuminating, so bright it's starting to hurt my eyes. Then I start to see smoke coming from the socket... Oh god, tone it down! But as I start to panic, the light bulb bursts and sparks fly everywhere. One spark lands near a rag, which must be covered in some kind of gas or oil because it bursts into flames. Oh crap! Now the flame rises and runs across the floor heading towards something I can't see yet. Focus Shannon! Put out the fire! You heard water dripping earlier. Close your eyes and find it with your mind, then focus on the water to put out the flame. I close my eyes again and mentally feel out searching for water, I feel it, and I will it to put out the flames. Only, I made a mistake, water on fire fueled by oil or gas only makes it burn more. Shit! Shit! As the fire grows up towards the wood ceiling, the smoke is building in the room. I have to get out of here! The smoke travels up the stairs and under the door. The next thing I hear is someone shouting fire! Someone opens the door and runs down the stairs and grabs me by the arms.

"Get up! Move!"

I do my best to get up, but it's a struggle because my legs are cramping from being tied up, and from little movement.

"Freddrick is going to be so pissed, you stupid girl!" Then he slaps me across the face.

He more or less drags me up the stairs and my thigh catches on something sharp from the raggedy staircase. I wince from the pain. Once I'm up the stairs and through the door, the next thing I notice is the crazy man storming towards me. He then yells at two other men in the room.

"What the hell is going on in here? Why do I smell fire, where is the smoke coming from, and why is she up... What happened to her? Why is she bleeding, stop the bleeding, she is bleeding out!"

Someone ties a tourniquet around my leg. I look down, but I shouldn't have, there is so much blood everywhere.

"You idiot! You're supposed to be watching her. Now she is gravely wounded. I can't force the bond now, she is too weak, it will kill her. Move her, take her to the second location and don't let her out of your site this time. And be on alert, she's now given away our location."

I'm starting to feel light headed and it's hard to keep my eyes open. One of the men in the room pick me up and carry me out the front door, then tosses me into the trunk of a car.

The ride is bumpy and I have no idea where I am, or where I'm going. Please come find me Ethan...

All of a sudden after what felt like an eternity the car stops and I hear car doors open and close. Then they unlock and open the trunk, and pull me out. It's dark, but my eyes are beginning to adjust. Looks like I'm heading into a rundown cabin, similar to my last location. My capture takes me inside and drops me onto the rotting wood floor. The pain in my leg stings for a minute but I am so dizzy and light headed that it's hard to focus. Then I see mister crazy eyes entering the room, push out the guy that dropped me in here, and then he shuts the door behind him.

"Why are you not healing? You're supposed to be all mighty, all powerful, what a waste of skin. I can't wait for you to heal, I have to force bond with you now, before Lucas and his Pet, Ethan, come for you. If you don't survive, then no one can have you."

He starts taking off his shirt, and then unbuttoning and unzipping his pants. Oh my god, he is going to rape me! He begins to pull on my clothes... I am having a hard time focusing and staying awake, but I'm positive that I heard someone screaming outside. Crazy eyes stopped pulling on my clothes and swears under his breath.

"Shit, they've found us already... and I'm not done with you yet."

He starts growling and I can hear bone snapping. Then while snarling he says,

"If I can't have you, no one will!"

Oh my god! He is bat shit crazy insane! As I watch him become more beast than man, I can hear the screaming and growling getting louder outside. Then as crazy eye's is about to bite me, a huge rabid Wolf breaks through the door.