☽ Fang ☾ [Howl sequel] ✔

☽ 28 ☾

"Hickory... Dickory... Dock."

Colby started seething as he placed the phone between him and Sam. The screen flashed before fading to darkness. The Alpha's hands trembled, anxiety taking hold of him at what new horror would come from his phone screen. Sam perched himself behind his mate, resting a hand on his shoulder, and using his other hand to cradle Colby's shaking hands.

"The mouse... ran up... the clock."

It was Artemas' voice, familiar and unnerving in Colby's ears like nails on a chalkboard. The darkness gave way to a face in a brilliant white mask. There was a crimson red smile painted on it, but the white eyes peering out from within were a different emotion. They told of the violence and hatred they had for werewolves.

"The clock struck one!"

An angry female cried out, laced beneath Artemas' teasing masculine voice.

Behind him in two chairs again was Xepher and Amber. Xepher was more awake than the last time Colby had seen her in the other video, but there was something feral about her. She snarled around her gag, saliva soaking the cloth. Her hair was wild as she rocked back and forth on her chair. Silver fur blurred her flesh as if she was stuck between her human and her wolf forms. Beside her was Amber, weak and pale. Her head was leaning back against the chair, with her dark hair cascading over her shoulders. There was a sheen to her skin, like she had a fever. A sickly black color crawled through her veins, pulsing with its own heartbeat. There was wolfsbane in her system.

"The mouse ran down!"

Amber's eyes fluttered open, golden glistening. She peered into the camera as Xepher growled loudly from beside her and Colby felt his chest ache. Xepher's chair creaked and groaned beneath her weight as she thrashed.

Colby recognized in an instant where they were being held. It was a landscape he wished he had forgotten, but the nightmares always brought it back. The pair were nestled in an empty bonfire pit amongst a ragged landscape that once belonged to Lucian Ethelwulf. Even now, all these years later, Colby could still feel the heat that came off of that bonfire as he sat with Lucian who tried to persuade Colby with an unknown Omega boy and a lifetime of servitude.

"Hickory... Dickory... Dock... Hello, Colby Brock."

Artemas came into the camera frame again, a wide smile on his face. He wasn't wearing a mask now so Colby could see every single emotion on his face... Or lack there of emotion. Even with the sickening smile on his face, Artemas' eyes were devoid of anything resembling human. Colby mused lightly, Who was the real monster here?

"Time is ticking away, young Alpha," he sneered at the camera, "You know, time is a precarious thing. Very few actually hold it in the palms of their hands. Some buy time like your fellow influencers. Some have it thrust upon them without their consent. But they are all fragments of power, an illusion for immortality. Do you know who really holds time?" Artemas walked around Amber and Xepher's bodies on the chair, "Death, Colby Brock."

He reaches a finger toward Xepher, who growls through her gag. Eyes golden and glistening as they stared at the hunter, "Whomever controls death, controls time, my dear Alpha."

And he began to laugh, reaching up behind Xepher to thread his fingers through her hair. She tried to twist herself away but Artemas tightened his hold on her hair and pulled her head back. She cried out through her gag as her head snapped back.

"And I control the time for your precious Omegas, Colby."

Artemas' other hand went behind his back and out came a silver dagger, but the instant he brought it up to Xepher's face it clearly was laced with something else. Colby winced as Artemas pressed the tip into Xepher's eyebrow. Crimson liquid laced with purple wolfsbane trickled down Xepher's face. It blinded her eye in her own blood.