Bloody and Wild

Ruby Leaves

At first Lauren had been too afraid, too afraid to even think of the others. It had been a blinding fear, absolutely paralysing. The rifle had slipped from her fingers and she had stared transfixed.

"George!" She heard a voice scream not realising that it was her own. Everything else had become muted and unreal. The werewolves around her lay on the ground unconscious. Lewis was among them. Lauren alone was standing. Her shoulders were slumped and her small mouth gaping as she stared at the George's shocked dead eyes. "GEORGE!"

Out of the shadows figures slipped confidently forward, converging on the fallen soldiers. Lauren fell weakly to her knees. George's blood pooled out from beneath him, it leaked into the earth and seeped into the fallen leaves. Leaves, fallen leaves at the height of summer...

Soiled leaves.

Great arms had taken hold of her. At first she had barely noticed but then a large torso obstructed her vision of George. She began to struggle, to kick and writhe desperately.

"I'm human, I'm not a werewolf!" She screamed her limbs flailing about wildly. All she could see about her was a press of bodies, closing in on her. "I'M HUMAN!" Her feet left the ground and she was flung across someone's shoulders. She slapped at the padded leather of his jacket. "Please, please let me go!"

As they carried her off she had a view over the heads of the others. She watched them hoist the others onto stretchers. It took a team to shift Lewis. But one werewolf was left behind. "GEORGE!"

"Hey!" Rough hands shook her awake. Lauren's emerald eyes snapped open and she quickly sat bolt upright. Her bed sheets fell down into her lap and she looked across at the concerned expression of a stranger. "You were dreaming," the woman told her softly giving her back a gentle rub. A light sheen of sweat covered Lauren's fair skin and her mousy hair clung to her neck and face.

"No...I wasn't." She replied softly, her gaze slipping to stare abstractedly at the shadows ahead. It wasn't just a dream, it had really happened. Flashes of the last couple of days reared up in her mind's eye.

When she had first woken up after being abducted from the forest, she had been terrified, lost and confused.

They had given her a sleeping bag, pillow and toothbrush. They were inside an old fashioned saloon of a colonial mansion. Most of the furniture had been removed save for a sofa and some chairs that were pushed up against the walls and covered with canvasing. The floor had become a neatly organised can of sardines as sleeping bags and occupants lay at perfectly even intervals. It reminded her of an image her history teacher had shown the class of how the slaves were densely squashed onto the ships. Yet these occupants were nothing like slaves. They chatted animatedly, laughing and passing food and magazines along the rows.

The female in the sleeping bag next her had caught her eye. This had been the same woman to wake her up just now.  

"Oh good you're awake now. Raisin?" 

From then on it had been a blur of instructions and rules. 'Do this' and 'don't do this' and she had been set to work. The entire place was full of sheets and clothes hanging from lines from the rafters and Lauren had been given a basket and pegs.

 "Please just let me go! I promise, I won't tell anyone about what's going on here." She had pleaded but the other woman had only smiled sadly at her.

"You might go back to your pack of werewolves. I'm afraid secrecy is a big thing here so you're not going anywhere. But don't worry. It's nice here."

"Are you human too?" She had asked uncertainly looking about at the people around her. They seemed normal enough. Most weren't paying her any attention.