Of Wolf & Man

Chapter Eight

Liam walked down the hallway towards his bedroom, his heart was racing. He hoped Rachel was still there and hopefully not asleep. He didn't know what to get her to eat so he went to the nearest fast food restaurant and got some burgers and fries. When Liam got to the doorway he paused and took a deep breath. His heart rate didn't want to slow, and it made him a bit embarrassed, but he knew Rachel couldn't hear his heart as well as he could hear hers and even his own.
He could hear the pounding in the room and knew she was still there and it seemed she was a bit frightened by him returning so soon because her heart was faster than before Liam left. With another deep breath Liam stepped into the bedroom.
"You're still here I see." His voice broke the silence and Rachel jumped at his return. "I hope you eat meat because I've got hamburgers, if not I have French fries."
Rachel looked up at him and her heart skipped a beat, she didn't understand why it kept doing that. "I eat meat. I thought about becoming a vegetarian, but it didn't work out very well." Rachel uttered a nervous chuckle and Liam laughed louder than he anticipated and he and Rachel both blushed. When Rachel looked away Liam sat down in the armchair beside the bed and put the bags of food on the bed. Rachel looked at the bags and saw there was food for at least ten people. She wasn't very hungry, so she figured most of it was for Liam.
Liam pulled a hamburger out of the bag and handed it to Rachel. "Would you like ketchup or any other type of condiment?"
Rachel took the hamburger and shook her head. "No, I'm not a fan of condiments. They sometimes make food soggy."
Liam laughed again and grabbed a hamburger for himself and started to unwrap it when Rachel started coughing. "Are you alright Rachel?"
Rachel nodded and pointed at the glass on the table. Liam quickly handed it to Rachel. After she took a sip her coughing calmed down and she felt the sting in her throat from the serum. Rachel's throat burned from coughing and she knew that if she were to talk again her voice would be extremely hoarse.
Liam and Rachel sat in silence while they ate. Liam was bothered by the quiet. He knew that when Rachel finally spoke she would ask more questions. Questions he was forbidden to answer, answers he longed to tell her.
Just as he anticipated, Rachel's voice broke the silence. "Is there any way that I'll be able to go back to my hotel room and get some clothes?"
"We can't risk any of our enemies seeing you. I'll leave in a few minutes to get your things."
"Why is everything suddenly so dangerous?" There was an edge to her tone.
Liam knew that Rachel's questions would be probing and that he'd have to hide some answers from her, again, to keep her safe.
"There are dangerous people out there. People I told you about earlier. People who want to kill you. I'm the only one who can keep you safe now. I want to tell you everything that I know but Helene would kill me. You're going to have to wait for answers until we get to Salem."
"So, I'm being stalked by vampires and werewolves and I'm not allowed to know what's going on? That isn't very fair Liam."
Liam stood and laughed, "Life isn't fair. Do you think you can stay awake until I return? I don't want to have to worry about you breaking my house while I'm gone."
Rachel scowled at Liam and her eyes narrowed. "I'm sure I can manage!" Rachel snapped. With a huff she heaved out a sigh, crossed her arms and looked away from Liam. She didn't like that he was patronizing her. It made her angry.
"Well good. I'll be back soon then, drink your serum." With one last look at Rachel, Liam swept from the room.
Once at the door Liam unlocked the door and was outside in one swift movement.
The next, he was locking Rachel inside the cabin once more. All the time praying that she would stay inside and stay safe. Searching the night, Liam looked for anyone that shouldn't be there.
Luckily the beach was empty, as it was hours before when he brought Rachel's body to the cabin. Liam dragged himself out of the painful memory and made himself focus on the present.
Liam then sprinted up the beach towards a lonely parking lot. Liam looked around himself again and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just his car and the others that regularly occupied the lot were in his view. With another quick look down the beach Liam jumped into his car. It wasn't his favorite choice in cars but at least he had a way to get around in his human form.
A 1969 Ford Mustang, dark blue with a black racing stripe down the middle of the car. It may be attractive to a car enthusiast but to Liam it was just a car, and nothing more than that. Liam turned the key in the ignition, revved the engine and sped down the street, glancing in his mirrors every few feet.
As he drove down the beach Liam saw the towering structure of the sound stage.
Getting closer he slowed. There were police cars blocking the road and police tape everywhere.
It was pure luck that Rachel didn't come with him. Her friend's body was being removed. The coroner's truck was on the scene. From the looks of it, they just found her.
The thought of the girl's drained and broken body made Liam realize how close it could have been Rachel. The other girl was long gone. Nobody would find her body; Roman had gotten to her before they could. They wouldn't find Rachel either, not that she was dead, but they'd put out a missing persons alert for her and her friend. Just twenty-four hours ago Liam had saved Rachel from her potential murderer. He almost lost her when Roman attacked. If Jonathan found out she was injured because of his stupidity. Jonathan would surely break Liam's legs. He'd break them with morbid glee. Liam had also put his brothers in danger. Liam wondered now how he was going to get into Rachel's hotel room without being seen by his enemies or his brothers.
There were so many things going on, Liam wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep
Rachel safe by himself. He'd need his brothers' help, but how would he keep Jonathan in the dark? That plan would be harder than breaking into Rachel's hotel room. Liam thought of Rachel again and remembered how she acted earlier. How her actions while she was asleep worried him.
The vampire blood that bonded with her body was reacting badly with traces of the lycovirus that are in the slashes down her arm. She was acting like one of them...the way she perched on the table reminded him of Roman. The way he moved was so cat-like, so fluid. That right there is what made them natural enemies of the wolf, being relatives of dogs. Werewolves are very canine in the way they attack and move. The complete opposite of the vampires, cats and dogs were enemies as were werewolves and vampires. It's just in their nature to hate each other.
According to legend, Apollo and Artemis god and goddess of the Sun and Moon, were brother and sister, twins, fought and started the war. Artemis being goddess of the hunt as well as the Moon went to the wolves and asked them to be her soldiers and she would reward them with the ability to shift form and become human when the full moon set. Of course, the wolves agreed, they wanted to be human and they wanted to please their goddess for protecting them and helping them hunt for food when there was none in the forests. Artemis called upon the wolves during the full moon and told them to journey into the villages and to seek out others to join them. She also told them not to touch the women. Women should never be harmed. They were to protect them at all costs.
Artemis told the wolves the way to change humans into wolves. They only had to bite them, and the virus would spread, and the moon would change them. The wolves went to the nearest villages and sought out the strongest men and bit them. Because the moon was full the men transformed instantly, the moon changed them into part-human, part-wolves. The original wolves traveled on four legs, but the new wolves traveled on hind legs and still had human characteristics. They walked and moved like gorillas not wolves. The wolves went to the goddess seeking counsel. She told them not to worry. They are dominantly human and the more they transform the more the wolf will emerge. The wolves began to train their newest members and learn to work together and strategize. The originals knew how to fight as animals and the new ones knew how to fight as humans. They combined their tactics and fought well together.
Apollo being the god of the sun and manly beauty among other things sought out men not animals. Apollo came down to Earth as a very handsome man and searched the nearest village for men of great beauty. He found some men and saw that they were jealous of his beauty and used it to his advantage. Apollo told the men that in order to get his godly beauty all they had to do was pray to the god Apollo and Apollo would come to them and ask them what they want to trade for the beauty and as soon as they answer he'd grant it to them. Apollo lied and said he'd given Apollo his best flock of sheep as a sacrifice.
The men then left the disguised Apollo and traveled to the temple of Apollo and prayed to him. Apollo came to each man in turn and asked what they had to offer him. Some men offered gold, others offered their animals, and some offered their land. Apollo denied every offer and told the men he would grant them with the beauty of the gods if they became soldiers for him. The men traded their lives to Apollo in a heartbeat. Little did the men know that by choosing to trade their lives to Apollo they were entering eternal servitude. Apollo now had a small quantity of men in his service. They traded their human bodies for indestructible and beautiful bodies, the men didn't know what they had become but were so overjoyed to have the beauty of the gods they didn't ask questions.
Before long Apollo told them to venture out into the villages and look for others who wanted godly beauty as well. All they had to do was bite a human and in turn share their blood with the human and have the beauty the men now had. Apollo told his soldiers to hunt for humans at night because in the sun they would be too conspicuous. What the slaves didn't know was that the sun was lethal to them. Apollo wanted them to fear and obey him. The newly created vampyres hunted at night and took men and women alike who wanted beauty and immortality. Soon enough Apollo's army was as big as Artemis'. Artemis looked on her brother's camp one day and saw he used women as his minions. The sight ignited fury in her...thus the first war began.
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Before Liam knew it, he was at Rachel's hotel. He didn't necessarily have a plan; he knew the number of her hotel room, but could he get a card key to enter the room? Liam wasn't sure of that himself. Liam parked his car in the parking lot and dug around in the back seat for a t-shirt. It'd be smarter to enter the hotel with a shirt on. When Liam found a suitable shirt, he walked to the front doors of the hotel. With a deep breath Liam walked through the double doors ignoring the doorman. Liam went to the front desk and didn't know what to do then. With some quick thinking he thought up a plan.
"Hello sir. Can I interest you in one of our rooms?" The person behind the desk asked.
"I have a question for you, about one of your guests." Liam said. He prayed his plan would work.
"Do you have a name? I can see if they are in our records." The attendant turned toward his computer.
Liam's plan was working great...so far. "Yes, her name is Rachel Blanic. She's fallen ill and asked me to retrieve some of her belongings while she stays at my house for the weekend."
The attendant nodded and turned back to their computer and began typing on the keyboard. About two minutes later the attendant looked up at Liam. "Ah yes, here she is. Blanic, Rachel, staying in room 290. Do you have a card key?"
Crap. Liam's plan was starting to fail. "Darn, I must have forgotten to ask her about it. She's so sick I just wanted to get her a change of clothes and her bag of toiletries."
"Hmm...well I'll just get another one for you then sir." The attendant turned back to his computer again and then looked into a drawer underneath his desk. After about a minute of searching, he handed Liam a card key. Liam was so surprised his plan worked that he took the card key almost instantly. The attendant had a strange look on his face when Liam took the card.
"I want to get Rachel her things as soon as possible." Liam smiled at the attendant and thanked him before turning towards the stairs. He could have taken the elevator but if he took the stairs he knew he could get there faster.
Once out of sight Liam took the stairs three at a time. In two minutes flat Liam had already reached the second floor and was hurtling down the hallway towards Rachel's hotel room. When he reached the door, Liam slid the card in the door and was inside the room in a matter of seconds.