Oscars POV
Piercing howls erupted across the meadow, the sound of animals burning, and all I could do was stand and watch. Kaiis had called over two of his traitor friends to hold me from behind as they set alight the posts that my friends were tied to. I could hear Dena's screams, louder than the rest, as she squawked and struggled with my brother howling next to her. For some reason, I couldn't shift, the sickly sweet smell was still lingering in the air, making me woozy. More screams broke out to my left, and I turned my head towards the sound, hoping to catch a glimpse of the traitors getting their butts kicked, but no, it was just another flame, just another flash of pain in my head as I locked my eyes on the ribbons, bright streaks of white etching their way across my vision.
I attempted to break free of my captors, but their grip was too tight. 'Easy there kiddo. Don't want to get you hurt now do we?' The voice was a high, girly falsetto. I made the mistake of trying to get her scent, but I was only consumed by a wave of nausea. I wretched, and threw up, black spots clouding my heightened vision. 'In other words,' came a deeper voice 'you try anything funny, and we get to smash your face in.' The best insult I could throw at the two shifters, was to throw up on their shoes. 'Watch it!' Came the woman's voice. I decided not to do anything else from then on, I let my knees buckle and give way, so the traitors were taking my weight. My head lolled uselessly to the side, and I let the darkness around my vision, engulf me completely, throwing me into darkness.
* * *
I woke to the sound of a voice, cutting knives through my head. I groaned and rolled over 'Hey! Look out!' I fell on the floor which, luckily, was soft and cushioned my fall, but it still hurt. I groaned again. 'I said look out didn't I?' Came the same voice 'Just open your eyes Wolf.' Wolf? My thoughts were dulled and slow, it was like trying to move through treacle; thick, gooey and making no progress. The voice sighed and I registered footsteps coming towards me. My eyes snapped open, a bright light blinding me. Every inch of my body screaming in protest, I rolled over onto my front, and got to my feet. I swayed slightly, using the wall next to me for balance, I flicked my annoying blonde hair out of my eyes. I was in a square room, beds with white sheets lining the walls, jutting out to make an aisle down the centre. There were two doors at either end of the room, the swinging kind you got in hospitals, they were black. So were the beds, and the walls, all black. 'And sleeping beauty awakes.' I jumped, how had I not noticed the other boy, perching on the edge of a bed. He too was wearing black, I looked down at myself and realised that so was I. 'Where are we? Who are you? How did I get here? What the hell is going on?' I fired questions at him, annoyed when he didn't immediately answer. He had brown eyes and dark skin, he looked scrawny, with curly hair and an impish grin. He was fiddling with an old screw, which was spinning at God knows how many miles per hour in his hands.
'Easy now, professor Diego will answer all of your questions later.'
'Professor Diego?'
'Yes?' The kid had to be joking, he couldn't have been more than fourteen. It took me a minute to realise he had been teasing me. 'So Diego's your name then.'
'Yes.' The grin was still plastered onto his face, not wavering. His eyes were bright and alert and it was clear I wasn't going to get any more information out of him apart from his name. 'So who are you lobo?' Lobo. The word was ringing in my head, I knew it, I had definitely heard it somewhere. Spanish. It was Spanish for wolf. 'Hello?' Diego had raised an eyebrow and was staring at me quizzically. 'How do you know about me?' I asked. Diego slumped back onto his bed, folding his arms across his chest, suddenly looking sullen and drained of energy. It was as if someone had pulled a plug in him and he had just shut down. I noticed a small scar running down his left arm, a pale streak that could easily be mistaken as a trick of the light. 'How do I know about you?' He asked me
'You shifted a bit after they brought you in.'
'A bit?' I said.
'Well, that's only putting it lightly. What I really mean, is that after the OAPITA's brought you in...'
'Woah, woah, woah.' I interrupted him. 'OAPITA's? What the hell is an OAPITA?'
'An OAPITA is an Overly Annoying Pain In The Ass.' I barked a laugh despite myself.
'And do they have any real names?'
'Not that I know of.' Diego didn't make eye contact with me, he just busied himself with his screw again.
'Then please do carry on.' I decided not to push the kid, he can't have had that many people to talk to. Diego just smirked and gave me a quirky nod.
'After you got brought in here, they just told me to leave you alone until you woke up. They didn't say anything about you being able to Shift. So, naturally, I did the almost exact opposite of what they told me to. I came over towards you, and tried poking you to wake you up, but you snarled, and shifted into a wolf!
'I freaked, of course, I mean you were relatively harmless, because you were still asleep, actually kind of funny now I come to think of it. I didn't really know what to do from then. I waited for an hour to see if you would do anything, but you didn't, so I poked you again and you changed back, but you started to show signs of being alive, you know, and then you fell on the floor.'
Diego finished with a smile, although it faded quickly when he saw that I wasn't laughing with him. I still ached all over, and my perch on the bed wasn't exactly comfortable. 'You mean to say that you have no idea where we are?' I asked, starting to recall the events of.... I cut Diego off in mid answer 'How long has it been?' He looked taken aback.
'Since what? if you want to know the date, I can honestly say that I have no idea. Time is hard here.' I lay down on my bed and moaned. How long had it been since I had passed out. What had happened to my brother, my friends. Where was Kaiis? I sat bolt upright and Diego jumped. Where was Kaiis? 'What's up lobo?' He asked me. 'The sky.' I replied, and sunk back down in my bed, staring at the black ceiling, and the lights overhead. What if Kaiis had gotten to Elm? Where was Elm? She can't have gone far from camp, where had she gone?
I gasped, the Thing! What if that monster had gone after her again! I realised with a jolt that I knew almost nothing about Elm. She hadn't spoken about her family, or her life beforehand. I didn't even know her last name. 'You look tired amigo.' Said Diego. 'Go to sleep. Don't worry about a thing, not now, it won't do you any good later.' I smiled and propped myself up on the thin pillow on my bed.
'You know Diego? I think you may be right.' He smirked, and nodded, his curly hair shaking as he did so. I turned around to lay on my side, and closed my eyes, all of my thoughts melting away until I slipped into a deep slumber.
