Lost Without You (#Wattys2016)

Chapter Four- Damn These Bensons are Persistent

© 2013, Briana Hernandez

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

☼☼ Chapter Four☼☼- ♦♦Damn These Bensons are Persistent◊◊ 

I fell asleep. The one thing that I tried my hardest not to do for more than an hour.

I could tell that I was untangling myself from Wren’s embrace. That’s how it was with these things. I could tell what I was doing, but my body would act on its own accord. I could try and fight my way to the surface, but I can’t regain full control until it is over. I had managed to free myself from Wren without waking him and then I jumped off the roof. I landed on my two feet with a light thud.

Then I just walked. I didn’t know where I was going I just walked and sniffed. It wasn’t until I caught the scent of the decaying carcass of a deer that I steered myself in a new direction. Uh oh. I’ve never resurrected an animal this big before. Well I actually never remember how I resurrect an animal, but once I come out of these trances I usually find a small newly brought to life creature.

I felt my mouth move and I couldn’t hear what I was saying. I was losing the little bit of control that I was hanging on to. I was able to catch one word. It was spoken in Latin. Vitam. Before I lost full control.

The next thing I know, I’m standing in front of a deer with blood running down my hands and I’m panting like crazy. I backed away from the deer slightly. I felt like a little piece of my life was drained out of me. I look around wildly for a minute, one because I wanted to make sure that no one was around and two, because I wanted to make sure this was actually happening. Although, I’ve done this so many times that I knew no one else would be around and that I had actually done what I did.

The deer stood there staring at me as if it stood in front of the headlights of an oncoming car. It approached me slowly as if I was the animal and it was scared of running me off. It stopped when it was just five inches away, its head coming up to level around my chest. I hesitantly rose up a hand and the deer just kept staring me straight on, not even flinching. I placed my hand on its forehead and then I was dragged right into its mind.

It was running as fast as it could. The trees were a blur in its peripheral vision and its heart was practically beating out of its chest. Just when it thought it was safe the coyote pounced on it. Its back legs gave out and it tumbled for a bit. The coyote quickly hopped on its back. They both fought for a second before the coyote latched onto its jugular and tore. Its mind flashed to a fawn lying in their resting spot before it saw black and become nothing once more.

I pulled my hand back with a loud gasp and noticed that I had smeared some of my blood on the deer’s forehead. I looked at its neck and sure enough all it has is a small scratch as if it had scraped itself against a sharp branch. Its scent no longer smelt of decay but of new life and must. It rubbed its large head against my arm in a show of thanks before it slowly started to back away into the woods. It turned back to me, dipped its head slightly, and then disappeared most likely out to search for its child.

Vitam. Life.  I was fluent in Latin considering it was our kinds’ native language. I knew other languages too, all a part of Alpha training.

I can’t believe I just did that. I not only brought a dead deer back to life but I fucking read its mind! All of this should be impossible to do especially since all I was supposed to do was shift into a wolf.

I looked down at my hands and I realized that I had been digging my nails into my palms, reopening the wounds that I had created to resurrect the deer. I always ended up having my own blood on my hands when I woke up from these things. I must have crawled around for some reason because my clothes were dirty and my hair hung around me in a tangled mess.