The Art of Mending Memories

The Art of Mending Memories 44

Chapter 44

I groaned and shifted my head so it was resting on my other shoulder.  It was light out by then,

mid morning. The October air wa cold and chilled me, but that was the least of my worries.

I tugged on the rope that held my bloody wrists together. They didn't budge. They never did. The rope was more secure than any steel could have been. I was sure one of the wolves in mortaziers gang had an affinaty for rope and made it like this.

            I sensed someone approaching, someone familiar. I wanted to call out, to beg the person to help me, but my throat felt raw and dry. It had all morning, to the point where a deep breath hurt.  After the previous night's screams, I didn't know if I would ever be able to speak again.

            Mortaziar true to his word. Soon I would be dead. All the previous night I was reminded of that. I relived the night when my family was killed. I felt his claws dig into me over and over, and I knew he would not stop. Even now, he was out there. Waiting for me to recover for tonight's trial.

            The presence got closer. I tried to dampen by lips with my dry tongue.  I was in the heart of the woods, although I didn't know exactly where. After the monsters had arrived at my house, I tried to fight them--knowing it would fail but needing to try anyway--and got knocked out. When I woke, I was at the base of a tree, my hands tied behind my back in ropes of steel, surrounded by servents of Mortazier.

            Even now, as this familiar presence was appraoching, I felt the other wolves around, guarding me so I couldn't escape--not that the rope would ever release me anyway. I was trapped in a cage with no bars.

            The presence got closer. How had the other wolves not noticed it? Why were they letting it appraoch? It couldn't be one of Mortazier's because all their marks were unfamilar to me. But I knew this one, I was sure of it.

            The shifter got closer, and instead of wanting to calm out, I began to feel the hairs on my neck prickle. I began to realize this familiar presence wasn't an ally.

            I heard a growl and the leaves shook on a tree many feet away. I knew that was were one of the guards waited. I heard the guard growl back.

             The triater stepped into the clearing.  It was Jeff.

            "Surprised?" He asked, a horrid smirk on his face.

            I opened my mouth but all that came out was a ragged breath. Jeff couldn't be the traiter. Jeff was Aaron's best friend, his close hunter. Jeff would never do something to hurt Aaron. He had sworn loyalty to his pack. He...he... My mind swam for possibilities and reasons why he couldn't be a traiter, but his stance and his expression proved otherwise.

            "I know what you're thinking," he said in a bored tone. "How could he, he's Aaron's best friend, blah blah blah. " Jeff moved in closer to me and kneeled so he was eye level, a hint of a smile on his lips. "And it's true. I am Aaron's friend, and I'm only doing what I know is right for him. And you are not right for him."

            The surprise of seeing Jeff was beginning to wear off and be replaced by rage. How dare he betray Aaron and the pack. He lied to Aaron, to everyone. How dare he say I wasn't good enough.

            "It was me, you know," he continued. "I'm the one who contacted Mortazier. The moment I saw you, I knew who you were. You were the human bitch who ruined the Empire. Because of you all the Alpha's years of work were ruined.

            "I've always been loyal to Alpha. I always knew I had to be, because he was the one who would triumph. He would conquer all, and he would destroy anyone who didn't follow him."

            Jeff laughed and leaned closer. I could see his teeth elongated in his mouth and smell the rotted raw meat of his catch the night before. I clench my jaw, wishing my mouth were not so dry; I wanted little more at that moment than to spit in his face.

            "See, I have a secret. I can see the future. Always have, always will. I know things, Kaelyn," he spat out my name as if it were poison to his lips "and I know you were supposed to die nine years ago. Mortazier was born to rule the Shifter world. No one's going to get in the way this time, especially not some spoiled little whore."

            My blood was starting to pump faster and I was breathing louder. My fury gave me strength, and I was able to wheeze out one caughed phrase. "You don't know," I caughed, my throat too dry to speak, "anything."

            Jeff tipped back his head and laughed. "Is that all you have? You're pathetic. How is it possible you ever stood in the way of the Great Mortazier?" He laughed more before sharply turning his eye back onto me. "But you're wrong. I saw it all, the correct path. I need to do my part to lead Alpha to victory.

            "I was seven when I got the first vision.  It was of Mortazier standing in a battlefield with all his enemies dead and ripped apart. I knew then he would conquer all. My mother saw it as well. She feared him, his power. She tried to stop him, knowing her future never showed her wrong. And he killed her. I saw it, and I know she saw it, before that happened. But you know what?" Jeff brought his face closer to mine, his  rotted breath making me want to gag. "My mother was wrong. She was wrong to fear his power. I knew better. I knew I had to join with him when the time came. So I did."

            He backed away from me again, but I could still smell his breath.

            "And Aaron?" I managed to breathe out before I started coughing.

            Jeff glanced into the woods around us and turned his eyes back on me. "Aaron is my friend. His family took me in after my mother died. But he would never understand. He's too naive, thinking everyone in the world can get together. He shouldn't become the pack alpha. He isn't strong enough for it."

            "You're wrong."

            He laughed at me. "If I'm wrong, why hasn't he rescued you yet?"

            I looked away. I wouldn't admit to him that I had been wondering the same thing. Of course I hadn't expected him last night--although that didn't stop me from hoping--because he would not have yet realized I was missing. Even now, I didn't know whether he would know yet if I was gone. I wondered if Aunt Jane had noticed. I feared something had happened to her as well.

            Jeff laughed. "He probably doesn't even know you're gone. And even if he does, it doesn't matter. He'll never find you. You're alone, and you're going to die."

            Still laughing darkly, he stood up and turned away from me, walking back into the woods. I was left alone. I pulled at the rope, but my hands wouldn't budge.

            Aaron, I whispered in my mind, where are you?