The Dark Side of the Moon

Chapter 43: Kyle

-Kyle’s P.O.V-

 Something felt wrong, call it my instincts or just a gut feeling, but this was not right. My breathing came out in loud puffs, slowly growing less and less until I was breathing evenly again. My muscles were tensed, but I was locked in position by the argument taking place inside my head.

 The haze of rage was slowly receding and with each second I grew increasingly worried. Florence lay in front of me, her chest rising and falling minutely, barely hanging on to her life. Her head was twisted to the side, and her body was angling away from me, as if she had taken a huge blow to the shoulder. At the last second I had witnessed her change, but as I had struck her, her body went into defensive mode and reverted back to her human self. Just as well though, it was be hard to move a fully grown wolf.

 Without meaning to, I shifted back to my human form. Sweat covered my skin and I swore out loud, scooping Florence into my arms. I stopped mid-action, what if her spinal cord was broken and moving her would only cause further damage? An ambulance would take time to get her, and that wasn’t even including the hassle of finding a phone. Was it worth the risk? I was no doctor, but even I could see that her bones had shifted place.

 Deciding to pick her up, I gently rolled her so her back was flat on the gravel of the road, and slid my hands cautiously under her shoulders and knees. Carrying her bridal style was the easy part, walking the long distance to the hospital would be another story.

 While I walked, my mind was driving me wild. Thoughts scattered here and there flew past in a blur, making me dizzy. Most of them were indecent words, scolding me for losing control. Every time I did, I somehow managed to hurt someone close to me. What was worse, this wasn’t even the first time that I had unintentionally hurt Florence. I grit my teeth in anger, I would make sure she lived through this, if it was the last thing that I did. It was all my fault and I had to take the heavy blame upon my shoulders and tough it through.

 Florence may have been dead for the lack of movement she possessed, but I refused to believe it so. My pace quickened and I headed towards the local hospital at the far end of town, when I stopped dead in my tracks.

 What would the doctors think when Florence checked in yet again with fatal injuries, most of them scratches and a few bite marks obviously inflicted by an animal? Would they think that it was really a coincidence that she had run into yet another wild bear that had nearly left her lifeless? I couldn’t take her back there; they would turn it into a police case and investigate every aspect of her life. Things like this didn’t just happen in a small town like Banff. Not to mention if I took her to the hospital now they would take her blood. To the untrained eye it was identical to that of a human, but under intense scrutiny it was apparent to be completely different, deadly even.

 I needed help by someone that I could trust, but also someone who was trained in saving lives.

 *

 It was about one in the morning when I stopped walking. Canmar was a nearby town to Banff, and a considerable distance to walk, let alone carry an unconscious girl. However, it was my only option and I prayed that this would work.

 The little house that I stopped at was in one of the inner suburbs, a white picket fenced block with a cozy small house resting on top. I fumbled with the gate for a moment, but then strode up to the welcoming wooden door and pressed the doorbell.

 I waited for a good five minutes, my hope dripping away with every second that passed. In hindsight, it was a stupid idea to come here. At one in the morning, trying to reach an acquaintance that I hadn’t seen in five years, it was understandable if things went wrong. They had probably moved out of town by now, or they were dead asleep and couldn’t be bothered to answer the door. But it was an emergency, so I rung one more time.