Solstice

Chapter 13

            Valerie’s scream seemed like time had stopped for a moment. Everyone was frozen, including the tigers outside became as still as a statue. Richard’s mouth was covered with blood. Alice’s blood. Alice lay on the couch unmoving; a pool of blood surrounded her. Amanda looked like she was going to vomit at the sight of blood. By the time the scream ended, Alice’s body was jerking violently.

            Sam and the group tried to open the window harder. I was staring at Alice. I tried to twist and turn to free myself from the belt but it was only hurting my wrist. My fingers caught a small pocket knife hidden in the couch.

            Thank God! I thought. Val was distracted as she was crying. I tried to cut the belt slowly so the wolves couldn’t hear.

            “Mum,” Val cried. She buried her face into a pillow while she sobbed. Richard waited for Alice’s arrival to her new form as a werewolf.

            The noise from outside was louder than usual. I glanced at the window. Was it my eyes or did I just saw a huge eagle? The eagle was covered with dark brown feathers except for the head. The eagle looked at me. It was too dark outside so I couldn’t see what color were the eyes. The story Alice and Val told me came back to me.

            Thorene found a humongous eagle. Eagles were not as trustable as wolves since most of them had humans to satiate their stomachs.

            Why did this particular eagle bother to help the tigers and free us? Richard stared in disbelief at the eagle. He said something to another wolf, in an unfamiliar language. I think it was German.

            It was too late. The eagle managed to rip the roof open before the wolves could do anything. The tigers and Jamie climbed and jumped into the house. They attacked the wolves that were still in their human form. The living room was a battle field and in mayhem. Richard carried Alice as two other wolves carried Val and me. I was able to cut the belt open. I jumped to my feet and scratched the boy’s cheeks with the knife. As a result, a line of blood formed on his cheeks. The boy touched his cheek and showed his fangs at me. Sam was just in time to destroy the boy before shifting into a wolf. I didn’t have time to take my weapon from the table so without hesitating, I ran towards Val. Another wolf scratched me at my left wrist with it’s long claws. I used my uninjured right hand to stab the knife into his heart. By the time he was human, I took back the knife that was still stabbed since I was weaponless except for the knife. The scratch was so deep that blood began to gush out. I covered the wound with a piece of cloth that I tore from my shirt and kept running towards Val. She shrieked and tried her best to get away from the wolf. I shot his head from behind. He fell to his knees, releasing his grip on Val. Val kicked him in the back of the head so he fall face down on the ground and I could hear a crack from the head.

            I threw the gun at Val and she caught it. We ran to Alice and Richard, who were heading for the forest. We were able to catch up because Richard was not in his wolf form. I was lucky that the injury was on my left hand instead of my right hand. The knife was the only weapon I had left. I threw a knife and it sunk into his calf. He fell and dropped Alice.

            I sat on him so my weigh would hold him down. I took out the knife which was covered with blood from his calf and pointed it at his neck, ready to disconnect his head from his body.

            “You have a choice to live forever and be invincible but you refused. Why do you want to sacrifice your life just to do what you’re born to do? Why not try something different? In a good way?” Richard tried to change my mind about becoming a wolf but my answer was unchangeable. The way he said was demanding. Something was wrong. Why did he want me to be a wolf so badly?