Of Wolf & Man

Chapter One

"We need to do something, she will not survive until winter." Said a woman, a mother, holding bundle of blankets encasing a small child.
"We've been to every doctor in the village, what more can we do for her?" A man, the child's father replied. He watched his wife cradle their daughter in his arms, helpless and poor there was nothing he could do but watch her die and in turn watch the life leave his wife.
"There's something we did not try..."
"No, absolutely not."
"We have to try Hector."
"No, they are devils. There is a reason they do not live in the village and why everyone speaks of them in whispers."
"We have to do something, this is our child."
"We can have another child, Natasha."
"I don't want another child, Hector. I want my daughter."
Hector sighed, she would never give up until they tried everything, disease was spreading through the villages and claiming the small children. It was a dark time in Russian history.
"We will find the Mystics in the morning, my love."
"No, we must go tonight." She held the child close to her breast.
"Fine, we shall leave at midnight." He turned away from his family and made a phone call. He knew with the time difference, she wouldn't answer but he had hoped she would answer the phone and persuade him from going out there. Voicemail, he sighed and hung up the phone.
As the hours wore on, Hector watched Natasha sleep, his daughter cradled in her arms.
Every so often she would cough and whimper and it would pull at his heartstrings. How could he tell his wife to let this beautiful little girl die, they could never replace her. He wanted to follow his instincts and let them sleep and never seek out the Mystics but he had to try, Natasha would never forgive him if he didn't.
As the clock struck twelve, Hector awakened his wife and they set out into the forest, the moonlight guiding their way as they moved further and further into the darkness. His heart pounded as he held onto his wife and child.
Time seemed to drag on and almost standstill as they walked, a light started to shine and Natasha perked up. They were heading in the right direction, she seemed to be floating on air and Hector did all he could to anchor her to the ground beside him. He shivered as the feeling of unease increased the closer they got to the light.
A sound came from behind them and Hector turned to look, nothing was there. Another sound came from the left. Nothing again. Next a sound came from the right, nothing. Either his mind was playing tricks on him or the witches were surrounding them.
"Why have you come here?" A voice sounded in the distance ahead of them.
"My wife and I have come for your help..." Hector shouted.
"We cannot help you. Leave now."
"Please! We have nowhere else to turn!" Natasha cried.
"The affairs of mortals are not our concern, leave now."
Hector grabbed Natasha's arm to pull her away, she shook him off and ventured forward.
"Please, we'll pay any price you set. Just save our daughter!" Natasha held the bundle of blankets out as if in sacrifice.
"Any price? Very well. Come forward..." the voice seemed to disappear, if it was even there at all.
Natasha rushed forward as Hector tried to keep up. The light was coming from a bonfire outside of a cave, the cut in the rock was too pristine, it was unnatural. This wasn't made by nature.
They walked further into the cave and came upon an alcove, three thrones were set up against the far wall. Two men lazed in them as if they didn't realize they had company. The throne in the middle, the largest, was empty. They looked about themselves, Hector grimaced.
"We should go..." he whispered.
"Why? You've only just got here, and after begging for my help too." A voice boomed from their left.
Hector and Natasha turned to the sound and saw a man in a large black cloak enter from somewhere hidden in the cave, they saw no other passages, it was as if he materialized out of thin air.
"Please, sir. Can you help our daughter? She's been struck with the disease and she grows ill more and more each day." Natasha dropped to her knees and pleaded with the man. His friends ignored her pleas as the man walked further into the alcove.
"How do you intend to assuage our...generosity."
"We have money..." Hector replied, coming forward to kneel next to his wife.
"We have no use for money, we have more riches than we could possibly need."
"What do you want from us?" Hector cried.
"A life for a life." The man announced.
"A life for a life, a life for a life." The two men in the room taunted.
Before Hector could say anything, Natasha had agreed. She placed the child in his arms and moved forward. Hector held his daughter tight as Natasha gave away her life. The Mystic snapped his fingers and two people entered the room, one was carrying a metal tray with some instruments on it that Hector couldn't place. They stood next to the Mystic while the other person ushered Natasha out of the room.
Natasha didn't bother looking back as she left the chamber. He looked back and forth from the Mystic to his wife, he had no say in the matter, she was gone now. Hector stood there, afraid to speak, the only sound was the little cough that came from the bundle of blankets in his arms. She was the reason why they had come, he had to protect her now, more than ever.
"We will give you something to heal the child, you are never to see your wife again. The price has been paid." Hector nodded once and the leader turned to the Mystics lazing in the chairs, they bowed and left the room.
"The leader turned back to Hector, "There are very few people privy to the knowledge of what we are. The villagers call us Mystics, witches, demons. We are none of those things. We are so much more, a gift was bestowed upon our people by the gods many millennia ago. Not many of our kind are as...gracious as we. We three feel it is our duty, of sorts, to help mortals as the gods helped us. We don't help every mortal of course, only those that deserve our help and are willing to pay the price."
He held out a hand for the attendant to bring the tray closer. They hurried forward and placed an empty syringe atop his open palm. Hector was confused, why did he need a syringe.
"I am going to share my blood with the child." He replied to Hector's silent questions.
"You need not worry, my blood will save her and make her body strong. It will not be enough to make her one of us, she is not privileged enough for that honor." The Mystic placed the needle in his mouth and covered it in saliva, in the flash of a second, his sleeve was up and the needle was in his arm. The attendant pulled up the plunger, drawing blood into the syringe.
Hector's eyes filled with tears, what had he done? The leader pulled the syringe from his arm and motioned for Hector to come forward, he had momentarily forgotten his daughter was still in his arms.
"Try not to move the child." He warned. The leader uncovered the child, she lay sleeping in Hector's arms, he moved her bed shirt aside and stabbed the needle into her chest, right where her heart was located. Hector gasped but dared not move. His daughter had a needle in her heart.
She writhed in his arms as if in pain but did not wake, as the leader pressed down on the plunger the child stopped moving . Minutes went by and Hector thought they had killed the child and his wife's sacrifice had been in vain.
Another minute passed and Hector could see her chest start to move and he could feel himself breathing again. The color had returned to her pale cheeks and her breathing started to get deeper and more robust. Her body was coming back to life, the blood was healing her. He was so overjoyed and scared to move, the leader pulled the needle from her heart.
"Leave us now." Hector gave a small bow and backed from the room as quickly as he could. Once the bonfire was behind him he ran straight home. Faster than he had ever ran. Once home he locked all the doors and placed the child in her bed.
Hector grabbed the phone off the wall and hit redial. The line rang and rang and this time she answered.
"Helene? Helene can you hear me?" He shouted into the phone.
"Hector? What time is it there?"
"I don't know, I just got back."
"Back from where?"
"Natasha sacrificed herself to the Mystics in exchange for a cure to Rachel's illness."
"She did what?!"
"She gave her life for Rachel's."
"Why would she do that?! Why would you let her? How could you be so foolish?"
"Rachel is alive, she has more color in her face than I've seen in her entire life. They healed her with their blood."
"You cannot trust them, Hector. They will try to double cross you."
"I understand that, my wife is gone now and I have to protect my daughter. If anything should happen to me, will you take her?"
"Of course I will, you are my blood. I will do anything for you."
"Helene, thank you so much for being there for me. I should get back to Rachel."
"Go get some sleep, I'll talk to you soon."
Hector hung up the phone and watched his daughter sleep. She was going to live, at the cost of losing his wife. He had no time to mourn her. How would he explain it to Rachel? He sighed and went to his bedroom to lay down.