The Phantom Touch

Vessels

"Mine's ready. I know he is. Look at him, he almost frothing at the mouth, he's so hungry. I'm going to go in." Though, the words were muffled behind the ringing of my ears, the bounce of excitement in his deep voice still came through loud and clear.

I couldn't see who was talking. What I could see were many fuzzy white lights swirling around a central light that burned with red and orange. Outside of that, shapes were dark and hazy.  From what I could tell, the sky was a deep blue and the trees of the forest stood as shadowy sentinels. At least, I thought I was still in the woods. Most of my body was numb with exhaustion.  However, the sharp stab of broken twigs and prickly burrs cut through that dull, resonating pain, leading me to believe I hadn't been dragged out of the forest quite yet.

"You plan to possess him while he's still stuck in a cage? I'm not going to let you out if I think it's a bad take. Selena has already fucked things up by losing control in town.  I'm not taking anymore risks." This second voice was familiar to my ears despite the taint of ego darkening it. It was Bungee's voice, I felt certain. I tried blinking my eyes a few times to clear away the haze clouding my vision, but focus came slowly.

"Come on, you jumped into your zombie after only a few days," snarled the deep voice. "He wasn't nearly as weak as my zombie is and you're doing just fine."

"How long have you been imprisoned in this hell?" growled Bungee, his voice almost unrecognizable beneath his seething hatred. "How long, Eugene? How long? Because I've been drifting through the world without being able to touch, to feel, to live for four centuries. How do you compare?"

"Look Trevor, I'm sorry..."

Trevor? As in the librarian? That couldn't possibly be...

"Don't be sorry! Be smart!" he snarled. "The zombies in Whisper Valley are a rarity. We're not going to find another clan as large and healthy as they are. We need to do this right, especially now that that vamp might come hunting us. You can wait one more day. She's likely not going to give up on the wolf yet."

A deep growl, animal-like in nature, responded to the ghost's claim and my heart burst with hope that the werewolf sheriff may be nearby. Fighting against the throbbing in my head and fatigue in my muscles, I urged myself onto my elbows so I could get a better view of my surroundings.

With my focus almost back to normal, I discovered the glowing orbs to be ghosts roaming aimlessly through a camp that consisted of a single fire pit, which raged bright and hot at the center of a semi-circle made of large cages. In those barred cells, were a collection of supernatural beings. Most had zombies packed tight like cattle, their eyes sunken and their bodies limp like rag dolls. Then one of the cells had a different breed.  There they held the werewolf officers captive behind what appeared to be silver bars.  That, however, didn't stop my sheriff from pacing the tight space like a wolf on the prowl.

"Everett!" I cried, not realizing my vocal cords actually worked.

"Delilah!" he replied, stopping in his tracks and turning to where I still laid on the ground. "You're okay! I thought he might have killed..."

The man masquerading as Bungee lunged forward and, with a swift thrust, stabbed Everett straight in the throat. The werewolf's words spluttered, blood spurting from his lips as he gasped and fell to the floor. His wolves roared with contempt, some slipping to the brink of transforming, their backs arching and their hair growing in volume. They howled to the moon that climbed up to the apex of the sky and my own screech of fear joined in chorus with their lamentations.

"Del! Del, it's okay," said the fake Bungee, who dropped his knife to the floor and came running over to my side of the camp. "Werewolves heal, it's not as horrific as it looks. He just won't be quiet, no matter how many times I've asked, so I needed to solve the problem. But, they heal so don't fear for him." He looked over his shoulder with an apathetic shrug as he watched Everett's continued blood-filled gasps. "Admittedly, it will take some time, but he'll get there eventually."