Born Wild

Let the injured dog lie

Before Koda could even move, the man shook his vile of oil at Koda, throwing droplets of wolfsbane on his skin. 

Koda grabbed his burning neck before seizing and falling to the floor.

"Tala run." Koda begged from the ground as his arms shook. "Please." His body went limp and he said nothing more.

"Poor little Tala seems too weak to run at the moment." he said with a husky voice. 

Tala mustered up all the energy she could to stand. The ground swayed beneath her feet. She stared at the hunter and stood her ground.

"Get out of our house." she growled. 

"We both know that isn't gonna happen. I have been looking for the monsters of this town and I finally found two. I've made it my life mission to protect the innocent from you beasts." 

"We have never hurt anyone." Tala cried.

"Stop lying." he seethed.

"Why do you not believe us? We protect the people in this town." she almost whispered she was so out of breath.

The hunter gritted his teeth in anger. He ran his fist through the drywall, leaving a gaping hole. 

"LIAR!" he shouted. He breathed heavily and stared at the floor with his hand still in a fist. He shook his hand and gathered himself. "You are all monsters whether you want to believe it or not."

"What proof do you have that we are monsters?" Tala begged.

"What proof do I have?" he chuckled depressingly. "The proof I have is what utterly destroyed and derailed my life. The proof is what made me go on a life mission to eradicate those who wronged me."

He looked around their room at the knocked over books and random items, and at Koda sprawled out on the floor, still seizing. He collected his thoughts and then looked back into Tala's overflowing eyes. 

"One night my wife arrived home from the grocery store one night. She texted me to come help with the groceries like always. We lived in the Tennessee forest, so there were a lot of animals. I was never too worried about them.... All until I see a movement behind her as she stood beside the car. I was too far to help her as she screamed." he gulped. "As a monster ripped its teeth into her skin right in front of my eyes." He covered his mouth with his hand.

"I rushed her to the hospital. Our friend came to support my wife and my uncle came to speak with me once he heard what happened. He took me out into the empty hallway and he told me about werewolves. He gave me this dagger and told me to help him and eventually take over. I agreed and said I could start right away." 

He turned the dagger in his hand. "Then the doctor told me that she couldn't be saved. The next day my uncle was murdered in the same way as my wife." He took a deep breath. 

"The only person who could have heard my uncle was our friend in the hospital room. So the next time I saw her I was driving and she was walking. That was the last of the werewolf killings in Willowdale."

He pulled out a large silver dagger with one hand and the vile of oil with the other. She looked to her side at the window, but she couldn't physically run and she wouldn't leave Koda.

"You've finally met your match monster." 

Tala's lip quivered. She stared back with emptiness and confusion. Before she could even fully comprehend what he said, he threw droplets of wolfsbane oil onto her exposed skin.

She gasped and touched her neck. She looked at the oil smeared on her hand. There was nothing she could do to stop him now. She couldn't protect Koda. She couldn't protect herself. She waited to go limp as tears ran down her face. Her arms and legs shook uncontrollably as she thought of her fate.

She wouldn't accept it.

She gripped the nightstand lamp, ripped its cord out of the wall, and threw it at him with the little energy she had. He moved to the side and it smashed against the wall, sending shards of glass and metal pieces across the room. 

She picked up a candle and threw it at his face. He threw up his arm to block it and it shattered on the floor. She wouldn't go down without a fight.

She should have been limp by now. She felt different.

 She felt stronger.

 Her senses normalized to her regular strength and then became heightened. Her leg stopped throbbing and her body stopped shaking. She felt steady. Before she could reach for another object, the hunter lunged forward to swing his dagger at her.

She felt a sharp pang. She stood breathless for a moment before looking down.

The silver dagger was sticking from the gauze on her leg. Rich burgundy blood dripped down her pale, freckled skin.

She swung her elbow into the air, knocking it into the hunter's face. He stammered several feet backward in pain. 

She gritted her teeth and with a groan, yanked the dagger from her thigh. He regained his balance and remained still to watch her, his eyes wide with fear.

She brought the blood covered dagger up to her eye level. Its silver shined brightly under the light, reflecting the Latin words engraved into the sharp blade. She caught a glimpse of her glowing yellow eyes. Tala wrapped her black nails around the elaborate gold handle and turned her wrist to admire it. She felt adrenaline and power run through her veins.

She pointed the dagger at his face. Droplets of blood dripped to the floor in front of his feet. He raised his hands and kept fairly still except to move his feet back slowly. She breathed deeply in pain as she inched closer and closer to him, pushing him back to the doorway he came. She could end things right here and right now. She could easily take him out. She had the upper hand.

"I'm not like the others am I?" she boasted. "You have no power over me." She smirked, her eyes colder than glass and stare darker than the night.

He gulped. "You are a monster."

"No..." she stated. "I'm not a monster. I'm a speckled wolf."

"The only monster here is you, Robert." a woman's voice said from the dim hallway. Tala lost her devoted focus on the hunter and looked behind him while still holding the dagger.

He turned around to face the woman and a cast iron pan hit his head. 

Tala watched in surprise as his body fell limp to the floor. The woman dropped the heavy pan with a thud onto his body. She stepped into the room with her eyes still on the hunter.

Her long, dark brown hair swayed with the cold breeze that came in from the front door. She looked up from the hunter's body, her tan face glowing under the light. Her bright eyes caught Tala's.

"Mom?" Tala trembled.