Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9: WHISPERED

Alex ran. She ran till she could barely feel her legs then she ran some more. How could she be sure he wasn't following her? And what he did...She shook her head furiously, Snap out of it! Focus! This would be such a horrible time to lose yourself to stupid thoughts. Focus. Get home. Keep running. She took a breath and turned the corner. Finally. She was home. She burst through the empty houes, the vans of news seekers long gone. She furiously messed with the lock then rushed upstairs. She pushed her father's door open, pulled out the safe from under the mattress, then fumbled furiously with the lock.
Turn to 6, then spin past 6 to 22, then back to 10. Or was it 20? Crap..
Luckily for her the lock produced a small give, small click! and she pulled it open. She shoved the pistol in her coat pocket, gathered a few bucks, then locked the safe and hid it away under the mattress again. She stood, strode to her room, and pulled out a backpack large enough to hold a horse.
If she had to narrow down to the most useful her mother taught her, is htat sometimes, it's okay to overreact.
Not like she was overreacting or anything.
She piled her clothes into the bag, along with two jackets, a blanket, her laptop-never know when you'd need that-then her phone went promptly in her pocket. She tidied up her room, to make it seem as if everything was in order, to give no hints of her booking it. She heaved the bag up and headed down to the kitchen. There she piled in apples, unheated toasters, bread, and whatever she could find that would not expire any time soon. That done and her bag getting quite heavy-if not totally obvious-she went to her garage.
A dog howled outside. She didn't have a dog. Did her neighbors have a dog? But that didn't matter. She then flicked the light on in the dark garage and went to searching for a tarp, a lighter, possible a sleeping bag, and anything else she could find.
In the end the sleeping bag was ditched, but a large water bottle was strapped to the side over her bag. Her zipper barely closed, but it did, which was good news. Nothing else showed on the outside, she was just a girl with a lot of books. Her gun-well, that was stuck in the inside pocket of her jacket, out of sight and out of mind for anyone who was concerned.
The mutt howled louder this time and Alex cursed, what was that mutt going off about? With her nerves on edge and the mutt making them jump in their boots-!?
She turned around and found herself losing grip on her bag, letting it fall to the floor with a loud clank!
“Who the hell are you!?” she hissed at the guy standing in the doorway. The boy stepped forward, taller than her but not by much, “I'm the guy making sure you stay quiet.”
Her hand went to her pocket and pulled out the gun, cocked, loaded, and ready to shoot. She pressed it against his chest.
“I know how to use it. Get out of my bloody way.” She hissed through clenched teeth.
The guy laughed-laughed!-and shook his head, “Shoot first ask questions later?”
“Exactly. Get out of my way.”
“But wouldn't you be forgetting something?”
Alex's eyes narrowed at the boy with spiked hair, trying to memorize his face when-click!-lights out.
Of course, she thought, dad never did pay the bills.
“That poor girl, with no idea. I wonder if she even suspects it, eh? And how can she get around so easily, when she's so blind?”
“What the heck!? What are you rambling about!? Get out of my bloody way!”
“Oh, I'd love to darling, but you see, I can't. Bit of a contract, you see. I keep you quiet, and I get to play a game. Us mutts love games.”
Alex was happy the kid couldn't see her face pale, she had called the howling dog a mutt...that meant-
“Exactly. Put the gun down, little girl. And go back to you're life. Forget about what you know, forget what you saw, and we won't have no trouble.”
“Forget it.” she hissed.
Alex pulled the trigger.


***

Alex lay on the floor, gasping, coated with blood.
Her own blood.
The beast stood over her, smirking, blood on its chomps. The gun lay useless far out of reach. One of her eyes was starting to swell, her hair was still in his mouth, soaking in the blood, and her legs and arms were cut-badly.
The hell-beast let out something like a laugh, blood splattering her already coated face.
“And you thought you could win,” the monster said, standing there on four paws, resembling a wolf in every way except for the infernal horns that spiked up from behind his ears and curved to hang over his head. Those, too, were dripping with blood. “But you couldn't,” he continued, his rough voice grinding against her ears. “And you never will be able to. Not with all the healing power in the world.”
Alex groaned, her grip on consciousness starting to weaken. “Please,” she gasped, too weak to heal, let alone to speak, “I'll do what you say.”
His ears pricked up, “Oh? Now you will, then? After you are beaten, your clothes torn and your hair ripped out? Now you give in? Strong, girl, I like that.”
He leaned down and licked her cheek, causing violent shivers to run through her, making her cough blood up on his snout.
He snarled, his ears going back. He straightened and headed to the door, making a point to let his tail brush her face, “Now now, say anything about a wolf coming to attack you, or what you know, and I will come back and kill you.” Alex heard his steps grow fainter, a howl, then silence.
The lights came back on just as Alex's lights flickered out.


***

Katara walked into the room, slowly, trying to keep her act up in Sammy's presence. She held two glasses of punch and set them down on the table, after unnecessary searching for the table. She sat next to Samuel and smiled over at Dr. Vain.
“How have you been, Katara?” He asked, after lifting his drink to his lips.
“Just fine, Silver. And what have you been up to?”
She sensed his muscles around his lips loosen and tighten to create his smile, “Well, been off in the desert for some time. There's been a war on that part of the world. I went to help the local refugees survive from diseases.”
Katara paused, hesitating with her next question, then said, “And you're research?”
Silver also paused, registering what she was asking then shook his head sadly. “Not coming along good, I'm afraid.”
Kat sighed, and nodded slowly, “Guess so.”
“So, um, Kat, Dr. Vain is the one who worked on your eyes?” Sammy spoke up, looking over at the doctor with a hint of annoyance. Kat held in a chuckle, “Yep, he says that sometime soon I'll be able to take the sash off and be able to use my eyes again.”
“Do you remember what color they are, Katara?” Silver tipped in, looking at her hopefully. Kat shook her head. “No. Not the slightest idea.”
“A beautiful violet. The sight of them could have made anyone fall for you, Katara.”
Kat laughed, embarrassed, “Nah, you're pulling my leg.”
“No, I would do nothing of the sort.”
Kat laughed harder and Sammy tensed next to her.
“He's kidding, Sammy,” she said, punching him lightly. Sammy didn't say anything, instead he got up and walked into the kitchen. She took this chance and leaned closer to Silver.
“So no others?”
“No,” he whispered, leaning over the table to get close to her ear. “None. I couldn't find any.”
“And of the Darksiders?”
“You should leave that to the others.”
“Are they here, Dr. Vain.”
He sighed and nodded, “Yes.”
She pulled away quickly to resume her spot, sensing the tense friend of hers to walk in.
“I have to get back,” he said, not looking at Silver.
“Oh. Really?” Kat inquired, her brow furrowing under her sash.
“Yeah, my rents will be wondering.”
“Oh. Okay. Later then, see you tomorrow.”
Sammy smiled faintly, glanced over at Silver, then headed out.
“Who is it? Where are they?” Kat asked as soon as Sammy was out of earshot. Silver hesitated, “Katara, you won't like this. Really, just leave it to the others.”
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Who?”
“Kata-”
“Dr. Vain, my parents worked on this all their lives. I intend to honor their memory with continuing with their work. Tell me.”
Dr. Vain paused, looked at his hands, looked at his punch, the wall, anything and everything that wasn't her. He didn't like this, she could tell.
“One of them is a shifter.”
“I'm in that class. Is it my age?”
“A tad older.”
“And who else?”
“He-uh-controls fire.”
Kat froze, “Fire? Like Sammy does?”
“Yes. Exactly like Sammy does.”
Kat went pale, “You-what are you saying..?”
Silver looked up, “Sammy's one of them.”