🔪 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 🔪💣🐺
🎴Happen 19
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
Theme: Death Of The Innocent
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I stood there, numb with shock, as I watched the last vestiges of life leave the small b©dy on the ground in front of me. The seconds pas-sed by, and p@rt of me knew that my Wolf was howling at me, urging me to snap out of my trance, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the grotesque sight. As a werewolf I had seen plenty of violence in my lifetime but never had I witnessed something like this; the brutal slaying of a boy that was but a child. Judging by the size of the hole in his che-st, his heart had been r!pp£dclean from his b©dy; that was one of the only ways to kill a werewolf.
I registered all of this in mere seconds, and it was then that my instincts kicked in and I quic-kly sank into a defensive position, tearing my eyes away from the b©dy as I slowly turned in a circle. The attack had been fast and silent, fas-ter than even my werewolf vision could detect. My eyes bored into the trees as I sought the attacker. In the darkness of early night my Wolf s-en-ses aided me, but still I detected no movement other than the swaying of br@nches and the rustling of leaves.
As I was examining our surroundings, Bree’s shrill scream had turned more into a gurgling wail before she quic-kly cl@pped her hands to her mouth, stifling the noise as she sank to her knees in front of Riley’s corpse. Her sides heaved and she was seemingly unaware of the possible danger as she sobbe-d.
I narrowed my eyes, frustrated. My nose detected nothing but I didn’t expect to smell the vampire. Gabriel had said they were almost impossible to track. Still, that did not st©p me from forcing down my nausea and seeking the creature that did this to an innocent child. I wanted to tear it limb from limb.
Seeing nothing, no enemy to attack, my eyes inevitably wandered back to the scene in front of me. Bree was hunched over Riley’s form as a high, keening noise escaped her throat. I dimly realized that warmth was still trick-ling down my face and front as Riley’s blood stuck to my skin. I fought down the bile that threatened to rise.
“H-he…i-it…” Bree stammered, looking up at me with bloodsh0t eyes. It struck me how even a good fighter like her could look so broken and vulnerable. “-W-what?” She whispered, her voice breaking.
I shook my head. “It happened so fast…” I said softly, trying to reas-sure her, but I couldn’t help the guilt that aro-se. If we wouldn’t have taken so long to get back to camp…..then again, if we had hurried, we would never have met up with Riley in the first place. Had our pres£nce even made a difference? What kind of vampire could get past two strong werewolves and kill another in an instant without being detected? It had to be far stronger than those I had previously encountered. Questions continued to as-sault my br@in as I wondered why it had attacked us in a group and then left Bree and me alive.
In the distance I registered shouting and my Wolf hearing picked up ra-pid footsteps. They no doubt heard the screaming, or Bree had mentally contacted them. Tilting my head I inhaled de-eply; I recognized Gabriel, Eli, another scent I faintly recognized, and then one I didn’t.
I stood there, my b©dy beginning to shake from suppressed emotion as I kept my gaze averted from the mangled b©dy. The stench of blood hung heavily in the air and I couldn’t keep Riley’s lifeless eyes out of my mind, the vacancy in them that indicated that both he and his Wolf were gone forever. I felt sick.
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
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Moments later the incoming group bur-st throu-gh the trees towards us, Gabriel ahead of the others. He took one look at the corpse before his expression ha-rd ened, a look of visible fury entering his dark eyes. A second later his gaze fli-cked to me, taking in my bloodied appearance. Immediately, he looked alarmed, and I realized that he probably thought I was injured. The instincts of a Wolf protecting his Mate must have kicked in, for he leapt over Riley and Bree in one smooth motion and landed in front of me. I felt my Wolf whining at his proximity and my nerves tingled but I could only stare up at him blankly, the images of Riley’s face on repeat inside my head.
Gabriel’s eyes were as dark as I had ever seen them and there was a multitude of emotions churning in them, but he was gentle as he raised his hand and gr!pp£dmy chin. I felt my b©dy sizzle at the contact as I distantly realized it was the first time he’d willingly t©uçhed me. He delicately turned my face to the side, examining the blood, before his gaze traveled down to my shi-t.
“Are you injured, or is this all his blood?” He asked, his keen s-en-se of smell letting him know that the blood was not mine, but his Wolf probably wanting to make sure. I felt my shaking abate slightly.
“No. It’s all his,” I choked out.
“What happened?” He asked. His gaze was still dangerous, but his voice was soft. I saw Eli and Eva crouch down beside Bree, Eva’s eyes shining with unshed tears as she looked at Riley.
“Vampire….” I managed to whisper, my voice feeling as if it was caught in my throat. Gabriel re-leased my chin and I suddenly felt colder. He gritted his teeth, his fists clenching at his sides.
“Bree and I couldn’t….” I tried to explain, although the revolting images made it difficult for me to think. “It moved fas-ter than the others. By the time I felt movement…it was too late.” I felt tears threatening in the back of my eyes but I pushed them away. It wasn’t my own pack member, but it was a young child, and despite the tragedy, I had to be strong.
Gabriel turned over his shoulder and his eyes met Eli’s. Both of them looked grim, but unsurprised. Bree was still crying softly as Eva tried to comfort her. A werewolf I hadn’t seen before knelt next to Riley, his face shadowed.
“You were supposed to be back by sunset,” Gabriel said, voice ti-ght. I felt another wave of guilt, even though I knew it wasn’t my fault. I lowered my head to stare at the ground.
“I told Vincent to have you back by then!” His voice was louder now, taut with anger.
“It isn’t his fault,” I said quietly. “The pace was too fast. Bree and I had to slow down. When we were almost back she smelled Riley, and we waited for him to join us. By the time we set off again it was dark. She didn’t want him out here hunting alone.” The words were rushing out now as I rambled.
“And then we were almost back and I felt movement and the next thing I knew his b©dy was falling to the ground and-”
“Skylar.” Gabriel said, cutting me off. I shivered, from a mix of fear and his use of my name.
“Eli is going to take you back to the house.” He was back to his emotionless self, his tone leaving no room for argument.
“But-” I started to protest. I wasn’t sure why I was arguing; I just felt p@rtially responsible and I didn’t want to walk away.
“No. No wolf should be out at night. It could come back any moment and since I have to take care of this, I can’t be watching you every second to make sure you’re safe.”
I bristled, not liking his implication that I was a child that nee-ded constant watching. Then again, every time I was away from him something seemed to happen. Despite his tone, I thought I saw a hint of something in his expression; guilt, maybe? I felt the hair on the back of my n£¢k stand up as I wondered, was it just coincidence that the vampire had attacked the group I was in? I shook away the disturbing thoughts.
“But I was here, I can help explain what happened….” The thought of recounting the tale horrified me and I faltered.
“St©p arguing,” he replied, irritation evident in his voice now. “Eli,” He barked, and the Beta stood up to make his way over to us. “Take her to my house. I’ll s£nd someone there to guard her. Then come straight back so we can take care of this.” His eyes bored into Eli’s and I got the impression that they were having a silent exchange of words.
Eli nodded, and I was annoyed at the concept of Gabriel s£nding a babysitter to watch me. I didn’t argue, though. My stomach was churning and I was worried if I didn’t get away from the smell of death soon I would faint. Never had I seen such a thing in almost twenty years. My Wolf, too, was sickened. It was all wors£ned by the fact that it had happened to someone so vulnerable and innocent.
I gritted my teeth as Eli set off, me trailing behind. I glanced back over my shoulder, my eyes skimming over the bloody scene. Bree was slowly being led away by Eva. My eyes found Gabriel, who was staring at me intensely.
“Don’t wait for me tonight,” He said. I knew he didn’t mean to be cruel, in fact I knew he only meant that he’d be back quite late, but I couldn’t help but wince inwardly at his harsh tone. Gabriel must have seen my slightly wounded expression and he quic-kly turned away, his face a cold mask as he strode over to the others.
The naïve p@rt of me wanted him to follow us, to calm me until I fell asleep. I knew I was being childish, though. One of his pack members had just been brutally murdered. He would have a lot to take care of.
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The walk back to Gabriel’s house was completely silent. The atmosphere was thick with worry and tension, and I glanced over my shoulder in paranoia every few minutes. I couldn’t help but feel as if I was being watched. Eli’s shoulders were thick with tension and I knew he was on full-alert. I felt safer in his pres£nce, and I knew Gabriel wouldn’t trust just anyone to take me home, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. I also couldn’t help but wonder if Riley was killed deliberately in front of me. After all, the vampires had definitely taken notice of me for being Gabriel’s Mate. It all just seemed too…coincidental.
What bothered me further was Eli’s lack of surprise that Riley had been killed by a vampire. Had everyone else alre-ady known they existed? Had this happened before?
I felt goosebu-mps rise on my skin as the Beta led me to the front door. There were alre-ady two burly wolves there, one on each side. Muscular babysitters, basically. In another situation I would have laughed at the absurdity of it, and at Gabriel’s paranoia, but for now I knew it wasn’t completely unfounded.
I opened the door, the two guards there giving me curt nods. I turned to Eli. His dark eyes met mine and held them for a few heartbeats. I saw thinly masked worry and sadness buried in his gaze.
“I’m sorry…” I said softly, not knowing how else to convey my feelings. Eli’s expression twisted and he turned his head.
“Take care of yourself, Skylar,” was all Eli said before he strode off into the night. I knew he was hurting from the loss of a packmate. I couldn’t even imagine the agonizing grief that Riley’s family must be feeling.
I hurried inside and shut the door, feeling slightly odd as I saw the two guard wolves move to stand in front of the entrance.
Despite my exhausting day, food did not even sound remotely appetizing. I gr@bb£d a water bottle and hurried upstairs to my be-droom. I had showered this morning, but I was sweaty, and one glance into the mirror almost made me throw up. I still had Riley’s blood splattered all over me.
Starting up a bath with steaming h0t water, I ru-bbe-d my tired eyes. Immediately upon closing them I saw a pair of wi-de, glas-sy orbs, blood trick-ling down a torn throat. I immediately opened my eyes again, feeling another wave of nausea. As I waited for the bathtub to fill up, I quic-kly str!pped all of my clothes off and threw them to the side, vigorously scru-bbing my face with cold water from the sink to get the crimson liquid off.
*
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
*
I shouldn’t be alone right now, I knew that. I couldn’t get the scene in the woods out of my head. All jubilation from my earlier fight with Bree was completely gone, and now all I could remember was her broken sobbing over her friend’s b©dy. She was a member of one of the deadliest packs on the continent, yet she had cried over a comrade’s b©dy like any other. Despite my wariness for the Black Mountains Pack I could respect a pack member’s pas-sing. Even after being around Riley for less than half an hour, I could feel their pain.
I didn’t even want to know what Gabriel was going throu-gh. The vampires were after him, for some reason. Was he blaming himself? Was he in pain? My Wolf wanted me to comfort him, yet he had pushed me off to the side as usual.
I tried to shove all of my twisted thoughts away as I sank into the warm bathwater. Even so, I refused to shut my eyes, afraid of what I might see when they were closed.
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An hour later, I l@yin be-d, staring up at the ceiling. Sleep was refusing to come, and I was afraid of dreaming. p@rt of me wanted to lower my mental barriers and have a conversation with my parents to check up on them, but I was worried that they would see everything inside my head. I couldn’t cause them unnecessary worry by telling them about Riley. I would wait until everything calmed down before I warned them about vampires in the area. I would do it as soon as I got my mind un-der control.
I tossed and turned for a while, the nightmares hanging in the fringes of my imagination. My Wolf felt agitated and her Mate was not around to soothe her. We nee-ded his company, and I couldn’t help but selfishly wish he would come check up on me. Surely his pres£nce alone would help. But since he wasn’t here…
I bolted up in be-d and made my way to the door as the idea c@m£ to me. I did not care about the consequences. Enough had happened today that I knew I wouldn’t get any sleep if I didn’t follow my instinct. I slowly walked down the carpeted hallway, ma-king my way up the staircase and towards the endlessly tempting double doors. As I strode br@vely into Gabriel’s room, his scent surrounded me and I inhaled de-eply. I knew he hadn’t been here since early in the morning but the smell alone was enough to help.
I st©pped beside his neatly made be-d, staring down with preoccu-pation. Would he mind? I wanted nothing more than to crawl in be-d and surround myself with his unique scent, even though he likely wouldn’t be there beside me all night. I knew if he c@m£ home he might be agitated that I had gone in without permission.
But this is the closest we will be to him, my Wolf whined softly. She too was mourning the pas-sing of one of our kind and she sounded incredibly vulnerable.
An idea then c@m£ to me, that I thought was a compromise between soothing my frayed nerves and avoiding Gabriel’s agitation; after all, I’d alre-ady snooped throu-gh his room enough. I strode over to his dresser, opening two drawers before I found his t-shi-ts. I gr@bb£d the closest one and exited the room quic-kly. His scent should be enough.
Once back in my room, I crawled into be-d, sinking into the downy comforter. I took a de-ep breath, clutching the t-shi-t to me. Instantly I felt my frayed nerves relax as his welcoming and familiar scent washed over me.
Maybe one day he can soothe us in person, my Wolf whispered. I gr@bb£d a fistful of the shi-t and moved it to where it was mostly un-der my head, between my head and the pillow.
Maybe, I replied, unable to keep the wistfulness out of my own voice. I continued to breathe de-eply as I sank dee-per into the be-d, significantly more relaxed now.
Within a few minutes I was fast asleep.
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“Skylar.”
I mumbled something incoherent in response to the voice, warm and comfortable and unwilling to move.
“Come on Skylar, wake up.” The voice was more impatient now.
“Go away,” I grumbled, feeling that my bubble of happiness would be popped if I woke up.
“Skylar!” He said, quite loudly, and my eyes snapped open. For a split second I hoped to see Gabriel, actually coming to check on me, but my hopes were dashed as I made eye contact with Eli. He was crouched next to me, his expression drawn and slightly irritated. Why was he in my room, anyways?
Realizing I was still clutching Gabriel’s t-shi-t in one hand and it was very obvious what I’d done, I felt the color rush to my cheeks along with all of the events of the previous night.
“Eli! What are you doing in here?” I asked, mortified, not caring that I was addressing the Beta. I felt incredibly disconcerted that he had come all the way up here to wake me up.
“I knocked on the door ten times but you didn’t wake up.” He didn’t sound overly apologetic, and his eyes were hooded, ba-rely concealing sadness. “The funeral is about to start….you didn’t really know him but I thought you might want to be there.”
I blinked up at him, surprised by his thoughtfulness. He was going to let me, an outsider, go? I swallowed the lump in my throat. My sleep had been mostly dreamless, and I knew why. I glanced down at the shi-t. I didn’t want to return to the cruel reality but some p@rt of me felt obligated to go. I couldn’t shake the concept that I was p@rtially responsible for the young boy’s death. I dre-aded the look on the pack’s faces when I showed up, but if Eli supported me then there was no reason not to go.
“Thank you,” I said softly.
Eli nodded gruffly then stood up to his full height. “You’re becoming a member of the pack, and you pas-sed one of the tests. You have a right to be there.” He averted his gaze, seemingly uncomfortable with the proximity of a pajama-clad female. “You’ve got ten minutes.” He said, before stri-ding out of the room.
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#Tobecontinued…
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Respects and gratitude to all those who called me after ma-king the query post about pranked calls yesterday.
One even admitted to have been a culprit (smiles)
Life is beautiful……😃
Counting by the numbers i received five calls (this time not pranked) (4 yesternight and 1 this morning)
You guys really made my night
Thanks a lot for calling….😍
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Ok i felt that 👆 was necessary.
Now after typing, i feel it might offend a few…….🙈 (sowi!)
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Hell, i know i talk a lot,
Don’t scold me.
Watch out for the next Happen