🐺💣🔪 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 🔪💣🐺
🎴Happen 31
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
Theme: Dared To Danger
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“Your father is in a coma, Skylar.”
I could only stare in Alpha Brett in dismay, refusing to believe the words coming out of his mouth. My father, pale and motionless in a cot in the infirmary, was something I had never expected to see. Pack Doctors, having an Affinity unlike normal werewolves, had a superior self-healing ability than anyone but an Alpha. My father had never been sick (not that werewolves were prone to sickness after childhood, anyways). He had never had any sort of medical condition. In fact, when I thought of the epitome of ‘health’, my father c@m£ to mind.
Yet here he was, nearly lifeless in the cot right in front of me. Alpha Brett had pu-ll-ed out a chair for me and I sank into it slowly. I gingerly reached out and rested my hand on my father’s arm, almost wincing from the lack of heat emanating from his skin.
“…how?” I asked softly. The last I’d heard, my father had been treating Maria after she’d been attacked. When Alpha Brett ordered me to come to the infirmary immediately because something happened to my father, it was as if the ground was coll@psing un-der my feet. Could anything else go wrong?
“Maria was ba-rely coherent as Alexander was attacked while she was still weak. She said the vampires took some of his blood and injected him with a substance. Whatever it was, there must be some silver infused, because his Wolf isn’t healing him.”
He indicated my father’s upturned arm. The veins were dark and stood out against his pale skin; it was as if there was poison pumping throu-gh my father’s veins.
“There obviously wasn’t that much silver because it didn’t kill him. Your father’s Affinity is strong. He would have a better chance of recu-perating than anyone else in the pack if he hadn’t been drained from helping Maria.” The Alpha’s tone was flat and cli-pped. I could s-en-se the tension simmering un-derneath his tone, and I knew why: Anne was missing, too.
It had taken a while to notice the blonde’s abs£nce, as Maria had not been coherent enough to talk. In fact, it was several hours after Maria’s arrival to the infirmary, but sometime before my father was attacked, that the pack was notified that Anne’s scent was stale. She was known to wander off on her own sometimes, but when her father could not break her mental barricade to contact her, he knew something was wrong. Now the whole pack was in a near-panic state. Two werewolves injured (one of which currently in a coma), and the Alpha’s daughter missing.
I ba-rely noticed when Alpha Brett strode off, presumably to renew his search for his daughter, leaving me and my mother alone with the prone figure in front of us.
My mother’s brilliant blue eyes were red-rimmed, her curls in disarray. She was crying softly and refusing to look at anything in p@rticular. I couldn’t blame her; it was her Mate, after all. The thought of my own Mate caused a lump to rise in my throat and I quic-kly brushed the image of Gabriel’s face out of my mind. My own flesh and blood was suffering in front of me, and that had to take priority.
*
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
*
I dimly registered the sound of the door opening and closing, followed by shuffling footsteps. I spun around to see a haggard Maria limp in. She still looked tired and strained from her contact with silver; in fact, I was surprised she was moving at all.
She slowly walked over to the be-d nearest my father’s and eased herself in.
“I nee-ded…I just nee-ded some fresh air,” she said quietly, dark eyes dull. “Skylar, I’m so-”
“Don’t Maria. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I waited outside while my father was treating you but Alpha Brett told me to go home, to get some sleep until you were awake. I shouldn’t have listened, maybe I would have been able to st©p them…”
She shook her head quic-kly. “You wouldn’t have been able to. Those vampires were in and out in half a minute, maybe less. They ba-rely even woke me up and I couldn’t smell them. I’d never seen anyone move that fast.” A fli-cker of fear crossed her expression.
I gritted my teeth. “What happened, Maria?” I was sure she’d told the story alre-ady but I wanted to hear it. I nee-ded to hear it.
The brunette sighed, lowering herself into a horizontal position on the cot. “After you and Will argued, I confronted him. He said some upsetting things so I went to the forest. Anne followed me. We were talking, and all of a sudden he was there.”
“Who?”
“Vampire. Tall, lighter brown hair, creepy blue-green eyes. He seemed really strong, and really….evil. I didn’t even catch his scent, he just snuck up on us.”
I nodded for her to go on.
“He wra-pped us in silver before we could move, and gagged us so we couldn’t call for help. We were no match for him. He knew my name, and he knew who Anne was, which means he must have been watching everyone for a while. He said something about not wanting Anne to be there, but said she would be collateral damage, just like me. He knocked me out and took Anne.” A palpable s-en-se of guilt appeared in Maria’s dark eyes.
“There was nothing you could’ve done. That was Cain; it had to be. No other vampire would be able to take on two full-grown werewolves at once that quic-kly.” I couldn’t imagine going face-to-face with the monster like Maria had. The thought made the hair stand up on the back of my n£¢k.
She visibly shuddered. “He just radiated evil, Skylar. I can’t explain it any better than that.”
“He’s the oldest vampire. He would be too strong for anyone except an Alpha.” In fact, too strong for anyone except Gabriel, I added inside my head.
“I don’t remember much of being brou-ght back here. When I woke up from one of my dozes there was a different vampire leaning over me. He smothered me so I couldn’t cry out while the other one, Cain or whatever his name is, began to inject…” Maria indicated my father with a j£rk of her head, seemingly unable to say more. But I un-derstood.
My mother had remained silent throu-gh all of this, but I could see the lines of visible tension in her delicate shoulders. She sniffed, loudly, taking one of my father’s hands in hers. It was heartbreaking to watch.
“Alpha Brett said they took his blood.” I was stating it more than asking, but I had to know. What the Hell would Cain want with my father’s blood? The thought de-eply perturbe-d me.
Maria nodded mutely.
“And he said you and Anne were collateral damage, not the intended target.” My br@in was quic-kly working to put the pieces together. “He also attacked when my father was at his weakest.” Everything c@m£ together with horrifying clarity and I swallowed ha-rd . “So…he wanted my father’s blood all along. That was what he was going for. All of his other actions with you and Anne were leading to this.”
“So why does he still have Anne?” She asked weakly.
I did not want to find out.
—
I stayed by my father’s beside as the sunlight began to creep across the sky, night turning into early morning, then morning transitioning into a bright and h0t afternoon. After a few hours, Maria left the infirmary to return home. After she left, I lowered my head and let the guilt wash over me.
This is all my fault, I thought morosely, resting my elbows on the be-d nearest my father. He hadn’t moved in all the hours since I’d been here. My mother had fallen into a restless sleep, her hand still placed in his.
You couldn’t have known he’d go after your family, my Wolf tried to reason, but she too seemed subdued.
Yes I could have! He likes to pl@ygames; I should have known that anyone close to me would be a direct target!
He could have just wanted Pack Doctor blood regardless of the relation to you.
Then why attack my best friend? He could have attacked anyone in the pack to get my father’s attention.
She couldn’t argue with that logic. I stared down at my father’s face, peaceful in sleep despite the situation. Why did Cain want his blood? I had no doubt it had something to do with my father’s Affinity. Attacking Maria just seemed like Cain’s way of getting at me. He could have killed her, but instead he left her on the fringes of death for my father to heal her. It seemed like he was toying with me, letting me know what power he had over all of us.
I felt a flutter of panic as I took in my father’s stillness, and for the millionth time I wished I had inherited his Affinity. The pack did not have another Doctor to take his place. If he died, we would be lost until another was born with the Affinity. I was worse than useless, and I was sure everyone was thinking the same thing.
There was a she-wolf in the pack, Linda, who worked p@rt-time in the human settlement at a medical clinic to earn money for her family. She could not treat my father as a werewolf’s makeup was completely different than a human’s, but she c@m£ in every so often to check his vitals. I caught a waft of her scent as she entered the room, tools in hand. I was grateful to her for trying even though she couldn’t really help him.
I had been feeling feverish the last couple of hours. My skin was prickling, and I felt jumpy. No doubt it was due to all of the stress, but regardless I nee-ded some fresh air.
“I’ll be right back,” I muttered to Linda, quic-kly exiting the infirmary knowing my father was in good hands.
The gentle breeze and warm air outside were refreshing, but I still felt…odd. I took de-ep breaths as I attem-pted to calm myself down and think about what to do. What was wrong with me? Was I coming down with something? Trying to ignore the itching un-der my skin, I thought about what to do.
There were scant options. I could not help my father; in fact, the nearest source of help was in Gabriel’s pack. Eva. I stiffened as the idea c@m£ to me. What if we s£nt for help to the Black Mountains Pack…would Gabriel allow Eva to cross our borders? Would he do something like that for me, helping the enemy pack?
I felt a fli-cker of doubt as I remembered Alpha Brett’s blatant hatred for them, but surely he would listen to reason when it c@m£ down to someone as important as my father. I glanced around, noting the abs£nce of wolves in the pack village. They must all be looking for Anne. The blonde and I had never gotten along, but still I felt the guilt rise again. It was my fault she was missing. I could’ve argued more and told Alpha Brett that Cain liked to taunt me and pl@ymind games, that he might go after someone close to me. I was selfish to keep my mouth shut.
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
I reached out a mental probe, finding Alpha Brett’s pres£nce. Alpha Brett? I asked, almost timorously as I thought of what his reaction might be to my previously unheard of proposition.
What, Skylar? I’m a bit busy right now. His tone was quite unwelcoming.
I just had an idea about how we could help my father. I know you don’t like the Black Mountains Pack, but Gabriel might be willing to help since it’s my-
We are NOT asking for help from them! Alpha Brett’s voice rung with dislike and left little room for argument.
But they could s£nd over their Pack Doctor and she could help-
They have made no effort before to be peaceful with us! We do not nee-d our enemies here in a time like this!
Yeah, but Gabriel has a Mate here now. It’s different.
I s-en-sed Alpha Brett’s snarl over the mind link. Absolutely not. And don’t think I’ve forgotten that we nee-d to have a serious talk, Skylar.
With that, he abruptly cut me out. Gritting my teeth as the anger rose, I quic-kly strode back into the infirmary. What was his problem? Was he too blinded by his own hatred to ask for help in a serious time of nee-d?
I sat down r0ûghly in the chair next to my father as Linda exited, ignoring my mother’s confused stare. I reached forward and determinedly gr@bb£d my father’s hand, mentally reas-suring him that it would all be okay. To my surprise, when I gr@bb£d his hand I felt an odd s-en-sation; it was like a brief moment of searing heat, jo-lting from his hand and shooting up my arm. It left the hairs on my forearm standing straight up and I re-leased my father’s hand in confusion. My arm was tingling as the s-en-sation faded. What was going on? Was that a good sign?
I tentatively gr@bb£d his hand again but the blazing s-en-sation of heat did not reoccur, and I was left staring at his slee-ping face, preoccu-pied.
—
A couple hours later, Anne still had yet to be found, and there was no change with my father. My mother made me jo-lt in surprise when she spoke for the first time in a long while.
“Skylar? Do you think….would you mind leaving me alone with your father for a while? I’d just like to talk to him. I don’t know, maybe hearing my voice will help wake him up.” Her eyes were glas-sy with unshed tears, her beautiful face nearly crumpled in despair. I couldn’t say no to her when she looked like that, so I reluctantly agreed. Perhaps I could rest for a while at home. After Will and I argued I had returned home and taken a shower, trying to wash away my anger, but I’d never been able to sleep because Maria was attacked so soon after dark.
I reluctantly re-leased my father’s hand and, with one last glance at my mother’s morose expression, exited the infirmary and navigated the narrow alleyways between houses to return to my own.
Upon walking in the air seemed stale, the house tense and quiet. I frowned as I entered the living room. Nob©dy had been here since late last night when we’d received news of my father, yet something was…off. My Wolf whined in the back of my mind. I tensed up, trusting my instincts, as they’d never led me astray before. I glanced around warily, my eyes roving the furniture and the pictures on the walls. Nothing had been t©uçhed, so why did I feel as if another pres£nce had been here?
My trepidation increasing, I slowly took the stairs up towards my room. My preoccu-pation was heightened as I approached the slee-ping quarters. I couldn’t quite explain it, it was as if the air had been stirred by a b©dy other than my own. As the hair on the back of my n£¢k began to prickle, I knew I was correct. I had learned to recognize this feeling as I always got it when vampires had been around. My Wolf had a keen s-en-se for other supernatural creatures. Recognizing it made my blood run cold and I slowly pushed open the door to my be-droom. The wooden door creaked ominously as my room’s contents were revealed.
My eyes immediately found the culprit: a small white sl!pof paper, innocently resting in the exact center of my be-d. My be-d was immaculately made, sheets tucked in and pillows fluffed, but there was one problem.
I hadn’t made the be-d.
Goosebu-mps sprung up and down my arms and I tried not to shiver. It was the middle of the day and I knew the vampires couldn’t reach me here, but the thought of Cain ma-king my be-d disturbe-d me on a de-ep level. I hesitantly approached the be-d, remembering the last time he had left me a ‘gift’. I could only hope he hadn’t put one of Anne’s b©dy p@rts in a container and s£nt it to me.
To my small s-en-se of relief, the piece of paper was the only new addition to my room. I swallowed ha-rd and br@ced myself as I gingerly picked it up. Half of the page was covered in a flowing script that I recognized as Cain’s, as-suming Cain had written the note to me in Gabriel’s home when Riley’s heart was left in the box on my be-d.
*
Skylar,
You really nee-d to straighten your room. Although I imagine you’ve been a bit busy, what with taking care of your father and all. Sorry about that, but I nee-ded his blood. Call it scientific curiosity.
I believe I have something—or someone—your pack wants. I know they’re looking for me, but I’m rather ha-rd to track as you know, and they’ll have no luck finding the Alpha’s daughter.
I am, however, available to talk to you. Consider the blonde my bargaining ch!p. Walk north into the woods immediately after sundown, and keep walking. I’ll find you. Come alone.
I’d hate to see what would happen to this scared little she-wolf if you don’t come, or if you try to lead someone else to me.
I’ll be waiting.*
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#The_Story_Continues………
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