🐺💣🔪 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 🔪💣🐺
🎴Happen 8
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
Theme: Vampires!!!
“Actually, I’m going to go to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”
Without waiting for his reply I quic-kly stood up and made my way around the edge of the dance floor towards a hallway on the far side of the club. At the end of the hallway was a door marked ’employees only’ but the hallway curved left at the door, leading to the restrooms.
I opened the door to the restroom and strode in. The lighting was extremely bright after the dim atmosphere of the club and I winced, ru-bbing my eyes. There was a girl at the sink applying her makeup and I thought I heard someone in one of the stalls but I ignored them, shutting myself in a stall and resting my head on the inside of the door.
To my surprise, my Wolf’s agitation actually increa-sed and she whined again.
What’s wrong with you? I asked, concerned.
I don’t know, but something is wrong. I can s-en-se danger. We’re closer to it now.
It’s in here? I asked incredulously.
No…but we’re closer to it than when we were sitting in the booth.
I took a de-ep, shaky breath. Are we in immediate danger?
I don’t think it’s after us.
That confused me. Why would she be so concerned if the source of danger wasn’t focused on us? Why was she so unnerved? I had never felt her behave like this.
Opening my s-en-ses, I took a de-ep whiff of the air, closing my eyes. The music pressed in loudly on my s-en-sitive ears but I attem-pted to block it out and focus only on the smells.
The stench of urine was quite poignant along with sweat and alcohol. Wincing, I sorted throu-gh these scents to find others that were ha-rder to trace. I detected a slight whiff of werewolf scent along with the overwhelming smell of human, but this did not interest me. I focused intently as I tried to find something out of place. A minute trickled by, then another, with no luck, but my Wolf insisted I keep trying. Then it hit me all at once.
Blood. A lot of blood, the smell growing stronger by the second.
In a flash I had exited the stall and rushed out of the bathroom. The blood was human, not werewolf, but I still felt duty-bound to investigate. I wasn’t going to let someone die if there was something I could do to help, and with the overwhelming s-en-se of danger I detected, I knew this wasn’t an ordinary accident.
The smell grew stronger as I strode down the hall, approaching the ’employees only’ door. Without a second thought I shoved the door r0ûghly open. Inside I found a wi-de hallway with cubbies and cabinets on the walls, likely for the employees, and another door on each side. The trail did not lead me there, however. Another door was at the far end of the hallway marked ‘exit only’.
Taking a de-ep breath I dashed to the door and shouldered it open, stepping outside. The smell was so strong out here that to my s-en-sitive nose it was nearly overwhelming. It was coming from an alley a short distance away.
Something’s not right. My Wolf was saying nervously as I dashed towards the mouth of the alleyway. There’s something here….something else here.
I did not have time to ponder her meaning as I reached the alleyway, but it soon bec@m£ quite clear. A lonely streetlight hung nearby and threw the scene before me into dim relief. I saw two figures, one a few feet away from me, sprawled on the ground with her head facing me, and another hunched over the limp form.
The one sprawled on the ground was dead or near-death judging by the amount of blood leaking out of her n£¢k. Her dark hair was spre-ad out on the ground and her face was deathly pale. The smell of her life f0rç£ was sickening and I had to fight the urge to gag.
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
But the b©dy was not the main source of my problems, not even close. For a split second after I examined the b©dy my eyes snapped to the other figure, the one that was slowly standing up to tower over me.
It was a man but he wasn’t human. His behavior had alerted me of that immediately, and my stomach clenched with revulsion when I saw his face. He was as pale as the corpse and his irises were as black as his pupils, giving him a frighteningly haunted appearance. He had sharp fangs extending into his bo-ttoml!pand they were ti-pped with blood, and his f!ngerswere curved into claws. His skin was thin, taut and pu-ll-ed back, his cheekbones almost looking like they were going to cut throu-gh it.
‘Vampire,’ I thought, dazed, my wolf howling in the back of my mind as he took a step towards me. He was so gaunt and ghostly pale that he looked quite dead himself. My instincts quic-kly kicking in, I swung into a defensive crouch. Until now I had thought vampires were a legend but I fervently hoped they weren’t as strong as werewolves. To my surprise, his smell was faint, even to my nose, but it was oddly familiar. I shook the s-en-se of familiarity off and raised my l!pto expo-se my canines, which were slightly elongated in my preparation to shift into wolf form at a moment’s notice.
“Don’t come any closer,” I snapped, a menacing growl echoing de-ep within my che-st.
He st©pped, c0cking his head. “Didn’t expect to see a werewolf here…I’m surprised I didn’t s-en-se you sooner. You smell awful.” He sounded a lot younger than he looked. I snarled in response to the insult.
“Get out of here,” I growled.
“But I hadn’t finished eating dinner…” He drawled, a c0cky sm-irk appearing on his pale face. I felt my skin prickle in irritation. I glanced down at the corpse.
“Hmm, I’m surprised. I thought werewolves would be a lot uglier.” His dark eyes had focused on my face and his sm-irk was wi-der.
I growled again, loud and menacing. I thought I saw wariness cross his expression.
It was then that I realized I was in a ti-ght Sk-irt and heels. Not exactly the ideal outfit to be wearing in a fight. I thought I had enough of a s-en-se of balance to make the heels work if I absolutely had to, but why take the risk? What if one of them broke mid-fight or made me twist my ankle?
I was bending down, eyes on the vampire, preparing to surreptitiously re-move my shoes, when it happened. The only warning I got was the vampire’s eyes fli-ckering slightly as he glanced at something over my left shoulder before there was a quiet whisper of sound behind me and a slight rush of air. I spun around quic-kly to face the intruder, cursing myself inwardly for being so easily distracted, but I was a heartbeat too slow. I felt clammy hands clamp down on my ba-re shoulders and then sharp teeth were sunk into the side of the n£¢k.
The next thing I felt was excruciating pain.
—
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
Eli’s POV
I was tired of patrolling.
For the past three days Gabriel had f0rç£d us to relentlessly patrol the borders at every hour of the day and it was draining the entire pack. Ever since the incident the night of the meeting, when one of our pack members had been brutally murdered, every wolf had been on edge. As Gabriel’s Beta, I respected his decision and would likely have made the same decision in his place, but it didn’t mean that I wasn’t feeling the same exhaustion as everyone else.
My Wolf was feeling it, too. I could feel his relief that our patrol had ended and I got to return home for some much-nee-ded rest. I had volunteered to take the extra shift tonight but was sincerely regretting that decision.
Still in Wolf form, my head drooped as I climbe-d the craggy terrain that led to our pack homes. Our territory was much more difficult to traverse than most but kept us in good shape. My muscles still burned, however, as I scaled the last steep slope. I would nee-d to st©p by Gabriel’s house first to give him my report.
*
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
*
Several minutes later I shifted back to human form outside of Gabriel’s large house, dressing quic-kly before knocking three times on his door.
“Come in,” his de-ep voice commanded and I opened the door, shutting it quietly. Gabriel was sitting in a large chair re-ading a stack of do¢v-ments but he glanced up when I strode in.
“Patrol went as normal, ” I began without preamble. I knew Gabriel better than anyone else in the pack so I could drop most of the formalities. “No strange scents or tracks. Whoever killed Amelia seems to have vanished into thin air.”
His expression darkened and I knew he felt the pain of losing one of our own. Gabriel may have been austere and seemingly emotionless but I knew he cared more about protecting the pack more than anything else in the entire world.
Except, maybe, that brunette girl from the Meeting. His Mate. But there was no way in hell I was asking Gabriel about that until he was re-ady to talk; it had been shock enough to learn he had a Mate. He had seemed slightly dazed the last few days as if he couldn’t believe it happened.
While my instincts urged me to talk to him about it, because he was clearly conflicted and nee-ded my help, I held my ton-gue. Gabriel and I had known each other a very long time. We had grown up together. As far as I knew, he trusted me more than anyone else. When we were younger, he’d been quite withdrawn and ha-rd to get to know, although he’d confided in me a few times. Now, he was even more withdrawn, and it was very rare that he spoke with me about anything personal. I only hoped that if he nee-ded to talk about it, he wouldn’t hesitate to ask me.
“I suspected as much.” He finally muttered, breaking me out of my train of thought and back into our conversation.
“Who do you want to patrol tomorrow?” I asked, folding my arms in front of me and wi-dening my stance.
“Not you. You’ve been patrolling three times as much as anyone else.”
I agreed, but better me than anyone else. “As Beta it’s my duty to-” I began but he cut me off.
“No, Eli. You’re wearing yourself out and I nee-d you to be at your best.”
I lowered my head, slightly relieved and knowing there was no point in arguing with him. It was impossible to win against Gabriel and he always did what was best for the pack either way. He had been the greatest thing to ever happen to the Black Mountains pack, I thought. I knew my pack agreed with me; he was certainly a better Alpha than his father had been.
“Should we warn the other packs?” I asked, slightly wary of his reaction. He had been ti-ptoeing around the subject ever since the Meeting.
His dark eyes snapped to my face and narrowed as if he knew exactly what I was thinking but he didn’t reply, contemplating. I knew p@rt of him, big or small, would instinctively want to protect his Mate no matter how far away she was or what pack she was in.
“It’s possible that whoever did it crossed into their territory,” I continued.
After that statement I saw a clearly visible expression of concern flit across his features. So he definitely did care. I desperately wanted to press but knew now wasn’t the time.
He stood up, slowly, rising to his full height. I was 6’3 and taller than the average werewolf but Gabriel was even taller than me. His stature only served to add to his intimid@t!ngAlpha pres£nce.
“It’s possible.” He admitted, eyes narrowed. “We should-”
But I never found out about what we should do because Gabriel abruptly cut off, face contorting into an expression of extreme pain. He gr@bb£d the chair beside him and hunched over, a loud snarl escaping his throat.
“Alpha?” I asked, stri-ding over to him, concerned. His muscles were taut, his frame shaking. Gabriel’s expression was absolutely feral as he ba-red his teeth. I could tell he was fighting with all of his might against the pain but I could not determine the source of the injury.
“Where are you injured?” I demanded but he moved away from my outstretched arm.
“Not me…” He breathed out heavily, gritting his teeth. “Skylar…” His f!ngernails dug into the fabric of the chair and the veins stood out on his arms. I watched him, alarmed.
He snarled again, furious. His eyes were exceptionally dark and I wondered if it was the pain, the fury, or both.
“Skylar? But you haven’t-”
“It’s hers.”
“But-”
“There’s no other possibility!” He snapped, straightening abruptly, fists clenched. His shaking slowed slightly as I watched, and he took a de-ep breath, though he remained tense. It seemed to me that his Wolf was clawing at the surface and he was fighting to control it.
“Is she…” I couldn’t finish the s£ntence, afraid of his reaction.
After several seconds, Gabriel unclenched his fists. Apparently the pain had abated somewhat, and he had won the internal battle with his Wolf. “It’s her pain, it has to be.” His expression was absolutely terrifying to behold. “She’s in danger.” I saw his resolute expression and knew where this was going.
“Watch the pack.” He leapt to the door in one large bound. “I’ll be in t©uçh.”
“Alpha you-”
Gabriel turned around, fury evident in his expression. “I said WATCH THE PACK, Eli!” He roared furiously, putting a Command in his tone. He rarely had to use the Command on me. I bowed my head in submission.
Then he was gone, the door ominously ban-ging shut behind him.
.
.
#Tobecontinued….