A Wolf's Duty (9 page)

The pain began to fade as
her anger rose once again at the situation she found herself in, it
became thick and ugly as it transformed itself into a living
creature swelling within her, straining for release. She could feel
something in the back of her mind begin to splinter and shatter
under the weight of her rage. Her anger rolled though her body,
blocking out Emily’s frustrated attempts to relieve her of Tobias’
gift before the dam broke and whatever was behind it was freed. She
felt a moment of calm despite the anger, where she was detached
from her surroundings and felt completely at ease, and then the
whispers came. They were insidious creeping through her mind and
flooding it with their voices, and there were so many. She clenched
her head with her hands trying to drown them out and removing her
arm from Emily’s grasp. Their voices became louder, sharper as the
seconds ticked on.

We’re coming.
We’ll help you.

She groaned,
“What?”

The voices stopped
suddenly, the silence they had left in her mind was almost
deafening after their noise, but the real world saw fit to replace
their noise with Emily’s ear piercing shrieks. The ground beneath
their feet was churning and the wind outside had picked up and was
now howling against the glass windows.

“An earthquake,” Emily
cried.

“Don’t be stupid,” Alex
snapped in response. “We don’t get earthquakes in England.”
Struggling to her feet, she found that the ground was indeed
trembling, almost loosing her footing to its shakes. The earth
quickly settled, but the wind seemed to have gotten
louder.

Rising to her feet easily
now that the tremors had ceased, Emily’s eyes had once again
targeted Alex’s wrist. “Give it here.”

“You have got to be
kidding, I can’t believe you’re still banging on about this,” she
yelled in response, screaming over the wailing winds outside. “You
get absolutely everything you want, there isn’t anything you’re
denied and when I finally get something precious of my own you
think you can take it from me! I’m through dealing with you Emily,
you hear me? This is over!”

The last words of her
rage-induced tirade were drowned out by the sound of breaking glass
as the winds were silenced. The windowpanes that lined the hall
simultaneously shattered causing Emily to scream once more. Despite
the breaking glass, Alex felt calm, centred even as the voices
returned.

Turning her head in the
direction of a window, she watched in detached amazement as a thick
tree branch twisted though the now empty pane and began moving in
their direction. Looking down the hallway she found that all of the
windows were now being filled with the leafy appendages, each
making their way surprisingly quickly down to where she and Emily
had now ceased bickering.

What on
earth?

A branch had now reached
Emily, curling its way around her ankles while she tried
frantically to remove it, pulling wildly at it while it steadily
continued its journey up her leg. She watched as another branch
moved past her before gripping Emily’s arms tightly, another snaked
between her legs before wrapping itself around Emily’s torso. Her
enemy’s screams were drowned out by the whispers and she strained
to hear what they were saying.

I can’t hear
you!
She screamed frustrated.

The din of the
whispers momentarily increased before dying out, a lone voice now
filled her head.
Want us to
hurt?

I don’t
understand.

Want us to
hurt?
The voice repeated, the branches
holding Emily captive tightened and she shrieked in response. Her
eyes turned to take in the person she had viewed throughout so much
of her life as an enemy, she watched intently as the branches that
had studiously avoided harming her tightened even
further.

Are you doing
that?

She was
hurting you but we’ll protect you.
The
voice’s tone had hardened and Emily's face seemed to become even
redder as a branch twisted itself around her throat.

Oh God don’t.
You’ll kill her.

Silence followed her
request and the limbs around Emily’s throat tightened while the
ones that had captured her limbs began to pull, stretching her body
taut.

Stop
it!
Alex shrieked, desperation flooding
her.

Why? She hurt
you, we hurt her.
The lone voice’s whisper
sounded confused as to why she was so intent on keeping Emily
alive.

You can’t do
this.

Bad?

Very. Let her
go, please,
she whispered, her voice
pleading.

We do as you
want, you call we answer.

Her eyes
widened in shock.
I did this?

You call, we
answer.
The voice responded.
You’re family.

The branches loosened
their grip on Emily allowing her to fall to the ground straining
for breath. The branches suddenly sprouted leafy green foliage
before coming to surround her, caressing her face and stroking her
arms.

Safe?
The single voice had been drowned out as the
whispers joined to speak in unison.

For
now.

Need
help?

I’m going
crazy,
she sighed, resigning herself to
life in a mental institution.

The leafy foliage that had
surrounded her became thicker and stronger before her eyes, before
they gently but securely wrapped around her body and lifting her
easily off the ground.

What are you
doing?
she yelled; fear suddenly creeping
up on her as the voices refused to answer her for the first time
since they had entered her mind.
I asked
you a question, answer me!
she shrieked,
her heart beginning to beat faster. The voices continued their
background chatter but no single voice could be heard as they
lifted her bodily from the ground and began easing her out of the
window.

Her wide eyes
quickly took in the distant ground.
I
never though the second floor was this high up, it looks a lot
closer when you’re on the bloody ground!
She gripped the branches within her reach tightly with her
fingers, nails digging deep into the hard bark she held on for dear
life as her feet left the safety of the solid ground. Her feet
swayed wildly as she was guided through the air away from the
building. Her heart jumped into her throat as she took in the
college building. The once pristine building was now completely
covered in greenery, from branches to weeds to amazing large flower
blossoms. The wild shrubbery that now flooded the corridors had
shattered the windows on all three floors. Her stomach lurched as
the branches took her higher and higher into the air, the ground
quickly losing its focus.

“Put me down!” she snarled
between clenched teeth pounding at the branch. “I said put me
down!” she screamed, continuing her frantic efforts to be
free.

Hurt?

I want you to
stop ignoring me and put me down, right now!

Sure?

I’ve never
been so sure of anything in my life, now you put me on firm ground
right now or else.

Mad at
us?

She frowned as
the voices floated through her mind, realising that all the
destruction they had wreaked was in an attempt to help her.
Not mad, just well...In future listen when I
speak ok?

We
understand.

Her feet touched the grass
covered ground and she breathed a sigh of relief as the branches
released her. She took one final look back at the plant covered
building before turning and running home as fast as her feet could
carry her. Ignoring every ache and pain that flooded her, she
managed to successfully return home, throwing wide the open door
and staggering inside. The door closed silently behind her as she
panted, trying to catch her breath and she didn’t realise that she
wasn’t alone until a cold hand clamped itself over her mouth. She
felt the cool sensation of a knife’s edge at her throat and decided
it would be unwise to scream.

A man’s voice whispered at
her ear. “I know what you are witch, and I intend to take your
power from you, even if I have to cut it out.” The blade at her
throat pressed down and she felt the warm trickle of her blood
slide across her skin.

Chapter
Eight

The hand at her mouth
clamped down further, preventing her from calling for help and the
man continued to whisper in her ear, making her shudder as his hot
breath ran across the back of her neck.

“I’ve been waiting for a
long time for this day, you know? I was beginning to think that
you’d never show your true potential but then I felt you this
morning and your power washed over me like nothing I’d ever felt
before.” The body at her back shuddered at the memory and his hot
breath caressed the side of her face. “I just had to come, Alex, I
just had to come and take it for my own. I thought your mother was
good, but you’re something else entirely.” Her eyes widened at the
mention of her mother, but the knife dug in deeper and she felt her
eyes begin to water at the pain. “Is there anything you have to say
before I kill you?”

The hand on her mouth was
removed and she sucked in deep breaths of air. “I don’t understand,
but look whatever it is you want, I don’t have it. Please let me
go.”

“Well that’s the biggest
lie I’ve ever heard you say, Alex, I felt you this morning,” The
body at her back shivered as though in pleasured agony. “Your power
was amazing and you’re going to give it to me.”

“If I could give it to you
don’t you think I would?” she whispered aware of the cold feel of
metal on her skin.

“It doesn’t work like that
my dear,” his voice whispered, the man’s breath coming closer to
the side of her face with every word. “You can’t give it to me when
you’re alive, I can only take it from you when you’re
dead.”

She shuddered at the
calmness with which he had spoken of her imminent death. “Please,
don’t do this,” she whimpered, feeling the blade at her throat dig
deeper, cutting the outside skin and touching the muscle
underneath. The droplets of blood that had flowed from her cut
flesh increased and she felt each one with amazing
clarity.

“Why shouldn’t I do this,
Alex? I’ve waited long enough.”

“I don’t want to
die.”

“Well I’ve wanted what’s
inside of you for long enough now and I’ve earned it.” His chin
moved to rest on her head. “You know, I was beginning to think that
you’d never come out of your shell and show me what you had. I
mean, obviously it was in there somewhere, it's genetic you see and
your mother had it, so you just had to have it as well. But I
didn’t expect to have to wait so long for it to come out. I would
have thought with all the beatings your father gave you over the
last few years that they would have reacted by now, but alas
nothing until this morning. What happened, Alex? You can tell me,
we’re friends.” The voice laughed, the sound devoid of any
warmth.

“Friends don’t try to kill
each other,” she snapped, momentarily forgetting the precarious
situation she was in.

“I know that Alex, but
don’t worry I won’t just try to kill you, I will. Are you sure you
don’t want to tell me?”

“What good would it do
me?”

“That’s a fair point.
Nothing is going to do you much good at this point.”

Closing her eyes, she
struggled to hear the whispers, hoping that they would come to her
aid once again.

“I can feel what you’re
doing,” the man whispered, pressing his cheek against hers. “You’re
wondering why nothing’s happening, right?”

Choosing not to respond,
she allowed him to answer himself, while still struggling to think
of a way to escape the situation she had found herself
in.

“There’s nothing here for
you to listen to, there is no wildlife for you to manipulate. I
made sure of that before I got here. Did you think that I wouldn’t
be prepared?”

“I don’t know you, so I
have no idea what you would be thinking.”

“Oh Alex, of course you
know me. I’m ashamed that after all the time you’ve known me you
wouldn’t even recognise me in this situation –”

The rest of his
admonishment was drowned out as she felt a whisper enter her mind,
different from earlier but still similar enough for her to feel
hope flair within her.
Help me.
She cried out, hoping that it would listen to her
plea.

I’m
coming.

I? I thought
it was we….

The whisper didn’t become
any clearer or respond to her confused thoughts but she could feel
it drawing closer to them and the hope that had suddenly sprung to
life within her grew.

Her assailant apparently
having grown bored with her silence sighed, “Well, we might as well
get this over with, don’t you agree?”

“Please,” she begged. “I
want to live,” she cried, scrambling for time, desperately hoping
that the whisper would arrive before the man’s knife severed an
artery and caused her to bleed to death. “I thought you said we
knew each other. Don’t do this, I don’t want to die, I’ve barely
lived.”