Descendant (9 page)

My eyes strayed up the path ahead of me, and I wondered if ten minutes was enough of a head start to let me outrun them. I seriously doubted it, but it was still tempting. I glanced over my shoulder. Maybe they would just let me go? Again, doubtful. But my legs were suddenly carrying me a lot more quickly down the path at the thought. I’d only made it a few hundred feet, though, before the sound of footsteps crunching through the brush reached my ears and jolted me to a stop.

For a moment my body tensed, but then I recognized a familiar scent on the air; Kael’s scent was a mixture of leaves and dirt, and of smoke— like the kind that lingers on your clothing and hair after you’ve spent too much time sitting around the campfire. It was surprisingly easy to pick out amongst all the other scents the forest air was filled with.

“I know you’re there,” I called. I sighed as he appeared beside me on the path a second later.

“Heard me?” He asked as he picked off a leaf that was clinging to his jacket.

“And smelled you,” I replied. I could smell people coming. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought. There real y wasn’t anything funny about the reason behind my new-and-improved sense of smell —it was just so bizarre though, that it was almost amusing.

“Ah. Guess your senses are getting stronger, huh?” Kael said.

“Or maybe I’m just trying to tell you that you should shower more?” I suggested. Okay, that was completely untrue—I actual y kind of liked his smoky scent. But I was hoping if I was rude to him he might go away.

“You’re such a nice person. I’m so glad I came after you,”

he said, his lips forming a sardonic smile.

“Why are you following me?”

“Because I enjoy the company of bratty teenage girls. Why else?” he said with a shrug.

“You’re hilarious.”

“I know.”

“But seriously?” I said in an attempt at a more pleasant tone. “I said I wanted to be alone for a while. Have you been following me the whole time?”

He shrugged again. “I knew you wanted to be alone. And to be perfectly honest, I would’ve preferred to leave you alone.

But…” He frowned.

“I probably shouldn’t be alone?” I supplied.

“…That’s the conclusion the others have come to, yes.”

“And what do you think?” I asked, suddenly curious.

He looked at me, hesitating. “…Normal y, I would’ve said this was your own problem, and you should deal with it yourself. But…”

“But what?” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

“But maybe I just wanted to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid.”

“Like what?”

“Like running away, like you were thinking about doing,” he said. “And to answer your question—no, ten minutes is not nearly a big enough head start. I would’ve caught up with you in about thirty seconds, maybe less.”

I slowed to a stop, and he walked a few more feet and then did the same. “How do you know…?”

He glanced back at me and then nodded toward the sky, or what we could see of it through the tangled web of tree branches above. “It’s getting closer to the full moon…to what would be your first transformation,” he explained. “Your senses aren’t they only things changing.”

“So that’s not just a lycan thing, then?”

He shook his head.

“Still , I thought people only heard the thoughts you wanted them to hear?”

“There are exceptions,” Kael said. “If you’re real y close to someone—emotional y speaking, I mean—you can’t always keep things from them. And as for you? Well , it takes practice—the newly transformed can’t always direct their thoughts the way they’d like.”

their thoughts the way they’d like.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling incredibly self-conscious all of a sudden. Had people been listening to my thoughts all night?

Kael let out a chuckle. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I don’t think you thought anything too terribly embarrassing,” he said.

I groaned and wandered a few feet up the path, staring at the moon. “Directing thoughts…” I thought aloud—even though apparently that wasn’t even necessary now. “That’s going to take some getting use to. You’ll teach me how, right?” I turned back to him and saw that he was frowning again.

“…If it should come to that,” he said. “But I don’t think it wil .”

“Why not?”

“Because you strike me as a somewhat intell igent person. I think once you’ve thought about it, you’ll realize what a mistake becoming a werewolf would be.”

“There you go making assumptions about me again,” I said, shaking my head. “You don’t know me.”

“No, I suppose I don’t. But I can hear your thoughts, remember?”

“…Cheater,” I said with frown. “Can you not like, tune-out of my head or something?”

“I could,” he said. “But…why would I want to do that?”

“Oh I don’t know, common courtesy or something? It feels like you’re eavesdropping on me. It’s kind of rude.”

“Okay. I’ll stop then.”

“Real y?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “But…how do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“You don’t,” he said with a small smile.

“You’re an incredibly annoying person—has anyone ever told you that?”

“I might’ve heard it once or twice.”

We walked side-by-side in silence for several minutes after that. I wanted to lose myself in thought, because I had decisions to make. I needed a plan. Every now and then I would cast a wary eye over at Kael, and every time I did he seemed increasingly more oblivious to my presence—but I was sure that was only because he was concentrating on trying to hear my thoughts. With that in mind, I had to keep them as vague as possible. I didn’t want him to hear my uncertainty, and I definitely didn’t want him reinforcing it. I was having a hard enough time trying to figure out what I was going to do without any more outside pressure.

One part of me—the sane part of me, perhaps—was screaming for me to get a grip. Of course I should remain human. What kind of person wants to become a bloodthirsty monster? Why was I even considering anything other than taking that antidote and resuming my normal life?

But there was the catch—that word, ‘normal’. Considering the way the past few weeks had gone, it didn’t look like my life had any plans to return to ‘normal’ any time soon. So maybe being infected was actual y a good thing.

I wasn’t completely ignoring what Eli and the other’s had said, though. There was a good chance, I knew, that I would be a monster at first. But I was convinced that part would pass quickly, and once it did… Once it did I wouldn’t be weak anymore. I wouldn’t have to rely on others to keep my family safe. The more I thought about it, becoming a werewolf was the only thing that made sense to me. Maybe it was what was supposed to happen? Things happened for a reason, right? That’s what people kept telling me after my dad died.

“You can’t seriously believe that,” Kael said suddenly.

“Stop listening to my thoughts!” I hissed.

“Would it make any difference if I told you that, werewolf or not, you’re no match for what threatens your family?” he asked.

“None at all .”

“You’re delusional.”

“You’re obnoxious.”

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

“Maybe I’ll find out?” I said. “And maybe they’l be no match for me?” And then, all of a sudden, I realized I didn’t even believe what I was saying.

“You’re going to get yourself kill ed,” Kael said.

“I’m not afraid of death.” Oh God. There I went again. Who was this person and what the heck was she saying? I was lying, and I knew it. And since I was sure that Kael was listening to everything going on in my head, I’m sure he knew it too. My gaze shifted sideways at him, expectant.

He sighed, and I braced myself for his words. But he didn’t call me out on my lie.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

“What?”

“It would be better if we got you back before your mother came home from work,” he said.

“Oh…Yeah, I guess,” I replied. I stared at him, confused.

His attention seemed to have drifted elsewhere; he closed his eyes, and his body tensed. Even his breathing stopped.

“What’s wrong…?”

He let out the breath he’d been holding. “Can you not hear that?”

I closed my eyes too. At first, there was nothing to hear but the sound of our own, steady breathing. But then there was another sound—faint but getting louder every second—and there was no mistaking it for what it was.

“Someone’s coming.”

Unlike before, I didn't readily recognize the scent on the air.

"...Who is it?"

"...I'm not sure.”

"One of the others?"

"Be quiet," Kael growled. "I'm trying to listen."

"Well excuse me..." I shot back in a whisper.

"We should probably get moving," Kael said a second later. He sounded worried, which didn’t exactly calm my nerves. I stared at him, hoping he might elaborate, but he only started to walk away. I’d only taken a few steps after him when a low-pitched howl sounded somewhere in the distance, and I jumped and latched on to closest thing I could find—which was Kael’s arm. Of course.

"You're awfully jumpy for someone who's not even afraid of death," he mused, looking down at me.

I dropped my circulation-stopping grip on his arm and shoved him away. "Shut-up," I snapped. "It just startled me, that's all ."

"It's just Will ," he said.

It was hard to believe, because I still couldn't picture Will as anything other than human—even though now I knew what he real y was. What they all were. What I might become.

"And the footsteps…?” I asked, trying not linger on thoughts about the future.

"That's what he's making all that noise about—he's giving whoever's walking around out there fair warning."

"Warning?"

"Our animal side is very...territorial," Kael explained. "It's not normal y an issue for us, living all the way up here in the middle of nowhere. The closest pack to ours is down in Jonas Ridge...and they usual y do whatever it takes to stay away from us."

"Why?"

"We have our differences."

"Don't be vague or anything.”

"Don't be nosey or anything," he said with a smirk. "It's got nothing to do with a human."

"I might not be a human this time tomorrow," I pointed out.

"Maybe not," he said offhand. "But it sounds like whoever’s out there is moving away from us now. We should go before they change their minds and decide to join us.”

He didn't give me a chance to argue, and in seconds he’d disappeared into the darkness. I hurried after him. This forest was growing creepier by the second, and I didn’t real y like the idea of being alone with whomever those footsteps belonged to.

I caught up with him a few seconds later, and I was able to keep up for most of the journey back. Our pace was steady at first, but once we reached the less rocky landscape we got gradual y faster, and faster, and faster still — until the trees lining the path started to blur, and we darted in and out of them so fast that I don’t even know how I didn’t run into any of them. What was real y weird was that, no matter how long we ran, I never seemed to get tired. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I could feel my leg muscles tightening with each stride I took. And I kept waiting for my body to start protesting, kept waiting to lose my breath, for my muscles to cramp, for some sign—any sign—that would tell me I'd reached my limit.

It never came.

We reached the edge of the woods surrounding my house in what seemed like no time at all . Kael stopped so quickly I nearly crashed into him. I stood silently, trying to catch the breath that the exhilaration of running so fast had taken away, while Kael pushed aside the tree limbs blocking our view.

He looked back at me, nodding his head toward our driveway and the two police cruisers parked there. "Almost forgot about those guys," Kael said.

"Great..." I said with a groan. "What am I supposed to tell them?"

"Anything but the truth?" Kael suggested. "Not that they'd believe you if you did tell them the truth.”

"No kidding,” I said, nodding as I stared at our well -lit house.

"Your mom will be home soon," Kael said pointedly. "It would be better if she didn't come home to the cops questioning her daughter, don't you think?"

"I guess," I said, grimacing at the thought. But I didn’t move.

"Well ?" Kael prompted.

"I know," I said testily. "I'm going—just give me a sec, alright?"

"…Take as long as you want," Kael said. "And good luck. I guess I'll be seeing you around." I heard his words, but most of my attention was focused on the light shining from most of my attention was focused on the light shining from our living room window, so it took me a moment to realize that the sounds of leaves crunching I heard a second later where his footsteps as he walked away.

"Wait!" I called without thinking.

He slowed to a stop and glanced back over his shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"Um...Are you just going to go back home then?"

"That was my plan," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Is it...safe? I mean, the person in the woods...I..." I stared at the ground as I spoke.

"Whoever that was they're long gone now," Kael said.

"There's no need to be afraid..." he added. I glanced up just in time to see the corner of his lips turning up slightly.

"I'm not afraid.”

"Right." Kael rolled his eyes. "Then I'll just be on my way."

"I just don't think I should be alone, given the circumstances..." I grumbled to his retreating back.

"Don't be stupid..." Kael said as he paused and looked back again. "You haven't been alone since your father was kill ed."

I couldn’t help but wince at the word ‘kill ed’.

“We've been patroll ing the borders of your house constantly," he continued. "And right now? You met Jack earlier, right? Well , he's been following us, and he's going to switch off with another friend of ours—a guy named Sam.

Sam's been running circles around this place for the past twelve hours or so. He's a good kid, and he and a few buddies of his have been traveling a long way from their home in Brookford to help us keep you safe."

"Oh..." I said quietly, dragging my foot in a circle along the ground. In my mind, I pictured Jack, with his scarred face and stringy blonde hair. I remembered how uneasy he'd seemed, and I couldn't help but wonder—what was making him so nervous? Of course, I wanted to think that Jack and the others Kael mentioned were perfectly capable of taking care of whatever was after me and my family. But at this point I probably wouldn't have felt safe even if I had an entire army constantly stationed around my house.

"Look, if it makes you feel any better..." Kael began with a sigh, "I probably won't go straight back to the house. I might hang around with Jack for a bit so..." He trailed off and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"...Okay," I said. But I still didn't move from where I stood.

"Al you need to worry about right now," he began, his voice growing impatient, "...is getting rid of the police before your mother gets home and causes a lot of trouble for all of us.

Nothing else, alright?"

I nodded silently. I knew he was right. I was wasting time, standing out here.

"You’ll be fine," Kael said. "As long as you're here, you've got more protection than you could ever need."

"As long as I'm here?” I repeated before I could stop myself.

“What, so I'm under house arrest now?"

"Of course not," he said flatly. "Go wherever you want.

But..."

"But...?"

"But I, for one, am not going to chase you all over town," he said with an irritable sigh.

"I never asked you to chase me anywhere.”

"I can't say the same for the others," he continued without acknowledging my comment. "But it would make things a lot easier for them if you would just stay in one place for the time being—preferably near your family so they can keep a better eye on them as well . And you real y shouldn’t—"

"Okay. I get it," I interrupted. I real y wasn't in the mood for a lecture. "I'll stay here."

"…Good," he said. "Now go. Quit stal ing and go get rid of the cops. I'll see you later."

I watched him disappear into the shadows of the forest, feeling a bit disgruntled. "He's awfully fond of ordering people around," I muttered, hoping he was still within earshot. Then, with a frown, I turned and began a very long walk to our back door.

The police were surprisingly easy to get rid of. Of course, I had several things working in my favor: first of all , it was after two a.m. when I walked in the backdoor, and both officers that greeted me looked like they must’ve been reaching the end of their shifts, judging by their bloodshot eyes and the frequent yawning accompanying their questioning. They definitely seemed more than ready to bid us good-night and be on their way. Besides that, both of them were long-time friends of our family (living in a town where everybody knows everybody does come in handy sometimes), and I think that made them more inclined to accept the bogus story I fed them about 'just needing to get away by myself for awhile'.

Once I'd convinced the officers they had, indeed, been falsely alarmed, I showed them out the door and dead-bolted it behind them with a sigh of relief. But unfortunately, there was still one person left who needed convincing.

When I turned around, my sister stood waiting in the foyer behind me, her arms folded across her chest and a smug look on her face.

"Is that real y the best you could come up with?” she asked.

“What?”

“You just needed time to yourself?"

"Yeah," I said, brushing past her and heading for my room.

"Except you weren't alone," Lora said, stepping on my heels as she turned to follow.

"What are you talking about?" I asked with a yawn, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Do you real y want me to answer that?”

“I saw them, Alex. That strange guy that was here the other morning, and some other woman, too. Who are they? And what were they doing at our house so late?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”

"Try me!" Lora practical y shouted.

"It's none of your business," I said. "And why did you cal the cops, anyway?" I added as I approached my bedroom door. Lora didn't answer at first. I turned and glared expectantly at her, and she took a half-step away from me.

"Mom said..." she began in a suddenly shaky voice, "...she said to cal the cops if anything suspicious happened while she was at work... And I...I was worried about you."

"Well don't," I said crossly as my hand reached for the doorknob. "Don't worry about me, okay? I can take care of myself."

Lora shouted something back at me then, but I didn't hear it over the slamming of my door. I listened until the sound of her footsteps stomping down the hallway faded away, and her footsteps stomping down the hallway faded away, and then I slumped against my door and slid down to the floor, burying my face in my hands on the way down.

"Well I handled that beautifuly," I said, my voice muffled by my palms.

Lora hadn't done anything wrong—I knew that. But if she was mad at me, she wouldn't talk to me, which meant she wouldn't insist on me telling her what was going on. As far as I was concerned, the less she knew, and the less involved she was, the better. This was my problem. This was a situation I was facing. And as much as I hated the idea of facing it alone, the thought of dragging anyone else into this mess—especial y my little sister—was ultimately worse.

So alone was how life was going to be for a while.