Emily (4 page)

Vladimir appeared dressed.
‘I want you to leave,’ he commanded. ‘I will not return with you.’ He shook with rage and his voice was coarse.

‘
Vladimir, please,’ Emily pleaded, ‘I’m so sorry that you think you need to hide this from me. I don’t care what you are.’ She took a step towards Vladimir. ‘I didn’t disobey you. I had reached out for you and I thought that you were not in the apartment.’ Emily’s head felt like she was in a fog, her world no longer sane.

‘
All I can see is how close you came to being slaughtered by us.’ He turned his back to her and walked to the window.

Emily had never seen Vladimir so angry.
‘I was never in any danger. I talked to you; I talked to you both. You were gentle with me, don’t you remember?’ Emily was almost in tears now.

Eric came into the room and feeling the pain in Emily, put his hands on her shoulders and spoke softly to her.
‘We only remember fragments and usually it’s after we’ve killed.’ He opened the front of the shirt Emily was wearing and said, ‘Look at your body. It’s covered in bruises and there are scratches on your face and neck.’

‘
I caught you both by surprise Eric. You wanted to get out so I threw myself against the door just as you jumped. You landed on me but you didn’t mean to hurt me,’ Emily replied, touching Eric’s face gently.

She turned to face Vladimir again, pleading.
‘Please don’t be mad with me.’

Vladimir was less angry now but the reality of Emily learning their secret saddened him.

‘If I had found you dead I would have killed Eric and myself instantly. I vowed never to kill again. We have both killed people we loved.’ His voice became gentler. ‘I cannot return with you to the farm, it is better if you never see us again.’

‘
No! You don’t mean this,’ Emily sobbed and threw herself into his arms, and though he put his arms around her, she knew he wouldn’t come home.

Emily cried all the way back to the farm, Eric had driven her. He was confused and distressed with Vladimir
’s judgment and he knew that Vladimir could be unforgiving. When Eric was younger, Vladimir had left him over some indiscretion that Eric had made.

‘
I will stay Emily,’ he suddenly announced and seeing the depth of her relief almost made him weep. ‘This is my home now. Vladimir will come back. This is such a mess and I hate what I am.’

They had stepped out of the car and all that Emily could do to show him it was alright was to put her arms around his strong frame. They stood together for a time.
As it was the end of winter and still quite cold, he could feel the heat leaving her body.

‘
Come, I must eat and you need to get warm.’ He had his arms around her as they walked inside. Emily started the fire after changing into jeans and a warm turtleneck jumper, and Eric cooked up eight large steaks. Emily was too upset to eat so she made a large hot chocolate and sat on the couch watching Eric eat his food.

When he was finished, he joined her in front of the fire. It had started to rain heavily, cold drops that splattered on the roof. She pushed herself close to him and the tension finally began to ease in both of them. Eric kissed her neck and ran his tongue along her jaw to her ear. Their lovemaking was tinged with sorrow but it built to a passion and they made love until the room was dark. They lay together drowsily, the fire had made the room warm and the rain on the roof made the world seem very small to them both.

‘What are you, my love?’ Emily murmured.

‘
What am I?’ Eric echoed as he lay besides her stroking her hair. ‘I am a monster.’

Two weeks passed before Vladimir called Eric. Emily could hear them arguing on the phone and she was sad at how displaced they had become. Emily and Eric had drifted through the weeks like
ghosts, they just didn’t work as a duo. The first two days after Vladimir’s declaration that he would not come home, Emily constantly found herself looking at her phone. She had left countless messages and had tried to make a connection with Vladimir but every time she did he shut the connection to her and her frustration had turned to despair, leaving her empty and tired. When she was with Eric they barely spoke, he was suffering too.

Mark, from the animal rescue unit, had called the day before concerning a prized Rottweiler that had gone berserk and attacked its owner. But instead of putting it down the owner had insisted that the dog be saved. Emily had agreed to look at the animal and Mark arrived mid-morning, bringing the dog in a cage. Emily had asked him in for tea but he was on a mission, the detour to Emily
’s had taken up most of his morning.

The Rottweiler was a young bitch and she was truly a beauty.
When Emily approached the cage, the dog, Rumour, snarled, baring its teeth. Before she attempted to make contact with her, Emily connected to Eric, who was out running, letting him know that she was going to connect with another dog. Sometimes, sensing that she had opened up a connection, Eric would join in without warning causing momentary confusion.

‘
Hey, beauty,’ she cooed. Emily’s voice had a musical quality that animals responded to and Rumour’s ears pricked at the tone and snarled half-heartedly, understanding that Emily was not a threat. ‘Let’s see what’s worrying you,’ she said and slowly pushed her mind to merge with the bitch’s. Random images poured from Rumour, who was still very agitated, so Emily released the latch on the cage hoping her touch would soothe her.

Suddenly Emily heard the crunch of tyres on the drive and she turned to see a white Porsche driving up the narrow road.

Vladimir! Emily’s heart sang and she instantly connected to Eric, calling him to come. ‘Vladimir is here!’

Forgetting Rumour for a moment, Emily turned to go to Vladimir as he exited the car. Rumour, seeing her chance for freedom, pushed out of the cage and, feeling scared, became feral again. The snarling was so raw and violent that Emily instantly knew she wouldn
’t be able to soothe her quickly. Slowly turning towards the bitch, Emily tried to reconnect with her but in Rumour’s frantic state of mind she wouldn’t allow it. Vladimir cried out but it was too late, Rumour leapt at Emily.

Out of nowhere a cream wolf hit Rumour, sending her crashing to the ground. Eric had turned.

Looking back at Vladimir, Emily saw that he had turned into his grey wolf as well and together with Eric they were circling Rumour, snarling and snapping. Rumour was in a full blood lust and Emily knew that at any second a fight would start.

Taking a deep breath Emily yelled,
‘Stop!’ She also yelled as loud as she could with her mind and the three animals were momentarily paralysed. Projecting calmness she slowly approached the three. Both Eric and Vladimir had calmed the moment she had asked them to, but Rumour was beyond settling. She paced back and forth spitting foam. Connecting again to her men Emily was clear with her instruction.

‘
Become men now!’ she commanded and within seconds they both began to morph back into human shape.

Both men were stunned at what had
happened, neither had ever become wolves without a full moon before; however, the need to protect Emily had been primal. Rumour was getting ready to pounce again as Emily locked eyes with her, and then suddenly the dog disappeared from the spot. Both men gasped as Emily fell to the ground in exhaustion.

‘
The cage,’ she said. ‘Shut the cage.’

Vladimir scooped Emily up as Eric turned to the cage; Rumour was lying in the cage, unconscious. Before Emily passed out, she heard Applejacks neighing in the background.

When she came to, Emily found herself on the couch in the farmhouse. Eric was sitting at her feet and Vladimir was in a chair by her head.

‘
Hey,’ she spoke softly. ‘Vladimir you’re here.’ His eyes were red and he seemed deflated. ‘My sweet girl,’ he said and kissed her head.

‘
I need to be with Applejacks,’ Emily’s voice was still weak. ‘He’ll make me feel better.’

Puzzled but compliant, Vladimir scooped Emily up in his arms and they all went outside where Applejacks was waiting. He snickered softly to Emily, pushing his nose into her hands. Instantly she felt the energy flow back into her body and indicated to Vladimir to put her down so she could place both hands on Applejacks
’ muzzle.

After a moment and feeling restored, Emily turned back to the men and said,
‘I don’t want to talk about what happened just now but while the bitch is unconscious I’m going to make a connection with her.’

‘
I think she should be destroyed,’ Vladimir replied. ‘She’s clearly out of control.’

‘
Em, I agree,’ Eric added. ‘I could sense her madness.’

‘
No!’ Emily’s voice was firm. ‘Something has happened to her and I’m not ready to give up.’

Eric reached for her hand.
‘Em, you are too soft, this dog is dangerous.’

‘
Maybe, but I don’t just give up when things become difficult,’ Emily replied, shooting a meaningful look at Vladimir as she walked over to the cage.

‘
I think she is mad with you,’ Eric murmured to Vladimir.

‘
I think you are right,’ Vladimir softly replied. ‘Tell me, Môn vieux, are you mad with me as well?’

Eric was silent for a moment before saying,
‘Vlad, our life together is not normal, our whole life revolves around the moon and our curse. We have found a home here with Emily, the one person in the world who truly understands us. Why do you want to throw that away?’

Vladimir was deep in thought as they watched how gentle Emily was with the dog. It worried him how much she hurt when she failed with an animal, and while it was rare, her heart broke every time it happened. Placing his arm around Eric
’s shoulders and looking into his eyes Vladimir spoke softly.

‘
I am so scared we will get her killed. We have stayed hidden for so long that I have forgotten the danger we represent. Tell me, Môn vieux, do we have the right to include Emily in our trouble?’

Eric replied firmly,
‘I love her too and I understand what you are saying but Vlad, we have known of this danger our whole lives, maybe we are finally free of it.’

They both stood for a moment more looking at Emily before walking into the farmhouse.

Meanwhile, Emily opened the cage and ran her hands over the unconscious dog. Rumour’s muscles were soft and small and while she was a beautiful dog, Emily could see her legs were small for the size of her body. Emily was beginning to understand what had happened to her. Underdeveloped muscles were the result of having been housed in a small cage for a long time with no exercise. Emily placed her hands on Rumour’s head and slowly built a connection. By the time the bitch regained consciousness, Emily had forged a strong bond with her and Rumour remained calm. Images of living in a cage came from the dog and then images of having puppies and having them ripped away over and over again. Emily could see the bitch had been treated as no more than a breeding factory and, suppressing her anger, Emily sent Rumour waves of calm and showed her that she was now free.

‘
No more cage for you, sweet girl,’ cooed Emily, both vocally and with her mind. She could see that Rumour had hurt herself when she had leapt at Emily and one of the unused muscles in her back leg had ripped. Emily sent a soothing thought and blocked the pain. This would not last long but Emily knew the bitch wouldn’t become vicious again, the crisis had come and passed.

Emily made Rumour a bed on the porch near the back door and Vladimir carried her out to it. After bringing Rumour some food Emily showed the dog with images that this was now her new home. She sent a warning to the cats on the property to use the front door for a while. It would take some time before Rumour would understand the harmony of the farm. The cats were used to strange dogs and Emily smiled at the thought that, as animals came and went to new homes, every cat to land on the door stayed on the farm. But whereas her relationship with Applejacks was
that of friendship with an equal, Emily’s relationship to the cats was simple affection, they were her companions. When she was in the house they would follow her from room to room just to be near her. Currently, she had five cats, two of which were male Siamese that were the total opposite of each other. The bigger of the two was round and Buddha-like while the smaller one was thin and forceful. Another of her male cats was a big black tom, he reminded Emily of young surfer boys on the beach, so cool and carefree. However, he was the killer of the group and would often bring a trophy for Emily. A Russian blue female was the princess of the bunch and the most athletic, teasing the boys and then jumping out of reach. But the queen was a little old Siamese girl who just had to raise a paw to the other cats and they would be admonished. Vladimir had given her the name of Ironpaw.

Emily sat with Rumour for a while wondering what was going to happen next. She could hear the men talking in the kitchen where Eric was cooking an eggplant lasagne; she could smell it cooking in the oven. How could she get it through to Vladimir that everything was still the same?

Now that she knew why they disappeared every month she felt better, that one secret had caused Emily to feel rejected every time they went away, understanding why was a relief. Taking a deep breath in and smelling the fragrance of jasmine from the bushes that surrounded the house, Emily went into the kitchen leaving the back door open to let Rumour know she was still there.

Vladimir was building a fire and Eric had poured her a glass of white wine. The men preferred red and they both had a glass as well.

Eric was the first to break the silence. ‘Em, can you please set the table? Dinner is almost ready.’

He was trying to act like everything was normal. They exchanged a look before Emily replied lightly,
‘Sure,’ and started to set the table. On a whim, she also pulled out two candle holders and some long red candles left over from Christmas. Her mood had lightened and she found herself projecting happiness. She could see that Eric had picked up on her mood, they were both relieved that Vladimir had returned home.

As she watched Vladimir lighting the fire, she could see that he was struggling to keep her projection of happiness out but as the flames grew brighter his shoulders relaxed and he joined his mates in the connection. Dinner was full of laughter and comradeship with the three skirting around the issue at hand, tonight was not the time to go there. Emily sensed a new trust forming between them but it felt fragile. After a while, the talk became flirtatious with Emily throwing her napkin on the table and moving to sit on Vladimir
’s lap. Eric moved his chair closer and the three exchanged long kisses and caresses, Emily felt relieved that they were together again.