Parahuman (Parahuman Series) (32 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

     Brett
held the library door open for him, his face grave. “What’s happened?” he
asked. Devan had warned Brett that he was on the way and had important
information to share.

     “I’m
not completely sure thus far,” Devan replied. Walking past him Devan began
pacing immediately. It seemed like he had been sitting for so long that an
excess of energy had built up, and he needed to get it expelled before it
exploded outwardly causing harm to those unfortunate to be in his vicinity.

     “Are
they here, have they found us?” Urgency and panic saturated Brett’s voice.

     “No,
I haven’t seen any signs that our location has been discovered.” Devan assured
him. 

     Brett’s
expression sagged as he sighed heavily in relief. He went over and collapsed in
one of the tattered overstuffed chairs. “What’s this about then?” His fearful
expression was replaced with one of confusion. 

     Devan
continued his pacing. “I didn’t reveal entirely everything that transpired at
the school this morning.” Brett remained silent knowing Devan would continue
without him asking.

     “When
the wolves came onto the school grounds today, they were acting very peculiar.
They were in a tracking mode. Everyone was screaming and running everywhere,
but the wolves paid no attention to it; they seemed single minded in their
hunt.” 

     Brett’s
face looked only mildly interested as Devan explained the wolves conduct. Even
though he had worked with animal DNA, Brett wasn’t all that interested in their
behavior. He might perk up at what was revealed next though.

     “I
noticed that they seem to take a particular interest in my jeep. They
surrounded it and became very agitated.” 

     Brett’s
lounging position tensed, and his eyes narrowed marginally.

     “They
then seemed to catch another scent that aimed them in the direction of the
storage building where Laney and I were taking cover; where they once again
became very agitated and tried to force their way into the building.”

    
Significant narrowing of the eyes now.

    
“School personnel attempted to frighten them off with warning shots, and it
looked like it was going to work, but then one of the wolves crashed through
the window in an effort to get at us.”

     Brett
wasn’t going to let those words go by without a remark.

     “The
wolf decided,” he remarked, narrowed eyes intent. 

     Devan
stopped pacing, reflecting back on the incident. “That’s the only way I can
describe it. Laney and I were observing the wolves through the window and it
appeared as if the wolf mentally made the decision to jump through it. I know
that wolves have an above average intellect in regards to their hunting
strategies, but the calculation I detected in this animals gaze was more than
that. Even Laney noticed that they were acting out of character, but she
assumed that they were diseased.”

     Brett’s
face relaxed a little at those words. “Well we can get some samples and test
that theory,” he stated with a small smile of relief at the possible resolution
to the problem.

     Devan
reached up and massaged his injured shoulder, noticing there was little to no
pain any longer. He absently worked his way down the arm.

     “I
already did…and they don’t,” Devan declared.

    
Brett’s smile slipped away and he slumped back into the cushioning of the chair,
his eyes deep in thought. Devan had reached the end of his arm and was pleased―as
pleased as he could be at the moment―to learn that his arm was nearing
the last stages of healing. 

     “In
fact,” Devan continued with the bad news, “the wolf was remarkably absent of
any parasites at all, and I found vaccination antigens in its blood. In the
light of this information I thought the animals might be a specially tagged
pack under study, so I went back to the vet’s to see if I could find an
implant.” Brett was on the edge of his seat again, an optimistic expression on
his face. “Only the wolf was gone, it had been stolen. And this is the part that’s
truly extraordinary; the thieves were the dead animals pack. They
broke
into the clinic, dragged the dead animal out, went back inside to destroy the
interior, and then hauled the dead wolf into the woods.” 

     The
scowl on Brett’s face was fierce. “What species of wolves were they?”

    
“Gray.”

     “What
was their physical appearance like?”

     This
was the part Brett really wasn’t going to like.

     “They
were larger and heavier than the average Gray…by fifty percent.”

     Brett
shot to his feet, frowning in incredulity. “What! Devan; this should have
indicated right away that something wasn’t right.” Brett took over pacing, 

     “I
did know something was wrong, that’s why I’ve been running around all
afternoon; I’ve been trying to find out what exactly.” Devan stated.

     Brett
continued his pacing. “You should have told me immediately.”

     Devan
didn’t reply because he knew Brett was right. He had vacillated at the time
whether to inform Brett, but his absorption with Laney had made him decide to
wait. Devan hadn’t wanted Brett to jump to any conclusions that would involve
leaving.

     “You
said the wolf came through the window expressly trying to reach you?” Brett
inquired.

    
“That’s what it appeared like to me.” Brett’s question reminded Devan of the
additional information he needed to appraise Brett of. 

    
“There’s something else.” Devan’s comment caused Brett to turn in trepidation
of what else there could possibly be. “I’ve noticed in the last couple days
that these same wolves have been circling around our property; shadowing my
route through the woods. I think the only reason they haven’t found their way
to the house is because my scent is all over the perimeter of the property,
which has probably caused them to run in circles unable to find the trail
leading in.”

     Brett
stopped and there was panic in his expression, but also a certain amount of
confusion. 

    
“You’ve been keeping a lot of information to yourself.” Brett remarked.

     Devan
knew this wasn’t going to sit well with him.

     “I
didn’t think anything of the wolves hanging around our property until they
visited the school. I thought they were shadowing my trail in the forest
because they were agitated by my smell and by my presence in their territory.
It’s a bit extreme but they could be after me because they think I pose a
threat to them. When they attacked me at the school I at first convinced myself
they were having an intense reaction to my scent, but taking in their larger
physiques and malformed facial feature, and…well…there theft tonight; I’m
beginning to suspect it might be more.” 

     Sam’s
expression sharpened. “Malformed facial features?”

     Devan
grimaced realizing he’d left out another significant fact, and also recognized
that in a way he’d blinded himself to the problem they were facing because of
his fixation with Laney. “Yes…well their features were somewhat broader than a
normal gray.”

     “We
need to get our hands on that carcass.” Brett stated worriedly.

     “That
was something I came to notify you of.” Devan had been hesitant of Brett’s
reaction to what he was going to propose, but Brett’s determined tone and
worried expression told Devan of his desperation.

     “I discovered
the trail leading into the forest. They couldn’t have dragged it too far, so I
want to go out and follow the trail, find it and bring it back. I have the
samples I obtained this afternoon at the house, but I feel the animal’s body
might provide us with more information.”

     Brett
sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead so hard it was possible he was trying to
reach his brain. “I don’t know; you still have your injured arm to contend
with.”

     “Not
so much.” Devan lifted his arm and then rotated it around in a circle. Brett’s
expression perked up.

     “Show
me,” he commanded excitedly, the scientist bursting forth.

     Pulling
up the one side of his shirt Devan unwound the bandage from his arm. It came
off easily with all the antibiotic cream he’d put on it earlier. In the few
hours since replacing the bandage the damaged tissue had improved even further.
The stitches had allowed the epidermis layer of the skin to heal together
completely; although the skin was still red as it continued to finish the job
in the dermis and subcutaneous layers. Brett prodded it gently and only small
stabs of discomfort pricked his arm.

    
“Extraordinary,” Brett breathed.

     Yes,
it
was
extra-ordinary, what Devan’s body was able to do. He guessed
there was really little he could complain about in regards to his genes as it
did speed up the healing of wounds.

    
“You’re to be extra vigilant out there,” Brett commanded. “Don’t act hastily
and don’t spend all night looking for it. We need to make some decisions
regarding this information, and soon, there might not be much time. Remember to
keep your phone on. I’ll go back to the house and further examine the samples
you obtained.” 

     With the
assigned tasks established they vacated the building together; Brett to his
truck and Devan to his jeep. While Brett followed the road out of town, Devan
pulled into the hardware store two buildings down from the Vet’s house. The
establishment was closed and all the lights shut off for the night. 

     It
was a little past eight and the evening had reached full darkness. Devan’s pupils
enlarged to full capacity as he scanned the vicinity and examined the black
depths of the adjacent windows for any individuals who might be peering
outside, possibly curious at the sound of his engine. Devan could hear sounds
from the interior of the neighboring houses; televisions and humming
conversations testifying that individuals were present, but fortunately no one
appeared to have heard his vehicle or they just weren’t interested.

     Grabbing
his gloves out of the center compartment and a knife from under the seat Devan
jumped from the jeep sprinting for the woods, and under its concealment made his
way over to the vet’s expanse of forest. He stayed a good distance from the
house just in case the vet was on the alert. No need to spook her any further. 

     The
packs trail was easy to locate and follow. It would have been for any experienced
tracker—the paw prints and drag marks left in the earth were clearly
identifiable. With the combination of scent and physical markings Devan was
able to follow the trail effortlessly.

     As he
tracked them he noticed that their objective seemed to center on getting as deep
into the forest as possible. Their route was a straight perpendicular line
proportional to the town. 

     Devan
was actually enjoying his run having been confined most of the day when about
two miles into the search he caught the scent of rotting meat. Gazing ahead
into the forest he spotted the shredded remains of an animal carcass. It was
difficult to discern what type of animal it had been, and it wasn’t because he
was a half mile from its location, but because the animal had been ripped apart
so completely that there was hardly anything left of it. From the nature of the
fur scattered everywhere and its bearing Devan knew that it had to be the left
over remains of his dead wolf. 

    
Leaping into the nearest tree he surveyed the surroundings. The forest was
quiet apart from the normal nocturnal sounds of insects and small animals, and he
saw nothing out of the ordinary for miles in all directions. Dropping out of
the tree into a crouch Devan again paid attention to any change in the habitat
that might alert him to danger, but all remained quiet.

     Devan
moved forward cautiously prepared to take evasive action if anything was to attack,
but the forest held no surprises. Kneeling down he examined what was left of
the animal. The skeleton looked to be all there but its structure had been
utterly demolished, broken bones strewn everywhere. All of its organs, muscles,
and tissue were gone—eaten most likely. And the head was crushed beyond
recognition. If there had been a microchip of any kind embedded on the animal
it was gone, eaten along with its innards.

     He
did a quick examination of what was left, just to be sure, but was unable to
find anything. A look around revealed that there were additional tracks than
the five from the school, the three additional wolves seemed to have returned.

     Poking
through the remains Devan was stupefied yet again at the packs behavior. That
they had broken into a building with the expressed purpose of snatching their
dead pack member was peculiar in the extreme, but to drag it deep into the
forest just so they could tear it apart only added to the peculiarity. It was
like they were trying to destroy evidence. But of what? 

     Devan
stared in the direction the pack had gone and contemplated what to do next. Should
he continue forward or go back? Brett would want him to go back, but the
curiosity of what might lay ahead was a compulsion that was hard to resist. In
the end he decided that to continue was impractical. There was little he would
learn from finding the pack unless he were to kill another one and take it back
to study, and he was ill prepared in accomplishing that task with only one knife
on hand.