Wolves among men (8 page)

“
It’s bad isn’t it?” Her
voice was barely more than a whisper as she opened her eyes to
me.

“
Uh... No.” I lied. She
smirked as rolled her head to the side once more, allowing it to
rest on the window next to her.

“
You’re a terrible liar.”
I started the engine and pulled onto the road like a man possessed.
I didn’t know where I was going or if a doctor could even help her
but after last night’s encounter I wasn’t about to lose her to
something like this, something that was so comparatively
small.

As I made my way down narrow side
streets and onto the main road I didn’t have time to notice
anything about my surroundings other than the apparent lack of a
hospital. I saw a line of stores to my right and decided I better
ask someone. I pulled the old girl up to the curb outside of what
looked like a drugstore, not even bothering to correct my horrid
parking job before I killed the engine and turned to
Cordillia.

“
I’ll be right back.” She
nodded softly and with that I jumped out of the truck, slammed the
door behind me and ran into the drugstore. It was small and as I
pulled open the glass door the smell of alcohol and sterility
filled my senses. There was no one behind the counter and I felt
myself growing frantic and impatient as I peered around the
back.

“
Hello?” I called as I
smacked my fist onto the counter. “Hello!?” I nearly screamed. A
young man came out of a backroom. He couldn’t have been out of his
early twenties, his short round face carried a smile that could
melt ice and in all honesty I really wished I had more time to
enjoy his apparent kindness. He met my eyes and his smile quickly
changed to concern.

“
Can I help you?” He asked
as he bent down to place a small white bag behind the
counter.

“
My sister, she’s really
sick.” I explained frantically. He nodded as he listened to me.
“She’s running a fever. There’s an infection in her shoulder. I
really think she needs a doctor.” A smile crossed his lips as his
posture began to relax.

“
There is no need to worry
sir.” He tried to assure me. “I’m sure it’s nothing, I see family
overreact about this kind of thing all the time.” He paused for a
moment to think. “We have peroxide and a lot of over the counter
pain killers…”

“
That’s not going to do
it.” I cut him off sharply. “It’s bad, really bad.” His face didn’t
change and in that moment I could tell he wasn’t going to believe
me. I turned and stomped out of the small drugstore and back to the
truck. I didn’t want to do this but I knew there was no other way
to convince him.

I opened the passenger door and helped
Cordillia to her feet.

“
What? Where are we
going?” She groaned as she leaned her head against my chest. I
picked her up and carried her into the store, her arms rested
across her stomach and her head bent back as I ducked through the
front door and laid her down on the counter.

The small man’s face immediately went
white, his expression mirroring the horror and concern that I felt.
She had gotten worse since I first came into the tiny store and it
wasn’t until I looked down that I realized the redness in her arm
had spread down to her wrist, the wound itself had become putrid
and sickly and it was all I had not to drag him over the counter in
a panic..

“
Peroxide isn’t going to
do it.” I pleaded with him desperately. “I need a doctor PLEASE.”
My breath grew short and I bordered on tears as I waited for him to
reply.

“
Outside of town.” Was all
he could muster as he shook his head. “You could drive there, I
could give you instructions.” He stammered as he lifted his eyes to
meet my gaze.

“
I don’t have that kind of
time. It wasn’t this bad when I came in.” I explained, his eyes
grew wide and suddenly his face lit up.

“
Wait here just one
second,” he said as he disappeared into the back. I looked down at
Cordillia. She was lying there almost lifeless as she looked back
at me through glassy eyes. Her teeth began to chatter as she
whispered up at me.

“
I’m cold.” I took her
hand in mine but before I could say anything her eyes rolled back
into her head and she slipped away into sleep. I watched her as her
shoulder pulsed and a burning hate welled up in me. It was futile I
know but a part of me would have given anything to savor in his
death just one more time.

The young man came out of the backroom
and moved around the counter to face me, his eyes flicking quickly
toward Cordillia before turning back to me.

“
I called our doctor. He’s
not the best but he can stabilize her so you can make it to a
Hospital.” I nodded and lifted Cordillia into my arms as he grabbed
a set of keys from behind the counter and led me out of the store.
We walked around back to a small empty parking lot and it took me a
moment to notice the black Taurus parked just on the other side of
a row of small dumpsters.

“
We have to go there, help
me get her in and ill drive you.” He opened the back passenger door
and moved aside as I lowered her into the backseat being as gentile
as I could with her head. He slammed the door shut and walked
around the front without a word. I climbed in as he was buckling
his seat belt and before I could get mine one we were off down the
road as fast as we could go.

The ride was short. Cordillia groaned
in the backseat with every bump and quick turn we took. I reached
back behind the seat and took her hand in mine. “It’s okay, Cordy,”
I said as assuredly as I could. I didn’t believe it, not fully
anyway but I had to make her believe. We pulled onto another dirt
road and just half a mile up the narrow trail lay a small wooden
cabin that seemed somehow to be untouched my time and circumstance.
An old man stood out front waiting for us with a smile on his face
and a certain sense of tranquility in his presence.

He was older. The lines in his face a
testament to his age. His gray hair was tied back in a thick braid
and he looked stronger than a man his age should. He wore an
oversized red shirt over blue jeans and brown boots, his appearance
screamed of a simpler life, one I would have to remember to try
when things weren’t so dire. I climbed out of the tiny car and
almost immediately felt as if I had stepped into another
world.

The cabin was surrounded by a thick
nest of trees, birds sang in the distance and it was all I had to
pull my attention away from the beauty around us as Marcus opened
the door and helped me to lift my sister out of the backseat and
into my arms. I kicked the door shut and a shudder ran through me
as I watched the small man jog toward the doctor and whisper
something into his ear. I couldn’t tell what was said but the old
man answered him with an inquisitive nod as I began to walk toward
them, shrugging off the nagging sense of doubt that nipped at my
heels.

We were literally in the middle of
nowhere with some medicine man and I had to admit I was a little
more than skeptical leaving my sisters life in this man’s hands. I
wanted a doctor but what else could I do.

He gazed into my eyes and I couldn’t
be sure, maybe it was the fear but I could have sworn he saw right
though me.

Without a word he led me up the front
steps past a rather tired looking old bloodhound and into the
house. As soon as we stepped in, the smell of baking bread hit me
in the face and something much fainter followed close behind. I
took a whiff of the air and realized quickly that it smelled like
the woods around us. I was sure it was whatever he was planning on
treating her with and I only hoped to God it worked.

He led me into a small living room and
I placed Cordillia gently on the large couch that faced the front
window. I took a quick look around as I stood back up; everything
was wooden except for the small ornate rugs that decorated the
place here and there. There were pictures on the wall of what I
could only assume were his family and a fish tank hummed quietly
from the corner of the room. Cordillia would love that, I thought
to myself. I couldn’t wait to see what she thought when she woke up
and for the time being at least I had that hope to get me
through.

“
Please God let her be
okay
.” I prayed as I stepped back and
watched over her nearly lifeless body with a deep sense of
worry.

I heard the two men whispering behind
me, I couldn’t make it out but as I turned I saw the younger man
whispering into the old man’s ear again. The doctor nodded a few
times and finally asked “And the other one?” he whispered in a
raspy but sweet voice. The young man shook his head.

“
I don’t think so,” he
responded quietly. As soon as they noticed I was listening the
older man met my eyes.

“
You can go back to work
now, Marcus,” the doctor spoke in a deep voice that was as
typically native as you can get. “I will call you to bring the
young man’s truck back.” Marcus held his hand out to me and asked
politely for the keys. I didn’t feel right handing them over,
especially since I didn’t know how long I was going to be out here.
Reluctantly I did and no sooner than that did he turn and leave. A
long silence passed and I heard his car pull out of the driveway as
the older man walked over to Cordillia.

He knelt down next to her and placed a
hand on her forehead. He began humming something as he closed his
eyes. It was old, I could feel that much, probably much older than
even himself. As he looked her over the song never stopped. It was
haunting, beautiful even. I closed my eyes and listened.

“
You were right about the
infection,” he spoke, his voice much closer than I had expected. I
opened my eyes and there I was face to face with the man I trusted
her life to. “You were also right not to go to a doctor. There
medicine is all wrong.” I wondered at this and went to ask him what
he meant but before I could speak he wandered over to a small
kitchen that sat at the right.

There was no wall dividing us so I
just stood there watching him as he worked. He pulled a small glass
bowl from a cupboard above him and walked over to the stove. I
could see him pouring a sweet smelling green liquid from a pot into
it and he met my gaze briefly before returning to the task at hand.
Watching him move so fluidly and so sure of himself I wondered if
he hadn’t done this a thousand times before.

“
Your doctors treat every
sickness like it is the same.” He began. “Just because the symptom
is the same doesn’t mean the treatment is.” He grabbed a white rag
and walked back over to the couch, kneeling down next to her with a
groan and I could hear the bones in his hips creak as he touched
the floor. He dunked the rag into the liquid and began to dab at
her wound.

“
What did you mean by
that?” I asked as I moved to sit next to them.

“
A sickness like your
sisters is not the same as any other.” He began to explain. “A
doctor would see just another infection. He would probably give her
an antibiotic but this is not biological.” I was
puzzled.

“
But that doesn’t make any
sense.” I questioned him as he worked. “Of course it’s biological,
isn’t that what an infection it?” He shook his head gingerly as a
smile curled his lips.

“
The creature that gave
her this wound,” He started as his eyes flicked quickly to me. “It
was black, almost pitch.”

“
How did you know that?”
His smile widened.

“
He would have been angry
and for something trivial or for no reason at all.” I stared down
at him in disbelief. “They almost always are.” He added quietly as
he re soaked the rag and continued with his treatment.

“
He was looking for a
fight,” I spoke quietly, shocked and a little confused. He nodded
lightly in response. “He attacked a waitress in front of a lot of
people; it was like he didn’t care.”

“
They run on pure emotion;
Anger, hatred and sometimes fear but that doesn’t happen
often.”

“
How do you know all of
this?” I asked again hoping that this time he would offer me even
the smallest of explanations.

“
You must be honest with
me young man, if I am going to treat her well.” I took a deep
breath the sweet aroma had faded into a sour stench and I noticed
the liquid in the bowl had turned a sickly brown. I sighed deeply
and shook my head.

“
What do you want to
know?”

“
I need to know what
happened to her.” He nodded toward Cordillia. The color had begun
to return to her face and I breathed a quick sigh of relief, hoping
that it was a sign that his treatment was working.

“
I stopped him when he
attacked the waitress.” I began quietly. “He came after me as we
were leaving, that’s when Cordillia found us and he went after
her.” I sighed. “I did everything I could I swear,” I began but he
put his hand up to stop me as I spoke frantically.