‘Goddamn it, Leyth,’ Julian snapped, rubbing his eyes. ‘If you’re really intent on killing yourself, then at least have a shower. There’s one in the medical room she’s in so you can still keep an eye on her.’
‘Fine.’
‘Fine.’
Well, this situation had just gotten mighty awkward.
‘What are you going to do with her once the infection is gone?’
‘I have no idea. I honestly don’t know.’
‘Well, can I build her a house on the reserve? And she can stay in a guest room in the meantime.’ Julian started to talk.
‘No,’ Leyth cut him off. ‘We can’t register her with the Council—’
‘Leyth, you know I have to register everyone who goes through the fever that we find or oversee. It’s Council law.’
‘Julian, you know what they’ll do to her.’
‘Well, I can make it bearable, and she can stay with us.’
‘What, and make her feel like an outcast like Sarah? Or better yet, turn her into a slave?’
‘Well, no—’ Julian cursed, long and hard. ‘What do you suggest then?’
‘I really don’t know, I think we need to take her back to her own home so she can live out her life in the normal world, the less the Council know of her the better.’
There was a long pause. ‘OK, so be it. Let me know when you’re sending her home.’
‘Sure thing. Hey, did Alison get to your parents OK?’
‘I guess so, I’ve not had any “where is she?” calls, so I figure she has to be there.’ Julian laughed. ‘Are you going back in the field when Tamriel’s through the change?’
‘Yeah, I guess so.’ Leyth sighed. The thought of life without her seemed so empty.
‘Good, Carl needs to talk to you about that last clean-up you called in.’
‘Can I talk to him about it when I’ve had more sleep?’ Leyth grumbled, he didn’t need any more on his plate right now. He’d killed the tuhrned, and that’s what mattered right?
Julian’s phone chose that moment to ring, and Leyth was grateful for the distraction.
‘Yup, what? Crap, Yeah, I’ll tell him.’ Julian barked, slamming the phone down.
‘Tamriel’s fever is in full swing, you need to go and help Doc.’
Leyth didn’t even spare a second glance at his leader, just hightailed it out of the office and through the body of the mansion to the clinic.
Hammering his way through the door, he skidded to a halt by Tamriel’s bed.
She was writhing around on the gurney, heaving in huge gulps of air, her face was slick with tears and the whimpers that escaped her every now and again were enough to break his damn heart.
This was the hardest part of the fever; the infection was going to take over. He knew you just had to let it take over and hope for the best, but Tamriel had no idea what was happening to her and there was a strong chance that she would reject it and make her body fight against it rather than accept it. And it honestly could kill her.
Tamriel let out an almighty scream as her bones started to splinter and break, her skin stretching as every limb shattered. Leyth braced himself for the infection to spread, for her body to stop fighting and start healing… but it wasn’t happening, she wasn’t healing properly. Just breaking and staying broken.
‘Change, Tamriel, I need you to change,’ he whispered, stroking her hair, as Doc bustled past him, checking her vitals and injecting her with painkillers.
She let out an almighty groan and he could only stare as her beautiful black hair slowly began to change colour. The silky dark strands slowly became streaked with red, the colour washing its way down from root to tip until what was left was a myriad of ruby highlights shimmering through the black strands.
For hours, Leyth held her and willed her to get better, to heal from the infection, but her body wasn’t cooperating.
‘Please change, Tamriel, I need you to change, I—’ Tears? Holy shit! His own tears ran down his face as he soothed her, lightly kissing her forehead. ‘I will not let you die. Please change.’
It was dark, the moon called out to her like a lost lover as it started to sink beneath the horizon. The wind whistled past her naked body, making her nipples harden and her heart ache right to the core. The chill running up her spine, however, had nothing to do with the cold night air. She was supposed to find something. Someone? But who? Taking a deep breath, Tamriel took in the scent of the forest around her; it smelt as her father had. Musky wood, fallen autumn leaves.
The damp smell of dew was intoxicating. She could smell rabbits and birds. Listening, she heard the crunch of dead leaves on the floor under tiny feet. Opening her eyes, the world looked different; the woodland seemed to glow under the moonlight, the trees were shining, energy rippling through their spindly branches and roaring out from the remaining leaves at their tips. She drank it all in in great gulps. She felt starved, she needed this, this freedom. It was home.
Something moved in the distance, a mouse? It hadn’t seen her yet and though it was far enough away for it to be unnoticeable, she saw it. She could see each hair on its back, each whisker. Without thinking, she ran silently through the forest towards the mouse. Why? She had no idea. She loved the feel of the wind ripping past her naked body, loved the sounds of the woodland as it surrounded her. As she reached the mouse, she leapt into the air, her body flying higher and further than was naturally possible, but she knew she’d make it; for some reason she was more than aware of what her body was capable of. Coming down fast and hard, she landed with a foot either side of the tiny animal, scooping it into her hands in one fell swoop. The mouse jumped and squeaked, but seemed to gather itself together quickly, looking up at her with big, black eyes. It knew she wouldn’t hurt it; she was only playing after all.
Together, she and the mouse took off once more, running through the forest as far and as fast as her feet would carry her, trees blurring as she passed them by. She knew where she was going; she knew these trees, this woodland. She’d dreamt of this place as a child, every time she went to bed she’d played in this forest, climbed every tree, run through every meadow surrounding it.
Finally, the trees started to lessen, giving way to a large lake.
Without hesitation, she plopped the mouse down on the ground and dived in. The water swirled around her, caressing her body like a hesitant friend, welcoming her home. Coming up for air, she splashed her way back to the surface, marvelling at how the water seemed to sparkle under the moon. Pulling herself up next to the mouse, she lay there, lost in her thoughts, lost in her own personal wilderness, her wonderland. It called to her tonight in a way it never had before. She was utterly at ease.
Finally, after an age, the sun started to rise, and as the first of its rays hit the water, something on the opposite side of the lake caught her eye. Wolf.
She was beautiful; black fur ran down her spine, blending gracefully into the red fur underneath. The wolf and Tamriel stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before, finally, she started trotting around the edge of the lake towards her. Tam returned the gesture, breaking into a jog. The jog became a flat-out run; this was what she was looking for, this beautiful pup was what she’d needed to find. As urgency heated her blood, she quickened her pace, as did the wolf… They ran as fast as they could and, as they rounded the edge of the lake towards one another, neither of them slowed. They came together with a thud; soft fur colliding with her soft, fragile skin. They collapsed into a heap on the floor, entwined; body and soul, wolf and woman together as one. ‘Change. Tamriel, you need to change,’ a voice echoed through the forest. The voice was one she knew, didn’t it belong to the man with the black hair?
‘Please, Tamriel. I can’t lose you. You need to change.’ What was he talking about? What change? Her wolf howled loud and clear, tears running through its fur, or were they her tears?
Blinding pain shot through her, overwhelming her. Then the heat took her over, burning her from
the inside out; she fell to her knees, her hands hitting the dirt, just keeping her from toppling head first into the lake. Her wolf was crouched between her arms, staring into the lake as she was, their reflections blurring together as the pain hit once again…
‘Change, Tamriel. Just let go, let the change happen.’
Her bones started to crack, her skin tore apart, her wolf was howling, she was drawing in harsh, ragged breaths. She clutched the thing to her as if it were her life and braced herself against the pain. All at once the woodland screamed, or was that her? As the darkness claimed her once more, she welcomed it.
Chapter Three
That was a weird dream, Tamriel thought as she woke with a grin on her face. She stretched out in her bed, wishing she didn’t have to get up. Glancing at her alarm clock, she was surprised it was only 6 a.m.; usually she overslept and had to rush to work, yet she felt like she’d had the best night’s sleep of her life. Still, her limbs ached and her muscles seemed to protest at the slightest of movements, but she put that down to sleeping in an awkward position. Rolling out of the duvet, she wandered across to the bathroom and turned the shower on.
Wrinkling her nose, Tam scowled. Her bathroom stank of bleach; it was like someone had soaked the entire room in the stuff!
Christ, it was as if she could smell every single chemical she’d ever used to clean the place. She’d always had a better than average sense of smell, but this was excessive!
Holding her nose, she wandered into the living room/kitchen area. Had her flat always been this dusty? She’d never noticed quite how much dust covered the place but, hell, how did she miss it?
It was as if her senses had heightened, somehow becoming much stronger than they were before. And that was saying something! Her vision was now so incredibly accurate that, even in the dim morning light, she could clearly see every fibre in the ugly grey carpet.
Someone in the flat beneath hers slammed a door, making her wince. The noise seemed deafening.
What on earth had happened to her senses? Why where they so sensitive?
Shrugging off her confusion and putting the coffee on, she wandered back into the bathroom and stepped under the shower spray with a sharp in-breath as the water hit her skin; it truly felt as though someone had scalded her back. She was so ridiculously sore. Gritting her teeth, she scrubbed some shampoo into her hair, and even that stank, the ‘strawberry’ scent smelt more like chemicals. It had been her favourite shampoo for years, why did it now seem to smell awful? She rubbed the stuff in and washed it out as quickly as she could, using her plain soap bar to wash her skin rather than the scented body wash.
When she’d finally finished, she brushed her teeth and walked naked into her living room, she’d never been one to shy away from being exposed. In fact, she relished the freedom of nudity; after all, it was only natural.
Pouring herself a cup of coffee, Tam opened her fridge door. No food. Damn, living alone could be irritating. Her stomach rumbled as she closed the door. God, she felt like she hadn’t eaten in days. She stalked over to her landline and quickly dialled the cafe down the road from her. She was good friends with the owner, and she knew he’d get someone to run some food up to her apartment. Thankfully, they were always open for the morning rush of people heading to London, so they would be able to feed her at this ungodly hour. She ordered her usual: a bacon, sausage and egg roll, and added a bagel and a bacon and cheese pastry to the order for good measure. She was so hungry, even that didn’t seem enough.
While she waited for her food, Tam slipped into the bedroom and pulled some jeans and a T-shirt on. Naked was natural, comfortable, but the bacon guy would probably have a fit if she answered the door in the nude. She pulled her favourite jumper on over the top and drew a sharp breath in as it rasped against her skin. Why on earth was she so damn sore?
It didn’t take long for her order to arrive; the delicious bag of greasy, baked goodness smelt amazing, the scent seeping into her very pores. The delivery guy nodded at her as he accepted the cash she’d pulled out of her emergency money jar and told her that her hair was looking ‘mighty sexy’, which was weird as the kid had never complimented her before. She grinned as she walked back into her kitchen. Perhaps today was going to be a good day.
Tamriel slid her laptop from beneath the sofa cushions, where she always kept it. If someone was going to break into her apartment, it’s the last place they would think to look, she always thought.
As she chewed on her roll, she opened the computer and pulled up her files for the latest story she’d been working on. With a grimace, she scanned the first few lines of her report and rolled her eyes. A baker had made ‘Folkestone’s biggest loaf of bread’. Yay! How exciting!
She snorted. How was she ever going to make it to hard-hitting journalist from junior reporter with god-awful stories like these?
Absently chewing the bacon and cheese pastry, she clicked open her personal stories. Ninja granny beats gun-wielding burglar with her husband’s golf club. Much more interesting, and a story that only she had at the moment. She was in the area when it happened, and managed to get in there and get as much as she could from the woman before the police arrived to take her statement. They told the woman not to talk to the press, but the feisty old lady was still reeling from beating the crap out of the intruder. She wasn’t the terrified old woman you’d expect, but a kung fu granny who was champing at the bit to wallop him another one.
Tam frowned as she reached into the scrumptious bag of goodies, only to discover she had eaten everything already; the roll, the pastries, all gone. And it hadn’t even touched the sides. Her stomach growled at her, but she shrugged. There was no more food in the house, so it would have to wait.
Her computer pinged, notifying her that she had fifteen new emails from the office. That was a bit excessive, and not something she wanted to deal with now. It was still before seven, she would think about work after nine.
Tam picked up the newspaper from the mail slot on the door to her flat and tucked it under her arm as she poured herself another coffee, and checked the fridge and cupboards again just in case. Still nothing. Damn.
Folding herself down onto a chair at the breakfast bar, she chewed on her lip for a moment. Her mother was coming over for dinner this weekend… Or was it next weekend? She’d have to check. The fridge would need filling up before then. With a sigh, she checked the front page of the paper.
Oh hell.
‘Hardcore eighty year old beats burglar with a golf club,’ read the front page. Tam cursed long and hard. It had only happened a few days ago and the police weren’t releasing it to the press yet. She had been waiting for it like a dog with a bone since she’d come across the lady and her out-of-this-world pummelling skills, and now someone else had scooped it up before she’d even had the chance? Goddamn.
Tam frowned and sipped her coffee, flicking through the rest of the paper; nothing of any interest. The only good story in Folkestone for weeks and she’d missed out on it!
With a sigh, she told herself to call an end to the pity party. She would need to start getting ready for work soon but, for the moment, she was just enjoying sitting in her kitchen, doing nothing of any great importance. Drinking coffee, with long-life milk because the fresh milk was stale. She considered reading a book; there was a new one she’d been meaning to sink her teeth into for ages, but hadn’t had the time. Maybe now was a good time to start. Yet as she ran a hand through her wet hair, she realised she’d need to blow-dry it and get her crap together for work before she could truly relax into a good book, otherwise she’d lose track of time and have to rush.
Tamriel gave the novel in question, currently sitting looking lonely on her coffee table, a long, wistful glance, and strode over to the recycling box to shove the paper into it. As she bent down, something in her mailbox caught her eye. Another newspaper. With a grunt of confusion, she lifted the lid on the thing and tugged it out, along with several others. Why did she have so many ne
wspapers in her box? She was only supposed to get one a day for Christ’s sake!
Glancing at the date on the first one she frowned, October 6th. The next, October 7th. What on earth? Frantically grabbing the paper she had been reading out of the recycling box, she read the date. October 10th? What now? Last time she’d checked, it had only been the 5th!
How in the hell did she lose five days? No wonder she’d lost the story; that was a full working week she’d just… Forgotten? What on god’s earth was happening?
Memories of a medical clinic flooded back to her, broken memories. A man with a deep voice.
As a headache came on hard and fast, she pushed the memories away, taking a deep breath.
Crap. She’d missed an entire week of work! Grabbing at her coat, she searched frantically for her mobile. Where was the damn thing?
The zombie smashed it, her inner voice said. No, she thought, that was crazy. Zombies?
That kind of thing was all fiction, wasn’t it? She must be going mad.
Giving up on the mobile search, she grabbed her house phone and dialled work, gritting her teeth as the hold music kicked in.
‘Hello, Kent News. Jennifer speaking.’
‘Hey, it’s Tam. Is—’
‘Tammy! Oh my god! Are you OK? Are you feeling better now?’
‘What? Yeah, I’m good. What do you mean, better?’
‘Tam, you phoned in last week and said you were feeling really rough and wouldn’t be in for a few days. We’ve all been worried about you!’
‘Oh, I did? I must have forgotten. Yeah, I’m much better, thanks. I’ll be in later on today. Thanks, Jen. Bye!’
What the hell? Maybe she’d been so sick she’d just forgotten the last few days? Can that even happen? It would explain why she ached so much though.
Storming into the bedroom she had another quick search for her phone but to no avail, and decided to start getting dressed. Surely putting some make-up on and some nice clothes would make her feel better. Grabbing her make-up bag, she sat at her dressing table and… Holy crap, what had happened to her hair?