I shuddered. Not at how he said those words, but because I believed them. There was such a desire inside me, and such an erotic lust in him, that a voluntary sexual relationship with him was inevitable. That is, unless he let me go or I escaped. I opted to give this terrifying man one last chance to redeem himself. "Or you could just let me go. You could blindfold me and put me back at the club where we met, and I won't tell anyone about you or this place."
Luke sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid that just isn't possible. We've gone too far to go back, and you'll know soon enough why that is. Until then, rest easy." He left and locked the door behind him.
I didn't waste a minute of precious time. The night was only so many hours, and I needed all of them to hide me. I hurried over to the door and put my ear against it. All was quiet, so I snuck to the window and pried the board loose. That single freed board made a whole large enough for me to scrunch through, but first I had to deal with the glass. I gathered up a pillow and stuck my hand into the casing so the stuffing was in front of my hand. I peeked out to make sure the coast was clear before I smashed my covered hand into the glass. The pillow muffled the sound of shattering glass and protected my fist from the shards. The pieces fell and hit the soft grass beneath my window.
I tossed aside the pillowcase, grabbed my makeshift cloak of bed blankets and crawled headfirst out of the window. I jiggled the vines with my hands and found them thick and sturdy, so I pulled myself up a few feet so my legs could slide out. My hands shook so badly I thought I would fall, but somehow I scurried down the vines without slipping and dropped to the ground. The vines traveled past one of the lower floor windows, and there was a light on in the room. I peeked my head in and saw it was a study lined with bookshelves and a large desk near the window. There was a chair behind the desk with the back turned to the glass, but I could see Alistair in front of the desk staring at someone in the seat.
"Are you certain this girl is the one? Many others have made mistakes," Alistair questioned.
"I'm absolutely certain, but I get the feeling you don't approve of her," replied the person in the chair, and I recognized the voice as belonging to Luke.
Alistair frowned. "She is very unknown to our world, sir, and ignorance is a threat to us."
"Ah, now we get down to something else. What really makes you worry so much, old friend?" Luke asked him.
"Your influence over the others is very precarious right now. If this would go wrong they could see you as unfit of your title and position."
"I'm sure things won't go so badly, but once I completely change her I'll be sure to stabilize my position."
"Even if that means skirmishes with the competing lords?" Alistair asked him.
"Even if that means war," Luke firmly replied. "We can't let them win, no matter what."
I'd heard enough to realize how insane were the pair of them, and stepped away from the edge of the window. I slunk across the lawn, careful to keep out of the lights from the windows, and reached the edge of the trees in a minute. I turned back and got my first, and hopefully last, full look of the house. It was a two-story colonial house made of bricks with white edging on the roof and several old chimneys. It was a nice place if it hadn't been such a terrifying prison for me. I turned away from it and slunk into the trees with the dark blanket of night wrapped tightly around me.
5
I picked up on a trail that ran through the trees and followed that for several mile, aided by the light of the almost-full moon. After an hour's panicked walk I reached a wide, swiftly-flowing creek where the path split in two. Water usually meant civilization somewhere along it, so I could follow upstream or downstream to hopefully find sane people. By the time I reached that branch in the path I was covered in sweat and exhausted. I promised myself that come freedom, I was going to lose a few pounds. The path branched off to the left and right, both following the bank. Neither gave any sign of civilization, so that meant all possibilities were on the table. Either one led to safety, both led to safety, or none of them led to safety. That made for odds I couldn't calculate but didn't like.
The situation got a lot worse when I heard a deep, loud howl fill the air. I stiffened and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Either that had been a really big dog, or there were wolves in these woods. The worst part about the howl was that it sounded like it was only a few miles away, which was much closer than I wanted. It did help me decide on the left path because that led farther away from the howl.
I rushed along the trail, dodging low branches and jumping over roots while I hoped for this trail to be the right direction. My heart beat faster when I heard that howl again, and this time it was closer. Another howl followed it, but this one was in a different pitch. That meant there were two different wolves in the woods, a small pack. I rushed headlong down the path in a wild abandonment to panic. Bushes and low trees brushed and scratched me as I tore along the narrowing trail. My shoes skidded on the wet creek rocks, and more than once I nearly lost my balance and fell into those dark, cold waters.
Just when I thought there wouldn't be any room for me to run, the path ahead opened to a meadow. In that meadow stood a shack with an electric pole outside and a light shining through the dirty windows. I dashed up to the door and banged on the entrance. "Please help me! Please!"
I heard a shuffling of footsteps and the door opened wide enough for an eyeball to peek through at me. "What's wanted?" came the old, gruff voice of a man.
"Please help me! I just escaped from a house a few miles back and I think there are wolves chasing me!" I gasped out.
"What house were ya at?" he asked me.
"I don't know, some brick house where two men live. They kidnapped me and I need to get to the police."
The old man shut the door, unlatched a few locks and opened it wide. The shack was a single-room with a simple bed in one corner and a table with two chairs in the middle. Above the table was the single source of light, a dusty old lamp with a dim bulb. I also had my first view of the old man. He was about five foot with a scraggly gray beard and a few strands of hair on the top of his head. His clothes were ragged and simple, but clean. He impatiently swept his hand over the room. "Get in. We ain't got all night."
"Oh thank you!" I shouted while I rushed into the room. He shut the door and locked the door with three bolts. "Do you have a phone I can use to call the police?"
He shook his head and shuffled over to one of the two chairs. "Nope. Don't like those things," he told me as he sat down.
I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach. He was unusually calm after my story, and I didn't like that he'd locked the door. "Then do you have a car we can use to get to town?"
"Yep, but I think ya need to just relax fer a bit. Ya look real tired." He nodded at the seat opposite him. "Get yerself comfortable. Won't be more than a few minutes."
My heart leapt against the front of my rib cage. "A few minutes until what?"
"Until the master be coming. I'm sure him and that worthless manservant of his are searching for ya right now."
My eyes widened and I backed up against the wall beside the door. "Master?"
"Aye. That'd be Master Luke," he replied.
I picked the wrong hut to hide in. I threw myself at the door and had one of the bolts open before one of his wizened old hands reached out behind me and grabbed one of my arms. He wrenched me back and I fell into the other chair. "Let me go! Please let me go!" I begged him.
He frowned and shook his head. "Can't do that, miss. Yer a pretty thing, but the master said to not let ya leave if I was to ever find ya escaping."
"I'll do anything, just don't let them-" My frantic pleadings were interrupted by the howling of the wolves, and the sounds came from just outside the door. The old man turned to the entrance and unlocked the remaining bolts. He meant to open the door with those wolves on his doorstep. "Don't!" I screamed at him. I shot off the my seat and grabbed his shoulders to pull him back, but beneath that weathered ext
erior was a solid frame. My efforts proved futile.
The old man swung open the door to reveal Luke, and behind him stood Alistair. Luke had a dark expression on his face, and Alistair was as stoic as ever. "Do you have the girl?" Luke asked the old man.
"Aye, sir, but I don't like this one bit. She might've been found by the others," the old man replied.
"But she wasn't," Alistair spoke up.
The old man glared at the manservant. "No thanks to the likes of ya," he shot back. I had a feeling the two men didn't get along, but their disagreements were the least of my worries. Luke blocked the door, so there was only the window to my left that could serve as my escape.
"Enough, you two," Luke scolded the men. He nodded at me, and addressed the old man. "How long as she been here, Zeke?"
"Only a few minutes, sir." Old Zeke chuckled. "She said she heard some wolves out there."
I edged toward the window while one of my hands grasped the back of the wooden chair. Luke turned to me with a grin on his lips. "You were fortunate to find Zeke's home." My eyes flitted over to the window and Luke held out his hand to me. "Come now. It's time to return to the house."
I scowled at him. "No way."
I tossed the chair at the window and the glass shattered on impact. It was a bad break with bits of sharp glass along the edges, but I dove for the opening. Luke was too fast. He latched onto my waist and pulled me back, but not before my hands were cut on the edges. I thrashed and kicked in his grasp. "Let me go! I won't go back!" I screamed at him.
"Alistair!" Luke called out to his manservant. I saw Alistair pull out a small bag from inside his coat, and from that he removed a needle. Luke pinned my arms to my sides and pressed my feet against the floor so I couldn't kick him. Alistair grabbed one of my arms and inserted the needle. The clear liquid flowed into my body and I felt a fog cloud my mind. My limbs went limp and Luke swept me into his arms. "Sorry to do this to you again, Rebecca, but you gave us no choice." The last I remember was his face, and then everything went black.
* * *
I don't know how long I was out, but long enough that when I woke up I was back in that hideous white room and the board was back on the window. The boards all had extra nails in them, and there were large, long boards that ran from the top to the bottom of the window across the other boards. I lay on the bed, and my wounded hands were carefully bandaged. They were stiff and sore, and reminded me I'd failed in my attempt to flee. A wave of depression swept over me, and I grabbed one of the pillows to muffle my crying.
"Are you really that unhappy?" a voice asked me. My head shot up and I rolled over to find Luke standing behind me and close to the bed.
"Why shouldn't I be?" I shot back. "Did you think kidnapping me would make me like you?"
"I thought perhaps a little time to know me would tell you I meant you no harm."
"No harm? No harm?" I sat up and tossed the pillow at him. He let it hit his chest and drop harmlessly to the ground. "Do you think the only way you can hurt somebody is physically? I'm stuck in this place with you and that creepy other guy, and somehow that's supposed to be alright?"
"His name is Alistair," Luke corrected me.
"I don't care if his name is Crap, or if you were a billionaire. I just want to go home!"
Luke smirked. "I have to admit I'm not worth that much, and Crap isn't Alistair's name. He might not appreciate that nickname, either."
"Crap!" I yelled back. "Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!"
There was a knock on the door after my tirade. "Is everything all right, sir?" Crap called from the other side.
"Crap!" I yelled.
"Quite all right, Alistair. Miss Rebecca was merely clearing her throat," Luke replied.
"Crap crap crap!" My voice nearly drowned out theirs.
"There was a phone call for you earlier, sir. It was from Miss Stevens."
I opened my mouth for another round, but Luke sprung forward and slapped his hand over my lips. Luke sighed. "What did she want?"
"To inform you that the meeting has been pushed ahead a week, and will start in four days."
Luke's eyes widened and he moved over to the door so fast I could barely follow his blur. He flung open the door and caught Alistair standing in the hall. "Four days?" he repeated.
Alistair had a grim expression on his face, and he nodded. "Yes, sir. She said it was by the request of Lance and Simpling."
"Damn it!" Luke swore under his breath. He ran his hand through his hair and scowled. "Change our tickets and add one for Rebecca, and ready us to leave in a day."
"But the full moon is in two days," Alistair pointed out.
Luke shook his head. "It can't be helped. We'll have to make do with one of the inns."
"We will arrive at Burnbaum's on that day," Alistair informed him.
A wry smile slipped onto Luke's face. "I suppose there are worse places. At least his rooms are clean and have thick walls."
"I'll make the arrangements immediately." Alistair bowed and hurried off, and Luke shut the door.
He turned to me and swept his hand over the windows. "It seems the extra precautions are all for naught. We need to hurry to an important meeting, and you're coming along."
I narrowed my eyes. "You'll have to keep me drugged the whole way," I threatened him. I hoped that would mean I could stay at the house to try for another escape.
"If that's what has to be done," he nonchalantly replied.
"You'll get a lot of stares carrying around an unconscious woman," I pointed out.
He shook his head and smiled. "Not to our destination. It's common to see initiates drugged to control them." I cringed. This sounded like a trip on a slave route. He noticed my distress and sighed. "I promised you before that no harm would come to you, and I still keep to my word as an honorable werewolf."
There was something not quite right about that oath. "A what?" I asked him.
"A werewolf," he repeated, as though there was nothing unusual in that word.
I slowly slid away from him. "A werewolf?" I repeated.
He smirked. "I think we've established that."
"Yeah, but not your sanity level, if it's high enough to be measured," I shot back.
He tilted his head and looked at me with admiration. "Even in this strange a situation you can still make jokes. Admirable," he complimented
"Who said it was a joke?" I meant every word of it, and I also meant to get out of this crazy man's clutches.
"You don't believe me?" he wondered.
My back pressed up against the wall behind the bed. "I believe you need to be in a straitjacket, and I'd need one, too, if I believed that bullshit."
"I'm afraid it's quite true. I'm a werewolf, just as you will be in a few days."
The color drained from my face. That didn't sound good. "What in the hell are you talking about?"
Luke nodded at the empty table where there was usually a tray of food. "The wolf's bane you consumed your first night here confirmed that you have the talent to become a werewolf, provided I'm in your presence come next full moon."
My heart danced a sped-up version of the mariachi inside my chest. The next full moon was in two days. "And if I disappoint you by not changing into some hairy beast?" I asked him.
He chuckled, and my blood ran cold and my heart ran off. "You won't." He stood up and smiled down at me. "But I suppose since you don't believe me you don't have anything to worry about from the next full moon. Unless, of course, you're completely wrong and I'm the sane one here."
The twisted logic in there made my head hurt, and I glared at him. "Not likely."
He shrugged and walked over to the door. "A little caution is wise, but don't let your fear of me blind you to what I've told you. Goodnight." He shut the door behind him, and left me with my doubts. Doubts are really indecisive companions.
I growled and tossed another pillow at the end posts of the bed, but that made me freeze. That growl I'd just made was really good, an
d really real. I glanced down at my hands and arms. They looked as hairless and as chubby as ever. I felt my ears and my hair. Still the same there, too. I frowned and scrunched down between the remaining pillows at the head of the bed. "I'm not turning into a werewolf, I'm not turning into a werewolf," I chanted. The mental trick didn't wipe away any of the doubt, but that and the remaining effects of the shot did lull me into a sleep.
6
I was awoken by the sound of dishes clinking against each other. I groaned and sat up to see Alistair at the table with a tray of food and drinks in front of him. He noticed my being awake and bowed his head to me. "Good morning," he greeted me. Judging by his stern face the greeting didn't go any deeper than his words.
I whipped my head over to the heavy planks on the windows. They didn't let in so much as a sliver of sunlight. "I can't tell," I quipped.
"I can assure you the sun is still shining," he replied.
I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. "I'm really supposed to believe you on anything?"
"No, you're supposed to eat some food."
"What? So you can fatten me up so Luke, if that's his real name, can eat me whenever he gets wolfish?"
Alistair glanced over my thick frame and the corners of his mouth twitched. "I don't believe that needs tending to." I admit I walked into that one. "As for the master being hungry when he's, as you put it, wolfish, he prefers venison over humans."