Dead Flesh (30 page)

Kayla

I could hear
the sound of paws padding across the dance floor. The claws
attached to them made clicking sounds. The wolves crept into the
chapel, the sound of their breathing deep and rasping. There was
panic amongst the students, and Sam gripped my hand and pulled me
close.

“We haven’t
come here to be set free, have we?” Sam whispered. “This is a
matching ceremony, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” I
whispered, letting go of Sam’s hand and releasing my claws. I felt
something big and covered in fur brush past me and it made a
snarling noise. I flinched backwards.

“Kayla, where
are you?” Sam called out, losing me in the dark.

“I’m right
here,” I whispered. “Keep still.”

I could hear
the sound of feet rushing past me – not wolves – the other students
trying to find a way out of the chapel in the dark.

“Put the lights
on!” someone screamed.

There was a
scuffling noise and I spun around. Then, the song
Candyman
started again, as if whoever had gone in
search of the light switch had hit the wrong button. They must have
tried again, as the strobe lights suddenly came on and I wished
they hadn’t. In those sudden flashes of bright white light, I saw
the wolves that had crept into the chapel. They had positioned
themselves near to the students who they were planning on matching
with. I wasn’t the only one who had seen the giant-sized wolves
with their bristling fur and gaping jaws, as the chapel burst into
chaos. In the glimpses of light, I saw the wolves leap through the
air and smother the children standing before them. I looked to my
right. Sam was standing there, his eyes wide as he stared ahead. I
followed his gaze and saw a wolf rear up onto his back legs as it
lunged at Sam. With the song
Candyman
blasting around the chapel, I leapt forward, plunging my claws into
the throat of the werewolf.

The lights
pulsated on and off and everything seemed to slow down. I felt my
fist enter the wolf’s throat. It howled so loud that for a moment
the music was completely drowned out. Its cries of agony must have
alerted the other wolves, as each of them turned to face me. And in
the flashing lights, I caught just glimpses of their razor-sharp
teeth and flaming yellow eyes as they came towards me.

I pulled my
fist from the wolf’s throat and a stream of black blood jetted up
and splashed Sam. “Get behind me,” I screamed over the throbbing
music. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would be
slaying werewolves while listening to
Candyman
by Christina Agulera.

The wolves came
towards me, circling slowly, while those they had come to be
matched with fled to the furthest corners of the chapel. Then, I
saw one of the wolves come forward. He was jet black and
sleek-looking. His bright yellow eyes stared into mine.

“Oh, Kayla,” he
woofed. “I’ve got someone real special for you to match with.”

“I’m not going
to be matched,” I whispered, unable to stop myself from looking
into his eyes.

“But you
haven’t seen who I’ve brought for you,” he barked over the roar of
the music.

Then from
behind him slinked the most beautiful wolf that I’d ever seen. Its
fur was white and shimmered like glass in the strobe lighting. “Who
is she?” I asked the wolf.

“The Wolf Man’s
intended bride,” the wolf started, and over the blast of the music,
I finally recognised his voice. It was McCain. “You are beautiful,
Kayla Hunt. And you’ll be even more beautiful once you have been
matched with Lola. She will complete you.”

“You don’t
understand, McCain,” I said, staring into his eyes. “I can’t be
matched like the others. I’m different.”

“And that’s why
you will be such a perfect match for Lola,” he woofed, then licked
his nose with his tongue. “She is brave and courageous, just like
you. She has a spirit that can’t be tamed. Matched together, you
will make the perfect bride.”

Then, as if I’d
lost control of my own body, I started to walk towards Lola who
stood on all fours in front me.

“Kayla, what
are you doing?” Sam screamed over the music. “Don’t go to her.”

Although I
could hear him, it was like I just couldn’t stop myself. It was as
if McCain had control over me somehow. I felt Sam grab for me, and
I brushed him aside. I moved slowly closer towards Lola, and it was
her burning eyes that I was staring into as she reared up on her
back legs and lunged for me.

There was a
crashing sound from somewhere in the darkness and more screaming,
but it was faint, drowned out by the music and the sound of Lola’s
panting as she placed her giant paws onto my shoulders and stared
into my eyes. In the flashing lights, I saw her giant pink tongue
roll from her jaws and she ran it down the side of my face. It felt
warm and rough. And as I looked into her eyes, it was like I could
hear her howling inside my head – it was as if she were
brainwashing me, taking over my mind.

Suddenly, her
howling changed. It was like she was in pain. Lola let go of my
shoulders and flew backwards across the chapel. The spell she had
cast over me was broken. I looked through the pulsating lights and
could see her lying on the floor, a wooden stake sticking out from
her side. Then, all hell broke loose.

Kiera

We had been
drawn to the chapel by the sound of the beating music – the screams
told us we were heading in the right direction. The gates to the
school were locked, and peering through them, I could see several
cloaked figures racing back and forth across the lawn. The school
with its high walls, search towers, and wide gravel path were just
how I had seen it in my nightmare. And as I watched the figures
racing around, I knew these were the Greys that Kayla had spoken
about. I had seen them in my nightmare too – they had come from the
school and had dragged that man back inside. But what or who were
they?

There was a
grinding sound. I looked right to see Potter breaking the chains
that were fastened around the black iron gates. They came away in
his claws and clattered to the ground. The music continued to beat
in the distance and so did the terrified screams of children. I
looked left and Isidor threw open his coat, and with lightning
speed, his crossbow was in his hands.

“Ready?” I
asked, looking at the both of them.

“I’m always
ready, tiger,” Potter winked back at me. Then, he was gone, racing
away up the gravel path in the direction of the music and the
screaming. His claws glinted in the moonlight and a small part of
me pitied anyone who got in his way tonight. I knew that Potter had
been frustrated hanging out at the farmhouse, and now that he had
the chance to hunt some werewolves, I don’t think anyone or
anything could stop him.

I glanced at
Isidor, who still stood beside me, his crossbow at the ready.
“Let’s get Kayla and then get out of here.”

“Sounds good to
me,” he said, racing up the winding path after Potter.

I hung back for
just a moment, and when they were both some way ahead of me, I
reached into my pocket and took out the bottle of Lot 13 that I’d
sneaked from Isidor’s supply which he had brought with him to the
farmhouse. I unscrewed the cap and brought the little glass tube to
my lips. I didn’t want it. I really didn’t – but I couldn’t risk
cracking-up if I needed to change into my half-breed form while
trying to rescue Kayla. And by the sound of the chaos unfolding in
the distance – I guessed that the chances of that were pretty high.
So, tilting my head back, I poured the gloopy pink liquid into my
mouth. I screwed up my nose at once. It tasted disgusting.
How had the others managed to drink this
shit?
I wondered. It was so bitter in taste, my eyes began
to water. Closing my eyes, I gulped the rest down. I placed the
empty tube back into my coat pocket and headed after Potter and
Isidor.

My feet
whispered over the gravel path as I raced forward. I looked down
and my feet were just a blur beneath me. This was the first time
since returning from The Hollows that I had tapped into those inner
abilities that being a half-breed gave me. As I raced forward, it
felt incredible to feel the wind against my flesh and my long,
flowing hair. Deep inside of me, I understood Potter’s desire to be
his true self for as much of the time as possible. Being a
half-breed was a rush. Maybe I was finally beginning to accept what
I truly was.

In the distance
I could see Potter standing over several of the Greys who were now
lying on the ground at his feet. Isidor caught up with him just
before I did. I looked down at them, their grey robes so tattered
and torn, they looked as if they had been put through a paper
shredder. The grass looked black and sticky, and I could see that
it was blood. Some of the Greys had been decapitated, and their
hooded faces lay some way off from the rest of the bodies.

“What happened
here?” I said, looking down at the carnage.

“He did,”
Isidor said, gesturing towards Potter with his crossbow.

“Why?” I asked
Potter.

“They got in my
way,” he said.

“But...” I
started.

“But nothing,”
Potter said, staring at me. “I did them a favour.”

“How do you
figure that out?” Isidor asked him, looking at the Greys spread
across the grass before us.

Potter reached
down with one blood-soaked claw and lifted up one of the Greys’
heads by the top of its hood. Swinging it before him like a
lantern, Potter yanked back the hood and I stumbled backwards. The
face beneath the hood was hideous. It was grey and wrinkled like a
rotten prune. The mouth hung open to reveal a set of yellow-stained
teeth. But it was the eyes. It looked like they had been burnt out
with hot pokers. There were scorch marks around them, and the eye
sockets were deep and surrounded by flaky black skin.

“What’s
happened to their eyes?” I gasped.

“Werewolves
have been staring into them,” Potter said, tossing the head
aside.

“Who or what
are they?” Isidor asked. “They look human.”

“I’m guessing
that they were the former teachers of this school,” Potter said.
“McCain and his merry bunch of wolves would have needed to control
them somehow – to get them to go along with his cruelty. If they
went against him, then they used their good old-fashioned mind
control by staring into their eyes. Some of these Greys might have
even been the parents who we’ve heard tried to break their children
out. Who knows and who really cares? They’re dead now. Let’s leave
them in peace.”

“But why do
this to them?” I asked him.

“He’s not
allowed to kill them, remember – goes against the Treaty,” Potter
said.

“So why kill
Emily Clarke?” Isidor asked him.

“How should I
know?” Potter shrugged, heading off towards the music and the
screaming, which was coming from the other side of a tall line of
trees.

We followed
him, but Isidor’s question wouldn’t leave me. So why had McCain
murdered Emily Clarke if he could have silenced her another
way?

Potter burst
through the tree line. There was a chapel with a white wooden roof
and a spire that stretched up into the night. The screaming was
coming from within the chapel. But now that we were closer, I could
hear another sound, one that I had last heard in The Hollows. It
was the sound of wolves snarling, barking, and howling.

“Game on,”
Potter said, his black eyes almost seeming to sparkle with
excitement.

“Let’s just try
and get Kayla, then go,” I told him. “No more killing if we don’t
have to.”

“Sure,” Potter
said, wiping the Grey’s blood from his claws, as if cleaning them
before going into battle.

“I’m being
serious, Potter,” I told him.

“I’m deadly
serious,” he said back, and before I’d the chance to say anything
else, he was running towards the chapel, shredding his shirt free
as he went. Isidor and I ran after him, but Potter was already
raking apart the locked chapel doors with his claws by the time we
had caught up with him.

The door fell
away in splinters, and once there was a hole large enough to
squeeze through, Potter leapt inside. There was a small foyer, and
now that we were inside, the music was deafening. The chapel was
illuminated in random flashes of bright white light. I peered
through the darkness and froze. Kayla was standing in the middle of
the chapel, with a giant wolf standing before her. She looked as if
she had been hypnotised. Kayla’s face was blank-looking, her mouth
open, as the wolf stared into her eyes. Then, the wolf was flying
backwards across the chapel. I looked right and I could see Isidor
reloading his crossbow.

Kiera

With the chapel
door lying in splinters at our feet, a flood of shrieking and
terrified children shoved past us and out into the night. A
timid-looking girl with tears streaming down her face spotted
Potter’s huge claws and came to a standstill before him. She looked
up into his face, her bottom lip wobbling and her body trembling.
She was so fixated on Potter that she failed to see the giant paw
that lunged from the darkness of the chapel and grabbed for her.
Potter saw it though, and in a blaze of movement, he had seized
hold of the attacking werewolf and dragged it into the foyer.

With his claws
and fangs flashing in the strobe lighting, he pulled apart the
wolf’s giant jaws. The
cracking
sound that
came from the wolf as its face was torn apart was so loud that it
could be heard over the
boom-boom
of the
music which was still playing.