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“I won’t be the last,” the
Human
spat. “You know that. You can't keep a mix-breed child quiet. People will come.”

“And people will be sent away.” He released the
Human
and pushed him forward. The
Human
had nowhere to go; between Cathy with the gun and the
tiger
, one move and he was fucked and he knew it. Still, he leaned down and picked up the bat that Benson had held, casting a moment’s glance down at him. “He was fucking useless anyway.” He pointed the bat at the girl. “And you.”

She bucked under the
tiger’s
hold and he let her go because her target was no longer Cathy, it was the suited
Human
. She jumped up, eyes filled with rage—they had shifted. Her mouth was almost changed too, her snout poking out from the face of a girl. The suited
Human
aimed the bat for her, but the
tiger
lashed out and took her down in one movement. She rolled onto her back, slashing for him, but the
tiger
bit down on her throat, properly this time, and he ripped. Her eyes went wide, and her screams became nothing but a strangled gurgle from deep inside her as she clutched at her neck, and then her life was gone.

The
Human
lifted the bat towards the
tiger
as the
tiger
set his eyes on him. Cathy moved, and Malcolm came forward. The
Human
swung the bat and it caught the animal in the jaw with a crack. The
tiger
yelped and growled, but it didn’t stop him. He was on the
Human
in seconds and the man was on the ground with the bat up. The
tiger
pounced at the
Human
, landing right on him and holding him down. His paws wrapped around the
Human’s
head, and his long teeth came down into the man’s face. He bucked and screamed and kicked as the
tiger
closed his jaw around his head. Blood spurted out from where teeth sank in, until the
tiger
pressed harder and the skull cracked under the animal’s jaws.

They were all dead. All gone.

Chapter Ten

A change is as good as a rest? Isn’t that how the saying went? It crossed Cathy’s mind as she stood outside and stared at the new day just beginning. It was a new day for her and a new beginning. The swaddled bundle in her arms fussed softly against her. He was two months old and, god, what a start he had already had in his short life. She stroked his face tenderly as Jeff came outside to stand behind her. He rested his chin on her shoulder and peered down at Sebastian. “Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” she asked.

“Keeping him?”

She nodded slightly, nervous at what he might say.

She felt his cheeks rise in a smile against her face. “I think it’s the best thing we did.” He pressed her gently against him and breathed in the clear morning air as they stared out to the world below—a new world, miles away from where they once were. A new start in the hills.

What a mess it had all been. Such carnage. So many dead and for what? Power? Greed? The insanity of the Human condition? Cathy still didn’t know how to process what had happened that night. She had stood there, amidst all of the bodies and the blood and the death and what she had felt was relief—relief that it was them dead and not her and the baby or Jeff.  Three
Humans
and two shifters, slaughtered. Of course, the
Humans
cared little for the lives of
Others
that had been lost, but the three
Humans
? It was as if the
Others
had committed genocide. They had paraded around the body of Stephen Davies like it was some god damn trophy. They’d used him like he was their Guy Fawkes. It was sickening. It was the start of a shift in the world, though. Maybe that was what Sebastian was, the symbol of change.

Cathy couldn’t help the pangs of guilt for Stephen, though. One man—one boy, a brother, a son, an heir. He had lost everything for the sake of loving his family. He had sacrificed bigger than any of them. He had sacrificed his life. She thought about him daily and knew that she would for a long time.

Stephen Davies, the name of a hero hailed a murderer.

He wasn’t dead, though. That was where the Humans were idiots, but still Cathy felt for Malcolm, as hardened by his position as he was, he had still lost his son. Maybe not to death, but to the world.

Stephen as he was, did not exist any longer. He was the name whispered on the mouths of both
Humans
and Others.
“Do you remember that man, Stephen?”
they’d all say.
“The one who went crazy and just murdered everyone?”

The truth about Stephen, though, was only known by three people: Cathy, Jeff and Malcolm. But even they did not know the true whereabouts of him, for now he was called Nick Mason. The fugitive bundled on the bus to Exile. It was a daring plan—brave, or maybe stupid. Time would tell. But he couldn’t take the blame for the deaths of all of those in the clinic and those on the land around. Their cunning plan. Even Cathy and Jeff were dead on paper. A new start for them. But they did not need new names, new identities. They had just taken off with the money Malcolm had gifted them. They had promised him that they would take care of the baby, until it was a new world where he would be welcomed. Maybe one day that would happen. Maybe one day,
Others
would stand up against the oppression and show the
Humans
the truth—
Humans
were weak.

They had faked Stephen’s death—a bid to save his life. Fed his blood into the body of a
Human
and then burnt it. All tests would confirm it was him. His tracer was all over the bodies in the woods. There was no other choice. If he stayed, if he went back home, the
Human
authorities would want his head and so they had given it to them or at least they thought. Jeff and Malcolm had used one of the patient’s bodies, claimed it was Stephen. Claimed he had come, got into a fight and that was it—so many dead at his hand. That was what they told everyone at least.

Cathy hoped with all her heart, that wherever he was now, he would survive.

The End

Thank you so much for reading. Please feel free to drop me an email or visit me on Facebook.

Mason

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