Inheritance (The Dark Gifts) (20 page)

The sounds of gunfire ceased.  A few more screams echoed through woods before it became silent.  The uninjured searched the surrounding forest for survivors.  Either they got them all or they had escaped.  Wolves were the only living things left in that part of the forest.

***

“
We have to clean up the bodies.
”  Dave said.

“
I wish I knew where Thom was.  Why can’t he feel us?
”

“
Thomas’ been Alpha.  He knows how to keep his mind shut.  You’ll learn that too as you go on.  It don’t do for the Alpha’s thoughts to be broadcasted all over.”
Dave answered.

Jason sniffed at Sarah.  She was still breathing but unconscious.  Her blood-soaked left flank twitched uncontrollably.  The bullet must still be in the wound.

“We have to get rid of the bodies, Jason.  We can’t leave them out here to be found.” 
Dave repeated.

“
Clean them up then and search for their vehicles.  They couldn’t have gotten here on foot.” 

“
Then what?”

“Put the bodies in the cars however many there are.  Some can shift and drive them back to the canyon.  We’ll burn them there and drop them into the quarry.”

“Good idea.  No one ever goes out there.” 
Dave ran into the woods, relaying orders and organizing the pack.

“
Someone get me a damn car.  I need to get my sister home.” 
Jason called out to no one in particular.

A knocking sound woke Jason from his sleep.  “Yes,” he croaked.

“It’s Sarah, you better get in here.”  Pete’s worried voice came through the door.

Jason jumped out of bed and headed down the hallway.  Entering her room, he saw his sister, pale, covered in sweat, and thrashing around on the bed.  He went to her and placed his hand on her forehead.  She was burning up.

“It’s the silver.  Damn Indians got smart.  Instead of solid silver bullets, they are coating them with silver flake. I removed the bullet, but there’s no way to remove all those flakes.  I've lanced the wound many times, and even though it continues to regenerate, too much time has passed.  The poison moves freely throughout her system.”  Said an old woman standing in the doorway.

Jason glanced at her.  Shriveled and hunchbacked, she looked a hundred years old.

The old woman cackled.  “Yep, pert near close.  Phaedra is the name.”

Shocked, Jason stammered, “I thought you were dead.”

“Nope, not dead.  Just MIA.  I keep house way up in the hills.  Don’t care much for people anymore.  But I’m a good pup.  I come when I’m called,” she said looking at Pete.

“She’s the best healer in the pack.  I figured if anyone could help Sarah, it would be her.” 

“Thank you.”  Jason said, brushing the hair away from his sister’s face.  “What now?  What can we do?”

“Well, we have a few right now with the same problem.  Silver poisoning is hard to combat.  Those that are young should pull through it.  Those that ain't…well, not much hope for them I reckon.”

Jason felt something wet drop on his hand. 

Phaedra stood over him with a dripping cold cloth.  “Keep that on her head and this one needs to sleep.  He’s been up all night with her.” 

Jason nodded, thanked her again, and told Pete to go to bed.  As he was leaving, Jason asked, “Any word from my Uncle?”

Pete’s face clouded with misery.  “Not a peep.  This isn’t like him, Jase.  Something’s wrong.”

“I agree.  Tell the others to send out the hunters.  We need to find him.”

“Will do.”

“Pete?” 

Pete turned, leaving his hand on the doorknob.

“We need to find him, yesterday.  Don’t let ‘em waste any time.”

“We know that Jason.  He was ours long before he was yours.”  Pete quietly shu
t the door as he left the room.

***

A methodical thud resonated throughout the house as Shad beat on the heavy punching bag in the weight room.  Ashley sat a fresh cup of coffee on the kitchen table in front of her grandfather.

“How long is he gonna do that?  It’s annoying as hell.”  Heather, leaned back in her chair with one foot propped on the table, took another sip from her cup.

The old man eyed the girl.  “Get your foot off the table and
try
to pretend you’re a lady.”

Heather laughed and placed her foot on the floor.  “I thought you needed a cold-blooded killer not a lady.”

The old man chuckled and shook his head.

Ashley placed a hand on his shoulder.  “Gramps, should I try to talk to him?”

“No.  Leave him be.  He’ll get it sorted.  Too bad he fell for her; I thought I taught him better than that.”

“I can’t speak for the rest of them, but I know Jason and Sarah are not like the others.”  Ashley said.

“Makes no difference now, girl.  People are missing, probably dead.  Now it’s war.”  He looked up at the young girl’s sad face.  “I’m sorry it has to be this way, Ash, but this is the life you were born to.  We have a duty to the tribe.  They drew first blood.”

“But they didn’t!  That idiot, Greg, shot off too soon.  None of that would have happened if he hadn’t done that.  Everyone was leaving, Gramps.  Everyone was fine.”

The old man’s eyes narrowed as he glared at her.  “Like I said, makes no difference now.  What’s done is done.”

“I told ‘em, Gramps.  I told them not to get attached to
dogs
.”  Heather interjected.

“Shut your mouth, girl.  You ain't helping any.”  He took another sip of his coffee, then setting it hard on the table, said, “What’s an old man got to do around here for some breakfast?”

Ashley threw the dish towel she was holding on the table and stomped away.

In sickeningly sweet voice, Heather said, “How about some cereal, Grampy?  Or I can make y
ou some toast if you’d like?” 

***

Ashley watched Shad from the door.  His agility was remarkable. One after the other, his fists hit the big red bag, pounding out his sorrows.  She wasn’t a mind reader, but she didn’t need to be with her little brother.  Kindred hearts is what her mother had called it.  Although he wasn’t her twin, they were more alike on the inside than should have been possible.

Sweat poured from him.  His shirtless torso glistened with it.  Ashley knew before it ever happened that Sarah would fall for him.  It would take one cold-hearted girl to resist his good looks and charm.   Shad’s repetitious punching had slowed.  Now, each punch caused the bag to swing away from him in a wide arc.  He’d wait for its return and slam his fist in to it again.  After a few moments, she moved into the room.  “You gonna do that all day?”

Shad glanced in her direction.  “Maybe.”

“Help much?”  She sat on the weight bench behind him.

“Nope.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Nope.”

“Might help.”

“Can’t…see…how.”  He grabbed the swinging bag to stop it.  Breathing heavily, he grabbed his bottled water, gulped down half, and dumped the remainder over his head.

“Hey!  Careful with that.”  Ashley said, wiping droplets from her face and legs.

“Sorry.  Hot.” 

She waited for his panting to slow.  When he started breathing normally, she patted the seat beside her.  “Sit.”

“Told ya, don’t want to talk.”  Shad said as he stepped on the treadmill.  Flipping it on, he began a slow jog.

“Killing yourself with exercise isn’t going to fix anything.”

“Nothing to fix.  I’m good.”

Ashley scratched her head.  “Oh really?  You’re good, huh?  Well Mr. You’re Good--I’m not good, and I need to talk to someone that has a brain in their head, and a heart in their chest.  You aren’t the only one around here that has a problem with this.”

Shad, watching his feet move on the belt, reached out and flipped the off button.  “Okay, talk.”

“Come here and sit down.”

Sighing deeply, and still looking at the floor, he moved over and took a seat beside her.

“Ewww.  You’re all wet.”

Shad stood and plopped on the floor looking up at her.

“That’s better.”

He stared at her expectantly, but remained silent.

Ashley sighed.  “Conversations generally go better when more than one person is talking.”

“You said you need to talk. 
I
don’t need to talk.  I’m just here to listen.”

“Fine.  We need to figure something out.  One of us needs to meet with them.  We have to convince them to leave the pack and get far away.”

Shad’s eyes grew wide.  “What makes you think they’d talk to us now?  We don’t even know if they’re alive!”

Irritated, her anger began to rise.  “Don’t you say that.  I’d know if Jason was hurt.  I’d feel it in my heart.  What’s the matter with you?  How can you think like that?”

His voice softened.  “I’m sorry.  But it’s true, we don’t know anything.”

Ashley leaned forward to touch his face.  “Do you believe she loves you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love her?”

“Yes.”

“Then what is the problem?  This hunting gig wasn’t going to last forever.  We might as well quit now.”

“Grandfather will not let them go.”  Shad’s eyes dropped to the floor.

“Who’s the best tracker in the tribe, Shad?”

“Me.”

“Who’s the best hunter?”

“You.”  Shad raised his gaze to her face.

“So if the best tracker and the best hunter are with them…”

Shad’s face exploded into a wide grin as he leapt from the floor.  “I’m going to shower.  Be ready when I’m done.”

Ashley returned his smile with sparkling eyes.  “I’ll go pack…a lunch.”

***

Jason woke to the incessant ringing of a phone.  Immediately, he sat up in his chair.  Sarah slept soundly, but was still covered in sweat.  He rose and stumbled out the door.  He wasn’t feeling good either.  When he returned to human form, the bullet that had lodged just under the skin, popped out, leaving the wound to heal almost immediately.  His now scarred shoulder burned.  Craning his neck to get a look at it, he saw it was red and swollen.  Small blue lines starting in the center of the red scar, pulsated in finger-like trails down his arm and across his chest. 
I wish that phone would stop ringing. 

Placing his hand on the wall, he continued forward.  His vision blurred.  For a moment, he lost his balance and leaned against the wall.  In the living room, Pete was sound asleep on the couch.  Jason made it past him to the kitchen.  With one hand on the wall to steady himself, he picked up the phone.  “Hello?”

“Jason?”

“Yes?”

“It’s Ashley, don’t hang up!”

“What do you want?”  Jason’s legs began to buckle underneath him.  Turning his back against the wall, he slid to the floor.

“Listen, Shad and I had nothing to do with last night.  We didn’t even know it was going to happen.  We want to help you.  Jason?  Are you there?”

Jason’s breathing became labored.  He took slow deep breaths trying to keep from passing out.

“Jason!”  Ashley yelled into the phone.

“Sick.  Can’t talk.  Something wrong.”  He managed to whisper.

“Don’t go anywhere.  We’ll be right over.”

Jason wanted to tell her not to come.  He wanted to tell her it would be too dangerous.  Try as he might, his mouth would not open and the words would not come.  “D-Danger,” was all that managed to escape his lips before his eyes closed and the room went dark.

Shad returned to the truck just as Ashley flipped her phone shut.   She looked worried. 

“Well?  Did they answer?” 

“Yes, but something’s wrong.  He could barely talk.  His words were kind of slurred, and I think he might have passed out.”

“What did he say?”

“Danger.   He said he’s sick, and danger, then nothing.  I kept yelling his name but he never answered.”

Shad pulled in a lungful of air and let it out slowly.  “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know.  We have to go over there.” 

He reached out and patted her leg.  “We’re going, but we’re going to have to be careful.  If their family is anything like ours, there will be tons of people around.  Maybe that’s what he meant.  Where was Sarah?”

“I didn’t get a chance to ask.”  Ashley answered looking at her feet.

“Okay, before we get out there, we need some other things.  We need to find that herb shop.”

Ashley turned in her seat, leaned over it and picked up the small yellow phone book sitting on the back seat.  “What’s it called?”  She asked thumbing through the pages.

“I don’t know.  Gramps said it was in a house.  Just look under herbs in the yellow pages.”  Shad watched as she thumbed to the H section.