Luna's Sokjan (Book one) (5 page)

“I am going in. You know
what to do if you don’t hear from me by morning.” I reminded
him.

Adam knew. We had set it
up years ago when we first started working together. If I didn’t
call by dawn, he would call Ted and send out emails to all the
Alphas in the area. Our hope was that the Alphas would work
together and finish what I started. The theory was a good one, but
you just never knew what would happen when you put all those egos
together in the same place at the same time.

Running, through the
backyards I approached the killer’s house from the back. I could
just break down the front door and walk in, but if he already has
another victim. She would be dead before I could get to her. I
peeked through the window in the kitchen door, no one there. I
checked all the windows on the ground floor, saving the living room
for last. All clear and he was still pacing around in the living
room. Moving to the back of the house again, I checked to see if
any of the neighbors were spying before I shifted my hands and feet
into claws. It was a rare ability to be able to change individual
body parts, it was a worthwhile talent, and it had saved my life a
time or two.

I began climbing up the
wall of the house. It took me a moment to reach the second-story
window. I peered through the window, no one there. I tried lifting
the window up, it slid smoothly open. Stepping quietly into the
room, I quietly slid the window closed. Angus, my old mentor told
me, 'Always leave it the way you found it' and I always tried to do
so.

I opened up all my senses
searching for any sound or smell that might indicate if someone
else is in the house. I could hear thumps, and bangs coming from
downstairs but I didn’t get another smell other than his. This was
good.

I stood in a dark bedroom
curling my crawled toes into the wet carpet. Carpet was good. It
would muffle the sounds of my feet as I walked. All the floors in
my house were hardwood. I wanted to be able to hear if someone was
sneaking around my house. Slowly I opened the door, and peered down
the dark hallway. I counted two more doors in the hallway, so far
so good. I silently moved to the first door, another bedroom,
clear. The next door opened up to a bathroom, clear.

I peered over the rail
into the darkness below. I could see into the living room. My
monster was still pacing. All he had to do was look up, and he
would see me. Moving back from the rail, I disappeared into the
shadows. Hugging the wall, I moved quietly towards the stairs. It
was at the top when my luck finally ran out.

He saw me and with a
scream of rage, charged up the stairs towards me. As I waited for
him I braced one hand against the wall and with the other hand, I
gripped the stair rail. When he was close enough, I kicked him as
hard as I could in the face. With a grin, I watched him fly
backwards down the stairs landing on his back. Jumping the rest of
the way down the stairs, I landed in a crouch near my monster and
stood up quickly.

He leapt to his feet
dripping blood on the carpet. He screamed in my face. I hit him
across the face with a right hook with enough force to send him
crashing into the wall. I took a defensive stance waiting for his
next move. He bounced off the wall and charged me. With a
well-practiced front kick to the chest, I sent the bastard flying
backwards again. He hit the wall and crumbled to the floor. Slowly
he stood up stopping to take several deep breaths. He looked at me
and sniffed the air.

I watched him.

“You smell like wolf.” He
said relaxing a little.

Great now he wants to
talk. I watched his bloody lip heal.

“You must be an Sōkjan.”
He eyed me thoughtfully.

Now wasn’t that marvelous?
Usually nobody knew who the hell I was, but today everybody
did.

“I am.” Always keep your
answers short, makes the conversation go quicker.

“Show me your power,
little Sōkjan.” He commanded.

His power hit me like a
fist in the chest.

I took a step back and dug
my clawed feet into the carpet to keep my balance.

“Can’t you do any better
than that?” I scoffed at him.

“Show me your power!” He
shouted at me.

The blast was so hard that
I flew off my feet and crashed through the wall. I went through the
wall, a closet and now lay on the floor in a small
office.

Well now, that was better.
I groaned.

A hand reached through the
hole and grabbed my foot.

Ah, here we go my
turn.

“Was that better, little
wolf?” He asked, and pulled on my leg, and I let him.

What he pulled out of the
hole wasn’t a woman or a wolf. I sprang at him digging my front
claws into the muscled flesh on his shoulders. A massive mouth of
teeth covered his face and bit down. Just before, I flew across the
room. I swallowed his cry of pain. He shoved me off of him with a
lot of force, more energy than he should have had. Flipping in
midair, I landed on all four paws against the wall and bounced back
at him. Landing in the space he had just occupied. He had quickly
retreated back into the living room.

An enormous prehistoric
tiger stalked him, bear-like in build, four feet high at the
shoulder. A mouth full of saber like canines, retractable
velociraptor claws on all four paws, snow-white fur striped in
black and icy blue eyes that held the promise of death.

I had ripped off half of
his face with my last attack, and his blood covered my mouth and
chest. Licking my lips, I gave him a savage toothy grin. I honestly
do love the taste of blood.

Still want to play, little
man? I roared at him.

He laughed, I cocked my
head a little to one side and to my amazement he started shifting.
The overwhelming smell of sulfur filled the air. Bones popped and
cracked, flesh boiled and slid, and black wings grew straight out
of his large back. When he straightened up, the creature stood
nearly ten feet tall with the body of a man on steroids. He was all
back except for his flaming red hair complete with curling ran
horns, flashing red eyes, and white fangs that hung almost to his
lower jaw. He stretched out his black wings as far as the
confinements of the room would allow. Displaying the red veins that
line the smooth skin. On the end of each hand, long fingers curled
into eagle like talons. He threw his head back and laughed
again.

“Not a wolf after all but
a tiger. Come little kitten, let me make you all mine.” He said in
a strange purring sound.

I sprung at him hitting
his upper body mass causing us to fly backwards. We crashed into
the entertainment center. I bit and clawed at his neck while he dug
all ten talons into my back. I roared in pain and leapt off of him.
Blood poured from the talon wounds. He had torn my sides from the
middle of my back to stomach.

Through narrowed eyes, I
watched him slowly get to his feet and growl at me. Power smacked
me in the chest again, but this time it was weaker strike and I
snarled at him, my turn. The strength of my power picked him up off
his feet and slammed him to the ground. I was on him in a heartbeat
sinking my teeth into his throat, and he dug his claws into my
wounded sides again causing me excruciating pain. For just a
second, I closed my eyes against the pain and drowned in the
glorious taste of his blood as it filled my mouth.

The magic in his blood
made me heady with power and only added to my blood lust. I
struggled against my lust, knowing that if I crossed that invisible
line. I might never be able to come back. With one mighty jerk of
my head, I ripped out his throat. His hands tighten once in pain
before falling away from me. I spit out the bloody meat as I moved
off his limp body. I paced back and forth working through my desire
to consume him. I shifted back to my human form and peered down at
him. My gaze lingered on the bloody hole that was once his
throat.

“Welcome to earth, Zmeu.”
His eyes opened at his name, and we stared at each
other.

Now, I wanted to talk, “I
honestly didn’t think you’d make it this easy. I was hoping to beat
on you a little longer before you shifted.” I saw shock in his eyes
as I spoke. “Oh yes, I knew you were a demon under your human hide.
Even you can’t hide the taste of your blood.” I said as I knelt
down beside him. “I hope you had a good time. You should have
stayed with human blood. Going after the shape-shifter blood was
your big mistake.” Flipping my wrist, I created a long black dagger
in my hand and his eyes laughed at me. “Yes, I know I can’t kill
you. Just the body that you have taken, but I have a surprise for
you.” I purred to him. “Water Spirit, are you here?” I called out.
The room grew cold, and a smoky misty form appeared before
me.

“Yes, Golden Witch, I am
here.” It answered.

With a grim smile, I cut
out his heart and offered the still beating organ to the spirit.
The wraith attacked my hand to consume the blood, and the spirit of
the demon. The mist changed through a rainbow of colors as it
fed.

“I have paid the price for
your service, our bond is done.” I said.

I watched the rainbow
colored mist disappear taking the spirit of the demon with
it.

The rain was still pouring
down when I walked out of the house. Stretching my arms out wide I
walked into the yard, letting the cold rain cleanse my bloody pain
racked body and calm my spirit.

“It is done, Great Mother,
the killer has paid for his crime. Come and shine on your children
once more.” I called out to the moonless night as lightening arched
across the dark sky.

Slowly, I made my way back
to the SUV tired, bleeding, and hurting everywhere. Opening the
back door, I climbed in to dry off and get dressed. By the time I
was finished, my teeth were chattering from the cold. Climbing over
the seats proved a difficult task and it made my hurting side start
bleeding again. After starting the engine, I just sat there with
the heat on full blast until I was warm again before driving away.
On the way back to the motel, I called Ted and gave him a brief
overview of what had happened and gave him the killer's address.
Calling Adam next, I left a message on his voice mail. Once back at
the hotel. I took a long hot shower and then fell face first into
the bed.

Loud pounding on the door
woke me up. I checked my sides and was pleased to see my wounds
were healing up nicely. When I got home, I would have to do some
heavy duty healing chants. For now the tattoo was doing a fantastic
job on the wounds by itself. Opening the door, I stared down at the
short chubby-manager standing there holding a box.

“This came for you.” He
said with a leering smile.

I had forgotten to put
clothes on before opening the door. With a snarl, I grabbed the
package from and slammed the door closed in his fat, ugly face. The
box contained two bottles of medication. Thank you Adam! I can be
home by tomorrow morning. Sweet!

I went back to
bed.

The moon bathed the Black
Panther in its silvery light as she lay in the grass watching the
activity die down for the night in the big house. Only after the
last light was turned off, and the occupants settled in for the
night, did she move. Creeping silently she approached the back of
the house. She began climbing up the wall towards the third-floor
balcony. With a massive leap, she landed on the balcony and stepped
softly up to the double glass doors. They swung open when she
pressed one large paw against them. She eyed the small sleeping
form in the large bed. Power slowly crept up the side of the bed
and slid towards the sleeping figure. The Black Panther shifted to
a human form as she slipped into the room, and I approached the
bed.

“Wake up Linda.” I
murmured to the woman.

The woman sat up slowly
and turned her unseeing eyes towards me. She was an adult image of
what Meg would have looked like later in life, and I hated her.
Removing the black leather collar from around my throat, I
carefully unzipped the pocket and poured pills into her limp hand.
Taking the glass of water from the bedside table, I handed it to
her.

“Take them all.” I
commanded her, pushing just enough power to make her
obey.

Not wanting anybody to
interrupt us, I walked over and locked the door.

“You should have never put
your daughter in harm’s way.” I told her in a harsh whisper. “Why
did you do it?” I used power in my voice to make her answer
me.

“I wanted Thomas back. She
wasn't supposed to get hurt. He was only supposed to hide her away
for a few days, just until Thomas came back. I never thought he
would kill her.” She started crying.

“Stop it!” I commanded in
a rough whisper, and she stopped. “Finish your pills, Linda. You
need to go back to sleep.”

“I am very tired.” She
told me dully as she lay back down.

Sitting down at the end of
the bed, I waited for the medication to kill her. It didn’t take
long, and she was gone. The medication I had given her was
uncommonly strong and worked directly on the heart.

I stood up at a sound
coming from outside the door. I took a deep breath and smelled
wolf.