Markings (7 page)

“Which she
will
have.”

Cain swiveled towards the trail.

Aaron stepped through the brambles. Dressed in dark shorts and a tee, he walked barefoot into the clearing, not a scratch on his feet or ankles. He panted like he’d been running. “How does the saying go, Cain?” he asked. “Isn’t it something like ‘long live the queen’?”

Cain’s face lost all its complacency. He curled his lips back like an animal, a feral growl coming through his teeth.

I scrambled to my feet, mind spinning. “Aaron, what the hell are you doing here?”

He flicked his eyes at me but didn’t answer.

“You know, that’s the problem with you, Aaron.” Cain grimaced, picking red flecks out from under his nails. “You’re always in the
way
. Out of all your little clan, I must say I find you the most annoying.”

Aaron smirked. “Why thank you. I find that particular trait quite useful at times. Matter of fact, let me demonstrate.” He strode up beside me, grabbing my wrist. I tried to resist, yank it away, but his grip was iron-strong. “
This
right here?” He waved my arm in the air. “This is under my protection now. So if you want her, you’re going to have to go through me to get her.”

Cain stopped growling, glared for a moment. With a sigh, he straightened up, puffing his chest out. A series of cracks echoed from his neck as he tilted his head, rolled his shoulders. “I wonder if you prize your stupidity as much as your will to complicate things. Fine. Have it your way, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Before I could blink, Aaron had dropped my wrist and shoved his arm into my stomach. He moved backwards quickly, pushing me to the trail.

Cain started getting . . .
bigger
. His muscles rippled, spine curling as patches of black fur crawled out from under his shirt. His hiking boots burst open to reveal clawed feet, and his knees bent the wrong way. As he dropped onto all fours, his nose and jaw elongated.

“This time,” Aaron whispered in my ear. “Will you listen to me?”

I nodded, staring in horror at the thing that had once been a human.

Transformation complete, Cain bared a set of razor-sharp incisors. Wolves are considered one of the most gorgeous creatures alive, but not this one. No, this one had wide-spread toes, a tail with hair like needles. Its pupils were pools of yellow, body twice the size of a Great Dane.

It looked like the creature that Jamie nearly hit with the SUV.

Aaron stiffened. “
Run
.”

I obeyed. Turning on my heel, I sprinted down the path.

Cain let out a series of barks. The sound ricocheted off the trees, testing the sound barrier. I covered both ears.
Run, run, run
. I didn’t look back, even after I hit Groundhog Trail. It wasn’t until I dashed up the hill, the monster’s snarls fading, that I realized Aaron wasn’t following.

I uncovered my ears as I weaved up the hill. The barks and growls had ceased. I couldn’t breathe. My vision wobbled. I had to slow down. Walking to a ledge on the hillside, I crouched in the ferns, peering down at the trail from which I’d come.

The path was empty. Cain didn’t come shooting out of the trees, galloping after me, and Aaron didn’t, either.

I need to find Kat
. We had to go. Now. I had just stood up when a high-pitched scream filled the woods. I jumped, swirling around. A flock of birds cried out overhead, rising from the trees like a cloud, soaring away.

“Lina?” A faint voice called behind me. “Lina! Where are you?”

“Kat!” I started towards the sound of her voice.

An arm snuck around my waist. A bleeding hand covered my mouth, muffling my scream as it sucked me into the trees. I kicked and squirmed, but a second hand cabled my arms.

“Shh! Lina, hey, stop!”

I wiggled around, rotating to see his face. Aaron, bloodied but not broken, blinked down at me, squeezing me to him.

I quit struggling. “Aaron,” I breathed. “Oh my—you’re alive!”

“Of course, I am.” He sounded offended that I thought otherwise. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

“No.” I shook my head, a new round of tears coming on. He turned my hands over, examining my fingers and arms. He brushed the fingers that Cain kicked. “I can’t believe you made it out of there. How did you do it?” I asked him.

“Carefully.” He wiped the blood off his hands then brought them to my face. I pulled my head back a little as he wiped the tears from under my eyes, as if he’d done it a hundred times before.

“Lina?” Kat called for me again, her voice closer. “Lina! Where are you?”

She appeared, tromping down the hill, her curls bouncing as she searched with worried eyes. I opened my mouth to call to her, but Aaron slid his hand back over my lips.

“Darn it, Lina, you’re in so much trouble when I find you!” She trotted past an overgrown fern patch then moved out of sight.

Once she was out of earshot, Aaron released me. I stepped away from him, looking into his eyes. Those beautiful, strange, gold-rimmed eyes darted between me and the place Kat disappeared.

“Why didn’t you let me call to her?” I snapped. “I don’t want her down there! Cain—well—that thing—”

“Won’t be bothering anyone ever again,” Aaron interrupted. He walked out from the trees, licking his cuts.

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, he’s dealt with.” He started up the hill, the opposite direction of Kat. “Besides, even if he wasn’t, your friend wouldn’t be Cain’s target. Speaking of which, we need to get out of here before backup comes sniffing. My car’s waiting at the rest stop. I have a short cut from here that will take us to— . . . Lina?”

I hadn’t moved from my spot. Aaron stood a dozen feet ahead off the trail, looking stumped as to why I wasn’t following. I folded my arms. “I’m not going anywhere without Kat. And I’m certainly not going anywhere with you.”

His shoulders dropped a little. I waited for him to say, “fine, whatever. Just stay here then,” or something along those lines, but instead he just watched me, waiting. He mirrored my folded arms.

“You don’t trust me. Understandable, given our history.” He nodded. “But there is an explanation—that, I swear to you. I also swear that I’m not your enemy, that Cain and others like him have no interest in humans like Kat, and that one or both of us will die for sure if we don’t leave this place now.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Did you just say
humans
?”

“Is she not one?” He shrugged.

“Well, yeah, but are we not—”

“Wait,” he interrupted me, holding a hand up. A howl echoed in the distance. “Okay, Lina, we really need to have this conversation once we’re off Mt. Hood. I know you’ve been waiting for answers, but can’t you just wait a little longer?”

“Whoa, hold up! You’re taking me from Mt. Hood
altogether
?”

“Yeah, unless you want to see more creatures like Cain. Do you? Because I sure don’t. And by the sounds of it, they’re on their way.”

“No, but . . .” I trailed off, rolling my eyes. What the hell, I guess I just wasn’t going to win with him. Plus, I truly didn’t want to see more monsters. “Look, you don’t know half the freaky shit that’s been happening to me,” I whispered.

He raised his eyebrows. Invading my space, he boldly pulled the neck of my turtleneck down, revealing my shoulder. The fur had gone, but a couple black spots could still be seen against my skin. I jumped away, my turtleneck snapping into place.

He smirked. “You want to bet on that one?”

Chapter 8: Answers

I
had no watch, and my phone was in my backpack in the clearing, but I knew Aaron’s shortcut had saved us time. When we stepped into the parking lot, my stomach folded at the sight of a white SUV near the restrooms. Jamie had been timely after all.
Please, find Kat for me
. I hated myself for leaving her in there, not knowing for certain that she’d be okay, but Aaron had scared me with the idea that Cain’s buddies were on our tracks.

Aaron dropped my wrist, striding towards his blue Cougar. It’d been parked near the end of the lot, next to the sidewalk, in a no parking zone. He bent down on the pavement, reaching under one of the front tires. Sitting up, he clamped a set of keys in his hand.

I’m the worst friend in the world
, I thought as I moved around to the passenger seat, hoping that when today was over I could call Aaron trustworthy and still have Kat’s friendship.

“So you’re sure she’ll be okay?” I asked again, eyeing the trail.

“Lina,” he sighed, “I promise she’ll be fine.”

We drove to the resort and parked in the far end of its parking lot. I was out of the car and heading for the front doors when Aaron grabbed me by the belt loop. “Oh no. You look like hell. They’ll call nine-one-one on us for sure if we go in the front,” he said. “Come on. There’s got to be a back way. Let’s go around the side.”

At the back of the building, a short set of stairs lead up to a single glass door. It took us into an empty hallway lined with other doors and plush carpet that muffled our footsteps. We came to the elevator and Aaron jammed the button. I jiggled my leg, waiting for someone to round the corner or come out of one of the private rooms and see us. As soon as the elevator pulled back, we hurried inside and I pressed the button for the third floor.

“Crap,” I muttered, feeling the elevator start to rise.

Aaron glanced sideways. “What?”

“I don’t have a room key. Kat had the spare and it’s in her backpack.”

He looked away, quiet for a moment. “Is there a balcony attached to the living room?”

“Um.” I had to think. “Yes, I think there is. Why?”

He didn’t answer. He just shrugged, unfazed by this block in the road. As we left the elevator and came to Room 185, he kept walking. “Stay put. I’ll be right back.”

“What—where do you think you’re going?”

He flashed me this mischievous little smile, slipping around the corner.

I stood awkwardly outside the door, waiting. What, was he going to jump out the window? Break into the cleaning room and steal something to jam into the lock? That actually might work, since the Purple Iris still had old-school locks. Not those fancy new ones where you slide your card and the door light turns green.

I was still theorizing when suddenly the door knob turned. I jumped back as the door to Room 185 opened, Aaron standing on the other side. “How did you—?”

“Talent. Come on.”

I stepped in and shut the door. Aaron disappeared into the bathroom as a cool breeze rustled my hair. The sliding-glass door on the balcony was open.

In the bedroom, I chucked everything into my duffle bag. I was pulling my brush through my hair when Aaron came in, coming at me with a steaming washcloth. “Whoa!” I leaned away, the cloth dripping water on my shirt.

“Jeez, will you hold still? I got blood on you earlier. Hold still.”

I stiffened as he gave my cheek and the corner of my mouth a careful brush. The washcloth left my face, dark red spotting the fabric. “Great, I looked like a vampire the whole time and you didn’t say anything?” I said.

He half smiled. “Maybe I like vampires.”

“Don’t even try to flirt with me, punk. You’re still on my list.” I pulled my head away from his cloth, feeling my face.

He snorted. “You should reconsider your list.” Leaving the room, he dabbed some blood off his own face. A red line glided from the back of his neck into the torn shoulder of his shirt. It wasn’t dripping—how odd for a wound so large and recent. It’d already clotted.

Trying to quiet my conscience, I left Kat a note on the bed. I clearly couldn’t say: Hi, Kat. I witnessed that creepy guy from the dining hall burst into a mountain of fur and teeth today, and I was saved by Aaron—you know, Mr. Hot-But-Creepy from work? Yeah so he somehow found me and told me I had to leave with him. See you at school!

Yeah . . . Right.

The excuse I came up with wasn’t much better but at least it sounded more realistic than the truth.

Kat,

The hospital back home called while we were in the woods. I lost reception fast, but I caught enough of the nurse’s words to know: something happened to Mom. Maybe it’s something small, maybe it’s not. I’m scared. I tried to find you, but I couldn’t. I went back to the resort. I’ve got enough money to get a cab or something back home. I’m so sorry I left you like this. Please don’t hate me.

Love you,

Lina

We left the resort out the backdoor, avoiding the lobby again. As we returned to the car, my betrayal complete, I forced the image of Jamie and Kat’s faces aside.

It was time to get down to business.

The Cougar rumbled to life, Aaron zipping out of his parking spot. I hadn’t had this many questions since Mom gave me the birds-and-the-bees talk—and, both then and now, I wasn’t sure if I wanted all the answers. Finally I just settled on something simple, something wide-open.

“Aaron . . . what’s happening?”

Silence. His fingers tapped the steering wheel, eyes tight as he watched the road. “What do you mean?”

“What do you mean what do I mean?” My temper came forth out of nowhere. “People are turning into monsters. Cain exploded into fur and claws, his eyes turned yellow—
that
doesn’t happen to normal people! How does that even happen
period
? This is Earth, not Final Fantasy! The world . . . the world is turning upside down or something.”

“There are exceptions to every rule, Lina. Even the rules of the body,” Aaron answered, sounding all professor-like. He sighed. “And trust me: this is no fantasy. Paranormal, yes, to you.”

“Oh, and watching Cain mutate was normal to
you
?”

“No, but—well—I’ve been dealing with this my whole life. It’s not weird to me.” He rubbed his face, at the scratches around his jaw. “Look, Lina, you’re not going to believe anything I say. I wasn’t raised around humans like you were . . .”

“Don’t say
humans
like that!”

“Lina, see? You’re freaking out. Why don’t we just wait to talk about this when . . .”

“Oh, no!” I waved a finger in the air. “You said we were going to talk about this, and we are going to talk about this. Because I was nearly killed today, I don’t need glasses anymore, and—oh!—that stuff on my shoulder you were peeping at?
Fur
, Aaron! I’ve been sprouting fur! Like leopard-spotted fuzz up my shoulders and you looked pretty confident when . . . What?”

Aaron’s face, besides being three shades redder than usual, had a mixture of expressions going on. Frustration, discomfort, and even sympathy were weaved into his frown and knit eyebrows.

“This is why I am not on the welcoming committee,” he muttered.

My hand splayed over my face. This was too overwhelming. Childishly, I wished for Mom, wished for her warm lap where she would rock me and say it was okay. That’d always helped when I was little, of course that was when I had imagined monsters in the closet . . . What do I do now that the monsters are real and all around me? Obviously, I can’t pull the covers over my head and think,
it isn’t real, it isn’t real
.

“Lina?” Aaron’s voice was quiet, concerned. “Hey, you’re looking pale again. If you’re going to be sick please do it out the window. I just cleaned the carpets.”

“I’m mutating, too, aren’t I?” The words burnt my throat. “That would explain all the weird things with me. And you . . .” I trailed off, turning to him.

He rolled his shoulders, not answering the unfinished question. “Do you think its coincidence that I picked your school to go to?” he whispered. “No. I’m not a super senior—I just have connections around town, the high school especially. We have to keep our eyes out for newbies like you that don’t know what’s happening. I knew what you were the day I sniffed you out in the woods. In that second, I knew you were one of us.”

“Us?” I suspected who he meant. “You’re talking about people at the shelter, aren’t you?”

“Not all of them at the shelter. There are humans there, unaware of our differences—like Jamie. But yes, there are quite a few of us because it’s not just for animal rescue; the shelter acts as a watch station for us, the reserve a protected home.”

“Great. So we’re all mutants.”

“No, we’re not
mutants
, Lina. Cain’s kind, maybe, but don’t call us that.”

“Fine. Then what do I call us?”

He took a breath, straightening up in his seat. “You can call us Shifters.”