(Un)wise (4 page)

The two guys in the car didn’t hesitate.  The car pulled to the side, and I quickly slid into the backseat slamming the door closed with a breathless, “Thanks.”

The car didn’t move.  I glanced at the driver, but he wasn’t focused on me.  I followed his gaze and met Luke’s eyes through the window.  My stomach plunged to my toes.  He stood on the shoulder of the road, less than a step away, looking down at the car—at me—through the glass.  Though his stance was relaxed, he didn’t look very happy.  I fought not to give into complete panic as his eyes narrowed on the boys in the front seat.  Luke looked back at me, studied me for a moment, and arched a brow.

“Is your friend getting in, too?” the driver asked.

I held Luke’s gaze and shook my head.  Luke’s lips twitched again as if he fought not to smile.

“A’right.”  The kid put the car in drive and slowly pulled away.

I kept my eyes on Luke.  I’d seen his kind do incredible things and didn’t trust him for a moment.  From the front, the driver asked where I was headed.

“Doesn’t matter.  Next town if you’re going that far.”

Luke faded into the distance along with his last censoring gaze.

*    *    *    *

Though I firmly believed there was nothing worse than facing a werewolf, the two boys in the front seat tested me.  They suggestively asked about compensation for the ride they provided.  Then, when I feigned ignorance of their innuendos, they flat out asked for head.

“Pull over,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Oh, come on,” the driver said with a laugh.  “We’re just messing with you.”

The warmth of the car and the soft vibrations weren’t enough to keep me lucid, so I rolled down the window.  With their current line of conversation, I couldn’t afford to fall asleep.

“I’ve been messed with enough.  Just get me to the next town or as far as you can take me.”

The conversation silenced for almost a minute, and I let out a slow breath.  As if it were a signal, the passenger turned in his seat to watch me.

“So do you have a boyfriend?”

Are you freaking kidding me?  I’m on the run from sadistic beasts that actually wear fur and run on all fours, and he wanted to know if I had a boyfriend?

“No.”  I met his gaze.  After a few long moments, his smile faded, and he turned forward once more.

The respite from their inane conversation gave me a moment to consider my meeting with Luke.  He was the first one ever to offer his name.  Sure, I’d learned a few names over my lifetimes but always by listening to the conversation flowing around me.  Not only had he offered his name, but he’d also let me go.  I had no illusions.  He could have stopped me easily by reaching through the glass and pulling me out forcibly.  Why hadn’t he?

“Can you roll that window up?” The driver reached over and turned up the heat.

I needed the ride.  Though it wasn’t a good idea, I rolled up the window.  Within a minute, the temperature in the car jumped from cool to goodnight.  My eyes blinked closed.  In my dreams, I could no longer separate my past self from my present self.  It was just me...

Several of them gathered where I lay broken at the bottom of a ravine.  I’d tried jumping over the gap and misjudged the distance. For once, I had not purposely flung myself over the edge of something.  My right leg throbbed painfully; and when I tried touching it, my fingers came away wet before I even got to the spot that really hurt.  I shook all over.  Definitely shock.

Lying on my back, looking up at the overcast sky and the scrub-dotted crumbling edge of the ravine, their faces danced in and out of my line of sight as each of them inspected me.  Finally, the leader came close.

“We remember through stories passed down from each generation which of you is most likely to fight or run.  Which has succumbed in the past.  Who is born first.  Who dies too easily.  We remember.”  He reached down and smoothed back a hank of hair that covered part of my face.  “You, my wise little girl, have given us plenty of trouble because you remember, too.  Let us create some new memories, shall we?”

Their hands tugged at my clothes and grasped my arms.  Hurt and bleeding, I fought them as they...

...lifted me.

“Never again,” a voice said near my head.  “She’s crazy!”

A hand fumbled for hold on my flailing arm.  I stopped fighting and pried my eyes open.  The driver had my legs while the passenger struggled with my feet.

“I’m awake,” I said.  “Stop!”

The driver dropped me when I met his shocked gaze.  The passenger was slower to catch on, and I had to yank my arms from his hold.  They both stared at me for a second while I quickly looked around.  We were still on a straight stretch of country road.  I couldn’t have slept more than fifteen minutes.  We hadn’t put enough distance between us and that
thing
, Luke.

“I have bad dreams,” I said as I brought my gaze back to the driver.  “Night terrors.  The car got too warm, and I fell asleep.  It won’t happen again.  Please, I just need a ride to the next town.”

The banter suggesting favors changed to worried, darting glances as the driver sped up.  I struggled to stay awake—despite my promise—as we drove another twenty minutes in silence.  With a sudden jerk of the steering wheel, the driver pulled over to drop me off near a department store.  The door had barely closed before the car pulled away.  I watched the car shrink in the distance.  They were idiots but idiots who may have saved my life.  I should be harder to track in a town this size.

Walking a short distance to a sub shop, I ordered food and sat down to plan my next move.  I hadn’t been eating much since running, so I wolfed the sub down in seconds.  People paused in their own eating and stared.  Focused on picking the pieces of lettuce off the paper, I stopped paying attention to everyone around me.  So, I jumped a little when someone slid into the booth and nudged another sub toward me.

Looking up, I froze with a piece of lettuce still pinched between my fingers.  My stomach flipped in a sickeningly pleasant way, and my heart gave an excited beat before I could suppress my reaction.

Luke sat across from me. His hair was windblown, and he had a thread of worry in his eyes.

“Did they take your money?” he asked with a slight growl.

I flicked my eyes around the small seating area.  No other men.  Well, a few men sat with their families, but they didn’t count.  He’d come alone again.

“What are you talking about?” I asked quietly, narrowing my eyes. This cat and mouse game made me edgy.  When would the others appear?

“The car pulled over halfway here, and you all stood on the side of the road.  Why?”  He paused and his jaw clenched briefly before he leaned forward slightly.  In a quiet, low voice he asked, “Did they hurt you?”

Hurt me?  I frowned at him.  He was worried they’d pulled over to what?  Have a good time with me?  My temper flared.

“Why are you doing this?” I said as I tried to keep my voice down.

My dreams had taught me to stay quiet to save lives.  Through self-sacrifice, I saved others.  Life after life...death after death, I had learned the people who tried helping me always died.  I realized I hated my life as much as I wanted to cling to it.

He leaned back and studied me.  “Because I want to help you,” he said with a slightly confused smile.  He lifted a hand as if to reach across the table and touch me.

I jerked back suppressing the urge to punch him in the face.  How dare he mock me by feigning ignorance and sympathy.

“If you want to help me, die.” My gaze remained locked on him, ready for anything.

His eyes flared slightly, and he dropped his hand.  “You are very hostile for someone your age.”

I snorted.  “Just how many teenagers do you know?”  He looked like he’d passed eighteen several years ago.  I guessed he had to be in his mid-twenties.

He sighed and scratched his jawline.  After a moment he said, “Perhaps we started off poorly.  I’m Luke Taylor.  My friend, Gabby, sent me to find you.  She thinks you may have something in common with her.”

I felt a tug of sympathy for Gabby.  “How is she?” I murmured before I could stop myself.  If they had her, she would already be suffering; and I really didn’t want to know the extent of it.  It would just hurt more.

“Last time I saw her, she was weak but recovering.” He nudged the sub toward me again.  “Eat.  You’re too thin, and you’ll need your strength.”

Weak?  I remembered all the torture his kind had inflicted upon me.  He wanted me to be strong enough to endure.  “You son of a—”

He cut me off by reaching over the table and gently clapping a hand over my mouth.  He looked annoyed for the first time.  “Hush,” he warned when I would have moved away to keep talking.  “The decisions you make and the words you speak influence the people around you.  Be aware of your influence.”

I scowled at him.  What was he talking about?

He sighed and answered my question as if I’d spoken it aloud.  “There is an adorable little girl just behind you.  She can’t be more than two.”

When I turned, he dropped his hand.  Two seats away, an admittedly cute little girl watched us with curiosity.  Taking a calming breath, I turned back toward Luke.

He was gone.  The cell phone rested on the table, a number already punched in.  I stared at the phone for several heartbeats.  What was with this guy?  Appearing, disappearing.  Letting me go.  Giving me money and now food. As much as I wanted to know about Gabby, I wouldn’t...couldn’t call.  They would use her to trap me just like they would use my mom.  Besides, she might not even be one of the others I dreamed about.

I ignored the phone but took the sub, shoved it in my duffle, and left. Once outside, I carefully surveyed the light foot traffic around me.  Luke seemed to have disappeared, but I didn’t believe he had gone far.

Keeping to the populated area, I walked slowly as I tried to figure him out.  He had plenty of opportunity to force me to go with him, to hurt me, but he hadn’t done either.  Instead, he’d found me in the hotels and snuck into the rooms without notice to what?  To watch me sleep?  To leave me a note and money?  But he’d left me alone in the homeless shelter.  Why?  Probably too many people for whatever he had in mind.  My eyes darted around counting as the thought “too many people” stuck in my head.

In all the past lives I’d remembered so far, never had humans gathered in such great numbers.  Each time, the dogs had found us in small villages and decimated those around us. No. Not dogs. Werewolves. I needed to face the reality of their existence. The werewolves were vicious and strong, but I’d witnessed them receive injuries.  They had weaknesses...and now
we
outnumbered them.

For the first time in days, a smile lit my face.  Maybe there was hope after all.

*    *    *    *

I wore a new rough woven tunic that my mother and I had dyed with a red and brown pattern.  At almost nine, I was glad to have something that made me feel pretty especially when I stepped out of our sod home and saw the stranger.

A boy on the cusp of manhood stood before me.  His sudden appearance surprised me.  Winded and shaking, his eyes traced over my tiny frame just as I studied him.  His dark hair dripped with sweat and stuck to his olive skin.

My mother and sisters stepped out of our home behind me.  I gave the boy a small smile and wondered why he’d come.

The boy fell to his knees before me and brought his face level with mine.  His move surprised me, but I didn’t budge.  I was too curious.  My mother made an anxious sound behind me but didn’t tell the boy to leave.

His deep brown eyes locked onto mine.  “They are coming,” he warned with a slight growl in his voice.  “Just behind me.  They will kill your family.  You need to run—as far as you can—to save them.”

In this life, I remained unaware of the danger of which he spoke.  Perhaps this was one of my sisters’ lives where I didn’t have the dreams to remember.  Or perhaps I was too young for the dreams yet.  With the boy’s shaking, I knew what was coming even if my dream self did not.

My mother gasped and tried reaching for me.  It proved too much for the struggling boy, and he burst into his fur.  My sisters screamed and ran toward the field where my father struggled to turn the hard-packed earth.  My mother, sobbing and pleading for mercy, followed them.

I stood frozen, watching the wild creature before me.  He struggled with himself, slowly pulling back the beast until he was again in human form.

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to do that.  You must hurry.  There are too many of them coming this way.”  He glanced over his shoulder, looking back at the way he’d come.

He turned back toward me with worry and desperation in his eyes.  “Come here,” he said.

Heart hammering, I stepped forward.  He clasped my hand in his own and looked at me with kindness in his eyes.  “I’m going to protect you the only way I know how.  After I do, you’ll need to run, little one.  Go west.  Look for my people.  We will help you.”  He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.  “I need you to bite me.  It will confuse them and allow you to move away from your family.”

It took some convincing, but I did as he asked.  He shuddered when I broke the skin, and as I apologized for hurting him, I patted his shoulder.

“Never mind that.  Remember, west,” he said.  He moved back a step, burst into his fur again, and took off at an amazing speed.

By then, my mother and father were running toward me.  I waited for them and admitted to biting the boy but forgot about his plea for me to run.

My mother clasped me to her and wouldn’t let go.  We were still standing like that when a group of men arrived.

I watched as the men attacked my family. Too late, I remembered the boy telling me to run.  I screamed my anguish while the leader yelled and cursed.

“Find him.  He needs to die so she can Claim another!” the man snarled through his elongating canines.

The dream shifted, but the memory did not fade.

The lady in the taupe gown stood in the circle watching the women depart.  One woman turned back, a worried look in her eyes and a hand resting protectively on her belly.

“What is it, dear one?” the Taupe Lady asked softly.

“I will do as you ask and keep her safe.  But, who am I protecting her from?”

The Taupe Lady drifted from the circle, her gossamer skirts flowing as if in a breeze.  “Not who, but what.  Diversity may have gone too far in the beginning and created creatures your fragile race has no hope to withstand during their evolution and their struggles for dominance.”

“I do not understand,” the woman murmured in confusion.

The Taupe Lady reached forward and touched the woman’s cheek gently.  “It is not for you to understand, dear one, but for the child you carry.  She is wise, and her knowledge will last through the ages.”

I woke with a start as a train rumbled to a halt mere feet from my bench.  The air swirled around me...reminding me of the Taupe Lady’s dress. I stood on shaky legs and glanced around the shelter.  A few other people waited with us as several passengers disembarked, no one I considered suspicious.  Still my skin crawled.

A man sitting on the bench a few feet away caught my attention.  His focus wasn’t on me, but on a figure growing smaller in the distance.  My stomach did a crazy flip when I looked.

“Nice of him to see you off,” the man said as he stood up to get on the train.  “Should have stayed just a few more seconds.    “Boyfriend?”

Instead of answering, I reached into the pocket of my duffle and found my boarding pass along with more cash.  He’d put it there.  How much did this guy have on him?  Ticket in hand, I climbed aboard and chose a seat away from most of the passengers.  The ticket would take me two states west, but I wouldn’t actually ride the train that far.  When I’d closed my eyes on the bench, I’d anticipated he’d find me.  And just as I’d hoped, he’d look at the ticket.

Leaning my head against the glass, I thought of the two dreams I’d just had.  Though I’d only dreamt a portion of a past life in the first dream, I recalled how that life had ended.

The boy’s arrival before the rest of his pack had been unique and had spared me from torture.  Instead, the men had focused their efforts on finding him.  After searching for a day, they carried me east to their settlement.  There, they shoved me into a rough half-buried hut already occupied with several other young women.

The women had looked up when I’d arrived but made no move toward me until the door closed.  When they did approach, they began sniffing me and asking questions.  They were werewolves like the men, but not as vicious.  I’d lived with them for five years while the search for the boy who’d run continued.

During that time I had feelings that were not my own.  Gradually, based on information from my cohabitants, I’d come to understand that it was the boy I felt.

Finally out of patience, the leader had forced me to bite someone else. It was then that they learned something very significant.  The bond created with Claiming could be broken without killing one of the pair.  You just needed to Claim another.

That memory, along with the latest one of the Taupe Lady, had me questioning what I thought I knew.  The werewolves wanted me to bite one of their own and complete the mating bond.  Typically, I didn’t live long after that so the purpose behind their insistence to choose still remained a mystery.

Likewise, the boy in the dream confused me.  He’d been the only one I’d Claimed who had left me.  How ironic that I sat on a train heading west...the same direction he told me to run.  The thought settled over me for a moment before I realized the potential full message of the dream. It wasn’t just the direction.  Maybe the werewolves that kept killing me weren’t the sum of what they represented.  Could there be a few of their kind out there different from the rest?  Some who were willing to help?  Could Luke be like that boy?

I opened my duffle and ate the sub Luke had purchased for me.  The same thing I’d ordered for myself.  I thought back to the times we’d met while I was awake and the times I slept.  He treated me the same as the boy had.  With kindness.  Sighing, I watched the scenery as the train rumbled west and fought the ever-increasing pull of sleep.

*    *    *    *