The Last Feres
Chapter 5
Wren-wolf and I walked the fifty meters to where I'd parked the car further up the alley in silence. I was exhausted and Wren too by the looks of him.
Just before we reached the car however, a thin ugly doglike creature dropped down from the wall above us. Wren immediately got in front of me, snarled, and bared his canines at the intruder.
I've never seen the likeness of such a creature before. I've watched hundreds of horror movies and I could think of nothing close to the beast standing before us, purring.
Smelling like a rotten carcass, the beast appeared to be as tall and muscular as a Greyhound with a long snout and mouth fill with sharp pointy teeth like those of a barracuda. Its furless charcoal skin was marred with vertical red stripes from shoulder to hind legs. Its tail was twice the length of it body and its face... its face was as ugly as ugly can get; a pair of tiny ears pulled close to the scalp, no whiskers but it has these marble size, reptile-like, yellow eyes that gave me the chill just by staring at it.
It was obvious the way it advanced on us that it wasn't going away without getting what it came for.
Wren-wolf started moving sideways and the beast, graceful as a cat, mimicked his movement going the other way, nonetheless following an imaginary circle. I moved along behind my wolf. I've seen this on Nat Geo Wild once; they were sizing up each other looking for weaknesses. (At least that's what the narrator said.) But Wren, he had another goal in mind. I didn't know how I came to that deduction but Wren was trying to get the car behind us so that we could have a chance at escaping.
True enough, the car was at my back and Wren stopped abruptly.
Suddenly my next action caused a major chain reaction. It started with a breeze carrying an urgent message coming from somewhere. It said: It was creepy I know but I listened. It didn't have to tell me twice. I turned and sprinted towards the vehicle.
The creature must have sensed my intention because it launched forward the instant I made my decision. It never reached me because Wren counterattacked by catching the beast's hind leg in midair and slamming it down on the asphalt.
The beast didn't stay down for long because within second it was back on its feet again. Wren stole a glance in my direction and saw me safely tucked inside the car. The beast saw me too and that enraged it. It launched again but this time targeting Wren.
`WREN. BEHIND YOU!' I shouted in terror.
Wren turned but it was too late for him to dodge out of the way. The beast pounced and bit him on the shoulder. Wren fell but even when he was down he did manage to chew on the beast's front leg. Instantly, it let go of Wren and pulled back.
With tears running down my face and my heart beating a hundred miles per hour, I unlocked the car and rushed towards Wren who was still down whining in pain and bleeding on the asphalt. I didn't care if the beast attacks me or not anymore. I got to help Wren. He was hurt and had reverted back to his human form.
Quickly I assessed the damage done by the Beast. A few scratches here and there that would heal; bruises on the neck, chest and waist; and puncture wounds over the left shoulder. The beast dental imprint on Wren's flesh was quite deep and was oozing a massive amount of blood.
I pulled off my t shirt, wrapped it under his armpit and over the damaged shoulder before tying it tightly.
Wren grabbed my arm. `The warg... wh....where is it?'
I had no idea what a warg was but...the beast. He meant the creature that just attacked us.
I glanced where I saw it last and it wasn't there. It had vanished without a trace.
Gone,' I told Wren. Wren closed his eyes and sighed. Then he whispered something incomprehensive to no one in particular and said, help me up and take me home.'
Home! That was out of the question.
`No. We have to get you to a hospital.'
I pulled a naked Wren on his feet and I held him as he slowly walked towards the car.
`No, get me home. Eric and Charlie would know what to do.'
`But...'
`No buts Riley! Besides how are we going to explain this to the doctors, let alone the police because it sure as hell looked like someone assaulted me and then let his dog lose on me.'
Now that I think of it, what he said make perfect sense. Wren was a shifter, for all I know he could have a defect in his anatomy that would raise a lot of questions. Questions that I'm sure none of us were ready to answer. After helping Wren to the back seat, I got in and drove home as fast as I could.
I parked the car in the driveway. And as soon as I killed the engine I saw Eric, Charlie and a well groomed female with a stethoscope in hand rushing out of the house as if they already knew what happened.
I was momentarily perplexed. I didn't have a cell phone, I'm not too sure if Wren knows what a cell phone is, how did they know?
Carefully the men extracted Wren from the car and Eric carried him into the house with the rest of us in tow. The doctor lady asked for him to be placed on the living room couch. Then she reached for her medical bag and started doing her thing. When she cut my t shirt I couldn't watch anymore.
Eric held his brother's other shoulder and arm while Charlie stood over them with his arms crossed, both looking worried.
Feeling confused, exhausted and helpless I went to the kitchen grabbed one of Charlie's beer from the fridge and headed out on the porch. I sat on the steps reliving the incident trying to figure out what happened.
`A penny for your thoughts,' Charlie said from behind me moments later. I didn't look.
He came down on the steps and sat next to me. He watched me for a while. He eyed the untouched beer at my feet and raised an eyebrow. Whatever he was thinking, he chose not to say anything. I was glad he didn't. I wasn't in the mood for a fight.
`What's just happened?' I asked. I wanted to understand.
`May I?' Charlie pointed at the beer bottle. I nodded. He grabbed and took a swing at it.
`You were attacked by a wag and Wren got hurt.' he simply said.
`I know that. I was there remember. What I want to know is why?'
Charlie remained quiet. I could hear the mechanics of his brain churning. He knew it was time for some explanation. So much had happened within the past two days that he can't ignore. I know I won't.
I didn't press him. Want to or not, he was going to answer my questions before the day met its end.
The warg creature from the alley didn't attack me when Wren was down, why?' I asked. God knows he had the opportunity to finish both of us off.'
`He got what he wanted that's why.' Charlie's dryly answered.
`Got what?'
`Okay Rye, against my better judgment I'll tell you what happened earlier. But promise me you will keep an open mind because what I'm about to tell you will change everything from now on.'
Finally some answers.
`First of, wargs are vile creatures that live in the shadows. They are not of this world. But anyhow the attack today was no random act either. It was deliberate. For wargs don't purposefully act alone. They never act alone. I suspected that this one have a master. Like hunting dogs their masters bred them for one purpose, one purpose only, to track down quarry at commands. The warg in the alley didn't kill you guys because he only needed your blood.
I was still confused. `Why would it need our blood when he already found us?'
`Because of the protective shield I had had placed on the house when we first move in. Linda, the doctor inside treating Wren, is a witch. She and her sisters placed the protective shield to deter anyone who might wish to harm us.'
`I still don't get it?'
`The master wants access to our house, since most spell can be broken with blood, specifically the blood of someone who lives within the protective shield, I believe the warg wanted yours not Wren's. But when he got Wren his master must had realized that Wren was living here too. It wouldn't matter whether it was temporary or not.'
A pregnant minute pass before I ask. `Can I ask you another question?'
Charlie nodded.
`Why do we need protection?'