Wolves Don't Just Howl At The Moon
The following story is a work of pure fiction. Some material may not be suitable for individuals under the age of 18. This story is copyrighted and not intended for print. Please enjoy and I would love to hear what you think! I have a lot more to this story and plan on putting up others. Your feedback will be highly appreciated. (^_^) E-mail me at howlatthe@gmail.com. Also, please don't forget to donate to Nifty at http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html.
Thanks, Star
Chapter 4
Things Could Be Worse: Day 2
I am lying in a tree somewhere in the mountains. I can feel my tail swaying underneath me. I am watching three children play around in a stream. The summer heat is beaming down on my fur. I watch as two boys play with a little girl. I can feel the love they have for each other. I close my eyes listening to them play. Soon, I feel small hands take ahold of my tail. I open my eyes looking down to see another girl with a giant smile on her face looking up at me. I look back over to see the three others playing. This girl looks like the twin of other little girl. Again she tugs on my tail.
"Mommy, I'm hungry." She says, pouting up at me. I smile inwardly with my heart full of joy. She is such a spitting image of me.
Baby, why do you call me mommy? You know I'm daddy right?' I ask jumping down. She starts to walk over to where I land. Let's go you three. It's lunch time and Kendall is hungry.' I say crouching down. They come over joining us as they all start to put their sandals on.
"Because, Ms. Rachel said that you're my mommy since you gave birth to us. Besides, we call daddy that. It would be too confusing." She says scrunching up her nose. She is definitely my daughter with that smart and dramatic answer. Suddenly, I hear movement behind us. My hair stands on end and I see a clouded leopard step into view. I jump around hissing as I block the children from his view.
`Wow, calm down it's only me Gabriel.' He says calming me down instantly. The kids run around me when they hear the voice.
"Uncle Jeff!" They yell running over to him.
`Hey rug rats!' He says as they jump on him.
"Mommy we are gonna ride back on Uncle J." One of the boys says pointing at his brother.
"That's okay." The other little girl says. "Mommy is going to get us home first anyway."
"No teleporting. That's cheating." Says the other boy.
`Either way mommy is leaving now.' I say causing the girls to run over and jump on my back.
`The J train is leaving as well.' Jeff says. The girls grab onto my fur leaning forward and we are gone before the boy are on Jeff. The girls are laughing as the air hits us at high speeds. About five minutes into the run I get the feeling somethings wrong. I start to slow down looking around when I get the scent of familiar blood.
`Kendal get your sister and teleport to dad.' I say looking around frantically.
"Mommy what's going on?" She asks with panic in her voice.
`Do as mommy says. Go now.' I tell her trying not to raise my voice. They hop down and disappear. I turn around running back to the stream. I arrive smelling the blood of Jeff before I see him bleeding from his side. A group of vampires all around. Two on each side of the boys. One with his left hand clamped loosely on Jeff's throat and his right arm wrapped around Jeff's forehead clasped on the back of his head.
`Finally, I guess they are of no use now.' The vampire holding Jeff says, moving and snapping his neck. His body hits the ground and time stops. My eyes burn as light erupts from them.
I blink waking up in my room. I look around realizing it was just another dream. That was turning into a nightmare. The next time I go to the realm of the afterlife, I'll definitely have to ask them about these dreams. They are getting to realistic. They are giving me breadcrumbs. But to what is the real question. I get up making my bed. I usually don't because the house keepers mess it up and remake it. But, whatever. I finish making it heading to the bathroom. Taking my clothes off on the way. I shower and take care of my other bathroom necessities for the day.
An hour and a half later, I walk into the kitchen grabbing an energy bar and a Gatorade. I head up to father's office finding the family doing random things. I get a nagging feeling but ignore it. When I enter the room fully Sophia walks over to me smiling.
"Looks like you're with me today kiddo." She says grabbing my arm and leading me out to her car. A cherry red Lexus IS 250, the license plate reading SOJEWC. I can't even really comment on how funny it is to me. "So, today we are working with your snow leopard right?" She asks as we both get into her car.
"That's what Connor says. I have a feeling that today is going to be just as mundane as yesterday." I say putting on my seat belt.
"Why do you say that?" She chuckles, turning on the car and pulling out.
"Well, I feel like I'm not really being challenged while I'm practicing with the simulator. I want something that's going to challenge me to the edge of my ability. Not something that I can easily formulate a plan against. As hard as that may be." I say dismissively.
"Well, I'll talk to him and see if he will up the level that he is putting you on." She says turning up some Keri Hilson. We start to sing along as she drives.
We get to the gym seeing a lot of cars there. We park and start to head inside. I hand her my Gatorade and pull a hair tie off of my wrist and start using my fingers to comb my hair back. A guy coming out holds the door open for us.
"Thank you." I say glancing at him to make eye contact briefly. He was looking between me and Sophia. She gave a two finger salute winking at him. I mentally shook my head as we went in to the gym.
People were all over the place fighting and working out. I momentarily stopped, scanning the room finding Connor in front of the simulation rooms with a group of people. He looks over and waves us over. As we walk over, I finish putting my hair in a ponytail and. We reach the group as Connor starts to speak again.
"Today you will all be working on using your wolf and cat forms to fight." He begin. "There will be two different sessions that you will be working on. I want you to be mindful of the second session. Once it activates, you will be pushed to the limits. This will by far, be the most trying practice that you have ever been through. Good luck and do your best." He finishes dismissing the group. He walks over to me. "I will explain how the simulation works. You are, questioning our methods still, correct?" He says it as a question but, I know better than that. It was a statement.
"It's not that I'm questioning your..." He cuts me off by raising his hand to stop me.
"Gabriel, I know what I'm doing. I have trained the entire pack including your father." He says putting an end to it. I simply nod signaling for him to continue. "Now, the simulation is a learning machine. When you enter the room, the system taps into your mind. It will tailor an easy level for you. The easy level is used to see how you think and react to situations. It will also put you in multiple situations basing them off your fears and strengthen your weaknesses. Both of those will be tested in the second session. That is the reason why I never put a level on your simulation. I want yours to be natural. If we force it, you wouldn't have learned anything. This way we can target what you need to learn." He says finishing up. He looks over at his at all the windows that have turned into monitors of what is going on inside. He turns back to look at me. "Well, don't just stand there looking lost." He chuckles pushing me towards an empty room.
I get into a room taking my shirt off. I slip my sweats down as I switch into my snow leopard. She feels relieved and ready for some action. I stretch out shaking my fur a bit. I straighten up as the room starts to change into the stream from my dream. I shift my stance slightly as some agitation runs up my spine. My fur raises slightly as the same smell of blood hits me. I turn seeing the same scene as I had in my dream. This guy Jeff falls to the floor dead as the vampire that killed him starts walking over towards the boys. The two boys grab each other's hands as a shield forms around them. I feel the rage building up inside me. I take off running for them. They back away from the boys as I jump in front of them. The simulation suddenly stops and the room goes back to normal. I look over at the window and see Sophia and Connor looking in. Sophia holds two thumbs up smiling huge. Unsure of what is going on. I walk over to my clothes grabbing them in my mouth and teleport to the bathroom. I change back and put my clothes back on. Walking back out to the simulation rooms. I walk up to Sophia and Connor. They both look over at me.
"I can't really be surprised that the simulation didn't need you to fight. Your cat is the spirit of the first. Her power exceeds that of all ours. So, naturally there is nothing that this simulator can do for that form." He says looking back over at the monitor.
"Well, this was a waste of time." I say annoyed and taking my hair down grabbing my Gatorade from Sophia.
"Well, after seeing how much you have improved after the results from yesterday's simulation, there is no reason to continue your training. The results were inconclusive. You will have the knowledge needed to defend yourself against most foes, after you read the books I gave you. Besides that, you seem to keep gaining new abilities so, I doubt you will need our help with those." He says about to continue but, Sophia interrupted him.
"Sorry to cut this short but, we have to be on our way." She tells Connor. She then looks over at me. "We need to get home fast." I nod to her.
"Thank you for your help Connor. But, we need to get home." I say shaking his hand. I turn to Sophia taking her hand and teleporting to her car. Once inside, I teleport us home. We hop out of the car and run up to the front door where Sam quietly opens the door and comes out. "Sam, what are you doing?" I ask as Sophia starts to giggle.
"Shhhh." She says quickly looking back. Seeing it's clear she turns to speak. "The police are here looking around the house. Apparently, they have a warrant to look anywhere on the property that they think is necessary." She says quietly. We soon understood what was going.
"How far have they gotten?" Sophia asked matching Sam's volume.
"They got here about 15 minutes ago so they are still looking around the basement. The house is completely clean and not going to be a problem whatsoever. What I am worried about, is the property. Damien and I are the only ones here. Everyone is either, at the company or at the gym. Even the wolves' camp is empty. I get a feeling that there was a tip as to where they should look though. Seeing as how none of the patrols have caught the scent of anyone else yet." Sam answered with her voice down. I thought about my dream and the stream. I wonder if that was actually a vision of where we should be looking.
"I need to look in the office at a map of our property. I think I may know where they are at." I tell them walking past Sam. I look into the house not seeing anyone. I teleport to the top of the stairs. I look around the corner and see that the coast is clear. I swiftly walk over to dad's office. As I enter, I walk over to his desk moving a notepad and l start looking over the property. I scan the paper looking for all the areas with blue. I find it about twenty-five miles in. I hear the door creek and look up quickly. Sam is looking around the corner.
"They are starting on the other side of the house. So, what is the plan?" She asks as Sophia walks in.
"Sam can you find the wolves patrolling?" I ask to which she nods. "Good. I need for you to tell them to go and check the stream that flows into the Inter Fork and find out if there are any leads there." She comes over to the desk looking at the map. She closes her eyes and opens them a few seconds after.
"The message has been sent out. I also informed dad about what's going on." She says looking down at the map. "Oh, I almost forgot." She says looking up at me. "My contact informed me that he found something that maybe of some importance. They are still looking into the stealer ability. As for foresight, he said that they're the most unique of all telepaths. Since their ability takes so much control of the brain you have a lot more control over how you are able to use it. Actually, he might be able to explain it better. One second." She closes her eyes for about ten seconds. "You there Jeff?" She asks.
Yeah.' He says. His voice becoming more familiar to me. I simply smile. This has to be quick though.'
"Alright, I have Gabriel and Sophia in the link so, go ahead." She says. I hear him clear his throat.
Hey everyone.' He says sounding a bit nervous. We all greet him and he continues. So, people that have foresight are able to see into the future. Since they are able to use so much brain power to go into the future, they are more susceptible to sensing other visual abilities. I believe that is the reason why that wolf was able to detect you. That is pretty much a summary of what I told Samantha but, I must leave. They are doing random sensory scans in every department. I'll let you know if I find anything else that may be helpful. Bye.' His presence fades.
"Well, I guess that makes since." I say. Scratching my head as I walk over to the window. They soon join me each locking an arm with my own. Sam suddenly loosens her grip. She closes her eyes and is quiet for about five minutes. I look back out at the mountain. Sam finally comes too.
"I talked to dad and he should be on his way home soon. The patrols have found something. Apparently that spot near the stream you were talking about was right. They picked up the scent of wolves and some traces of humans." She said pausing for a second. She shook her head in a frown. "Now, they just said they found a few traces of human blood." That was a total problem. We all froze when we heard a man clear his throat from behind us. In more ways than one. I closed my eyes and slowly opened them. Once, I composed myself, I realized that Samantha and Sophia were already talking to the guy chuckling. Relieved all the nerves fell right off.
"Sorry to eavesdrop but, the conversation you guys were having just now." He said causing me to clam up again. Just like that the nerves were back.
"Well, I was actually going to come and tell you guys this. We talked to our patrols that are out searching the property. One of the guys told us that they picked up a scent and some trails of blood. Hopefully they are close to finding these kids before anything happens to them." Sophia said defusing the situation. Or, at least I hoped that she did.
"I'll take my men over there and see if we are able to aid your people in any kind of way." He sounded like he was about to continue but, he stopped and ended up getting interrupted by another voice.
"Detective..." Calls a female voice. "...You are wanted back at the station. They said there's an emergency and it's paramount that we leave here yesterday." She finished leaving quickly.
"Well, it appears that this will have to be cut short. If your patrol gives you any further information, please give me a call." I hear the sound of paper being passed and I assume that he handed them a business card. I soon felt a pull on the back of my head telling me that he was staring at me. I shook the feeling off and focused up at the mountain. "I will probably stop by again with my team before we start heading to the mountains. You all have a good night." He says.
"You too." I heard Sophia say as she started to make her way back over towards me. "Gabriel, what was that?"
"Whatever it was, let me tell you, it was beyond rude." Sam added on.
"You know that detective could be our hero or our executioner right? That attitude right there, could have easily been enough to have a full investigation done on the family. Guess what..." Sophia started going on but at this point I ignored her and just started to walk away from them.
"Look, I'm sorry but I have my reasons and even if I explain it to you, there is little chance that either of you would be able to understand where I am coming from." I said leaving the office and heading for the kitchen.
I love my siblings. I honestly do but, they seriously need to stop thinking that they are my parents and I don't know what I'm doing. I head down the stairs, through the foyer, and into the hall heading to the kitchen. Once there, I walk over to the fridge to grab a sandwich and a bottle of water. I close the door and head out to the table on the back patio. There is a nice little breeze that hits me as I get settled and start eating. I started to think about the police getting involved. I wonder if there were any humans beyond the human mates that were aware of the fact that the supernatural really does exist. That would definitely be something that we would be aware of though. Just as I was about to shake the thought out of my head, I felt the same usual pull and I knew that I was on my way to the realm of the afterlife. I blinked and opened my eyes to see my mother and a woman that looked like she could be her sister. I ran over hugging my mom.
"It's nice to see you again Gabriel." She smiled kissing my forehead.
"You too mom." I said smelling her scent and embracing her presence.
"Gabriel, this is my great grandmother, Danica Marie Williams." She says gesturing to the smiling woman next to her. She looked to be in her mid to late thirties. I stand up straight in front of her trying to show her my best manners.
"How do you do?" I ask extending my hand to her. She giggles pushing my hand away and grabbing me for a hug.
"None of that Gabe. You are family. We hug." She says releasing me. We all begin to walk around a lake that looks to be in a park. I shake the thought away as my grandmother begins to speak. "So, I am guessing that you have been wondering about the human's involvement with our world. I am not really surprised with everything that is taking place now. It's funny how the only time things get this bad in the supernatural is when the spirit of Eve is in the body of a man." She said with a quick chuckle. "Well, let me explain how they work. There is a very small portion of the government that is connected with everything that we do. Of course it is all taken care of by the supernatural but the security is so high and advanced that, not even the president has the ability to gain the information on us. But, with them comes those that have in some way figured us out. There is only one of two things that happens to them. The first, is that they will be brought to the alpha and erased. The second, is that they become hunters." She says as we walk towards a bench in the sun that is facing the water.
"What do you mean erased?" I ask a bit skeptically.
"The alpha is very strong. Besides all telepaths, they are the only ones that have that ability as well as others. The alpha will bring the human in if they are not a mate and wipe the information out of the humans head. The government sends a team out to take care of any evidence. Therefore, we call it erasing." She says lifting her hand as she continues to talk. "Hunters are a bit more difficult to explain seeing as there are two different types of hunters that exist. The hunters that we mostly encounter are the hunters that fight alongside us. Once they find out about us, they are trained by us and shown how to take out the dark creatures. There are many cooperative hunters left in the world that I am aware of. But, there are those that believe that all supernatural creatures are evil and will kill us whether we are aiding them or not. They are few in numbers but, they are also a threat to us. We won't kill a human unless there is absolutely no way around it. A hunter has never been killed by us. Now, with that said, we have used our powers to stop them many times. But, as I was saying, these types of hunters have the idea that all supernatural beings are not meant to exist. So, they train to kill us. The reason there are so few of them is due to the simple fact that they haven't been trained to fight the way that they should have been. Which is by us. But, they are still able to put up a fight. They have created some type of pheromone that can identify us. One smell from within a two foot radius and our eyes glow." She finishes standing. "I must be on my way my dear. I take pleasure in your future visits." She says as I stand and hug her goodbye.
"Thank you Danica. It's was definitely a pleasure and I do look forward to seeing you more in the future as well." She smiles backing away from our hug. She turns and vanishes. I look over at mom. "How were you with your sibling's mom?" I ask hoping that she may have some words of wisdom.
"Your aunts and uncles were always a hand full." She smiled reminiscing on the memories. I remembered a lot of her memories were always happy as a child. My uncles always used to play jokes on the girls. It was always a contest for them. My mom and aunts were always together. That is until they broke off finding their own mates. "You have it much different than I did. You were born into conflict. Since there is a gap between you and the others, it is natural that they would treat you the way that they do. Michael thinks of you like a son, since he was the first to connect. Sophia does as well, based off the fact that she is the oldest and is trying to take care of you all. She feels it's her role to be the mother figure you all lost." I could understand that I guess. Really, I like that they act like that but, in serious situations... "They are always going to be like that, no matter the situation. A tiger can't change its stripes. That is something that you have to deal with when it comes to tigers." She chuckled pulling me closer to her.
"Mom, what was that tea we had last time I was here?" I asked. It popped in my head out of nowhere.
"I almost forgot about that." She smiled. "The tea is from a plant that is grown here. You won't be able to find it in your realm unfortunately. It has different spiritual properties that release different hormones into your body since you are in fact, still alive."
"Hmm. Now, does it have anything to do with the way my dreams are progressing? They don't feel like dreams so much anymore, more like visions." To this she smiles.
"You are not having dreams. They are indeed visions. Be wary of them though. Like all things, the future has a way of changing once you know the outcome." She said rubbing my head as I laid on her lap. She was so warm and loving. I began to feel tired. Like always the storm clouds began to roll in. I sat up looking over at my mom.
"Goodbye mom. I love you." I said hugging her and kissing her cheek.
"I love you too my baby." She says kissing my forehead. "Don't forget. Don't be too hard on your siblings. They are trying to keep you safe." She yells as I start to float up to the clouds. I close my eyes and open them again to find myself in father's office in front of the window.
"That was weird." I say turning around and seeing everyone looking at me. "Oh, uh, hi." I say embarrassed. I walk over to sit on the couch next to Michael. He puts his arm around me and pulls me close. I watch his face as he realizes he can feel mom. I smile. "Crazy story." I chuckled. He just shakes his head as he smiles. We focus back on dad as he starts to speak.
"So far, all the pack alphas know what's going on. Now, the issue we are still running into is that no one can get ahold of the government agents to inform them of the incident. We will continue trying to reach out. Alpha Dominic, has your patrol said anything else about their search?" Dad asks.
"No Alpha. They are still following the tacks further into the mountains." Dominic says checking his phone.
"Well, until we hear back from them everyone continue on as is." Dad says in his was of dismissing the group.
I hop up leaving first while the others talk amongst themselves. I walk through the hallway and down the stairs, in enough time to stop looking into the living room and seeing something that makes me stop in my tracks. A man with messy blond hair, leaning against the back of the couch on his phone. He is wearing a dark blue runway suit in micro pinstripe wool and silk. If I had to guess, it was Armani judging by the look of it. It fit to his body almost like a second skin, showing just enough to see how build and muscular he really was. He also had on a pair of black Brogue in brushed calfskin shoes from Giorgio. I must admit he was definitely leaking sex appeal. I straighten out my clothes a bit running my hands down them then, combing my fingers through my hair. I rub any crud out of my eyes. All of this taking about five seconds. Finally feeling presentable, I call his attention.
"Excuse me, can I help you?" I ask, as I saunter down the stairs. I grab his attention and he stands up straight. He locks his phone and puts both hands in his pockets as he steps forward heading into the foyer to meet me. He finally lifts his head smiling and I meet his gaze. I stop walking holding my breath as I make contact with his amethyst eyes. Lost in his stare, I quickly snap out of it as people begin walking down the stairs. I avert my eyes quickly looking over my shoulder, before I continue down the stairs, and looking back at him. I avoid looking directly into his eyes.
"Mr. Skyland, I am Detective Titus McCloud." He says pulling his hand out of his pocket for me to shake, as I step off the last step walking over to him.
"Good afternoon Detective McCloud." I say taking his hand in mine. His grip is firm but, I can tell he is holding back. I can also smell that he is human. Entirely not what I was expecting. I release his hand gesturing for him to follow me into the kitchen. I shoot the family a quick thought letting them know the detective was here.
"You guys have a lovey home by the way." He says behind me walking over to the island as I walk over to the refrigerator.
"Thank you, it's been in our family forever. Would you like a drink?" I ask grabbing two waters. He takes one nodding his head as if to say thanks. I simply smile taking a sip of mine. I put the cap on and place the bottle on the island in between us. "So Detective, how may I help you?" I ask again. He seems to be sizing me up, which makes me a bit uncertain. Then, he smiles.
"I was here earlier, I think you were preoccupied though. But, I told your sisters that I would stop by before I joined my team and your patrols in the mountains." He says looking around the kitchen.
"You're going into the mountain's wearing that?" I ask chuckling a bit, gesturing at his attire. He looks down at himself before looking over at me with a confused look.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" He sounded serious. So, I stop laughing and just stare at him. I was about to answer but, was instantly stopped by his laughter. "That face you made was pretty epic." I blush a bit lowering my head shaking it a bit.
"I can't believe I fell for that." I say finally lifting my head and finger combing my hair back out of my face. "One point to Slytherin." I say waving an imaginary flag with my right hand sarcastically. He laughs.
"Well, I'll be on a four wheeler. So, I'm not too worried about it. Has your team reported anything else yet?" He asks as he pulls out his phone and looking at a message he just got. I open my mouth to answer but, it isn't my voice that is heard.
"Detective, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Says Michael coming into the kitchen and extending his hand. The detective looks over his shoulder at Michaels smile and turns to shake his hand. His playful demeanor changing to a more serious disposition. I shake my head as I squint my eyes at Michael.
'Don't get so close to this human.' He says to me. My mouth opens up a bit in shock.
'Don't presume to tell me whom I may and may not be affiliated with brother.' I say just as rudely. He glances sharply over at me before putting his full attention back on the detective.
"The pleasure is all mine. I was just stopping by like I told your sisters that I would before heading out to meet with both my team and your patrols." The detective explains to Michael.
"Wonderful, please let us know if there is anything else you need from us." Michael says smiling.
"You know, maybe I should accompany them. I do know our land better than most." I said matter of fact smirking at Michael a bit.
"Please, I'd much appreciate your assistance then." The detective says smiling back at me.
"On the contrary." Michael begins. "My other brother Damien and our sister Samantha will be heading out with them. Besides Gabriel, father has another task for you to do." Michael says smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary. I simply roll my eyes and begin to exit. Before leaving, I turn back towards them.
"It was nice to meet you Detective. I'm sure I'll see you later." I smile with a wave of my hand as I leave.
I walk out of the kitchen and head to go upstairs. Samantha, Damien, and Sophia come walking down the stairs as I enter the foyer. I pause as they step off the stairs and walk over to me. Sam walks over grabbing my hand and they lead me into the living room.
"What's up with you guys?" I ask staring at their unreadable faces.
"So, who is it?" Sam asks. I look at the m confused.
"Uh, what?" I question scratching my head. "You guys are acting just as weird as Michael." They look at each other and smile as they look back at me. No sooner, Michael and the detective come walking around the corner.
"As Michael what?" He asks coming in. My siblings share another look and a look of realization forms. I again shake my head in annoyance at this secrecy.
"Never mind, so Detective, you ready to head out?" Damien asks.
"As ready as I'll ever be I guess." Detective McCloud says walking away with Sam and Damien exiting the house. I look over at Michael and Sophia crossing my arms.
"What is going on?" I ask totally not in the mood for any more games. "And please don't try and evade answering." I say. Sophia smiles and Michael just looks annoyed.
"Well, we think that Titus may be your mate. It's not for sure but we are all feeling the way your pheromones have escalated since you met." She smiles thinking about it dreamily. I just shake my head and look over at Michael. He is still avoiding my gaze. I laugh sarcastically and walk to continue on with what I was doing.
"Whatever. I have stuff to do." I say about to do leave.
"What is with you? You have been really off lately." Michael says.
"I am just trying to deal with everything." I tell them both.
"Okay, so are we all. But, you don't see all of us being assholes to you though." He says raising his voice at me. I get a bit scared from the intensity of his voice. But, I don't back down.
"I'm sorry that you all feel that I am being an `asshole' to you but, none of you get it. You know, I was going to listen to mom but, screw it. I'm tired of everyone acting like I'm stupid and treating me like a child. One, my maturity and thinking surpasses all of yours. Two, you think you're protecting me by not telling me everything but, really you're putting all of us in danger. Think about it, if I know what is going on, I can think of multiple ways around it. I'm not playing boss when I tell you guys something. I'm being smart. I've already calculated most of the possible scenarios for the upcoming fight. No matter how we try to get around it, there will be a fight. We keep playing moves like the game is checkers. Well, Raiden is playing chess. And, if he is as bad as I am seeing in my visions, he has already outmaneuvered us." I exhale a deep breath. "Look the situation is pretty much like this, just in case what you guys have planned falls through I need to know there are other options. Not just for my own survival. I'm not sure if you guys know this or not but our species survival, depends on me." I say getting a headache all of the sudden. I walk over to the couch taking a seat. I feel a pushing in my mind. Kind of like, when I'm pulled to the realm of the afterlife. But, in the same was its totally different. I shut my eyes and begin rubbing my temples. My breathing begins to speed up.
"What are you talking about?" Michael says shaking his head as if he heard me wrong.
"Hold on Michael, Gabriel what's wrong." Sophia asks sounding a bit scared. I don't answer just start to breathe a bit heavier. She starts to panic a bit. "DADDY!" She runs over to the foyer. Shortly after I feel his hand touch my forehead. But, my attention is soon distracted by the front door being thrown open.
"DAD!" Samantha yells out.
"It's serious." Damien says walking in shortly after.
"In the living room." Dad calls out.
"What's going on with Gabriel?" Sam asks as they walk in.
"The detective is still outside getting his four wheeler ready." Damien says a bit on edge. I suddenly fell the push intensify. I am on the verge of yelling out at this point.
`Gabriel. You have to quit resisting. Let me in.' I hear my mother's voice.
"Mom how are you on this side?" I ask out loud.
"Mom?" I hear my siblings say simultaneously. My eyes fly wide open as I feel her push past me. I see the haze around my vision meaning my eyes are glowing.
"It may be easier if I explain the first's spirit line." I hear my mom say through me. I let her speak because I don't fully understand it either. "Don't interrupt me I can't hold this line open very long." She says holding up a hand. "Now, the spirit of the first has a very specific importance to the line of were-cats. She gave all of us these special abilities we have, just like the wolf-spirit did for were-wolves. Her spirit lives on so she can continue to give the abilities to each generation born as well as keep ours active. But, if the carrier died before the next is born, the line as well as the species will cease to exist. One can't survive without the other. Which is why Gabriel must be protected from this Raiden. You also must be open with him William." She says turning us to look at my father and he nods his head in understanding. "He is stronger than you all know. I love you all but I am being pulled back into my realm. Don't worry I will return." She says making us all smile. I blink and feel her gone from my head.
"Well, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. I am the hope for all of us." I say rubbing my head as my headache slowly fades away. Father is the first to grab me in a hug.
"Don't worry. You will be fine. You all will." He says kissing the top of my head. Everyone else joins the hug. After a few seconds I start to laugh.
"So, does anyone else feel this awkward presence?" They look over and Detective McCloud is standing in the doorway. I just shake my head.
"Sorry to intrude but, we need to get a move on. They found another one." He says.
"Found another what?" Father asks looking over to Sam and Damien.
"That's what we were trying to tell you. They found one of the kids." Sam says. Detective McCloud started walking over towards the group and instantly dads, Damien's, and Michael's stance changed slightly defensive. Not enough for him to notice but, enough for the rest of us to. Sophia and Sam snickered. I rolled my eyes.
"Well that's a start to good news." Dad says.
"Not really, he was pretty injured. Apparently some wolves got to him." Damien says.
"Damn. I was hoping that they wouldn't have been harmed." Dad said. "Alright you guys know what to do. Let's find the rest before anything else happens." He finishes before leaving and heading back up to his office.
"Alright, change of plans, Sophia you are going to go with Damien and Detective McCloud to meet with the teams. Samantha you are going to take Gabriel with you. It's only natural the two best hunters work together. I'm sure you have the best chance of finding them." He says and we all nod in understanding. He heads upstairs as well. The other three head out the front door talking over plans. I head in that direction too, only to be stopped by Sam grabbing my arm. I look over my shoulder at her.
"We aren't going out that way." She says gesturing for me to follow her towards the kitchen.
"You aren't serious about us running to where we are going are you?" I really am not in the mood for all that.
"Not exactly. You see..." She starts to take off her hoodie. She opens the back door and puts it on one of the chairs around the back patio table. "We are the best hunters so, let's hunt Skyland style." She chuckles kicking off her shoes and running for the trees. Taking off clothes along the way. I smile shaking my head. I teleport out of my clothes and shift. I take off into the woods following her scent. I finally catch up to her tiger that was walking along smelling the air.
`Okay, now where too?' I ask her. She looks over to me.
Can you take us to that stream you pointed out to us on the map?' Before she knew what was happening. I placed a paw on her shoulder and teleported us to the stream I saw in my dream. We looked around and saw that there was some police tape around the area. Well, it looks like the teams have already been around here.' She says as we walk around the area taking in the smells. We both picked up a few more scents that the teams had informed us of.
`I'm not so sure that we were supposed to notice them. Think about it. The smell that we are getting is masked by some type of ability that blocks certain receptors.' I said looking around the water's edge.
You're right. There seems to be a lot of lingering psychic energy left behind. I think the others didn't notice because none of them have as much power as we do.' She did walking over to where I stood. What are you looking at?' She asks searching in the water. I looked up at her.
`Someone changed this entire area. Take a look at my mental view of how it is supposed to look.' I said closing my eyes and sending her the images. She closes her eyes as well.
The stream is running in the opposite direction.' She says as she opens her eyes. She takes a breath as if to say something but, instead turns to the right. Her ears perk up as well. Do you sense that presence?' She asks looking over at me. I do a mental scan and pick up what she is talking about. I nod to her and she starts walking towards it. That cave shouldn't be there let alone anyone in it. But...' She closes her eyes again as she continues to walk. The presence is human though. It might be one of the children. We need to hurry.' She says as she takes off. I am right at her heels. We finally arrive at the spot. I looks like a fresh man made cave. Probably only days old. The odd thing was the door that was built into it.
Curiouser and curiouser.' I say going over to it and placing a paw on it to push it open. I look closely and am able to see a lock on it through one of the cracks. I look over at Sam. There's a lock on the other side.' She nods closing her eyes.
`l'll call the others.' She responds. Didn't expect her to do that.
`Sam wait. I can get us in.' I said trying to stop her.
`Why didn't you just lead with that? Or better yet do it. Well, we have about 15 minutes, let's get in and get out quickly.' She said rolling her eyes. She did have a point.
Okay, here goes nothing.' I said turning back to the door. Alohomora!' I say and the door opens and I start walking in. There is a small lantern lit up.
`Did that Harry Potter spell seriously just work?' Sam asks. I look over my shoulder at her.
Seriously Sam?' I say shaking my head. Telekinesis.' I continue walking forward. She jumps forward in front of me and starts growling.
Hold on Gabriel. Someone's there.' I hear a bit of movement. She relaxes and moves closer. I walk over to her and see a girl. She's tied up and blindfolded. Her breathing is a little muffled from the tape over her mouth. She smells dirty, probably from being out for so long. I start to walk over towards her when Sam puts out a paw to stop me. I glance over to her. Something isn't right about this.' She says as a light sparks and all of a sudden. A fuse starts to burn from the lantern to the girl. The door slams shut and deadbolts. `They rigged her with a sensor trap. We have to get her out of here.'
`Come on.' I say running over to the girl and touching her with my paw. I use my tail and grab Sam. Once I make contact, I teleport us to the back patio, stopping the fuse. I let out a sigh of relief. When a beeping starts.
THE VEST HAS A TIMER.' Sam says loudly. I grab the vest and teleport it to the cave and drop it. As soon it leaves my mouth, I'm back at the house. Not even a second later, an explosion goes off in the distance. Take her to the office I'll meet you there.' Sam says running to the forest grabbing her clothes along the way. I walk over to the chair grabbing my clothes in my mouth. I pad over to the girl and teleport us to father's office. I then teleport to my room, changing and throwing on my clothes as fast as I can. I teleport back to the office and father already has the girl's bindings off.
"Sorry father. I thought it was best I change." I say walking over to them. He looks up with a weak smile.
"I'm glad you were able to at least find one of them." He says looking back at the still unconscious in his arms. Sam soon came running in.
"The teams and Detective are all on their way here." She says as she kneels down placing a hand over the girls head.
"The best way to proceed is to find out what happened. But, we don't have much time. Sam what do you have?" Dad asks her. The girls breathing falls silent and limp in my dad's arms. A few seconds and Sam stands up. The girl is still quiet.
"Not much. I left her asleep, she should be up in about twenty minutes." Sam says going over to Michael whom I didn't even realize was on the phone standing next to the desk. She hops on the computer and begins typing away. "So, this is what the layout for the mountain looked like two weeks ago." She says turning the computer monitor so that we all can see it. It shows regular vegetation and no type soil disturbances. She stands walking so she is on the same side of the desk as we are. "This, is what it was as of noon today." She minimizes the window. There is major work that has been done.
"They tapped into the old mines that were already there." My father says running a hand over his mouth and chin. "If they were able to do that much already..." He starts but stops. He walks over to the desk picking up his car keys and leaves without as little as a bye. Sam and I look at each other unsure of what just happened. Michael hangs up the phone sighing heavily.
"What's wrong Michael?" Sam asks as we both look over at him.
"Security at central was hacked. They are going into a system shut down for the next couple weeks." He says, as Sam crosses her arms and grabs the bridge of her nose.
"This couldn't have happened at a worse time." Samantha says. Not knowing the extent of the situation, I figure I might as well ask.
"So, in not knowing terms, this means what exactly?" I ask scratching my head unsure. Michael takes a breath walking over to the chaise and gesturing for me to sit down next to him. I do as he asks, and he begins to explain.
"Central, is the headquarters for all supernatural affairs. They are pretty much the brain and heart of all the light creatures. They take care of everything that goes on between packs all over this region. If they shut down for any period of time, the rest of us are all shut out. Imagine being in a coma. No one knows what's going on with you and you don't know what's going on with the outside world either. This means, while we are fighting for our lives we won't be able to get in contact with them. They won't be able to send aid unless we contact them. Which, we won't be able to do if they are shut down." Michael finishes and the phone rings. He stands to go answer it and Sam replaces his spot.
"As well, if central is shut down, they will have blocks. We won't be able to get in touch with our contacts on the inside and as far as I know, they haven't found anything of importance yet. They are still trying to decipher some of the records that they found." She says. She starts to look around the room and her eyes land on something. I turn to see the girl waking up. We both stand and slowly walk over to her. "How are you feeling?" Sam asks sincerely.
"Who are you and where am I?" The girl asks a bit stuck up. "No, wait, your Samantha Skyland you were on my sisters cheerleading team." She says more friendly. "How did I get here? I remember being in the car with Travis and then, falling asleep." She begins trying to piece things together. Samantha closes her eyes for a second and then looks over at me.
`There is nothing of what happened to her. But, I was able to find traces of the same wolf that hit Cameron. As long as he had her, and the short amount of memory he had to take. It's impossible to get her memory back.' She said as a matter of fact.
"Excuse me what is your name?" I ask the girl finally. Realizing we need to notify her parents. She looks over at me smiling flirtatiously. I felt a bit queasy.
"Oh. Hi, I'm Tiffany Carter." She says locking her fingers behind her back.
"You're Joy's little sis then." Sam says pulling out her phone. The girl nods at her. "Well, you've been missing for about three days. So, you should let your parents know you're okay. The police are already on their way here." Tiffany obviously looked like she was surprised.
"Wait, where are the others?" She asks. Sam looks down so, I take over.
"The police are out looking for them as we speak. We have already found two people and both are at the hospital. You will be taken there to see them and get checked out as well." I say grabbing Samantha's phone. "For now, call your parents they are worried sick." She takes the phone and begins to dial away. Shortly after she walks over to the window, Damien, Detective McCloud, and Sophia walk in, headed straight for us. I lift my hand to keep them quiet while I explain the situation. "She is calling her family first. Then, she is all yours. She said the last thing that she remembers, is the drive to the mountains. She doesn't remember leaving the car after she fell asleep though.
"What was that explosion from?" Detective McCloud asks.
"Apparently, one of the old mine entrances had some TNT still in it from its prior use. One of the wires was caught on a cart and it was still active. She was passed out in the cart. We moved her and it started to roll. When we left it blew up." Sam explained with no hint of a lie. I inwardly shook my head.
"How did you guys get here so fast then?" Detective McCloud asks looking around the room.
"We had our car close by. Lucky for us we did." Sam answers looking back at Tiffany.
"Well, I'll go down and check on the ambulance's location. They should be here shortly." The detective said pulling out his phone as he turned and leaving the office. I looked over at Tiffany. She was still on the phone.
"So, what are we going to do?" I ask Michael, who just finished the call.
"Well, that was one of the IT specialists. He is sending over some encrypted files that he doesn't have access to. Sophia, I need you to look them over and break open whatever it is." As he finished the computer beeped and we all looked over at the monitor that was still facing us. A message popped up and something began loading. We followed Sophia behind the desk where she sat down in front of the keyboard and turned the monitor around. Once the download was complete, Sophia began clicking and opening black windows.
"Well, whomever created this file took a lot of time and effort to make sure that no one was able to open it." She said not missing a beat as she began typing away.
"How long with this take?" Michael asks.
"Not long at all. Whoever did this wasn't aware of how brilliant I am, obviously. You're IT guys need to come see me for some lessons. This was encrypted with a zip file that was protected by a Trojan. But, if you are able to break through those then you have to stop the viruses that are protecting a worm apparently. But..." Sophia was typing so fast windows were closing all over the monitor.
"Just let us know when it's done." Michael tells her and then looks back over at us. "Anyway, since getting aid from central won't be an option I will send word to other Alpha's and see if they will be able to help us. We haven't exhausted all of our options yet. So, we can't panic because there is still a lot that we can do." He opened his mouth to continue but, Samantha put up a hand to stop him.
"Hold on a second, I'm getting something." She says closing her eyes. We hear Sophia press down on the keyboard really hard and stand clapping her hands together.
"Done." She exclaims turning to us. She flips her hair back for effectivity. I chuckle. "And, that's why big sis is a badass. She says throwing an arm over my shoulder. I simply shake my head. Michael takes a seat at the keyboard and begins clicking away.
"Damn it!" He yells clicking on a folder.
"Isn't that file supposed to be in the Alphas records?" Damien asked looking at it closely.
"Yeah. It is!" Michael says through gritted teeth.
"Wait a second." Damien begins. He grabs the mouse from Michael and slides him back from the desk. He begins doing something that makes windows start quickly popping open. "Here." He points to a grid looking image.
"What is that exactly?" I ask. He looks over his shoulder, so he is directly talking to me.
"This shows what is supposed to be connected to what." He points to a point with a bunch of lines coming off of it. "This is the Alpha records. This is basically a network that allows all the alphas to keep in contact instantly. It's wireless so they can even be on a laptop and still be connected as long as they have the proper authentications."
"Wait so what does this have to do with us?" I asked still not seeing it. No one else appeared to either.
"The ambulance is here. Tiffany let's get you to the hospital." Detective McCloud say walking into the room.
"I'm headed to the hospital now...Okay... Yes mom... God mom bye." She says hanging up the phone. She walks over tossing the phone on the desk and leaving with the detective.
"She is such a pleasant person to be around." Sophia says out loud.
"I heard that bitch!" Tiffany yells back.
"You were meant to genius!" Sophia yells back.
"Back to more important matters." Damien says pointing back to another part of the grid. This point only had two lines on it. "This isn't supposed to have two lines coming off of it. Which means, someone hacked the file and has connected it to a separate network." Damien says standing and stepping back a bit.
"Check this out." Sophia steps up and starts her work. "This isn't good. This file is a portal installed with spyware. Whomever has been using this knows what's being done when it happens. What's more important is that this network is also the network that we are using here at the house." She says sinking to the floor. Michael and Damien both sigh dropping their heads.
"So, someone's been spying on us." I stated finally catching on to the situation.
"Not just spying on us." Michael says as he clicks back on the original file. He clicks on a program. Then, he opens the internet window. He clicks on the tile labeled google web. "This, is what we are tracking right now." He says pointing at the monitor that shows the google earth image of Raiden's pack. He goes back to the program. "Sophia shut the program down." She leans forward and types something. After a few clicks, she gives a thumbs up. "Now look at it." He says going back to the internet and refreshing the tab. The image is different than it just was. "This was a set up. That program was activated showing us what we though was happening at the time. In the previous image. It appeared that it had rained where they were right." The three of us nod. Michael opens the weather channel program and searches the area. "The last time it rained was last week. In other words..."
"They are already here." Dad says walking in with a groups of people behind him. I looked over at my father seeing that his expression didn't seem surprised or the least bit worried.
"You have a plan, don't you?" I ask smiling. He nodded walking over to the computer. We all moved. "So, things aren't as bad as they seem." I said feeling relieved. But, that too was short lived.
"Well, they are about to get much more complicated. My contact at central, got some new information." Samantha said finally coming out of her trance. We all focused on what she had to say. "One of the perks of having foresight, you see the things in the future to help you in the present."
"That's kind of self-explanatory." Some wolf I have never seen before says.
"Hey, shut up so she can finish." Damien said before I could. The room was dead silent as we prepared to listen to Sam.
"As I was saying." She said squinting then rolling her eyes at the guy. "That is just one part of it. If and when they are in full control of it, they are able to change things. Such as, if there is someone else in that same vision from the past. They have the ability to change that person's vision to fit their own will."
"So, he changed what we say." I stated feeling a wave of nausea hitting me.
"Not only that, but, since he's a stealer we don't know what other abilities he has. He could have done a lot more than just changed that vision. From the readings that I got from him when we were there, he has a lot of power." She states.
"Well, I guess things could be worse." I said out loud. More to myself than anything.
"Stop talking like that." Damien said annoyed out of fear.
"He's right Gabriel. The worst part is he is able to block telepaths from reading him." Samantha says. Father takes over though.
"She's right. Which means, we won't know when they are going to attack. And, we still aren`t ready yet." Dad says. Still on the computer.
"Well, why don't we just leave?" I ask.
"Because, we don't have enough time too. Let alone they have hostages." Michael said.
"They are starting the shutdown at central." Samantha said. "I just got blocked out."
"They are going to be attacking soon dad. What do we do?" Michael asked. As one, we all look to the back of the room. In a chair, Detective McCloud sat looking really confused.
"Cats out of the bag." Damien says. I couldn't help it. I laughed. It wasn't because it was funny in a joyful way. It was because I just kept thinking how, could this possibly be happening. But, like most things, the best was yet to come.
-----------TBC-----------
Thanks for reading. I also created a group for the story on Yahoo. It will have pictures and updates. As well as open discussion for all of you views. Check it out at https://groups.yahoo.com/group/donthowlatthemoon Until next time.
Stay awesome. (^3^) Star