16 Horror, Part 2

After the tribe had gathered the pieces, Mark darted into the woods. He came back a few minutes later in his human form, wearing cutoff jeans, carrying something in his hand. His well-defined muscles rippled over his bare chest as he drew near, then I realized that he was carrying a lighter. "Stand back, everyone," Mark said aloud, then lit the lighter and threw it on the pyre. Austin, Eric, and the rest of us gathered firewood and threw it on the body to kindle the flames. Soon, the blaze from the fire reached the heavens as the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

"I'll watch this," Mark announced turning to face us. "All of you go home and get some rest. We'll talk about this tomorrow." In reality, it would be later today, as the rays of sunshine indicated a new day as it slowly leaked through the dense forest canopy above.

"Don't we need to stay with Mark?" I asked Dakota, unwilling to leave him alone, especially after what we'd just endured.

"Eric and I will stay with him," Austin interjected, still watching the forest. "Be careful. There might be another one out there."

"Not likely," Raina interjected, ready to bolt. "I think he was probably the only one."

"I don't know, Raina," Micah replied, waiting with us. "There've been a lot of murders over the last few months, and each month there's even more than the last."

"Well," Dakota added. "Let's not worry about it tonight. We all need some rest. Besides, the creature won't be committing any more murders until next month. We'll just have to wait and see."

It seemed odd to have to wait to see if someone else was murdered before we knew if there are more werewolves, but I guess that was our only alternative.

"Are you sure you've got this?" Dakota asked Austin and Eric. "We can wait with you if you like."

"No, go on," Eric replied, lying on the ground, watching the fire. "We'll wait with Mark. Go home and get some rest."

"Go on home, everyone," Mark repeated, poking the burning pyre with a stick. "I've got this."

Then, Austin and Eric shook their heads, knowing that Mark couldn't hear them in his human form. Austin turned to face us. "Go on. We've got his back."

And I knew they literally did.

"Come on," Dakota said, looking at me, motioning with his big head toward the woods. "Let's go, Jessica. They've got this."

I knew that he was right, but I turned to face Austin and Eric anyway. "We'll be in our wolf form for a bit if you need us."

They nodded as I followed Dakota into the woods, heading toward home. I was too tired to run very fast and there was no reason to hurry home. And I was in no hurry to be away from Dakota... even for a minute.

Dakota didn't seem to be in a hurry, either. I was sure that he wasn't in a hurry to leave me, as well... or at least I hoped. But it was inevitable; we had to go home some time.

Together, we trotted through the woods as early morning light streamed through the canopy above, reaching the forest floor. The forest was coming to life. Squirrels and other forest animals darted out of our path as we passed, sensing the danger was over.

"Are you hungry?" Dakota asked, watching a herd of white-tailed deer scurry into the forest, knowing we could catch them in a second if we chose.

I smiled within my mind and replied, "I think I'll wait until I get home."

Dakota mentally laughed. "Not very fond of eating in your wolf form, huh?"

"It's okay in a pinch," I replied, laughing. "But I could go for a bowl of cereal right now, or pancakes, or bacon...."

Dakota laughed. "Sounds like you're hungry."

"What would give you that idea?" I joked as we trotted through the forest toward home. Darting through the woods with Dakota, I seemed to be getting my second wind. Being with Dakota did that to me; it gave me a sense of purpose. "Go ahead and hunt if you like. But you can come to my house for pancakes if you want, too. I make the best."

"Now that I just can't pass up," Dakota replied, mentally smiling as we darted through the forest, our feet padding softly against the forest floor. "I don't know, though, steaming hot, raw deer meat sounds pretty good right now...."

I laughed. "Go ahead, if you want, but I'm having pancakes." We laughed, bantering back and forth as we headed to my house. Right now, a warm shower, a meal, and sleep sounded pretty good. But I hated to say goodbye to Dakota, even for a few necessary hours.

"Oh, yeah?" Dakota asked mischievously, reading my mind. "So, I'm rubbing off on you, huh?" Mentally, he was giving me his dazzling half smile.

I laughed, mentally blushing. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"No secrets in the Pack Mind. Remember?"

"Don't remind me," I replied. "That's the only drawback to being a wolf. No privacy."

Dakota laughed impishly in his mind. "Yes, that's definitely not a good thing... most of the time. But then again, sometimes it comes in handy," he teased, remembering what I had just thought.

"You...." I started chasing after him as he ran harder into the forest, laughing within his mind.

We were almost home when I heard a voice crying in the forest. I stopped short and Dakota double backed to me, hearing it within my mind.

"What was that?" I asked, concerned as I looked around the forest for a sign.

"Not what, who," Dakota responded. "That was definitely human."

A moment later I heard it again. Like Dakota said, the crying was human, and it sounded like either a female or a child. "This way," I said, following the sound. A few moments later, we rounded a corner and my heart stopped, for lying on the ground was a teenage girl, lying face down on the forest floor, crying into her hands. Her clothes were nearly torn off, lying in shreds around her.

"I'll be right back. Watch her," I said, darting into the woods to phase. In the cover of the lush forest, my body shimmered as I allowed the red haze with black edges to overtake my vision. Tremors trailed down my arms and throughout the rest of my body as I literally pulled my body back together into my human form.

"No, get away from me!" the girl shouted, and my heart stopped, recognizing her voice. "No more!"

Quickly, I pulled on my gray tank top and navy shorts from where I had stashed them earlier, then quickly darted back to Dakota and the girl, my bare feet padding softly against the lichen, now damp with morning dew.

When I reached them, Dakota was standing back watching her, far enough away so as not to scare her. Even though he was in his wolf form, I could still see the look of disbelief in his eyes. Once I was there, he quickly darted into the woods to phase, as well.

"Hey," I said, slowly approaching her. I was afraid to look at her face, afraid that I was right. "Are you okay?"

The girl was crying softly, exhausted, with her head on her knees curled to her chest. I couldn't see the girl's face to be sure. I hoped against all hope that I wasn't right, but I knew I was. The teenage girl was so distraught that she didn't hear me, and her body was shaking uncontrollably. I feared that her body may be going into convulsions from shock, but she was shaking with terror.

"Hey," I softly repeated, kneeling beside her on the black rich earth.

"Get away from me!" she yelled, turning to look directly in my eyes... and my heart stopped. For the girl crying softly on the forest floor was Michelle. Her head snapped up, and her blue eyes met mine. "Jessica?" Her brain raced to make sense of what she was seeing. "Jessica! I'm so glad you're here!" She threw her arms around me tightly, then sobbed into my gray tank top.

A moment later, Dakota emerged from the forest wearing his familiar khaki shorts, his muscles rippling over his bare chest as he jogged quickly to my side, his eyebrows pulling together in concern. He stood back a bit as I gently rocked Michelle back and forth.

"Shush," I cooed into her matted, strawberry-blonde hair, rocking her gently, letting her cry. "It'll be alright," I said, hoping that it wasn't a lie.

A few minutes later, her sobs broke into catches from crying so long and hard, then I pulled back to look into her eyes as I sat in front of her on the lichen. She lifted a dirty hand and rubbed it across her face, leaving a black streak behind. Any other time, I would have smiled, seeing Michelle covered in so much dirt, but this was no laughing matter.

"Michelle...." I gently rubbed her arm. "How did you get out here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Michelle replied, looking into my eyes. She always had been very observant, even in her current distraught state. "Where have you been? You weren't in school yesterday...." Her voice trailed off as she broke into a fresh wave of sobs. Her body wretched as she buried her head once again into her hands, obviously remembering something.

"Michelle," I began again, gently shaking her arm. "Try to focus." I gently shook her, but it just brought on a fresh wave of sobs, as she grabbed my shoulders and pulled me tightly into a hug, holding on to me as a drowning man would a life preserver. "Michelle," I said loudly, "Try to focus." Then I pulled her once again into my arms, knowing that talking to her in this state would be futile. I rocked her back and forth, letting her get it all out.

"I can't believe he left me like that," Michelle mumbled incoherently, clearly in shock. "I just can't believe that he would do this...."

Then I stopped short, freezing with Michelle in my arms. Dakota stepped closer and knelt on the ground beside us, placing a hand gently on my shoulder, listening intently to Michelle.

"Who?" I asked, fearing the worst.

Then, Michelle's tear stained blue eyes met mine as she said the name that I feared the most. "Cane Summers!"

My heart froze in horror. Then I firmly pulled Michelle to my chest, holding her as she cried onto my shoulder. My eyes met Dakota's in stunned shock. He shook his head. Tears slid slowly down my own cheeks. My hand rubbed her bare back under her matted, strawberry blonde curls filled with leaves.

Michelle pulled back to look directly into my eyes and shouted into my face, "I can't believe that he bit me!"

My veins suddenly turned to ice as I looked into Dakota's eyes, and the horror in his matched my own.