Of the Wolf's Blood Chapter 2
Chasing, chasing. He was running faster than he had ever run before in his life. The trees darted by in a blurred flash as he ran. Suddenly there was a monstrous black wolf before him, snarling and spewing blood from its mouth. Tyler looked down to his own hands and jumped back as he saw black claws dripping with blood. He looked upon the ground to see the bloodied remains of the Collins writer on the forest floor. The green blades of grass were splattered with crimson as her twisted face stared blankly at him.
He was then held tight by two muscular arms around his waist. A warm breath blew against his neck as a deep, growling voice spoke to him. The wolf was now strangely holding him and licked his face with its bloodied tongue.
"You're a monster now, Tyler Jones!"
Tyler whirled around to see a man with brilliant red eyes, dressed in a solid black suit.
"I'll see you soon!" He laughed, a sinister cold laughter sent shivers down Tyler's spine.
Suddenly the remains of the Collins writer started to move towards him. Tyler couldn't move. Other bodies, some with faces he recognized as being from the town, came out of the ground as the laughter crescendo. He struggled to move but simply couldn't. He looked down to see skeletal, half eaten hands holding him as the crawling dead legions came towards him.
Tyler woke up in a sweat and found himself sitting up. His chest was heaving with every breath and his brown hair clung to the back of his neck and shoulders. The sheets stuck to his body and he felt sick to his stomach as the gory images of the dream slowly came back to him from his foggy consciousness.
"Bad dreams Ty? That's how it always starts," said the deep voice of Eric.
There was something odd about his voice, it seemed almost ragged. Tyler tried looking for Eric but the room was dark. There was no light coming from the windows and he wondered just how long he had been unconscious. He felt something tug at his mind. It was an urge to go near where ever Eric's voice came from, as if by doing so everything would be alright. He shrugged off the idea, instead focusing on where he found himself. It dawned on him he was not in his bed or even at his home.
"Where the hell am I?" He muttered under his breath, getting out of bed as he did so.
"A friend's camp on the lake," answered Eric's voice only this time it came from behind him.
There was a warm sensation of hot breath on Tyler's bare shoulders. There was heat coming from his back side. The sudden change in temperature sent a chill down his spine and caused goose bumps to rise in the heat's wake. He turned around to see Eric standing unnervingly close from him. He was wearing a leather vest with its front open revealing his chiseled stomach, rounded chest, and toned arms. His long black hair was pulled back in a pony tail and his jaw line had a rough five o'clock shadow. He could smell the hint of bunt air around him but that faded into a heavy, musky scent of pine woods and leather. Eric's dark eyes fixated on him for several minutes as if he was searching for something. Tyler broke the gaze by looking away.
"Let me see your wrist," he ordered.
Tyler produced his wrist which was wrapped in a white bandage. When did that happen? How long had he been unconscious for? Questions filled his mind as he watched Eric undress the wrist. With the last few twists of the pinkish white bandage, he had expected to see his wrist all marked up with the teeth marks from that dog, instead all he saw was some scarred skin and a couple of slight indentations from the dog's teeth.
"I must have been out for days," replied Tyler flexing the wrist with surprisingly little pain.
"No. You've only been unconscious for a day and a half bro," grinned Eric.
"A day and a half? What do you mean by bro?" asked Tyler getting more confused by the minute.
"We don't have time for this. We're lucky that they haven't tracked us here yet and with you on board it won't take them that long. We gottah head south, probably to Portland," explained Eric as he took out a black leather back pack from the side of the bed, a brown leather jacket, and a black pair of leather pants. "Put these Ty, sorry to rush you into this but we got to get going."
"What about my home? Can't we go there?" asked Tyler, wondering what the heck was going on.
In a flash Eric grabbed Tyler and held him by the shoulders squeezing tightly.
"Listen! I'm not going to repeat myself. For now on when I say jump you better jump. Long story short, you've been brought into something that you're probably not ready for. Mark and I were going to bring you into this sooner but the others didn't want to. It seems fate decided otherwise," growled Eric, his eyes suddenly a fire with anger before he let Tyler go. "As far as your home, it burned along with most of the Settlement. We were lucky to survive and..."
Eric then turned around packing various pieces of clothing into the leather bag. He paused and Tyler could see his shoulders visibly sigh and relax.
"Thank you for rescuing me, unfortunately those that you saved me from are still around," he looked back offer a hand to Tyler. "Like it or not they'll come for you and what they did to Mark, they'll do to you."
"Who are they? Why did they...?" asked Tyler still wanting answers.
"They are killers, the worst kind because they only know enough to make them good at what they do but bad enough that they really don't realize the hornet's nest they've set themselves up for. Needless to say they'll be after anyone connected to the Settlement, so you gottah come now."
Tyler took Eric's offered hand and was almost swept off his feet in a tremendous hug by the larger man. He broke the hug and flung the black leather back pack at Tyler.
"There's some clothing in there that might fit you, as well as whatever I could find at your house that wasn't charcoal. It's not much I am afraid. I know you've never ridden on a bike before so wear the jacket and pants," smiled Eric as he zipped up his vest and put on a pair of riding gloves.
There was so much to take in that Tyler stood there stunned but instinct told him to believe Eric. After all Eric had seldom lied to him since he had known him. A voice in his mind also told him to obey Eric. If what he had seen the night before was true then he was a target of those people. Images of Mark being gunned down flashed before his eyes. Briefly he wondered what kind of people were so brutal and what had the Settlement done to invoke such a wrath. That question would have to wait as he heard Eric start up his bike.
He had never seen Eric's bike, only heard him talk about it whenever he visited, of course being so close working at the Settlement, Eric would simply walked over to his place. When he exited the camp he saw what appeared to be a bran new Indian Dark Horse motorcycle. It was black with the model's tell tail wheel coverings that gave it a slightly retro, yet stream line look. The Indian head logo was on the side of the fuel tank and the leather seat had black fringe hanging off it. He guessed the fringe gave it a more native look. On each side of the rear wheel was two leather containers that Eric had finished strapping shut. Now out in the sun Tyler could see him all dressed in black leather save for a pair of blue jeans.
"I see we are riding without helmets" noted Tyler as he put the backpack over his shoulders.
The black haired man just smiled at him briefly straddling the biked seat as he inched up.
"You ride behind me," he replied kicking back the kick stand.
"What am I suppose to hang onto?" Tyler asked, shouting above the noise of the running engine.
"Me," smiled Eric grabbing Tyler's hands and wrapping around his waist. "Hold on tight and I'll keep you safe pup."
He could feel Eric's muscles tighten up under the vest as he folded his arms around the waist. Before he knew it Eric was spinning out of the camp's dirt drive way. The wind whipped at his face as he looked over the other man's shoulders. He got a warning from the biker to keep his mouth shut unless he wanted a mouth filled with bugs. He felt as if he was flying save for the rumbling of the bikes engine and the meaty handle he was currently clinging to. It made him feel comfortable just holding onto him and helped him cope with the feeling of being utterly vulnerable at the back of the motorcycle.
Eric did one quick pass by the road that lead down to his home. There was a police cruiser and a barricade of orange barrels across the road. Tyler could see the burnt out remains of his house just a mile beyond the barrier. They didn't stop for long. Eric didn't say a word. The evidence was all there, the burnt house and the scorched over forest, was all the revelation Tyler needed to know that his life had changed.
As they drove down the nearly deserted two way road, he wondered just why they were fleeing. Were the cops involved? It was more than possible after all people don't shoot others, burn a summer retreat and someone's home all in one night without the police not knowing something about it. What was this club Eric had mentioned to him? Why was it people were willing to kill anyone involved with the Settlement? Was it a cult? The empty road offered no relief to Tyler's growing questions.
The sun was setting as suddenly Tyler grabbed Eric's waist tightly. There was a seething pain coming from his stomach. A low groaning sound escaped his throat as he tried to get comfortable on the bike's seat but the pain was just too much. Eric spun off the road into a picnic area. Sweat was gleaming from his black brow as he helped Tyler off the bike and on to a weather worn picnic table.
"Uuuuuuggg...what...what the hell is wrong?" groaned Tyler gripping his stomach.
"It's the moon. You're new so the moon's pull is greater. I thought we'd have one more hour but it seems the wolf wants out now," explained Eric in haste as he took off Tyler's jacket.
The pain shot up Tyler's spine before he could ask anything about what Eric had just said. The aching causing him to stand up and then immediately collapse onto the ground. He clutched fists full of the sandy soil surrounding the picnic site as liquid hot flames shot down his limbs. His mind was slowly loosing track of whatever questions he had for Eric as his heart began pounding fiercely in his chest and the burning sensation washed over his body. He began sweating all over as he withered in the fiery heat. He was vaguely aware that Eric was sweating too and trying to strip him of his clothing all while trying to calm him down. His breathing was becoming labored and heavy. It was not long before Tyler was quivering on the ground, thrashing in pain and anguish. His vision went black just as the sun set behind the trees.
Blood, blood everywhere...There was a scream, rendering of flesh, snapping of jaws, and the presence of something familiar, something he felt a kin to...
Tyler woke up naked; a chill ran down his spine as a cool breeze blew by him. The sky was turning a lighter shade of blue. He sat up and looked down at his hands. His hands and even his arms were a wash with blood. All around him there was a pool of blood.
"What the heck is going on here!?!" he yelled.
"Congratulations Ty," said a bestial, deep voice from behind him.
He turned to see a large shadow come into the slowly rising sunlight. The creature had a head of a canine with gleaming yellow eyes and a wide muzzle filled with white fangs. It stood on two legs that were bent like a canines. A bushy tail swung between those legs. The rest of it was muscle and humanoid in appearance but the body was completely covered in thick black fur. A dark paw like hand reached out ending in sharp ebony claws.
"Welcome to the club," smiled the face as it reformed becoming the familiar face and body of Eric.