CHLOE
I woke up to find Vincent gone. He was not in the bed next to me. I looked under the covers to find myself as naked as I was born.The memories of the night still hung in the air. I smelt the musk of Vincent’s taut and hairy body, I remember the sight of his eyes closed in the fire of our desire, I could feel his member plowing through me like a battle ram, his hand clasped around me, holding my squirming body in place.Then guilt and shame swept through me all over again. What have I just done?I had let myself get carried away by Vincent’s niceties and gotten entangled with the man who had gruesomely murdered my mother, whose own mother had killed almost every member of my family….and Mark. The man who was holding me in his house was nothing less than a prisoner.Even as I felt all of these, the echoes of insane pleasure still reverberated through me.Just then the door creaked open and I reflexively pulled the white sheets up to cover my exposed brChloeI stood there stunned.Mackenzie barged into the room that instant and her eyes widened in awe.“You look so pretty mummy, Are you going out with daddy?” She rushed over to me and held me by my legs. “I want to come with you” she mumbledSally was right behind her and she made to pull her away. I motioned for her not to.I carried Mackenzie up in my arms.“Oh my princess, mummy isn’t going anywhere”Was I? I thought to myself.“Ma’am, the driver is waiting, “ Sally warned. “I’m sorry but you have to hurry.” The older woman finished as she ushered me out of the room. She succeeded in tearing Mackenzie away from me and Before I knew it I was heading towards the porch. Right out front was a Black limo. The driver was standing by the door holding it open for me. In a couple of minutes, we had pulled into the main street. I tried to ask the driver where we were going but he insisted that he was instructed not to let on. He co
CHLOEDays turned into weeks like this with Vincent. Our small family is blooming with happiness. Despite everything that happened, the hope of a better future far removed from the sorrow and anxiety that had been a constant all my life loomed on the horizon. Each new day I got less and less weary of Vincent and it made him happy. I on the other hand mourned my mum and Mark less and less and slowly eased into my new life. I could even leave the house now. Although I didn’t have many places to go, I did at least drive Mackenzie to school every morning now. It felt good to be out of the manor.As I drove Mackenzie back from school, one nice Friday afternoon, I planned a grand dinner in my head for that evening. I thought It was about time I showed some kind of appreciation for all that Vincent had been doing and Mackenzie would probably be psyched for a family dinner.I took a quick detour to the mall to shop for groceries. Vincent had given me one of his credit
CHLOEI walked out of the pantry slowly, like a mummified corpse. I couldn’t listen in anymore.Sally was waiting for me outside, hoping to come help me with dinner preparations. “Ma’am, did you find anything we could use.” I walked past her like she was a piece of furniture which elicited a confounded look on her face.“Ma’am…ma’am…” she continued to call out to me hoping to eventually gain my attention, but I kept walking in a daze, her voice drowning in the avalanche of my thoughts.The single most dominating thought was how stupid and gullible I was. I had begun to think that Vincent had changed, that I could finally have a good life… even at the expense of Mark’s and my mother’s life. Why did I think that Vincent could be anything other than the monster he already was?It turned out he was even more conniving than I could even imagine.Sally kept muttering words that sounded like she was several kilometers away. They came off to me like a
CHLOEThe very next morning as I drove Mackenzie to school, I wondered if I could just ride off with Mackenzie like this. It seemed pretty easy. All I needed to do would be to make certain arrangements beforehand and just drive out of Drewsy with Mackenzie in town. Before Vincent would notice we’d be long gone.Was it that easy though? I thought silently.Distracted as I was, I had unintentionally driven past my daughter’s school and was shamefully reversing back when Mackenzie inquired of me.“Mummy, are you ok?” She whispered innocently as I continued to put the car in reverse.I took a minute to look at my little daughter. How innocent and oblivious she was to everything around her, to all the pain and anxiety I feel, to the idea that her mother had betrayed the death of her mother to the man who wanted her dead…. I wished I was as ignorant as she was.After I had dropped Mackenzie off at school and was driving back to the manor, I continued planning my es
CHLOEThere was a car blocking the road up front. It had its hood up like it was having some troubles. The road was mostly empty, with no cars coming or going. I was already out of Drewsy and I wasn’t as nervous as I was before. Besides Nobody would have noticed I was gone yet and my flight wasn’t due for another couple hours.“Honey, stay here…and lock the doors.”, I whispered to Mackenzie who was already dozing off. “Mummy will be right back.”I waited till she was fully awake before I stepped out to check the car out.There was a man who had his head buried under the hood, probably trying to fix whatever was wrong with it.“…hello..” I tried to get his attention when I got close to the black salon car.“Do you mind?... you’re blocking the road.”The man didn’t even raise his head out from under the hood to regard my presence.“Hey… I’m talking to you” I reiterated, a little louder this time.It didn’t matter as he kept busy with the car.“Hey!...” I tapped him this time, finally g
VINCENTI walked down my halls with nothing but a mild irritation at the scalding stupidity of my wife. She’d never deigned to make things easy, all Chloe ever did was stress things out.It did not matter. Like every good husband should, I’d always been able to read her like a book. I could predict her actions before she even became aware of them. She wouldn’t be in this mess if she properly thought out her actions. Like the school wouldn’t call me if my daughter failed to show up at school ten minutes past the usual time, or if I might have had a squad of werewolves always two cars behind her whenever she drove. I sometimes wondered who Mackenzie took after. Enough showboating about Chloe’s predictability. There was work to be done. Jacinta was waiting in my study to discuss things she thought were of the utmost importance. I had other things to deal with. But I still made my way to the study. I shut the door as I walked in. I had barely turned around when she began sp
CHLOEI curled up on the damp bed, the only relatively comfortable spot in the room, nursing my bruised chest and stomach. Vincent had come in a couple of hours ago and I had attacked him after managing to break off my shackles. He hadn’t expected it. He was still stronger and faster than me and gained the upper hand before long.Nonetheless, I felt a little satisfied that I was able to draw blood and put a mark on his smug face.Except he didn’t look so smug when he came in, he seemed troubled. I couldn’t understand why and I didn’t think about it at the time. My intent was just to hurt him as much as I could and maybe I’ll be lucky enough to kill him, consequences be damned. But now, I couldn’t help but be a little concerned.
CHLOEI’m sorry ChloeI’m sorry I couldn’t protect you and Mackenzie or the future we wanted. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all the suffering you have been through without me by your side. But I promise you will never have to do it alone anymore.You’ve saved my life once before you’ve saved me more times than you know. Allow me to repay the favor.I promise I’ll come get you and Mackenzie out of Vincent’s hands tonight. Just hold tight.And don’t forget: I love youMarkI read the letter three more times as my tears dotted the piece of paper. I brought it up to my chest and held on to it tightly, the smell of Mark on the paper giving me hope like never before.Maybe Pascal wasn’t as evil as I thought after all. He must be helping Mark. The last time I saw Mark he was dead in a pool of his blood. There was no way he could have gotten out of there on his own.Then I had another thought. What if this was another way for Vincent to torture me? What if it wasn’t true and Vincent jus
MARKThe pure undiluted rage pumping through my veins seemed to overflow and fill my senses. All I could see was red and I was going to make sure Ronald felt that rage.I pounced on him and he braced himself in response as we crashed into the marble table in the center of the room reducing it to a million tiny pieces.Ronald seemed to recover first and made to swipe at my face with bared claws and a maniacal grin on his face. But Pascal intervened, grabbed him from behind, and threw into the wall with sufficient force that made Ronald-shaped cracks in it. Pascal stretched his arm out to help me up which I took. I looked at him a bit quizzically. All the time I’ve known him I had never seen him intervene physically in any conflict in the pack or even in his family apart from the training he gave me and Vincent. The fact he was fighting with me now, especially against someone who actually shared a blood relationship with him made me feel a type of way that was difficu
FANGROOTMARKI sat there and simply processed what I’d been told. Christian Packard had allowed himself to get caught because he would rather we catch him than go back to Ronald’s clutches. Ronald Dennison, the new thorn at my side. He was powerful, undoubtedly so. Testament to his ability was his seamless invasion into my home. Now I know how. Wolves have always been social creatures, from the wolves in the wild to the more advanced kind, we have always been social creatures, and we’ve depended on our senses. A werewolf has a heightened sense of smell and hearing, impeccable vision, and most of all, what we rely on is our ability to sense our immediate environment, the energy around us, and the general life force.But there was a werewolf who could manipulate al
FANGROOT CHLOEAlone. Unaided, that’s how he did it. Ronald had successfully invaded my home and showed me what we all knew now. That we were completely at his mercy. I didn’t know it at the time, but Mark had half a dozen werewolves watching over us when he left the house. He had two monitors outside the gates, another two on the grounds of our property, and two more on patrol. Yet not even one of them smelled his entry, much less saw him enter. He sat in my chair and threatened to end everything I cared about in the world and we don’t even know how. Logically it was almost impossible to avoid the senses of six well developed werewolves on guard. Avoiding just one werewolf’s senses was lucky, avoiding two was considered divine luck. Avoiding three, now that would require divine luck and help from others. Avoiding Six was Ronald. And no one else. I knew Dennisons. I know the feeling of having your existence be threatened by one of them.Mark had left the house ye
MarkThe unusual blend of dread and determination in my wife’s eyes was something I’d never seen before and it made my heart sink. I felt a bit of fear too but the rage mostly overshadowed it.Ronald had managed to get into my house despite the couple of wolves I had put on guard duty to watch my family. What was worse was that he also managed to get Mackenzie to ingest something and neither I nor Chloe knew exactly what it was. We were again at the mercy of one of Vincent’s goons. I could only imagine how distraught that made Chloe feel.The children were asleep now but she refused to take her eyes off them. She sat in their room and watched them as they slept. I, on the other hand, had to figure something out. I can’t sit on my hands while my family remains at Ronald’s mercy. I was so consumed by rage so much that I wanted to go to the Caldor lands myself and rip his head off with my teeth, consequences be damned. Besides I was only raised with the Dennison family
CHLOEMark had gone to meet with his uncle and once again I was left at home with the kids. Mackenzie and Victor were my joy and reasons for living, but It was hard. It always was, sitting and waiting for the men in my life to cause problems and to solve problems, with me, left at home to wonder if they are alright and if we are going to be fine. Ever since Mark left I haven’t been able to take my eyes off my daughter. Always shadowed her, especially when she played with Victor. I hated to think that my daughter could be a danger to my son and herself, the little girl didn’t deserve to be burdened as such if only I had been there to protect her and keep her safe as a good mother should. The teardrops came running along down my face. “Now, Chloe. That just wouldn’t do.”I froze dead in my tracks at the familiar yet unfamiliar voice that invaded the air around me.“Hello, Chloe. I see you standing there doing what you do best. Nothing.”Ronald was sitting in
MARKI could hear Mackenzie’s blissful chatter as she told little Victor stories of how she beat me in a race. All I could think of was going straight to Caldor and detaching Ronald’s head from his shoulders. I didn’t mind stepping over his body to get the Crane Lilies, the only plant known to succeed in reversing the effects of fangroot. “You can’t go alone, Mark. Let me come with you. At least let someone else come with you, Pascal, or anybody Goddamnit!”She yelled now. Causing me to pause in my actions and regard her calmly. My phone rang with urgency as I made to silence it. I looked at the screen and saw it was my uncle calling.Speak of the devil.“Now’s not a good time, uncle. I’m in the middle of something.” I said coldly to my uncle. “This can’t wait. And if you wanna save Mackenzie from the Fangroot that has invaded her body for a year, you’ll get yourself to the Dennison manor and we’ll go on a little drive together.” My uncle finished with
CHLOEIt was the weekend, and as promised, Mark and I decided to begin Mackenzie’s trails. She was to take the first step on the trail today with Mark and me around to guide her through. “I’m ready mummy. This is like when Aunt Sally gave me a tour of the woods at the other house. Uncle Mark raced me!”Mark laughed a laugh that only came out when he played with Mackenzie. A breathless laughter that always sounded unintentional, as though the child in him came out despite his best efforts. It never failed to warm my heart, seeing him be a father to her in a way Vincent never was. “Slow down little wolf.”Mark said, still laughing.“We’ll race alright, but first I have to tell you something. Something about our family and other families who live in Drewsy.”Mackenzie was jumping at this bit already. She’d always liked it when Mark called her his little wolf. But now she was eager to run and Mark wanted to talk. She was beside herself with excitement as sh
MARKChloe was asleep beside me as the affairs of the day played out in my mind. I calmly told my wife that it was all fine and that there was nothing to worry about. If only that was the case. The look on Chloe’s face right before she went to get dinner ready was the scariest I’d ever seen her. Because she meant every word she had said. Chloe and I had been through a lot. Had a lot taken from us, so it was no surprise she was willing to crack heads and spill the blood of whoever was going to try to take the happiness we’ve found together, away from us. I would seek divine retribution for anyone who hurts my family…The fear of losing them loomed bigger than anything I’d ever faced. So I unconsciously said a prayer: Oh God I’m sorry. Please don’t take these beautiful things that I got.Chloe stirred at my side and snuggled up to me. I held her closer as my thoughts ran miles a minute with my fears.I took up my phone and called the only person I thought I could trust. The Pack elders
CHLOE“Wolves are social creatures, they move in families called Packs. And when the moon is full, they howl at the moon.”I could hear Mackenzie’s voice over the sound of the radio as she told her little brother stories about animals. She seemed to have a new obsession with wolves, I’d like to think that was a coincidence. The Drewsy Pack usually kept all information about their true nature from their children till the children turned 10 years of age. The change could be too much for the young wolf to bear. It usually ended up in a catastrophe, traumatizing the child and even causing self-alienation from the Pack.“Mummy, can we please get some Ice cream, please? You promised.”I'd been waiting for her to say that Mackenzie could forget her backpack in the house and settle into the car all ready for school, but she never forgot an ice cream promise.“Of course, baby girl.”I said with laughter in my voice at the pleading look on Mackenzie’s face. She started