CHAPTER 8

CLAIRE FISCHER

MY LEGS TREMBLED with fear as we marched along the small dirt path. The night was dark and the woods were even darker, but these strange people seemed to be one with the surroundings, like they had lived here all their lives. And maybe they had.

Had I stumbled into the pack of a secret pack? I asked myself. I closed my eyes, trying to remember my geography classes, and wishing I had paid more attention as I tried to figure out where I was. There was no supposed to be a pack nearby… my foot caught on a shrub and I stumbled forward, unable to catch myself as I fell into the dirt.

“Get up!” the man holding the end of my rope snarled. The group stopped moving as they looked back. “Get up!” the man tugged on the rope again. I tried to stand up, but I was weak. I had not eaten anything in almost two days. They parted as the man I took to be their leader approached me. His eyes glinted bright red in the darkness as he looked down at me.

“What is going on?” he asked. His voice did not have the deep, bass comforting tone that I associated with a man of his size. It was raspy. Like he was suffering from a dreadful cough.

“It is nothing, my lord. She is trying to play smart.”

The man crouched, but that just made him even more menacing. He cocked his head and his eyes raked across my half naked body making me feel self conscious about my torn clothes. He stood up with a grunt and held out his hand. “Give it to me.”

The man with the rope looked like he was about to argue but he swallowed his words and handed the end of the rope over and stepped back. I felt like an object or a slave, being bought and sold and changing owners.

I was jerked up roughly to my feet by my “new owner.” My breath hitched in my throat nervously.

“Walk,” his raspy voice was low, but it sent chills down my spine and I was hassled to keep up with him, knowing that this man would not have any problem hurting me.

Maybe indeed, I had just gone from frying pan to fire.

WE WALKED FOR almost 30 minutes before the scenery changed. We got to what looked like a pack. A secret pack hidden in these woods. There were houses scattered around. It was the middle of the night, and most of the pack was sleeping. I was led to a large mansion in the middle of the pack. This was the pack house.

The large man holding the rope turned and looked at me without saying anything.

“Alek,” another man who slightly looked like him said.

Alek? What sort of name was that? It sounded almost Russian. Had I found myself in the traps of a Russian monster? I swallowed in fear.

Alek turned. “What is it, brother?” he growled.

So they were brothers. I looked at the both of them discreetly, noting the sharp resemblance in their facial structure, except that Alek was very much larger physically, and he gave out a very dangerous aura that made me want to run away and hide.

“We should take her to the dungeon.” The brother said in a low voice.

Alek frowned. His eyes glazed as he considered what his brother said. He gave me a once-over look again, then he shook his head and said, “No.” he handed me over to a nearby guard. “Take her to my chambers.”

“Alek…” his brother said as I was being led away into the pack house. Pack Mansion was more like it.

“What is it, brother?” I heard Alek snarl. “Do not worry, I will leave some parts of her for you.”

“That is not what I -”

“We should be having a meeting -” his voice faded off as the door was shut behind me.

What did he mean by that statement? He would leave some parts of me for his brother?

My ropes were tugged and I was tossed into a very large room. The guard looked down at me, his lips were downturned as he slammed the door. I looked around and Alek’s earlier statement dawned on me.

There was a kingsized bed in the middle of the room. He was going to –

The door opened and I scrambled away, but it was not Alek. Two women came in. One of them went into an adjoining room, while the other one crouched beside me. “Shhh. Calma, cara.” She said in a gentle voice, reaching forward and holding my wrists.

I took in a deep breath as she untied the knot. “I can not remain here…” I said as soon as I was free. “You have to help me escape.”

She seemed unperturbed by the urgency in my voice. “Do you understand English?” I asked. When she still did not reply, I cursed under my breath. Surely two old women can't hold me down, I am faster and more agile.

I started to stand up to run away, but the old woman held me down in an iron grip and shook her head. I tried to pry myself to freedom, but I was quickly reminded that I was just a human. The old woman didn’t budge.

With that eerie smile on her face, she stood up and dragged me to the adjoining room where her comrade was. I saw that the room was a bathroom. I was quickly stripped and pushed into the tub where scalding hot water was sprayed on my skin and I was thoroughly scrubbed.

The women took their time washing every inch of my body. After a few minutes, I was patted dry and handed a flimsy, transparent gown to wear. The old woman who had held me down patted my cheek fondly and muttered, “Non combatterlo, mia cara.” Then they were both gone, leaving me sitting on the edge of the bed, feeling like a sacrificial lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

At the sound of the door knob turning, I looked around for anything I could use as a weapon, but I did not have enough time as the door opened and Alek’s silhouette filled the doorframe.