Chapter 16 - His Pain
So he dreamed. Brandon couldn't move. He couldn't hardly breathe. He felt a great agony pounding at the base of his head, but all of this seemed so far away.
So Brandon dreamed in that far off place just between sleep, unconsciousness, and death.Because he knew he was dying.Even in this foggy state of consciousness his heart whispered to him what his mind couldn't say. He was a goner. How much longer would it take? How long before the release was final? Or how long before he woke up and was forced to live underneath their thumb all over again?He didn't know. So he dreamed.Strangely enough dreaming was far tChapter 17 - Unknown AgonyGlen struggled to ignore the intruder's screams as she moved along the hall walking away from his room.Ever since coming to her only a few hours ago, the mortal had been a bloody, emaciated, smelly, and now moaning bunch of agony. Glen had suffered through the first few hours because the mortal had kept his distress contained to a few pathetic drawn out moans and leg twitching, but in the last half hour his moaning had transformed into full throated screams. And try as she might to discover the source of the mortals agony she soon came to realize that this pain was purely mental. Spiritual.And try as she might to stay dutifully by her patients side as Glen knew all healers should....she just couldn't stomach that. It was too visceral. To fami
Chapter 18 - No HurtSometime later...Ezekiel mounted the front porch steps panting harshly. His lungs begging for more air then he could actually draw. He cradled a giant bag in his arm that was packed full of surgical supplies ranging from surgical needles, thread, gauze, antiseptics, scalpel's, peroxide, alcohol and a box full of surgical gloves and masks.Ezekiel held all of this stuff close to his body. He'd run all the way to Kim's healing home. It had taken time for him to get her to swear an oath of silence and even longer for him to detail the mortals injuries and, then to recount the story to her, before she had conceded and offered her help.Then once she had loaded him up moment later he had paid her, t
Chapter 19 - Hanging By A ThreadPerhaps his touch had distracted the mortal.Perhaps his words had broken through the fever dreams? Or maybe chloroform was just too hard to continue to battle in his exhausted state, but the mortal shuttered as his chest expanded suddenly.He took a breath and then he succumbed seconds after Ezekiel withdrew his hand from the mortals face.And like a switch going out the mortals head dropped, his eyes drifted shut, and all of the tension in that fevered, shivering, and bloody frame swiftly faded.Ezekiel sighed and gently, removed himself from the bed, so he could stand beside his mother. Glen continued to hold the chloroformed
Chapter 20 - CuriosityEzekiel trudged home much much.....much later. The sharp cool night hurried him along one of the dirt paths leading up through his tall grasses and onto his pouch.All three storied of his family's mansion was dark. No candles flickered in any of the third story windows where his parent's room was. Ezekiel knew that that meant that it was well past two in the morning. He normally saw his mother's candle burning as she waited for all of them to return form their various patrols, but there were only a few lights shining and all of those were on the bottom floor.He burned with curiosity even as his eye lids begged for sleep.Had the mortal in fact survived the surgery? Was he awake or was he sti
Chapter 21 - ConfusionSoft heavy breaths in the darkness stimulated him. The strong smell of pine, like a sharp soap or lotion pulled him up.Brandon opened his eyes. And instantly froze.He felt....like he was dead.He felt so cold he gasped and bit his cheek to stop from moaning. And even though he felt a weight over his entire body that reminded him of cover he still felt a silver chill all along his bones. And just off the edges of his mind was this knowing ache. Biting into his skin all around his stomach was a pain that he didn't know the origin of. He felt tight and yet lose there around his hips and on his left side like his guts were going to burst through his belly. But pain he could deal with. He had to
Chapter 22 - ChaseSoft warm light hit him and suddenly he was standing in a hallway. A burgundy hallway, filled with soothing candle lights and carpet as thick and as lush as the rooms he had just run from. The hall branched to the left and right of him and Brandon struggled not to dry heave into the ground as the world tried to tilt all around him.He was shaking. He was hurt. He couldn't breathe.He had to move!Brandon stumbled to the left and tried to run, but he didn't even get a chance."Hey stop!!" Suddenly there was a hand around his wrist and Brandon was jerked back nearly off of his feet and into a wall of warmth. "Gotcha!"Brandon struggled fee
Chapter 23 - Frying Pot to FireDamn!Ezekiel panted to himself. He wasn't tired, but the adrenaline crawling all along his heart made him gritty. As did the Leopard inside that was wide awake and snarling to get free.And it wasn't mad like he was. No. It had enjoyed the chase....The leopard was pouring its power into him, it was scratching at his mind trying to break free. It liked the hunt.....maybe a little too much.Ezekiel ignored its mewling calls in his head and tried to focus on the strange green eyed mortal who was proving to be as slippery as an ell even with his exhaustion clear to the naked eye.How in god's name is he still able to mo
At that moment Ezekiels mother steeped between them, her deep green eyes slit and glowing like a cats in the night. "Stop this both of you!" She hissed pushing them apart with a stiff shove that forced both men to give way.Ezekiel knew that his mother was in some way on equal footing with his father when it came to power and influence in the village.She stood with his father on even ground and so was likely the only one in the whole village that could challenge him... or calm him down. And as she flashed her teeth at the both of them, he realized that she was pretty darn good at intimidating him too. Mantilo growled back at her, but all of the aggression melted out of him as she returned the sound. Not waiting for another response she walked back and looked over at the mortal who was still kneeling in a ball on the ground b
Chapter 76Against Ezekiel's will, the Leopard inside urged him to follow Brandon.Ezekiel simply clocked his exit instead, watching until Brandon had completely disappeared from sight, leaving behind the overpowering scent of his alluring blood on the air.Mantilo easily ignored his abrupt exit and as everyone turned back to discussing the information that their Father had returned with....Ezekiel found his mind lingering, as it often did, on the meaning behind what Brandon had uttered moments ago.You and those ugly beasts don't scare me....Is what he had said to Mantilo, but that snide remark uttered in passing seemed deeper to Ezekiel. It had Ezekiel pondering silently.So what the hell IS he afraid of? What is Brandon's story?Ezekiel asked himself.And for some unknown reason the idea of the answer to that question unsettled Ezekiel even more. And he wondered why someone he thought about this much...was still little more than a stranger to him. And why a sickly unwanted Reaver
Ezekiel suddenly heard Brandon breathing behind him, tight sharp gasps.....like he couldn't quite catch his breath.Taking a moment to step back out of the circle that his brothers had formed around their father and Nate, Ezekiel turned to Brandon and was struck by the emotions swirling across his face and in his eyes.He had expected to see irritation because of Mantilo's refusal to listen to him. (Something Ezekiel was privately relieved about.) But what Ezekiel saw there on Brandon's enchanting face wasn't anything as simple as irritation or even pouting.What Ezekiel saw was an intense mixture of pain and shock. His cool green gaze was slightly widened and his gloved finger tips were clawing into the narrow arms of his chair like he was holding onto the seat in a turbulent sea that only he could see.Only he could feel. And it was tearing him apart.Moved by his obvious discomfort Ezekiel went to the side of his chair, leaned on it and playfully waved his hand in front of Brandon'
On the other side, Brandon shared their silence not because he have insight into the Ghouls motives, but because their motives were all that he understood.The Ghouls had come for him, plain and simple.But aside from their appearances, and their hunting style and the potential threat that they poses to other living things he knew very little about the beasts that had been chasing him. He had learned more from Mantilo and Nate in that moment then, what felt like a life time of running, had ever taught him.How can those things be Rats....? How can they be Shifters?Brandon asked himselfThey are taller and longer than most men and they....they don't speak...they can't speak...They are nothing but monsters.The idea confounded him. But honestly what didn't confound him?Brandon didn't understand himself. . He didn't know why he could nearly taste energy on his tongue. He didn't understand the world that he traveled aimlessly through. A world that held Shifters, and Clans and Dragons an
Suddenly three new Shifters appeared in the door way of the day room.It didn't take long for Mantilo to notice, and with a smile, a warm smile that surprised Brandon he waived over the newcomers from the doorway.Brandon instantly recognized two out of the three that appeared and made their way to the rest of the group. One was Glen and the other Erin...accompanied by a third male, with blue eyes and black short hair. The male was almost three inches shorter then Erin, but as the two of them made their way into the room, he held her hand and on their wrists and hands Brandon spotted matching bands or tattoos around their wrists as well as the identical bands on their ring fingers.He guessed that like Mantilo and Glen Erin and the new arrival were a couple, but Brandon wasn't left to wonder who he was for long, because without any warning Erin's big hazel eyes locked on him and she rushed over to his chair, pulling the unknown man with her."Brandon, Oh no your face!?" Erin exclaimed
In the aftermath of the attack, nearly five minutes passed where Ezekiel and his brothers simply took the time to regroup and compare all of their injuries.And Ezekiel spent most of those scant moments vigorously scrubbing at the foul blood and torn flesh smeared all over his face, caught in between his teeth and clogged up beneath his nails.Using the shredded cloth from one of the tables that had been destroyed he cleaned away the blood as best he could.The Guardian also used that time to put the....rage back in its place. To wrap it up tight and lock it away. He had to. Ezekiel didn't dare let it burn out or dissipate, because for a Shifter like him....a Reaver.....there was no end in sight. The rage was bottomless once unleashed.Luckily Ezekiel had more than enough to focus his attention on, besides the burning need to smash and growl. To Ezekiels immediate and all-consuming relief everyone had managed to survive the attack mostly unscathed.Brandon still sported a few cuts fro
Chapter 71 - Death & AngerEzekiel had fought many fights over the course of his life as a Guardian. Both physical and mental. Some long, some short. Some meaningful, some prideful.And as the youngest boy in a family full of male siblings he had engaged in various battles for dominance ranging from playful to downright bloody....but he could only remember fighting for his life a hand full of times in his history.That split second to avoid tragedy. The rage, the blood lust.....the focus.He felt all of that in the few minutes that had passed since the moose killers, the olive skinned monsters, had appeared in all their horrible glory and began attacking him and his brothers in their own home.The beasts stunk of rancid meat and vicious black fluids ran from their jewels.....The scent of them was enough to turn Ezekiels stomach. It wafted off of them like perfume and for a moment Ezekiel realized that this smell was what had allowed the beasts to hide away from them so effectively. Th
They were hungry...but they had already ate a feast of flesh.The beasts sat in the shadows....their thoughts not far from the darkness that surrounded them. The sharp cutting smell of pine and rotted mulch offended and agitated them as much as the healthy, willowy canopy all around them seemed to irritate them. Branches and thin sticks that trembled in the soft cool wind.The slight almost musical twinkle of the pine needles tumbling to the forest floor, seemed to disturb the hidden hunters making them even more jumpy and angry then they were normally.As though they were unfamiliar with such a thing as falling leaves or healthy air, their bodies twitched and saliva gathered at the edges of their mouths as they became more hot and bothered by the passing hour.But though clearly angered by their surroundings the beasts sat as still as sentinels in the night. Poised on the balls of their clawed feet.And although the pungent scent of horse intestines and blood wafted up from the shape
For another two days after the Guardians returned Brandon was determined to stay in his room. Electing to skip out on patrols with Ezekiel and stay in seclusion...until the third afternoon came and passed him by.Needing to stretch his legs and knowing that the Mansion tended to be empty in the evenings Brandon finally came down to the parlor, turned about in the open area, taking a few moments to decide which direction he would go in. Weather a trip back up the steps to his room would be his choice....or if he would take a seat on the steps and just watch the sunlight glancing inside from the windows around the door?But his choice of activity was decided for him in the next few moments. Brandon nearly jumped out his skin when a slim arm wrapped around his and yanked him down the hall."Glen!" Brandon blurted in surprise as he stumbled. Along behind her small, but surprisingly strong and sure skip."Come on, hurry!" Glen cried. Brandon felt an urgency in her insistent pulling....but
The jagged ill-fitting puzzle pieces of his mind came together by the next morning...so that no one would know Brandons struggles in the nights before.Emerging from his room, Brandon descended the steps the next night and just as he hit the bottom floor, the front door was thrown open and six tired looking Guardians shuffled into the front room. Leading their weary trek into the front parlor where most of the Shifters simply plopped down onto the carpet was Mantilo. All of them shoe-less and with eyes glowing and....claws out on their fingertips that looked sharp enough to gut a man. Instantly Brandon was gripped with....joy to see all of Ezekiels family returned safely after hours of hunting, but shocked and disgusted with the reaction Brandon shook his head and dropped the smile he felt on his face.Brandon tried to turn back, but he had barely shifted his feet on the steps backwards before a familiar and feminine voice was calling out to him."Brandon...sweet heart...?" It could b