AN UNSUCCESSFUL OOZE

It was 10 pm. All I could hear was screams and wailings coming from the tents closer to ours. Was this it? Was this how that monster of an Alpha desired to be adulated?  I looked up to my father who was not even for a moment ready to leave my mother’s hands while covering over my mouth with every muscle in his arm, wrapped around my shoulders. His eyes were literally bleeding, dropping like tears. Truth be heard, for a moment, I thought it was all fantasy. Could a werewolf also shed blood at some extremely distressing situations? 

       “I’m going to count to three, we slowly walk out. We do not for a moment attract any noise. Here, put these on.” My father said as soon as he had detached himself from mother and I. He handed me a very soft foam slipper which he often used to sneak up at his prey when hunting. The animals had good hearing sense and often gets scared away. 

    I took the soft foam slipper, slid the right leg on, and slid the left leg on as well as quietly as I could. They were quite bigger than my leg, but father got some extra pieces of rags and tuck them inside the shoe so they would be fit. 

  “Are we going to die papa? Will the Alpha also kill us?” I whispered to my father with little fear in my eyes. Till today, father never got to explain why the Alpha kept attacking us the Omegas on a daily basis, killing some, and taking some captives. This had never happened. We used to spend some time together occasionally many years ago. Or, so I heard. They never hurt us, we never betrayed them. 

 “Nathan, listen” dad commenced after he grabbed me in the chin softly but in a warning tone.  “Don’t you ever think for a moment that you are going to die, Nathan listen to me, whatever happens, remember this ‘Disobedience is the path to liberty’ look fear in the eye and laugh at it. Take vengeance…”

  “Hey Peter, cut it already, you are making the young pup scared” mother as if to ease the whole environment cut father. She was always the optimistic one. 

  “We will come out alive okay? Just hold on tight. Your father is a strong man. He will save us”. 

  I gripped hold of those words as our only means of survival out of this dark, terrible dense marquee. 

   Father slowly zipped our tent open and tucked his head outside to check if there were any guards stationed outside. I sat quietly watching him look to and fro. He pulled his head back inside, zipping us back up. 

   “We’re good to go! On my count to three, we take this side and creep as slowly as we can into the forest” father said pointing to the zip on the other side of our creaky marquee. 

   Mother kissed my forehead and father carried me on his back. He was a huge man. For a moment, his back felt like heaven, like the only bed any human would want to rest on. It felt like eternity. This is him, my dad. 

   We walked very creepily, cautious of dry leaves on the ground so as not to make any rustling sound. One, two… one, two… we would count our steps. 

   I could not see ahead clearly as father’s huge back blocked my view. I only looked up and saw the big blue moon hanging over the sky. Birds flying over in diverse directions. 

   We came to a hill far past the presiding area. Once could no longer see any living thing at sight. Well, maybe just my mother. She had enhanced in her hearing skill. She could hear farther now. 

   Father walked swiftly looking upon his every path. Mother seemed to have calmed down a bit. 

   “Watch out!!” Mother almost yelled as she pulled father away almost too late. It was a thorn bush right in front of us. There was no way anyone they could get past that without shifting. Even at that, the injuries they would retain would be severe. 

    “We would have to take another route. It’s a dead end.” Father said. I was scared. The cold made it worse. I could feel goose bumps starting to appear on my skin. 

    “Alright then. Let’s go now before we’re caught. Let’s get outta here” Mother retorted turning back to leave. Father took his first step away from the thorn bush when suddenly…

    “Go to where?” A deep cold voice came out from nowhere. Mother let out her yell. Father stepped back as he saw two hefty guards approached them with torches lit with fire. 

   “So, what were you thinking? That we wouldn’t latch the three of you filthy Omegas?” The second guard laughed hard, smoke coming out through his mouth and nostrils. They both had spears and guns strapped around them. 

  “Please, just let us go. We won’t do anything stupid. Please!!” I saw my father beg as if they were his gods. Mother was crying profusely, and me? I just stood there ignorant of what to do next. I was just a ten years pup watching an about-to-happen violence. 

  Mother turned to and fixed her eyes directly at mine, tears still flowing her cheeks, then turned back and said something that had me lost in thoughts. 

   “Please, take us, just let the little boy live. He’s just a kid. Please!” 

  Did mother mean those words? Was she willing to leave me all alone in this forest? What about father? Was he…….

   “Run Nathan…. Run as fast as you can. Head towards the mountain and wait for us there. We’ll come save you.” Father spat out before I could even finish thinking.

  The next thing I knew was that my father who was now in his wolf grabbed me by the leg and threw me as far as he could. Into the night, over the thorn bush, over the four fighting werewolves, over trees and bushes. The last words I could hear when I was in midair was… Nothing. Just the same words father had told me few minutes ago. 

  I wasn’t so sure of what I saw, but right before I left the ground, I saw combat. Mother, father and the two guards were fighting. Mother was bleeding uncontrollably and had no time for her wolf to heal as she had no breathing space. Father who was quite good in fighting skills held the other guard away before he lift me up. 

  Busshhh…bresshhh… I came crashing on a big tree and then on a smaller tree, then finally, thud.. on the ground. 

  I began to cry, but tears were refusing to come out, my voice box was refusing to bring out any tone. My eyes were shutting up slowly. I couldn’t even raise my hands up. I just lay still on the floor crying internally until my eyes went completely shut and my head completely numb.

   Father and mother’s voice began to ring again in my head. My whole body hurt like hell. Gently and gradually, I began losing my breath. The ground was coooolldd….. 

I smiled as I saw death in the face. It looked beautiful. It was a place I would never want to go, but had to. Where else would I go to ease my pain?

  I suddenly felt something dragging me out of this hell paradise. I felt like I was being pulled away, dragged by someone or something. I wasn’t sure, but I was certain that I was being pulled to safety because I could no longer see my paradise, just the same thick dark forest I fell on. 

“Take him away quickly. Do it now!” 

“But sir, we have no time, all the men are fleeing” 

“Do as I say! And get your asses’ outta here!”

  I opened my eyes, it was raining. I couldn’t see a thing in the dark. I was being tossed and dragged in the mud. I could hear gun shots and spears flying right past my ears. I could only see stones and trees and the ground, and stones and mud and…

   Someone then suddenly lifted me and as he tried to saddle me on something, I heard the last gunshot. Immediately, I passed out.