Authors: Jennifer Blyth
Once we
reached the bottom of the stairs,
I fumbled around
in the
darkness
trying to find the
light
Dara
y had turned
on before. I
had
to mind what I was doing
as I remembered what lingered
with
in the
shadows
. Shea flew out of Kaleb’
s pocket and began glowing
,
and w
ith her help
I foun
d the switch
.
“Ready… set... g
o.” I pulled the string.
The lights flicked
on and the beasts quickly reacted to our
presence
.
Growls and snarls
came from the
three werewolves locked up in the big steel cages. Two doomahorns
chained
to the wall
stomped around
,
trying to bust free
. They were clearly
starving and
by being there
we
were
teasing
them as
entrees.
“
They’re not going to listen now.
” I pointed. “Just l
ook at them, th
ey’re crazed with hunger. We
’ve got
to feed them first.”
“Like they’
ve
got
food
sitting around
in a vampire house.
Please.
Now what?
Tell me, w
hat do you suppose we do?” Kaleb
snapped.
“Kael
,
what’s the fastest you can
go
when you’
re shifted?” I asked.
“Fast,” he said
proudly.
“Good. Fast is good.
How are your hunting skills?”
“Hunting? I suppose I’m okay. Why? What are you getting at?”
“I ne
ed you to go hunting righ
t now and you need to be fast
. B
rin
g the kills back here, but o
nly animals
,
okay
? W
e aren’t fee
d
ing them any humans
.
They need to eat
so they’ll listen to wha
t we have to say.” I was sure this
plan was going to work.
“Got it. I’m on it.” With a whoosh, Kael morphed
in
to a large wildcat.
He growled as he
raced up the stairs
. Kaleb and I heard
the floors squeak above
us
until
he left
the house.
“
I
t’s
pretty
handy having him around.”
I was glad
Kaleb had
talk
ed me into bringing Kael
.
Now
I wasn’t sure we c
ould
’ve
pull
ed
this off
without him.
Kaleb and I kept our distance from the prisoners. Th
ey were so hungry; they would’
ve ripped us to shreds had we been close enough.
Kael was back
and
dragged a deer carcass down the stairs. With a flick of his head
,
he flung the corpse over to the prisoners. The werewolves stuck the
ir
claws
through the cage bars, tearing
off pieces of the dead deer. The doomahorns leaned
their giant black heads down as they
ate
the meat right off the bones
.
“Kael, we
’re going to
need more. Lots more,
” I s
aid
. The blood red eyes staring at me
suddenly
had me f
eeling a bit nervous. What if this
plan didn’t work?
What if they couldn’t understand what I was sa
ying? There was no other choice and
we were running out of time.
Kael
came and went
. With each trip he dropped off loads of food for the prisoners.
On his last trip, he shifted
back
into his human form. “Think they’ve had enough yet?” h
e
asked
,
wiping
sweat off his forehead.
I felt nervous and
really was starting to doubt the
pla
n. We were underground, trapped,
and
i
f they attacked
,
we
didn’t
stand a chance. These creatures were dark and evil.
What if they didn’t listen
? Was I prepared for this? Were any of us?
I took a step back and
glanced over at Kaleb and then Kael. They both
waited
for my directions.
Shea flew
out of Kaleb’s pocket.
Fluttering nearb
y she suggested,
“Why don’t you try
a
werewolf
first?
Maybe if we
can convince them
one at a time, we might have a better chance.”
I liked her idea. One was going to be easier to deal wit
h should it decide to attack
. I nodded my head in approval.
Kaleb started
walk
ing
towards the closest cage.
“No
, Kaleb,
” I
said pulling
him back. “
I’m
do
ing
it.” I didn’t want
anything to happen to him. He’
d done so much for me
and I wanted to keep him safe, p
rotect him for once.
“I don’t know.” He eyed me carefully.
“Kal
eb, I can do this, just as well as you
. If anything happens
, well
,
you can say I told you so
,
after you rescue me. Okay?” I placed my hands on my hips, knowing
how much he hated it.
“Fine,
but
be careful.”
I walked nervously
towards the cage as I g
ulped down the lump of fear rising up
in my throat. I couldn’t be afraid because i
f they sen
sed my fear,
it would all be over.
Another deep breath and another step forward.
The werewolf watched me as it stayed pressed up against the back of the cage.
About five feet away,
my stomach flip
ped and
my
palms
went
sweaty
. I w
as nervous, more
doubts ran through my head. All I could think of was how dumb this idea
seemed. What was I doing here
?
The werewolf
paced
back and forth,
le
t
t
ing
out low growls.
I took a deep breath and swallowed my fe
ar. This is what had to be done and
I was the one who could do it.
I took another step forward
.
As I settled myself d
own, the werewolf mimicked me.
We both
cooled
the adrenaline rush as we looked at one another straight in the eye.
I placed
my hand on the lock
.
“I need a k
ey.
I can’t open the cage
without it,
” I said
to Kaleb
,
taking my eyes off
the beast
.
His
face
changed into
a horrible expression
.
“Shanntal move!” h
e yelled.
Instantaneously
,
I
let go of the lock and
move
d away from the cage. I felt a
breeze in my hair
as the werewolf took a swipe
.
I turned
to face the cage and watched as
it shook the cage
aggressively
,
trying to get
out
.
“Wow! T
hat
was
way
too close,
” I said,
realizing the danger I’
d just put myself in.
“This isn’t going to work. Not like this. We
need
to come up with something else.”
“Can we talk
ups
tairs for a minute?” Kael asked.
D
isappointed
,
I followed my
friends
.
“Listen, if I shift into a werewolf, maybe you can show them the way
through
your actions with me. Perhaps they won’t know the difference.
I
a
m a pretty good actor, so i
t’s worth a shot.”
“
What makes you
think we can pull it off?” Kaleb
asked.
“Give me a sec.”
Kael
gla
nced around the hallway before retreating
outside
.
Kaleb and I stared blankly at each other
,
wondering wh
at he was up to. A few seconds passed and h
e
returned holding
a thick chain
in his hands
.
“This
ough
ta do the trick
.”
He
wrapped the
chain around his neck and
handed me the
end.
Whoosh.
Behold
, I
now held
a
werewolf
in restraints. My
prisoner
looked at me,
winked his purple eye
and let out a
ferocious
snarl.
Kaleb took the chain out of my hands. “C
’
mon
. Down you go.”
He fought with the c
hained beast
down the stairs. I h
eard Kael snarling and growling
the entire way. His
overall
performance
was
quite convincing.
I
waited a minute before making my way down
stairs. The other
creatures were carrying on
way worse than before
.
The werewolves were pacing
around thei
r cages, pounding on the bars
and
looking for a way out. The doomahorns scuffed their hooves along the ground
, watching
us
with their fire burning eyes.
I walked over to Kaleb and spoke to the beast in his custody. “Do you want to be
caged? Do you want to starve?”
Kael let out a snarl and took a swipe at me.
I dodged out of his way.
“Or do you want
to live
another way? Do you want to be free? Free to live your life
the way you want
.”
Kael calmed himself down. As he did this
, the other
s
settle
d
as well
. The plan was working
;
they were fol
lowing his lead. The others
treated
Kael as if he were
the alpha wolf.