Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:08:24 +0100
From: Nell Bas <helledon12@gmail.com>
Subject: The Last Feres chapter 5

                         	The Last Feres
       				   Chapter 5

Wren-wolf and I walked the fifty meters to where I'd parked the car further
up the alley in silence. I was exhausted and Wren too by the looks of him.

Just before we reached the car however, a thin ugly doglike creature
dropped down from the wall above us. Wren immediately got in front of me,
snarled, and bared his canines at the intruder.

I've never seen the likeness of such a creature before. I've watched
hundreds of horror movies and I could think of nothing close to the beast
standing before us, purring.

Smelling like a rotten carcass, the beast appeared to be as tall and
muscular as a Greyhound with a long snout and mouth fill with sharp pointy
teeth like those of a barracuda. Its furless charcoal skin was marred with
vertical red stripes from shoulder to hind legs. Its tail was twice the
length of it body and its face... its face was as ugly as ugly can get; a
pair of tiny ears pulled close to the scalp, no whiskers but it has these
marble size, reptile-like, yellow eyes that gave me the chill just by
staring at it.

It was obvious the way it advanced on us that it wasn't going away without
getting what it came for.

Wren-wolf started moving sideways and the beast, graceful as a cat,
mimicked his movement going the other way, nonetheless following an
imaginary circle. I moved along behind my wolf. I've seen this on Nat Geo
Wild once; they were sizing up each other looking for weaknesses. (At least
that's what the narrator said.) But Wren, he had another goal in mind. I
didn't know how I came to that deduction but Wren was trying to get the car
behind us so that we could have a chance at escaping.

True enough, the car was at my back and Wren stopped abruptly.

Suddenly my next action caused a major chain reaction. It started with a
breeze carrying an urgent message coming from somewhere. It said: <In the
car... Run.> It was creepy I know but I listened. It didn't have to tell me
twice. I turned and sprinted towards the vehicle.

The creature must have sensed my intention because it launched forward the
instant I made my decision. It never reached me because Wren
counterattacked by catching the beast's hind leg in midair and slamming it
down on the asphalt.

The beast didn't stay down for long because within second it was back on
its feet again. Wren stole a glance in my direction and saw me safely
tucked inside the car.  The beast saw me too and that enraged it. It
launched again but this time targeting Wren.

`WREN. BEHIND YOU!' I shouted in terror.

Wren turned but it was too late for him to dodge out of the way. The beast
pounced and bit him on the shoulder. Wren fell but even when he was down he
did manage to chew on the beast's front leg. Instantly, it let go of Wren
and pulled back.

With tears running down my face and my heart beating a hundred miles per
hour, I unlocked the car and rushed towards Wren who was still down whining
in pain and bleeding on the asphalt. I didn't care if the beast attacks me
or not anymore. I got to help Wren. He was hurt and had reverted back to
his human form.

Quickly I assessed the damage done by the Beast. A few scratches here and
there that would heal; bruises on the neck, chest and waist; and puncture
wounds over the left shoulder. The beast dental imprint on Wren's flesh was
quite deep and was oozing a massive amount of blood.

I pulled off my t shirt, wrapped it under his armpit and over the damaged
shoulder before tying it tightly.

Wren grabbed my arm. `The warg... wh....where is it?'

I had no idea what a warg was but...the beast. He meant the creature that
just attacked us.

I glanced where I saw it last and it wasn't there. It had vanished without
a trace.

`Gone,' I told Wren. Wren closed his eyes and sighed. Then he whispered
something incomprehensive to no one in particular and said, `help me up and
take me home.'

Home! That was out of the question.

`No. We have to get you to a hospital.'

I pulled a naked Wren on his feet and I held him as he slowly walked
towards the car.

`No, get me home. Eric and Charlie would know what to do.'

`But...'

`No buts Riley! Besides how are we going to explain this to the doctors,
let alone the police because it sure as hell looked like someone assaulted
me and then let his dog lose on me.'

Now that I think of it, what he said make perfect sense. Wren was a
shifter, for all I know he could have a defect in his anatomy that would
raise a lot of questions.  Questions that I'm sure none of us were ready to
answer. After helping Wren to the back seat, I got in and drove home as
fast as I could.


I parked the car in the driveway. And as soon as I killed the engine I saw
Eric, Charlie and a well groomed female with a stethoscope in hand rushing
out of the house as if they already knew what happened.

I was momentarily perplexed. I didn't have a cell phone, I'm not too sure
if Wren knows what a cell phone is, how did they know?

Carefully the men extracted Wren from the car and Eric carried him into the
house with the rest of us in tow. The doctor lady asked for him to be
placed on the living room couch. Then she reached for her medical bag and
started doing her thing.  When she cut my t shirt I couldn't watch anymore.

Eric held his brother's other shoulder and arm while Charlie stood over
them with his arms crossed, both looking worried.

Feeling confused, exhausted and helpless I went to the kitchen grabbed one
of Charlie's beer from the fridge and headed out on the porch. I sat on the
steps reliving the incident trying to figure out what happened.

`A penny for your thoughts,' Charlie said from behind me moments later. I
didn't look.

He came down on the steps and sat next to me. He watched me for a while. He
eyed the untouched beer at my feet and raised an eyebrow. Whatever he was
thinking, he chose not to say anything. I was glad he didn't. I wasn't in
the mood for a fight.

`What's just happened?' I asked. I wanted to understand.

`May I?' Charlie pointed at the beer bottle. I nodded. He grabbed and took
a swing at it.

`You were attacked by a wag and Wren got hurt.' he simply said.

`I know that. I was there remember. What I want to know is why?'

Charlie remained quiet. I could hear the mechanics of his brain
churning. He knew it was time for some explanation. So much had happened
within the past two days that he can't ignore. I know I won't.

I didn't press him. Want to or not, he was going to answer my questions
before the day met its end.

`The warg creature from the alley didn't attack me when Wren was down,
why?' I asked. `God knows he had the opportunity to finish both of us off.'

`He got what he wanted that's why.' Charlie's dryly answered.

`Got what?'

`Okay Rye, against my better judgment I'll tell you what happened
earlier. But promise me you will keep an open mind because what I'm about
to tell you will change everything from now on.'

Finally some answers.

`First of, wargs are vile creatures that live in the shadows. They are not
of this world. But anyhow the attack today was no random act either. It was
deliberate.  For wargs don't purposefully act alone. They never act
alone. I suspected that this one have a master. Like hunting dogs their
masters bred them for one purpose, one purpose only, to track down quarry
at commands. The warg in the alley didn't kill you guys because he only
needed your blood.

I was still confused. `Why would it need our blood when he already found
us?'

`Because of the protective shield I had had placed on the house when we
first move in. Linda, the doctor inside treating Wren, is a witch. She and
her sisters placed the protective shield to deter anyone who might wish to
harm us.'

`I still don't get it?'

`The master wants access to our house, since most spell can be broken with
blood, specifically the blood of someone who lives within the protective
shield, I believe the warg wanted yours not Wren's. But when he got Wren
his master must had realized that Wren was living here too. It wouldn't
matter whether it was temporary or not.'

A pregnant minute pass before I ask. `Can I ask you another question?'

Charlie nodded.

`Why do we need protection?'