4 The Nightmare

So used to the cold was Quintin, that when it suddenly got too hot, he was awake. there was a deep silence, and a difference to what he felt. When Naomi held him, he felt her breath against his neck, her chest against his back, and her slender arm over his chest.

Now though, his chest felt heavy, there was something touching the top of his head, and he felt something touching his ankle. He slowly moved his arm and felt Naomi's, but all he felt was a hairy arm, a cold sweat had him, the deep breaths behind him made it clear, shes a werewolf.

Slowly he tried to slip out from under her, but she lifted her arm and growled, making him scream

"Whaaa! ooh fuuck!" he lept out the bed and ran for the door but in a flash she was in front of him blocking it.

"SON OF A BITCH!!" he screamed, remembered the window, turned and jolted for it, he didnt give a fuck if they were on the second story, this is the leap of faith! God will protect him!

He jumped to the curtains went through the glass, but with an audible 'Pwhang!' hit the burglar bars on the outside of the window, preventing him from going through "Ow Fuck!"

"Quintin!" Naomi said in a deep voice

stunned he looked at her, she was already in top of him again

"Fuuuck! Cleopatra! heeelp!"

"Be quiet! you're going to wake up everyone in the house!" she said grabbing his shirt and pinning him to the ground, the fact that she manhandled him so easily bewildered him even more "Im gonna die!!"

"Sssh! im not going to hurt you! im sorry! I forgot the curtains open I should have closed them!"

"Curtains!? what the fuck does that have to do with anything!?" he wailed, but Naomi placed her paw over his mouth, silencing him.

"I can remain in my human form by avoiding direct moonlight, but now that im a wolf, you shouldn't be afraid... please its inevitable that you would have found out eventually"

he heaved uncontrollably looking up at this huge black beast, the sharp Anubis ears just as Cleopatra's, of course! she must be a sister, or a daughter, or something of Cleopatra.

"Will you stop screaming?" She asked, Quintin didnt know if he could promise that, but he nodded. She took her paw off his face, and let him go, he scurrled over to a wall, she backed away to give him some space.

"I..." she wanted to speak but he twitched, her voice were growls forced into words "You dont have to look at me, please go back to sleep, ill sleep in the bathroom, and promise i wont disturb you" Naomi said and entered the bathroom.

Quintin watched where she disappeared, then looked at the door, 'fuck this shit' he thought, he was looking for an opportunity to escape, and this was it, he got up quickly but winced when he saw the glass in his arm he got from the window dive, wrapped the wound im his shirt then tiptoed to the door, quietly opened it, then stepped out.

"Excuse me?" Another voice asked and he shreeked, he saw another woman, same color sceme as Cleopatra and Naomi, this freaked him out even more, he turned and bolted into the other direction

"Wait!" she called

"Fuck you!" He desperately yelled, rapidly tapping the lift button.

"Where are you going!?" She called after him, Quintin saw she never came after him, she still stood where he found her. When the lift opened he darted in.

***

Naomi heard the shreek Quintin gave and looked into the room, he wasnt there, she went to the door and looked out, there she found Jennifer, one of the other maids, she looked at Naomi strangely

"What were you doing in there with him?" she smiled.

"O shush, which way did he go?"

"He took the lift down"

"Oh come on!" Naomi ran as fast as she could through a door that led to a staircase.

***

When the lift opened Quintin headed for the front door, at least he knew the way there, he grabbed a silver knife from the display cabinet as insurance and continued, but the doors were locked when he tried to open them, he panicked.

"Quintin!?" that growling voice again, desperately he looked around then ducked in under a couch. Naomi came into the room, his scent was strong here, and that paticular scent of blood, had her mouth watering.

"Quintin... you can come out, i know youre in here"

he even held his breath as much as he could.

"That wound on you, its a clear give away, you did well to wrap it up so it didnt drip a trail of blood, but thats not enough, theres no escaping me as long as the smell of blood clings to you" She pinpointed him.

"You're under the couch"

He quickly scurrled out from underneath it, then held the knife defensively to her "Dont come closer, it's silver! and i will shank you!"

she laughed "Actually, its stainless steel"

"Oh fuck!"

"You really expect to find silver in the house of a werewolf?"

Her eyes fixed on him, her claws spread wide, but then Cleopatra came into the room.

"Oh, you exposed yourself to him already?" She asked Naomi.

"Im sorry Cloe, i didnt close the curtains"

"Thats a shame, Quintin, im sorry, i wanted to at least fatten you up a bit" Cleopatra said with an eerie smile on her face.

"wha... what the fuck do you mean by that!?" he yelled feeling a shrill up his spine.

"You see, its a little complicated, feeding a pack of this size" As Cleopatra spoke more women came out from every direction in the house, atleast twenty of them, one even being the woman he saw outside his room.

"Your pack?"

"Yes, i am a wolf after all"

Quintin could kick himself, why would he ever trust a werewolf!? hunter project? courtesy plan!? it was all bullshit!

"I... dont think you want to eat me" Quintin murmured.

"Oh dont worry, atleast youll serve as a good appetizer" Naomi said licking her lips wile approaching him.

"No, i, i think i crapped myself" he said not being sure himself, he fas frozen stiff of fear. Naomi's eyes widened, then she burst out with laughter, as did everyone in the room.

"Its not funny!" he yelled at them.

"Quintin, were joking" Cleopatra said.

"Wh, what?"

"I told you, we don't eat humans, and thats one of the good reasons we don't, you tend to soil your selves at the sight of us"

"Well thats reassuring, I'll remember to carry some laxative with me, so i can safely bury myself in fucking crap!"

the women in the room's laughter escalated into a full on tear eyed ball.

"Just go back to bed Quintin, its not even midnight yet" Cleopatra said as the women also left back to their rooms, still giggling.

"you think i can sleep now? after this?"

Naomi came closer to him "Dont worry youre just dreaming" she said.

"No im no.." swiftly Naomi struck him behind his head, knocking him out, before he fell she lifted him under her arm.

"You'll handle it from here right?" Cleopatra said yawning.

"Yes"

***

The soft pitter patter of muffed footsteps had Quintin awake again, he didnt stir, he only laid eyes closed, listening. Of all the noises in that bussy city, it was the sound of footsteps that made Quintin wake up, a defensive method that grew on him through the years. Even if that air-conditioning unit he slept behind turned on, it didnt wake him like footsteps does.

up and down, up and down they went, behind the door of his room, wait? his room? He dared open his eyes, there was blue light coming through the window, a sighn of dusk approaching, his chest felt heavy, looking down he saw Naomi sleeping with her head on top of him, but she wasn't a werewolf anymore... could it really have been a dream?

the footsteps again? he slowly tried to get out from under her, but she groaned and rolled over by her self. Releived Quintin headed for the door and opened it, someone passed by and saw him.

"Oh good morning sir" She said politely. 'Again with the sir' he thought.

"Uh, morning, who are you?"

"My name is Sinthia, you must be mister Quintin right?"

he snuck out, wanting for some reason not to disturb Naomi.

"Please, dont say sir or Mister, call me Quintin straight"

"Ok Quintin straight, as you wish"

"No, just Quintin"

"Oh, ok"

he saw Cleopatra approaching with a smile "You're up early?" She said.

a few other maids joined them, all bowed politely at him, so it was them he heard.

"I get woken by footsteps easily" he said, still trying to figure out if what he saw last night was real or not?

"Footsteps huh? sorry Quintin, i didnt realise we were living with elephants!" she scolded the women around them.

"Im sorry Miss Cleopatra, we didnt know we were treading so loudly!" Sinthia pleaded, Quintin noticed the confusion on the faces of all the maids, the carpets were thick, and barely made any noise when walked on.

"Hold on don't scold them" he said smiling "its my fault"

"How is it your fault they woke you?"

"Its a defensive mechanism in my head, because i slept on that roof, and there was no reason for anyone else to be up there but me, footsteps would wake me, the only reason someone would come up there was to rob me or be up to no good all together"

a sigh of relief came over the women.

"Lucky arent we?" Cleopatra still said harshly and they all nodded.

"Ok Quintin, since you're up, well start preparing breakfast, where's Naomi?"

"She's still sleeping"

"Wow, you must have really worn her out if shes still napping? usually shes an early bird" Sinthia said smiling slyly.

"What? no!" Quintin said quickly

"Shes so lucky, next time i want a turn" another one said.

"Its not like that!" he yelled but they laughed.

"Come on girls, hop to it, we need to prepare for the trip" Cleopatra said.

"Yes mam" they all replied and dispersed. Cleopatra held a set of clothes out to him.

"these might fit you, get dressed and come down to the living room, ok?" She said and walked off. Quintin dug in his mind to find the answers, wait! the window! he broke it last night! the wound on his arm... gone? he went back into the room and opened the curtains, the window was whole. Now he was confused, it felt damn real. Naomi stirred in the bed, he saw her reach for where he was, but when he was obviously not there she scanned the room until she saw him "You're up early" she smiled.

"What happened last night?" he asked.

"You don't remember?" she asked slyly

"All I remember was you becoming a werewolf, but it makes no sense, im not cut from that window, and the window is whole..."

"Cut from the window?" She asked confused.

"I oh, never mind, it makes no sense to me, so it wont to you" he said walking to the bathroom. When he came out after dressing, Naomi was gone, he shrugged and headed to the living room. There Sinthia was waiting for him "Please follow me" she said and headed through another door that led to a dining room, it was huge, as the rest of the house was, there was a long table in the middle, with more than twenty seats easily, but right at the end Cleopatra sat waiting for him.

"Please, have a seat, Chantell makes a great breakfast, shell be done soon, while we wait, i need to talk to you"

he silently sat down with her, she took a sip of juice first, before she continued.

"I havent been completely honest with you so far" She began "These unruly wolves i speak of, are not at roundom, yes there are one here and there, but the main problem i have are my pack members"

"Pack members?"

"Yes, im a pack leader"

uneasiness settled in him again, what she said last night.

"How big is your pack?" he cautiously asked.

Cleopatra quickly counted in her head "Twenty with me at my house, the rest, about thirty on Angola.

"Why Angola? isnt that where the Bush war is taking place?"

"Yes, the perfect cover up for a werewolf territorial battle" She smiled.

Quintin was stunned "Are you serious right now? A war amongst werewolves?"

"Its primarily over territory, specifically the Okavango delta in Botswana. You see its a marchland almost completely deprived of human inhabitants, and lush with wildlife, its the perfect place for a werewolf pack to stay peacefully"

Quintin realised this werewolf thing ran deeper than he thought.

"So the pack who wins, gets the territory?"

"Bingo, its been years since we found a piece of territory that perfect to live in, its really worth the efford, if you could see it out of a werewolf's eyes. Packs from all around the world swarmed there when they heard of the Delta, but there were already three native African packs there, and because of this swarm of werewolves, they suggested we battle it out in Angola the victorious clan gets the Delta"

"So? wats wrong with your clan that involves me?" Quintin asked.

"War, is the only acception where the third and fourth law falls away, since werewolves use their fangs and claws to fight, it's inevitable that they would ingest blood and flesh, but as for my clan... i was such a fool, i sent all the males up, but they were still young and inexperienced"

A woman brought a tray around and served breakfast, as she did, like clockwork, all the other maids came in and joined them. Naomi made it clear she wanted to be seated next to him.

"So..." he slurped his drooling mouth dry first, the food smelled fantastic. "So they are losing?" he asked.

"You can start eating if you wish" Cleopatra smiled "And no, on the contrary, theyre winning, but, the blood got to them, they crave battle, and through that crave the power theire gaining"

end chapter.