Chapter 4 The Past Revisited
Shutting the door firmly behind him, Dr. Achak sighed and sat down at his computer. If he could just get something to work for once, he wouldn't be so annoyed. He missed the days before the war, before the humans found out they had been being used as food by the vampires and decided to do something to end it. If only he had a sample of that original virus the human scientists had released, he could have quickly negated it, but those days were long gone.
So many viruses were floating around, he didn't have a prayer of getting rid of them all. Every werewolf they created was reacting differently based on which virus that human had been introduced to. It was getting harder and harder to create a stable transformation. What was he going to do once they no longer had a source of food?
Turning on his computer, Dr. Achak prepared to contact the council of elders who he reported to. Because he was the only vampire scientist, they had been keeping his leash tighter and tighter trying to get him to find a cure for the various viruses. The breeding pool of uncontaminated humans was dwindling and soon there would be mass starvation. He would love to get his hands on one or two of those humans but the elders kept them under tight lock and key for their own consumption. Too bad it took so long to breed humans.
Picking up his notes from earlier that evening, Dr. Achak tried to decide what he would report. Should he tell the elders that he lost a werewolf that showed the most promising blood in years? Shaking his head, he started typing. Why cause unnecessary trouble? They would never know about it anyway.
XxxxX
"Xun, this is important," repeated Gabriel with a sigh, smoothing the dirt out again at their feet before scratching the letters he had been trying to teach Xun for the past couple of hours.
"Dad, if these letters are so important, why have you never used them?" asked Xun exasperated.
Gabriel ignored the boy's words and continued writing. He remembered his own lessons as a boy, and knew that if humanity ever managed to get a grip on the world again, Xun needed to be able to read.
"Again," said Gabriel, sitting back to let Xun see what was scratched in the dirt.
"That's my name," sighed Xun, giving him a look of annoyance.
"And that one?" he asked, pointing to the next row of letters.
Xun studied them for a moment before shrugging.
"You know them," urged Gabriel.
"But why is this so important?" asked Xun again.
Gabriel studied the boy sitting beside him and finally said, "Do you remember when I told you about the war?"
"The one that revealed the vampires and made werewolves?" asked Xun, looking at him uncertain how this was related to the letters in the dirt.
"Yes, that one. Before that war, every child was taught these letters so the knowledge of great masters could be written down and not lost. People who wished to know new things had merely to read these letters in books to learn."
"But there aren't any books anymore," scoffed Xun, scowling at the dirt again.
"There are," said Gabriel reaching for his bag and pulling out a very old one. It was ruined almost beyond recognition, but it was still a book.
"Wow, that must have lots of knowledge in it!" whispered Xun in wonder, taking the book and marveling at the tiny printed letters.
"But even if that book were lost to me, that's not why I need you to learn your letters," said Gabriel.
"Then why?" asked Xun, looking at him in confusion.
"If we can ever find a safe place to live, where we don't have to worry about vampires or werewolves ever again, we can write our own book. But only if you know your letters."
Xun scrunched his brow as he looked down at the book in his lap.
"You'll help me write it, won't you?" he finally asked, glancing up at Gabriel.
Gabriel nodded and pointed at the letters in the dirt once again. They both knew that Xun needed to know his letters in case something ever happened to Gabriel, but neither could voice it. Xun didn't hesitate in learning what Gabriel tried to teach him, but a nagging worry had Gabriel wondering if it was enough?
XxxxX
Opening his eyes, Gabriel stared at the bloody bone before his nose. It was too large to belong to a human. How long had the wolf been in control? How many days? The hunger and pain kept him moving, but right now, with his stomach full of some unknown creature, he was able to think.
Sitting up, the carnage the wolf had left surrounded him. If he found Xun in this condition, the boy would be in even more danger than if it was some other monster. How was he going to fight this?
Rubbing his face with his large misshapen hands, Gabriel sighed. A responding noise behind him had him turning swiftly. Laying at his feet was another werewolf, still asleep, covered in even more gore than he was.
Of course. No werewolf ever traveled alone. It was only a matter of time before another lone werewolf found him and joined up with him. Maybe his wolf had called it?
Would it attack him if the wolf wasn't in control? Could he kill it before it woke?
At that thought, his wolf rose up, stronger than it had been, and overwhelmed Gabriel. He had given it the freedom to grow, and it had.
XxxxX
"She's gone, Gabriel!" gasped Lola, his beautiful wife. "I have to find her! She's so little, Gabriel!"
"Lola, you can't! There's slavers around!" whispered Gabriel, glancing over at Xun's sleeping form.
"We agreed to take care of both of them!" she hissed, shoving things into her bag. "If you won't help me, then I'll go myself!"
"Lola, calm down," he sighed. "I'll go look for her. You keep an eye on Xun and get the rest of our things packed so we can move as soon as I get back."
She paused to look at him for a moment, then nodded with a sigh of relief, turning to start packing his things into his bag.
Gabriel grabbed his crossbow and ducked through the trees. The tiny girl couldn't have gone far, she could barely walk! Watching the shadows carefully, he licked his lips as he caught sight of the slavers wagon.
A large werewolf was chained to the front of it, snarling as it struggled to reach the people cowering in the back. The two slavers had just grabbed the girl and thrown her into the back with the others. Why they didn't just feed her to the wolf was beyond him, but Gabriel wasn't going to second guess his luck.
Checking his bolt, he raised the crossbow and planned his moves carefully. He had the second bolt in place and was pulling back the string to reload it when the first hit its target. The second slaver turned in confusion as the first fell to the ground with a bolt through his eye. Gabriel shot the second before he was spotted, and took a breath to relax. The werewolf was still a threat, but he had time.
Moving to the end of the wagon, the people inside were scrambling towards the gate to escape the moment he opened it up.
Lolalitta gazed up at him, no look of emotion on her face, just like when Lola had brought her from the lab with Xun. Gabriel couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the small child who never showed emotions. His fingers slid over the clasps that kept the door shut, unlocking the door and throwing the door open wide. Not hesitating, he grabbed the girl and darted back to the safety of the trees.
The sounds of splintering wood and snapping chains had him running even harder. Screams rang out as the werewolf went for the humans it could see, driven mad by the scent of blood in the air. Gabriel hated to use the people as a diversion to keep the beast off of him, but he had no choice. He needed to get Lola and Xun and get them away from there. No wolf ever traveled alone, and he knew there was probably another slaver wagon close by.
As they appeared in the camp, Lola grabbed the girl from him in relief and handed him his bag. Xun was already up, rubbing his eyes as he waited for them to move. Gabriel grabbed the boy up as he took the lead.
It was close this time, but that girl was going to be a headache if she kept running off. Lola cared about her too much, and he worried what the future would bring. She was too attached to the girl, so he wouldn't bring her up again. He didn't want to lose his wife.