Chapter
15
“Wake up! He is coming for you. You must be ready!” The moon whispers to her.
Makenna jerks awake to a pounding headache and a dry mouth. She squints into the darkness, but struggles to see clearly. The room is spinning, no doubt from the drugs he shot her with. Sitting up slowly, she moans and jumps when a responding whine comes from the cage next to her. The whine turns to a growl, when a sudden light floods the room. Blind now, Makenna shields her eyes and backs away inside the large cage she is trapped in. Her coat is missing and she is freezing. The room has no heat and her breath comes out in frosty puffs of air.
“That wore off faster than I thought!” Sam says stomping the snow from his boots inside the shed. He grabs his trusty black stick and walks towards them. The wolf growls and stumbles to his feet. Snarling it charges the cage, daring him to come closer. Sam laughs and Makenna looks at the wolf beside her as her eyes adjust.
“Why are you doing this? My father will come for me!” she says softly.
“Well now, give me a second,” he flips the switch on the electrified stick and jams it into the cage shocking the wolf. “I can’t hear a thing when they carry on like that.” Makenna screams as the wolf falls to his side twitching in pain. She looks at the man in horror.
“Now, what were you saying?” He asks the girl with a creepy smile.
“Please, let me go,” she begs knowing it is no use.
“I will, I will, but first I need a favor. You need to tell me where the pack is hiding, especially the one in your sketch.” He steps closer to her cage and whispers, “He’s the one I need.”
“I don’t know where the pack lives, I just drew a picture that’s all!” she pleads.
“I had hoped this would be easier, Makenna. But it seems like you are going to be difficult.” With no warming he jams the stick into the cage with the wolf, and shocks him again. Two more times he shocks the wolf, while screaming, “Tell me!” until finally the wolf quits moving. “Tell me where they are and I will let you both go. Keep your secret and you will watch this wolf die, slowly. Then I will start on you!”
Sobbing now, Makenna screams, “I don’t know where they live. Please, listen to me! It was only by accident that I saw one on my grandfather’s land.” His crazy eyes fills with hope as he puts the stick down. He pours her a glass of water.
“See that wasn’t so hard, was it? You just answer my questions and I will let you go free.” Makenna takes the water with trembling hands and drinks slowly. She wipes her eyes on her sleeves.
“He was a pup, I fed him a few times and he came back from time to time to eat. The pack will not let him join, I don’t know where they live, I swear it!” she says trying to calm down.
“Keep him talking, Makenna. Lead him to the woods. Archer will meet you,” the moon tells her mind. Makenna looks around and back at Sam.
“How often have you fed him? Has he ever bitten you?” he demands.
“No, he is gentle. He is protective of me, he wouldn’t hurt me.”
He wouldn’t hurt me. The words echo in Sam’s mind. “Perfect! Where do you feed him?”
Makenna’s eyes go wide, but she hesitates. She has protected him for so long, and can’t let him hurt Archer. Sam turns up the electricity on the stick and the power hums. It snaps and pops with unleashed energy.
“You ever seen what a cattle prod does at five hundred thousand volts?” He asks with an evil look in his eyes. “That was one hundred thousand volts, Makenna! Tell me!” he says smacking the cage next to hers, causing the wolf to whimper with fear. She jumps in fear and begins to cry.
“Don’t hurt him, please! He finds me. I go into the woods and he finds me!” Sam smiles his toothless yellow smile at her answer and says, “See, we can work together. There’s no need for all this unpleasantness.” He turns the power back to one hundred thousand volts.
“Get ready” the Moon whispers.
Sam opens the cage and grabs her by her arm dragging her out. She falls to her knees and tries to stand up. “Wait, my legs!”
Makenna shoves him with all her might but her legs are numb. When she tries to run, Sam zaps her from behind. She screams as the pain flashes through her body, stealing her breath. She falls to the ground twitching and trying to crawl away from him.
“GIRL, I have been waiting for fifty years for this gift! One bite and I will live forever! You will not stop me!” he grabs her by her hair and drags her to the door. He drops her and leans closer, “Let’s go see your boyfriend!”
Chapter
16
Archer follows her scent through the snow to a gravel road. Pawing through the snow he smells her. He knows he is on the right trail, so he follows it until it stops. Frustrated he throws his head back and howls at the moon!
“Help me, Mother Moon! Guide me to her!” He begs.
“Return to her home, Archer. He is coming to you.” She watches as he growls and breaks into a run.
Within a few feet of the house he slows down and calls to the moon again. The moon hears and grants his request.
Once again she shines down on a boy but this time she tells him, “You can do it by yourself now. Change at will, Archer!”
He stops moving and then concentrates. He imagines hands and feet, where paws once were and the change begins. This time when the pain comes,
