“YOU IDIOT! YOU LET HER GO?!” Cathal snarled at an unfazed Victoria. He threw me against the gate and snarled, “Your punishment has gone up a notch!”
The giant black gates automatically opened and I was dragged through by the scruff of my neck, with a final glance on what used to be my happy, safe world. I was led into my deadly and uncertain destiny.
CHAPTER THREE
BURIED SECRETS
~ THE PACK ~
Waiting in the woods alone, I hoped no one saw.
I prayed my wife did not go into the basement. If I were caught, my family would never give me another chance.
I anxiously hopped from foot to foot in my brown loafers, waiting for the angels of mercy to help me. I feared what might happen if my wife found out I had gambled all our lives savings last night.
I thought of all the excuses I could give her, in case these men came: someone broke in and found the cash in the basement, leaving everything else untouched… No, that wouldn’t work.
Maybe she could have misplaced it while she was cleaning? She never goes into the basement, so that’s not even an option.
Could I stoop so low as to blame it on our son? Seems like the only choice.
Luckily, within minutes of that final thought, three burly men came stomping through the trees, looking menacing. One of them held a black briefcase.
“Are you Caleb?” the tallest asked. I nodded nervously and walked towards them with caution.
He searched me to make sure I wasn’t hiding anything. His large, scarred, hairy hands checked all my pockets. Upon completion of his examination, he nodded his bald, tanned head, beckoning the others to join us.
The second man came over and circled me before declaring he was happy with his colleague’s assessment. With a large scar running from his eye to his jaw, I could tell he had an interesting past. Dressed in a worn black leather jacket and dirty dark blue jeans, he was evidently employed for the more manual aspects of the operations; though he was smaller in height, his menacing stature came from his stocky build.
The last man was the one I was most interested in. Teasing me with the suitcase, he somehow appeared more refined than the other two. Draped in a grey three-quarter-length coat with matching tailored trousers and black walking boots, I could tell that he was the boss of the trio.
“It’s all there,” he announced as he handed me the case.
I grabbed the bag quickly and tried to pull it away, but he kept a firm grip.
“Don’t forget, your first payment will be due next week. Just in case you have forgotten, we expect £2,000 at this spot, at 3pm on Monday. If you’re not here we’ll come to you,” he said.
The stocky man added,
“Yeh. I’d like to see your sexy wife again!” They laughed at his mockery and walked away, leaving me praying I could put this money back in the basement before I was caught in the act.
Running through the woods, my animalistic nature took over; my speed increased and I used my supernatural ability to speed home quickly.
“Baby - is that you?” my wife shouted from the kitchen as I rushed past the door and made my way directly to the basement.
Securing the money in the hidden safe, I ran back upstairs before my wife’s sixth sense kicked in and came to investigate the reason for my agitation.
“Hey hun, sorry - I just needed to check something. How is my sweetheart today? Where’s Lou?” I panted as I followed her into the kitchen, trying to usher her as far away from the basement door as possible.
Sitting down at the table as I watched her cook dinner, Lou came rushing in and jumped on my knee.
“Daddy! Where have you been?” my son asked.
I gave him a big hug and played with his freshly shaven head.
“I’ve been trying to find some work so you, mummy and I can enjoy more treats,” I lied sweetly. Fortunately, he ignored my explanation and ran into the lounge to play with his toys. Lou did not have the longest attention span and I knew unless it was about sweets or toys, this five year old wouldn’t be interested.
Watching my wife, Isla, prepare the food left me feeling guilty about lying to them both and I attempted to show my remorse by being romantic with her.
As I wrapped my beefy arms around her curvy waist, I blew the wavy auburn hair from her neck and began to run my lips softly up and down it.
“What are you doing?” she laughed as I spun her round and gave her a passionate kiss.
“Showing you how much I love you,” I replied as she laughed and playfully pushed me away.
“Stop it, Lou could walk in…” she managed to stammer, as she batted me away. I accepted her request and got Lou ready for dinner, still wondering how I could pay off my previous debts as well as paying the debt collectors the £2k on Monday.
That night I was extremely restless; I knew it would be a testing week.
******
After eating a hearty breakfast, I attempted to use the day productively, by trying to find work. Begging butchers, slaughter houses, mechanics and farmers was all in vain. They gave me their feeble apologies and excuses, usually about the recession, and I was left to walk away with a heavy heart.
Walking to the nearest pub for some Dutch courage, I took a break to watch the boxing and think of my next plan.
“Do you need any bar staff?” I asked the manager; on the off-chance he might have a shift or two. He shook his head and left me to chat to the friendly, pretty waitress at the other end of the bar.
After finishing the last drops of my beer, I was about to leave when I felt a large hand on my shoulder.
“You looking for work?” the mysterious man asked me as I waited for some more information before answering. He took a seat next to me and ordered another round of drinks.
“Beer, right?” he asked. I nodded curiously.
Gulping down a full pint, he waved over the waitress and ordered a pitcher.
“I’m Keir. I heard you asking Mick for work, so I thought I come over to see what type of job you’re looking for,” he explained in a husky tone.
The beer froth clung to his brown moustache, which formed part of a bushy beard and matching thick hair.
Wiping the unwanted foam onto his red checked shirt, I slowly moved away from him. I started to wonder what exactly he might be offering.
He looked offended as he frowned and continued,
“I’m here to help you get some money, not to come onto you, but it seems like you’re not the person for the job.” He picked up his pint and started to walk away.
Quickly thinking about quite how desperate I was, I ran after him.
“WAIT! I’m listening!” I shouted, at which he laughed, showed me into a booth and explained his offer.
“Can you keep a secret?” he asked. I nodded. He continued, “Well how would you like to take part in a little boxing in the pub’s basement? If you win, you’ll get £1000. Cold, hard cash.”
I couldn’t believe what he was saying. It seemed too good to be true. I had done a little boxing in my teens but nothing for money. I thought about his offer and wondered if I was still able to put up a good fight.
“What’s the catch?” I asked. He could sense that the money was beginning to suck me in.
He hesitated.
“It’s only for our kind…” I backed away, eyeing him suspiciously. But, before I could ask him to clarify his statement, he leaned in and concluded, “Lycan against Lycan!”
With that, I reluctantly agreed and arranged to meet him in the pub at 11pm. I rushed home with a mixture of excitement and trepidation; I bounced into my son’s bedroom and read him a bedtime story.
I made my excuses to Isla and kissed her on the head, knowing there was a 50:50 chance I would be coming back in one piece.
“I’ll be back soon,” I said as I charged out of the bedroom.
“Hurry back and stay out of trouble!” she shouted but I was already down the stairs and running through the front
door.
******
After meeting Mick in the bar, he escorted me into the cellar, where we were greeted by over fifty men, preparing themselves for the testosterone-filled evening ahead. Keir was positioned in the middle of the large crowd and shouted to them to form a circle.
The men did as they were asked. Keir looked over at the only window in the cellar and waited.
“Not long now,” he announced.
He chose the first pair to do battle.
The moon began to appear from behind the clouds and the two began to transform, leaving the rest of us to test our control as we tried to remain in our human states until it was our time to do battle. The pair in the ring shrieked and howled as bones cracked and muscles tensed.
The crowd began cheering and jeering as the creatures snapped at each other, unable to contain themselves, although Keir tried to control them.
With the help of audience members, he managed to collect all the prize money before being mauled by the ravenous animals.
“Okay, you have five minutes to do all you can. The one still standing, and with the least wounds, wins and will go through to the semi-finals!” he announced as the Lycan’s were freed and the crowd went wild, yelling for more blood.
As the rounds flew by, the injuries got more severe; if it wasn’t a broken leg, it was a Lycan howling as his opponent took a chunk out of its side.
“You’re up next!” Keir shouted to me as I wiped off the blood from my injuries in the semi-finals and started to prepare myself for the finale. Looking over at my competitor, I started to feel a little nervous.
An ex-marine, with tattoos all over his body, he towered over me - at 6’7’ to my 5’11’. I started pacing to psyche myself up.
The time had come and I vowed to use any underhand tricks to get out of here alive.
On my hands and knees, my organs twisted and ripped as my body transformed. After a few minutes of agonising pain, all I could smell was blood.
“READY! SET! GO!” Keir shouted as the soaring, brown beast came crashing down on me, pinning me to the floor.
Rolling around, trying to get him off me, I finally managed to find my feet and began to dodge his flailing paws and sharp teeth. Although he was larger than me, my plan was to tire him out and hope I could catch him towards the end, however he had more energy than I thought and as I turned to get away from him, I felt a searing heat strike across my back and I fell to the floor with a crash.
Keir encouraged the audience to start counting to ten as the animal circled me, waiting to finish its job.
“1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6! 7! 8…” he shouted. I finally summoned the courage to brace the pain and jump to my feet, then I used all my strength to punch the Lycan in its chest. Winding it, I bought it down to its knees, casting a stunned silence over the room as I pulled my bloody paw back through its chest. I morphed back into my human form as I shook away all the blood, veins and torn skin from my dead competitor.
Examining my victim on the floor, with a hole in his chest, I walked towards Keir as the stunned crowd parted to let me through.
“£1,000 - right?” I asked as I wiped the blood from my face, grabbed the bag of money and walked out into the alley.
Topless and stunned at what I had just done, I tried to wash away my guilt as the rain soaked my stained torso. Shaking with adrenaline, I didn’t feel the presence of another person until it was too late.
Sneaking up behind me, he swung his hand in the air and hit me with a metal bar.
“You really thought you could walk away with the prize money?” he spat as he continued to kick me.
Grabbing his feet, I pulled them from beneath him and he hit the ground. His head cracked as it met the concrete but, like a starving dog, he ignored the gash and attempted to attack me again. Slightly more dazed and confused this time, he swung wide and flung himself forward as I pushed him away, trying not to dish out the same fate as I had my previous competitor.
He scrambled to his hands and knees, and tried to grab the bag of money. I kicked him away and laughed at his feeble efforts.
“Just go back into the pub and we’ll forget this ever happened,” I suggested as I left him lying on the floor, bleeding and gasping for air.
I began to walk away and saw a shadow coming from around the corner. Immediately thinking it was one of his friends, coming to help finish me off, I turned around to see it running towards me, like a wild animal, swinging the metal bar and hoping to make a connection. I stood my ground; ready to do whatever I needed to in order to survive.
Grabbing the bar, I tested his strength as I pulled it down to my side and took it from him. Looking suddenly less confident, he looked around as the shadow around the corner grew bigger and bigger.
With one sweeping movement, I swung the bar into his side and heard a crack, which brought him to his knees immediately. I knew I had broken his ribs, but I didn’t have enough time to check him - a slender figure came bounding around the corner.
Without asking any questions, I quickly picked up the bar and swung into the distance. It connected with its shadowy target, bringing the body to the floor with a heavy thud.
On closer inspection of the body curled into a heap, I froze.
Wiping the mud from its face, I knelt down and brushed the muddy auburn hair from the face.
“ISLA?” I screamed. I hysterically wiped the blood oozing from her mouth.
I picked her head up and cradled her in my bloody arms.
“Caleb…” she muttered as I cried manically.
“Why did you come?” I asked as she floated in and out of consciousness.
“I knew you were in trouble. I was worried about you…” she slurred as blood filled her mouth, making it harder for her to speak.
She began breathing erratically as the wounds took over her fragile body.
“Shhh…” I cried sadly. I looked around to see if I could find something to stop the bleeding but the rain compromised my sight.
All I could do was cry out for help. I picked her up and ran out into the street, hoping someone would take pity on me and stop their car; the street was empty as I ran in the direction of the nearest hospital with her rapidly fading body.
After ten minutes of dodging traffic on the main road and drunken women thinking Isla was a dummy, I looked at her lifeless body and realised I was too late.
She was gone.
Emotions crashed around my mind. After sitting in the gutter and cradling her limp body for over an hour, praying for a miracle, I realised that after all I had put her through when she was alive; the least I could do was give her a proper, family burial - one that she could be proud of.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE ENCHANTING EXTORTION
Deciding to lie to Lou about his mother’s whereabouts, I went to my mother-in-law’s to make arrangements for him to stay there for a week. I set to collecting a shovel, black bags and a flashlight from the basement.
Driving the 4x4 truck into the darkest section of the woods, nothing looked familiar as thoughts of Isla haunted my mind.
Tears obscured my vision as I dipped and swerved among the trees.
“It was an accident” I kept telling myself, wondering how I was going to explain her absence to her parents. “How am I going to bring up Lou alone?” I cried as reality began to kick in. I knew I hadn’t been the best husband possible, and that was one of the main reasons behind my guilt.
I was never romantic. We had many arguments, usually caused by my lack of cooperation, and I know I took her for granted but I always thought I had time to make up for it.
“I’m going to take you on the best holiday when I win this money back,” I remember saying to her as she confronted me in an underground casino a few weeks ago, begging me not to wager more of her jewellery.
I ignored her then, just like I had done throughout our whole marriage, so shouldn’t it be a fitting end to my selfishness - her being taken away from me by my own hands
, leaving me haunted by her innocent face for the rest of my life?
My final thought sent me over the edge. I began to cry uncontrollably, realising I could never tell her how much she really meant to me. The pain was too much to control. My mind was no longer my own. I slammed the car to a halt and morphed into my Lycan form.
Slashing at tree barks and savaging any animal that came into sight, twenty minutes of releasing my self-pity left me lying in the middle of a clearing - naked, sobbing like a child, and vulnerable.
Distracted by my traumatic outburst, I did not hear a couple approaching, until they were a few yards away. I quickly jumped to my feet and ran back to the van, as the wind swept against my naked skin.
Pulling clothes on, I looked around cautiously before digging a shallow grave a few yards away from the car. There was a beautiful white willow tree, with blackberry bushes surrounding it; I knew this was the spot to lay Isla to rest.