When we pulled up to the warehouse, the clouds had thickened, turned the sky almost pitch black leaving the building mostly shrouded in darkness. This time there weren’t even fires in trash cans to light our way, just a simple haze of moonlight that fought through the density of the gray puffs above them threatening rain. A shiver went down my spine that had nothing to do with that damp chill in the humid air. Just being back at this site where so much trauma had happened along with the desolation of the area this time gave me the creeps.
I didn’t know why the homeless were no longer sleeping here, but if they had fled based on what happened last time the vampires and werewolves had battled here I couldn’t possibly blame them. I couldn’t imagine what their fighting had sounded like especially to humans. To have vampires and werewolves fighting to the death especially with their supernatural powers, their speed, and their strength increased had to have sounded like a small war inside that building. Anyone in their right mind would have moved on and found another place to stay. Sleeping under a noisy bridge would have been a far better option than being here.
I couldn’t have agreed more. That horrible memory flooded back. The fear made my feet want to freeze to the gravel beneath me. I looked to my side, to Lex who stood there strong, looking ahead to the building even though his face was tight, lined with worry. His mouth formed a flat line with his lips pursed with anger. I grabbed for his hand finding it warm despite the temperature around us. He squeezed mine back, maybe a little too hard, but the pain let me know that he was there. He was alive. He was no longer trapped inside the building. He had survived his ordeal with Daniel. It had been months since he had, but an image like that never left one. Chloe would survive this too.
I couldn’t know what tonight held for us, what dangers lurked inside that building, but I couldn’t see Chloe hurt as I’d seen Lex, and I couldn’t let them hurt Lex again either. I could barely breathe, near hyperventilating, as I thought of the vampires around me as well. Nira didn’t want any more losses. I’d suffered enough too. Each wave of guilt knocked out by another bout of fury served as another punch in the gut as my stomach coiled over the pain, and my body tightened everywhere else.
This time there was no hesitation. The group didn’t have a plan, but Nira wasn’t in the mood to mess around either. Everyone just wanted this done. We walked straight to the side of the building, stopping only to press our backs against the bricks and listen for who or what waited us inside. Even still in human form, I sniffed. I’d found during my training that since being turned into a werewolf many of my human senses had increased. I could smell Daniel, even though he couldn’t possibly be here. I could smell human and wolf blood although it was old. I had to go in there and help regardless of what needed to be done. It wasn’t an option to flee, to give into my need to never step into this place again. For Chloe I had to face whatever was on the other side of that wall.
This time we wouldn’t have to climb the stairs to find them. As soon as we entered, right there on the first floor just across the room, Chloe was tied to an old machine much like Lex had been tied to the wall in chains. In my mind, even though I saw Chloe’s face, it flashed to Lex’s and back again like flashbacks over reality given the horrendously familiar situation. As memories hurtled through my brain, causing it to throb, my body spasmed, my wrath became something that dripped from my pores. My hands gripped to fists, needing to hit someone, to grab someone, to hurt someone. Who could blame me or say they wouldn’t feel the same bloodlust given this was the second time someone I loved had been taken here and chained to something like a useless animal?
When I was done rescuing Chloe, I wanted the building demolished. I didn’t even want the thing to stand here regardless of the outcome. I wanted every bit of it to be turned to rubble, to become nothing but dust and ashes on this landscape, as I wished I could turn my memories, along with the ones I was making now.
I rushed to Chloe, kneeling down before her. I’d not seen any werewolves around, but that didn’t mean they were not lurking in the shadows waiting to attack. I winced, awaited the bright lights like they’d turned on us last time, momentarily stunning my group putting them at a disadvantage. Still, I’d rushed foolishly forward. Let them try to stop me.
Looking into my friend’s face, her eyes were closed. She didn’t appear to be conscious, just as I had wished on the way here, though I knew this state had nothing to do with my magic. Chloe didn’t appear to be hurt. At least not outwardly. I ran my hand over my friend’s beautiful hair, before letting it run gently along the curve of her neck and down over her arms and legs. Nothing seemed to be broken. Every part of my friend appeared to be unharmed save for the fact she wasn’t conscious. There was no blood. There were no cuts. There were no bumps or bruises. Yet, her arms were tied above her head, and she just hung there with her eyes closed, lightly breathing in and out at a very slow, deep-sleep pace.