Chapter Two

A growl rumbled in my chest, clawed its way up my throat, and tore out from between my teeth- a small warning. Fear flooded my insides, like a dam had burst inside of me. My pulse spiked, I feared it would hear my erratically beating heart, and make me its next target. My arms tensed, my fingers spread, imitating claws. Inside my mouth, I could feel my teeth elongate, turning into fangs, they would soon be too large for my human mouth, I’d either have to open my mouth, or complete the shift. Another growl rumbled in my chest.

 ‘How could I have been so foolish?’ I wondered, kicking myself. I should have stood up and supported Cap. You did not question the Alpha. Now I had gotten us both killed. No doubt the vampire would get our scents, etch them in its eternal memory, and follow us if we tried to head for the safety of the woods. It would take us down; perhaps snap our necks so it could drink without the disturbance of our struggles… ‘I’m so sorry Ricky’ I thought, wishing I could find my voice, but all I was capable of emitting were low growls, too low for an inattentive human to notice.

Cap would worry, he’d easily follow our scent, trace us to our grave. What if he caught up while the vampire was still feeding? Vampires got very protective of their prey… it might attack Cap, trying to protect what belonged to it… And Cap… Cap would go into a rage if he saw us there, crumpled on the ground, cold and lifeless… he would lose it. Something would snap, he would attack the vampire with all he had….and he would lose.

What about Chanjo? Would Cap cover his eyes so he wouldn’t see the gruesome sight? Would he shove him away, yelling at him to run? Would they attack the vampire together? Or would Changjo be left behind while Cap came looking for us alone? Would he wait, huddled against a tree, as he had all those years ago, once again waiting for the family who would never return? The images filled my heart with sorrow; I could literally feel it ache.

‘We have to get out of here’ I thought. ‘But how?’ I wondered, I wasn’t an Alpha, I didn’t make decisions, I followed them. Should we run back to Cap and Changjo? We were stronger in a pack… but what if it followed us? What if I led it right to my pack, so it could attack us all at once? I felt Ricky stiffen beside me as he sensed my agitation. A tremor ran through his body, and I could hear his pulse quicken with fear. A low snarl, much too quiet for humans to hear, slipped from between his teeth. He crouched slightly, getting into a battle stance, glancing around for the threat, ready to fight beside me without even questioning what was going on. ‘What? No!’ I thought. We couldn’t fight it! Not here, not now, the humans would see us, we couldn’t hope to win a battle while in two legs, but if we shifted everyone in the street would see… Plus, even if we shifted, there was no guarantee we’d win, vampires were cold-hearted, mindless killers, they lived to kill and feed. They did not bleed, did they even feel pain? I wasn’t even sure if it could be killed. We could get seriously injured, or wind up dead, if we tried to confront it… We should just…. We should…. We should try to get back to the pack.

Another snarl escaped Ricky’s lips, a tad bit louder this time; he shifted so he stood beside me, not behind me. He too had an instinct, a drive, to protect his pack, his family. I saw his gaze follow mine, his eyes narrowing. “No” I said, trying to leave without a scene, the vampire hadn’t even spotted us yet, though I knew the dead machine most likely already had our scents, it still made me feel better that it hadn’t seen our faces. A very human response, and I kicked myself for it, the nose was all that truly mattered.

I backed up into Ricky, taking one step back, forcing him to walk back when my back pressed to his chest. His shoes made a light scuffling sound as they were dragged across the ground, keeping him balanced. The vampire’s head snapped up, I found I could no longer breathe; my throat closed and refused to let oxygen through. ‘It’s going to see us, it’s going to see us, it’s going to see us’ I thought, I was sure the fear was going to stop my heart. It stiffed, I was sure I heard it sniff. ‘It’s got our scent’ I thought, lowering my body slightly into a crouch. I was trembling slightly; my body was drowning in the adrenaline that now coursed through me. Everything around me was happening in slow motion while my senses heightened, preparing for whatever threat was to come. ‘You can’t prepare for this’ I thought. Today I would die, it would likely dispose of us, then slaughter the entire street full of people.

The vampire turned around, looked up, and locked eyes with me. Even with its eyes protected by its huge black sunglasses, I could feel his gaze on me. I gasped inaudibly. It was flawless, just as the rumors said; it had pale skin, medium length orangey-golden hair, and my sense of danger doubled with him facing us. It was so very inhuman, perfect to the point of creepiness. I was frozen, not even able to chide myself for not reacting, protecting Ricky, running, fighting, anything other than standing frozen and mute. It took me a couple of seconds to realize the vampire wasn’t moving either, wasn’t even crouching or snarling.

‘What’s going on…’ I wondered, right when Ricky snarled again, loud enough for any nearby human to hear, and tensed, ready to spring forward. “No!” I hissed, slamming my back into his chest. “Oaff!” Ricky grunted, as I elbowed him, pushing him back further. My movement broke the spell, the vampire whipped around, and fled. It zig-zagged around the crowd and disappeared, I stared after it, before straightening up out of my crouch. “Let’s go” I said, turning a bit to the side so I could give him a shove. He was tense and didn’t want to move, but one glare from me convinced him. He huffed, turned, and began to walk away. I quickly followed after him, not looking back.

As soon as we were in the cover of the trees we began to run. There was no playfulness this time, not excitement or thrill. I did not pull ahead, staying right by Ricky’s side. I tried not to think, my mind was already racing, I just wanted it to stop. I focused on Ricky’s rhythmic breathing instead.

We burst into our small ‘camp’, both wide eyed. The stench of fear must have been evident on us; Cap whirled around, lips drawn up to expose his already elongating teeth, half crouched, eyes glowing slightly. He looked fierce; his gaze shifted from Ricky’s face, to mine, his nostrils twitching ever so slightly as he tasted the air. Concluding that there was no immediate danger near, Cap relaxed, if only slightly, his pupils returning to normal. He walked over to us, the question clear on his face ‘What’s wrong?’ his eyes asked. I knew he didn’t expect us to pour out our feelings and fears, he wanted a description of what had happened, of the threat, what it was, how near it was..

Ricky opened his mouth to speak, his eyes wide, there was so much emotion written on his face… I slapped my hand over his mouth, “We had a little scare in the town” I said, trying to sound convincing, sheepish, and calm. “I’m sorry if we gave you a scare, I know we over reacted. It was nothing, but we panicked” I said, trying to sound embarrassed. Cap studied my face, I tried to keep my face straight, and my eyes half open, not wide like a frightened rabbit. From the foot of the large, thick-trunked tree, I could Changjo debating to himself whether to join Cap, or leave this to his Alpha.

Cap studied us for a few seconds more, before huffing and backing off. “So” he said, stance once more relaxed, “What was this ‘little scare’ that sent you both racing back?”

“Ummm” Ricky hesitated, he has no idea why I was refusing to tell Cap the truth, but he trusted me enough to keep quiet, for now. I knew he’d end up bugging me to no end later.

“Umm, we.. Uh.. We had a little shifting mishap” I said finally. Cap raised a brow incredulously. “Yeah.. uh.. I was stupid, I wasn’t paying attention, some guy bumped into me and Ricky rather roughly, and I.. uh.. Got mad. I felt my teeth elongating before Ricky pulled me away.. but uh.. I’d um.. A growl had started to build in my throat, I was worried someone had heard it, and we ran back here” I finished lamely. It sounded like a horrible, half-baked excuse, even to my ears. Cap studied my eyes for a moment longer, before shrugging, deciding that, though I was obviously lying, whatever had happened was not of his immediate concern.

I could barely contain my sigh of relief when Cap walked back to Changjo, hopping up onto the large, grey stone easily. I felt the stress ease off my shoulders slightly, and I went to lie down. Ricky, of course, followed right behind me. I was not looking forward to this.

“So, why?” Ricky asked me, after we’d being lying around for roughly 10 minutes. We were both on our backs, I had my eyes closed, and my arm over them.

 “Hmm?” I groaned, not really paying attention.

 “Why’d we have to lie to Cap?” he asked. I removed my arm, blinking against the dim light momentarily, my eyes adjusting quickly. I glanced at him; he’d rolled onto his stomach, propped up on his elbows and forearms.

“Ricky..” I sighed. “You.. You saw that back there, I know you know what it was” I paused; he nodded slowly, though it still managed to look like he was bobbing his head, I made sure to lower my voice before continuing. “You know how much Cap hates vampires. What do you think he’d do if he found out we’d found one in town?” I watched his eyes narrow, his expression thoughtful. “He could get hurt, or killed, if he decided to go after it” I continued.

“What if he just decided it was time to move again?” Ricky said. I paused, unsure of what to reply. Surely, I’d realized this was an option, but..

“Ah, Ricky..” I stalled, realizing I didn’t like that option. The vampire had intrigued me. I’d heard so much of their ruthlessness, their dead-eyes, the mindless slaughter.. “Uh, you saw it leave, best not give Cap unnecessary worry” I reasoned.  Ricky paused, blinking, before his entire expression brightened, trusting me completely.

“You’re right!” he piped. “He worries too much as it is.”

Why did the vampire run? I lay pondering hours later, lying on my back, my arms crossed behind my head, eyes fixed above, trying to catch glimpses of the stars through the leafy trees. The tall, unkempt, forest grass tickled slightly, but not in an uncomfortable way. My pack was asleep. Ricky was snoring less than two feet away; Changjo was curled up on a big pile of leaves to his left, and Cap was sitting up, leaning between on the large rock and big tree. My eyes glanced over each of their sleeping faces, before being pulled back to the sky.

Why? That was the question. Why? Perhaps the vampire new it couldn’t possibly kill all the people in the street before being noticed? I shook my head; I imagined I could feel the back of it becoming slightly damp by the grass. Vampires were supposed to be killing machines, attacking first, asking questions later. Or, maybe they only became mindless at the scent of blood? I glanced in Cap’s direction. He was the only one with any real information on vampires; he would know why the vampire had run.

I shifted, becoming a bit restless from turning the question over and over in my mind. Why had the vampire run? Maybe it had been self-preservation? Maybe the vampire hadn’t thought he was capable of fighting off two werewolves at once?

I sat up with a sigh, running my fingers through my hair. Why had such a short encounter gotten so into my head? I left my fingers fall out of my hair and thread into the grass. Leaning on my hands I surveyed the forest. Was the vampire even still around? Had it fled the area, or only their site? I froze at the thought of the vampire trailing us, following our scent back to the pack, and killing my family, my pack, in their sleep.  I could feel my heart beat increasing, and feared its pounding sound would wake the pack, Ricky was a pretty heavy sleeper, for a werewolf, but Cap seemed to always be on high alert, even while sleeping. I couldn’t chance him waking to my racing heart; he’d ask what was wrong and wouldn’t take such a lousy excuse a second time. The wind blew through the trees, the trembling leaves rustled causing me to jump, my heart kicking into over drive before my sensitive ears could pin-point the cause of the sound.

I got up and walked into the trees, putting a bit of distance between my sleep pack and myself. I leaned against a tree, waiting for my heart to slow once more. I couldn’t fall asleep now, not with that knowledge. Should I tell Cap that we should move? No. That was out of the question. He’d want to know why. I slowly sank to the ground, my back brushing gently against the tree trunk, and pulled my knees in close. I stayed that way for quite some time, before I realized this wasn’t going to go way. Seeing my first vampire, or perhaps seeing this particular vampire, had done something to me and I feared it would only get worse. An exhausted, jumpy pack mate was no use to anyone. I had to get over this, or fix it somehow.

Maybe, if I could find some way to assure myself that the vampire was nowhere near my pack, I could finally calm down and get some sleep, put that stupid encounter behind me. ‘Yes’, I thought, standing up, ‘That’s what I’ll do’. I trudged off, circling my pack’s camp-site, searching for any out-of place odor.

I’d circled my pack three times, each time increasing my radius by about two yards, before I realized I had no idea what I was even looking for. I stopped. What did vampires smell like? Did they even have a scent? I ransacked my memory for the vampire’s scent, but the only thing I could find in that file was my own fear, desire to protect Ricky. They could smell like bunnies for all I knew! I needed a new plan. So far I’d sniffed out my pack, mostly Cap, who often patrolled the perimeter of his pack’s camp, and forest animals and vegetation. This might have reassured me before my what-if-vampires-don’t-have-a-scent thought. Now I was growing ever more paranoid of a scentless vampire sneaking up on me and my pack, even while we were all wide awake!

I shook my head and let out a loud sigh. This was getting me nowhere, I needed the vampire’s scent in order to find out if it was anywhere near my pack. I started walking again; coming across Ricky and my trail, from when we’d went to town. An idea struck. I knew where to get the vampire’s scent. It was late, surely past 2:00a.m. The town would be deserted. It would be easy enough to run back, search out the vampire’s scent, then make sure it hadn’t traveled anywhere near my pack..

Decision made, I followed the trail previously left my Ricky and myself, not wanting to create any additional ties between myself and my pack’s camp, because of the vampire, or the town, because of Cap.

AN: Beware my long chapters! XD Hey guys! Sorry this took so long. My play is in less than 2 weeks; hopefully drama practice will end then, which means more time fore writing! This would have been up yesterday, cept I had to take the SAT... and I'm sick [managed to sleep 12 hours yesterday!] Anyways, hope you like this. ^-^ Stuff actually happens next chapter, I promise!