"Jared!" a feeble voice cried for about the hundredth time, brown hair plastered to his forehead with sweat and blood. His hands and legs were numb with the effort of trying to escape, the bones in his wrists grinding recklessly at the joints. He twisted against the ropes holding him down. Nothing could free him. The irony of it was that it had been simple. He'd been captured so easily… he'd been blind from the beginning. It wasn't even silver holding him down. He'd tried shifting into wolf form. It hadn't helped. The bonds had just held tighter.
Anger suddenly flared up inside, from a hidden place deep in his chest that he never knew really existed. He'd always wondered whether there was love out there in the world if your own family could turn against you… but here it was. The anger was caused by the love he felt for her. His blue-eyed girl. All the anger he contained, the focus on anything that threatened his Mary-Lynette. And right now? Who was to blame for the dark-haired boy hogtied in a trailer? Who was to blame for Mare's suffering right that instant? Jared's gonna die when I get my hands on him, he thought, ravenously, gritting his teeth as he pushed forward another time.
All through his life he'd protected her – loved her. Wanted to make sure she wasn't harmed or spoilt in anyway. He liked her the way she was. Unblemished. Pure. Mary-Lynette Carter. Never had he once thought of changing her into something like him. To ruin something so graceful. She loved the night just as much as he did, and appreciated it all the same. She didn't need to see through another's eyes to view it any differently. It was her world, and he spent some time in it occasionally. As he spent some time in others – doing jobs, fixing things, people throwing him unwanted charity…
He was brought back to his original thought. He didn't want her spoiled. That was the reason he hated that big, blond cat. Ash. Ash Redfern. Not for being charitable. Not for throwing insults at him. He hated him for wanting her. For wanting to ruin her by changing her into a vampire. She'd never be the same after something like that – she'd be ruthless and dangerous… with only Ash's example to follow, only a killer to look up to.
Mary-Lynette had always wondered about the secret of Jeremy Lovett. She thought she'd had it nailed. Being a 'wolf wasn't the end. Being a twin however…
The anger died down and Jeremy deflated, physically collapsing as his strength filtered out of him. His head hit the wall but it didn't hurt. Nothing could hurt him now except if Mary-Lynette were killed – were changed…
He'll kill me. Just like he killed our uncle. Just like he killed the horse and the hiker… Just like he's killing Mary-Lynette now. A lone tear curved down his tanned cheek. And she'll think it was me…
Jeremy suddenly retrieved his will to fight, realising with a jolt that he could never let that happen - he could never let Mary-Lynette believe he would hurt her. He pulled forward sharply, the familiar bite gnawing at his palms as the bones became an inch closer to snapping. Jeremy screamed involuntarily. He wouldn't stop trying. Not now, not now he had the energy. He felt charged and ready to fight, ready to storm his way out. Adrenaline was pulsing through his body, setting off even the toughest nerves, heightening all of his senses. His whole figure tingled and writhed in his bindings, moving on instinct to worm its way out of the current predicament. It was working… he was slipping free.
He let himself briefly think about Ash. About how under all that 'tough-guy' exterior, he was in love with Mary-Lynette. He pretended to be a jackass, pretended to be merciless and dangerous, but really he cared for a lot more people than himself. He hadn't been like that once, Jeremy could tell… He'd begun to realise a lot of things by arriving here. By finding Mary-Lynette. The girl who could capture anyone's soul. Protect her and don't change her, Jeremy prayed, sending the thought both to God and to Ash. But Jeremy was no vampire. He had no real telepathy powers. But he could wish… he could hope…
Suddenly, his hands slipped out of the loops, the blood aiding him, acting as a lubricant. Excitement pulsed through him but he had to keep calm. The door was bolted. There was no way he could get out. It was silver. Uncle had fitted it to stop Jared leaving the trailer and murdering any human in sight. To keep him away from Mary-Lynette. A shiver ran up Jeremy's spine and his eyes instinctively switched to the photo of her on his wall. Though Jared had never met her, he'd loved her from the moment Jeremy had shot her and brought her home on a piece of paper.
Perfect, he'd said. Jeremy started shaking at the thought, at the idea of Jared getting his filthy hands on her. The last time Jared had escaped from the trailer, he'd attacked that hiker… massacred him. And then he'd gotten Uncle too…
"You're my brother, Jerr," Jared snarled, the lifeless body pitching forward and thumping on the floor. Jeremy looked down at the twitching bundle. The face that had once belonged to his uncle was erupting in hairs, disguising the fact that he had ever looked like a normal person. He began to take the form of a wolf, and as his hind legs twitched in the moonlight, Jared smiled, blood trickling from his gaping mouth." –And I don't want to be completely alone. So that's why I want you here. With me. Besides, how else would I meet that gorgeous girl of yours?" Jeremy suddenly realised Jared was still talking, and he was talking about meeting Mare. He kept his face a mask. He didn't want to die, not now, not with the trailer door wide open…Jared could just run around carelessly and wipe Briar Creek out.
"He deserved to die, Jerr." Jared growled, kicking Uncle with his right foot. "No one tells me how to hunt. This is my territory now." The hairs around Jared's face were disappearing and shrivelling back into his skin. His muzzle was vanishing and his teeth were falling back into their normal shape. Jeremy shut his eyes as his twin picked his shirt and jeans from the floor and started to dress again, completing the 'human-boy' disguise.
Jeremy slowly opened his eyes as Jared pulled on the shirt. His twin flashed a brilliant smile. "Stay put, Jerr." He was closing the trailer door. And he was on the outside, Jeremy on the inside. He made to stop him but Jared shook his finger. "Don't be crazy, Jerr, you're not leaving the trailer."
Jeremy opened his mouth in disbelief and then Jared's grin grew even wider. "I've got to get to the gas station. Mare fills up her tank today, right?"
Jeremy ran forward, startled. "Keep away from her!" But before he could say anymore, the door slammed shut in his face. Jared didn't return home until after 'work'. And only then would he return to his normal role. Only then would he become Jared.
It became a regular thing. Jared locking Jeremy up, pretending to be him, getting to know Mary-Lynette. But Jeremy had been allowed out earlier… he'd seen Ash, seen the sisters and Mark… he'd tried to warn Mare. Jared had found out about the vampire trying to steal her. And he wasn't happy. He'd left with a club…
Jeremy turned towards the moon highlighting the window. His eyes grew wide with delight upon seeing it, then he resisted the impulse to howl and set his mind to escape mode. He estimated it was about two in the morning. Jared had been gone two whole hours.
Bile rose up in the back of Jeremy's throat. The sick, churning sensation in his stomach made him do something unexpected. He pounded the side of his body into the silver-plated door. Screaming in agony, as it bruised the entire of his right side, he jumped it again and again and again. It was no use. He was only wasting time.
Stumbling rather than stepping backwards, he turned about in a flurry, looking for some form of exit. Then his eyes turned towards the window. It was a narrow slit at the top of the wall; he could just about touch it with the tips of his fingers. A privacy window – so no one could peep in. It was open. He leapt as high as he could, just to see whether he'd fit.
In human form he had no chance. But in wolf… Jeremy stood back, and then looked up at the moon, the light shining in his eyes. He could feel the change ripple through his body like waves lapping over him in the summer sun. The hairs erupted around his chin, down his back, across his chest, up his legs and down his arms in one smooth tidal wave. His eyes grew filmy and the pupils opened wider than nine millimetres, his eyes stretching across his face so his view of the world was larger. His hair was growing longer and meeting with the fur at his neck, forming one chestnut-brown coat.
He opened his mouth and his teeth grew longer. He could choose in what stages he changed and he preferred his teeth to grow after the fur, it was the way he'd always done it. Like routine. His arms and legs were snapping into position so he could run on all fours, his spine was bending – but it didn't feel painful. His muzzle was growing, his ears shifting to the top of his forehead and pointing into tips at the ends. His clothes were slipping off and he began to kick at them so they were on the floor quicker and he was up in the air, soaring through the window. His claws grew where his nails should have been and a tail sprouted once his trousers were off.
Fully changed, fully prepared, he flung himself upward and grabbed onto the ledge with outstretched claws. Then to help himself balance, bit down onto the plastic edging, holding himself in place. His paws slipped down the wall but he managed to readjust his grip and slip through the window, tucking his legs up close to his belly. Then he was falling. He wondered where the floor was and whether the drop would send a shockwave through his body.
Then the night air was on his face. Four legs out at his side, he landed comfortably on the patch of grass beneath the pane. Mad Dog Creek smelt like Douglas firs and Ponderosa pines. The air was filled with the smell of damp leaves and undergrowth. Patting around, letting his senses adjust, he faced the path that led to town. Then, when he was ready, started sprinting – mouth open, an almost inaudible growl growing with every few yards in his throat.
He'd find Jared. And when he did, he was going to pay.