The she-wolf tears through the forest, jumping over fallen logs and dodging through the trees. It's been years since Samantha has stepped foot in this part of the woods but somehow remembers the route to the flower field it as if it were only yesterday. She can hear the paws of a bigger wolf following her; Gaspard is hot on her trail, following her every twist and turn, trying to keep up whilst making his way through the unknown territory. Samantha stops at the edge of a wide clearing that's covered in patches of clover and bluebells. Shifting back into her human form, she steps out into the open.
"Elly!" She calls out.
There's no answer. She panics and wonders if she's too late or perhaps this has all been a cruel joke. A large black wolf runs up to her side and transforms into Gaspard.
"Where is she?" He asks.
"ELLY!" Samantha shouts even louder.
"Sam," a weak voice answers her, "Sam, I'm here."
Peering over a small, grassy knoll, Samantha sees a hand, waving so feebly that it's barely a twitch of the fingers. She rushes over and is stopped dead in her tracks.
"Oh, shit, Elly," she gasps.
Her sister's short, brown hair is clumped together with soil and blood and her body is scattered with claw marks that drag across her legs, stomach and arms. Her shoulder has a deep, bite impression that oozes red fluid. Elly's features are hidden by dirt, covering all but her dark eyes that are overflowing with tears.
"Sam, you came," Elly cries, gritting her teeth in pain as her body shakes with each sob.
"Where's your phone?" Samantha asks, looking around her frantically.
She locates Elly's mobile and dials 999.
"Elly," Gaspard says, leaning over the injured girl, "Are there any others? Where's the rest of your pack?"
"I don't know," Elly weeps, "I don't know where they are; they chased them."
Gaspard looks around at the trees surrounding the clearing. The pack could have run in any direction. He runs to the edge and quickly searches the bushes and grass all the way around, looking for damage to the foliage to give him a clue to which direction they may have been driven.
"Hello, I need an ambulance and I need a team of paramedics," Samantha says, trying to keep herself together whilst she's on the phone, "I'm in the Chelmsford forest about half a mile in from North New Forest Road. My sister and her friends; they've been attacked by dogs."
Elly lets out another sob and Samantha kneels down beside her.
"Tell them to hurry," Elly pleads, "It hurts."
"I have my sister here with me; her name is Elly Hopkins. We're looking for her friends right now because they ran," Samantha tells the woman on the other end of the phone, "She's been bitten and scratched everywhere and her friends probably have been too. She's bleeding a lot. Please, get here as fast as you can."
Samantha hangs up the phone and puts her hand on Elly's cheek. For now, her mind has pushed aside all their history and out focus on helping her get through all of this.
"Sam!" Gaspard shouts from the other side of the clearing, "I've found them!"
"He's found them?" Elly repeats, "Are they ok? Are they alive?"
"Elly, I'm going to be right back," Samantha promises, "I just have to go with Gaspard and see who he's found. All you have to tell me is how many pack members you have."
"There are five including me," Elly whimpers.
Samantha nods and stands. Gaspard motions for her to come with him and she jumps the knoll and runs to meet him.
"It's not pretty," he tells her.
"Are they alive?" Samantha questions.
"One of them is gone and the other three are hanging on by a thread. Those paramedics better hurry or we'll lose all of them."
"Take me to them."
Gaspard grabs Samantha's arm and leads her through the trees. Only a few metres in, the grass has been stained with a dark red. Four bodies lay on the ground, three of them taking shallow and laboured breaths.
"They've got the same injuries as Elly," Gaspard says.
"This is insane," Samantha utters, "Who or what would do something like this?"
"I don't know," Gaspard shakes his head, "But whoever it was seems to have had it in for your sister."
XXXXXXXXXX
Half an hour passes until the paramedics reach the clearing. Gaspard had retraced his steps and collected both his and Samantha's clothes, barring Samantha's t-shirt which he replaced with his own shirt, then found his way to the roadside in order to wait for the ambulances and guide them back to where Elly and her pack mates were lying.
"Is she going to be ok?" Samantha asks one of the EMTs.
"We'll take care of her and her friends as best we can," the man tells her as he helps load the stretchers into the ambulance.
"But she'll make it, right?" Samantha quizzes him.
"Miss, please, let us do our jobs," the man replies as he steps inside the van and shuts the door.
The sirens begin to wail as the ambulances speed off, heading back to the hospital. Samantha drops to her knees.
"Sam, are you alright?" Gaspard exclaims, crouching down next to her and putting his arm around her shoulders.
"What the fuck just happened, Gaspard?" She utters.
"I wish I knew the answer to that, Mon chéri," Gaspard sighs.
"I don't even know what I'm doing here," she says, "I just came running to the aid of someone I despise and I'm asking if she's going to be ok. I shouldn't give a shit about that... That bitch and her gang of fucking sheep!"
"It's because you're nothing like her."
XXXXXXXXXX
Back at the house, Gaspard and Samantha find only Hannah, Alec, Rosie and Lance. Lance had sent everyone else home, knowing that the couple will appreciate fewer people being present.
"Guys, what's happened?" Rosie asks.
"Mate, is that yours?" Lance frowns, looking at Gaspard's blood-stained shirt.
Samantha walks past Rosie and takes a sits on the sofa. She runs her fingers through her hair and groans.
"My sister and her pack just effectively got wiped out," she tells them.
"You have a sister?" Hannah exclaims, "Since when did you have a sister?"
"Since always," Samantha snaps, "And she really isn't much of one."
"Sam, she doesn't know," Gaspard reminds his girlfriend.
"I'm sorry," Samantha sighs, "I just... I can't deal with this right now."
Samantha stands and makes her way upstairs, slamming the bedroom door behind her.
"It's best we leave the questions for another time," Gaspard says, "This is going to be a difficult one to explain and I think she needs some time to process everything."
"Yeah, no problem," Lance nods.
"Hannah, it's time for you to go to ground," Gaspard orders.
"I'll go to bed too," Rosie says.
Whilst the others say their goodnights, Gaspard ventures up the stairs to find Samantha. As he enters the bedroom, he hears the shower running. He strips off his dirty shirt and sighs loudly. He, himself, can barely register the events that have unfolded tonight, meaning that he can't possibly imagine what must be going through Samantha's head at the moment. He joins her in the bathroom and finds her standing perfectly still in the bath under the monsoon shower head, fully clothed, letting the water slowly wash away the soil and blood from her skin. Gaspard perches on the edge of the bath tub.
"I know you don't want to talk about it right now but you need to remember that..."
Gaspard stops and stares hard at Samantha, noticing that she's attempting to steady herself against the wall as she begins to sway. He swings his legs around and stands in the bath with her. As he reaches out to touch her shoulder, Samantha's legs give out underneath her. Gaspard catches her before she hits he bottom of the tub and holds up her dead weight.
"Rosie!" He yells.
Rosie, who has retired to her room, comes running through the bedroom and stops in the doorway of the bathroom.
"Oh my goodness, is she alright?" Rosie cries.
"I can't exactly figure anything out until I get her out," Gaspard replies, "But I'm worried I'm going to slip when I step out and I don't want to let go so I need you to take her legs for me."
Rosie rushes over to grab Samantha's ankles and help pull her up and over the edge of the bath tub. Once he's clear of the chance of falling, Gaspard picks up his girlfriend and takes her to the bed. Rosie lays a towel on top of the duvet and he carefully places her down.
"Do you think she passed out from shock?" Rosie asks.
"That's likely but I'm no expert," Gaspard says, moving Samantha's wet hair away from her face, "She didn't hit her head or anything so I don't think we need to call an ambulance. I'll wait until she comes to."
"Do you want me to wait with you?" Rosie offers.
"No, its ok," Gaspard replies, "Get some sleep."
Rosie nods and silently leaves the room. Gaspard massages his temples between his thumb and index finger. For months after he first found Samantha, she had cried most nights and when she finally opened up to him, he discovered the full extent of the pain and mental suffering that her one and only known family member had caused. He's thankful that she's wearing his shirt instead of her t-shirt because it would have been much harder to remove her wet clothes. After undressing her, he lays Samantha under the covers and tucks her in before retiring to the bed himself. He kisses her on the forehead before falling into a deep slumber.
XXXXXXXXXX
When the morning light filters in through the curtains, Samantha awakens and finds herself facing a sleeping Gaspard. She reaches out her hand and strokes the side of his face. His sky blue eyes gradually open.
"Hey," he whispers, "How are you feeling?"
"I think I'm ok," she whispers back, "But why am I on the wrong side of the bed?"
"When you passed out, I just put you on the closest side of the bed to me at the time and after that I didn't want to start dragging you around."
"I passed out?" Samantha questions.
"I think you were in a bit of shock," Gaspard says.
"I still am," Samantha sighs, resting her hand on the pillow, "Last night feels like a bad dream."
"It did look like something pulled out of a nightmare," Gaspard nods.
"I wish it were just a nightmare," Samantha admits, "But it wasn't and you know as well as I do that this isn't going to stop. I'm going to have to go and see her, Gaspard. I don't want to but we need to know what happened."
"Mon chéri, it's not going to be like last time," he promises, gently brushing his hand down her arm.
"I know; you're here this time."
"I won't let her hurt you again."
Samantha shuffles over and nuzzles into the crook of Gaspard's neck. He drapes his arm over her and closes his eyes only to be awakened ten seconds later by the loud sound of Muse blaring out from the pocket of his jeans. Slowly, he sits up, his messy hair hinders his vision.
"Please answer that. It's hurting my ears," Samantha groans.
Gaspard swings his legs around and pushes himself up off of the bed. Finding his jeans from the night before on the floor, he searches through the pockets. Coins fall out as he retrieves his phone and looks at the number on the screen; Doctor Coleman. He answers.
"Hugh, how can I help you," he says.
At the mention of the doctors name, Samantha sits bolt upright.
"It is about Elly?" She asks.
Gaspard puts his hand up to signal to her that he's trying to listen.
"Ok, thank you, I'll let her know," he nods.
Samantha watches as he ends the call and looks up at her.
"What did he say?"
"Your sisters awake. We can go and see her soon."
"Today," Samantha insists.
"Sam, it's a bit soon, don't you think?" Gaspard asks.
"No," Samantha disagrees, "I need to know."
Gaspard knows that there is no arguing with her. She is determined to get answers and he won't be able to stop her.
"Ok," he nods, "Let's get ready and we'll go."
XXXXXXXXXX
Samantha and Gaspard stand outside the room where Elly is being cared for. Samantha stares through the gaps in the slatted blinds.
"What on earth do you say to someone you haven't seen in nearly five years because they threw you out of your own home?" She asks.
"I honestly don't know, Mon chéri," Gaspard replies.
"A part of me doesn't want to be here and it's screaming at me to run away," Samantha tells him, "Yet, part of me is saying that I should stay and see what she has to say for herself."
"I don't think the reasons for why she did it have changed," Gaspard says.
"I know that," Samantha sighs, "But the least she owes me right now is a thank you and an explanation of why, of all the people in the world, did she contact me for help."
"Then that's what you say to her," Gaspard states.
Samantha grabs the door handle and takes a deep breath before slowly opening it. Elly looks up as Samantha steps in.
"Sam," she says, weakly, "I wondered when you were going to come and see me."
"What happened to you, Elly?" Samantha asks, walking up to the bed.
"After all this time, you don't even say hello first," Elly replies.
"Hi," Samantha says, bluntly, "What happened to you?"
Elly sighs. She doesn't know why she bothered mentioning Samantha's lack of enthusiasm upon speaking to her. She shouldn't expect any more than what she's getting.
"We were having a pack run. All five of us were just racing each other through the trees. Then we heard screaming and when we stopped and regrouped, there was only four of us," Elly tells her, "Grace had disappeared and we knew; we knew that those screams were hers. It sounded so awful. I've never heard anything like it before and it terrified me. By the time we found her again it was too late."
"I know she was in a bad state when the paramedics came and got you all," Samantha says.
"She was in bad state?" Elly cries, "She was mauled, Sam. Her arms and legs were nothing but shreds of flesh and her throat had been torn out. We could barely recognise her. Please, tell me how that's only a bad state?"
"That's all I was told," Samantha replies, "They didn't exactly give me a detailed description of the injuries. Can you remember anything else?"
"Not really. They came out of nowhere."
"Who did?"
"I don't know but there was more than one of them."
"How many did you see?"
"I'm not sure, maybe five or six; definitely one for each of us."
"Do you remember what they looked like? What were they; human, vampire, werewolf, shifter?"
"They were some sort of shifter. I couldn't say whether they were just wolf or not but I could see them in the shadows. When they took us down, it was in their human form. But they changed and that's when they started..."
"That's when they started attacking you."
"Yes. They clawed and bit and beat us until we couldn't fight back. I thought I was going to die. I don't know why they didn't finish us off in the same way they did with Grace."
"Maybe they thought you were hurt so bad that you wouldn't make it anyway."
Elly's face becomes one of panic. She is hit with the sudden realisation that she wasn't the only one still alive when help finally arrived.
"Did we all make it?" She questions, "Are the others still alive?"
Samantha shakes her head as tears well up in her sisters eyes.
"I'm afraid only Harriet is left. Callia died on the way to the hospital. Gabby lasted until the morning but her injuries were just too much for even a wolf to heal," Samantha replies.
"Oh no," Elly chokes, covering her face with her hands.
Samantha watches as her sister sobs. She doesn't know what to do; whether or not to comfort her or just continue standing there.
"Don't worry," Samantha says, "Harriet has been put in a drug induced coma for a while but they'll be bringing her out of it in a couple of days."
Elly doesn't answer but continues to cry. Samantha begins to feel awkward; still not knowing what to do. She decides to take the route of the door, leaving her sister alone in the room to grieve.
"How did it go?" Gaspard asks.
"I got some of what she remembers," Samantha sighs, "But when she found out about her pack members she shut down so I'm going to leave it for now."
"How do you feel now you've spoken to her?"
"I can't really pin-point an exact emotion right now. I don't think any of them are good though."
Gaspard puts his arm around Samantha's shoulder as they leave the hospital. He doesn't want to say too much to her. He knows it's still a painful subject for her to talk about and it will be even worse now that the person who caused and is still causing that pain has jumped back into her life with no warning. The truth is that he wants answers just as much as she does.