Oz
There's an unexpected encounter and a lone wolf looking for answers in the desert.
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I turned to the others holding the young boy next to me. I sighed getting a bad feeling which usually meant bad things were going to happen and I was normally right.
"This is Antonio. He'll be our 'guide' for the day." I could see the looks on their faces at this and didn't blame them. I had tried to dissuade Rosalía from sending the kid with us but there was no reasoning with her.
"I know. She says he's the only who's seen them rise and he-." I glanced down at the boy who smiled at me eager for an adventure. "Cuantos anos tienes?" I asked him softly.
"Tengo 11. Ya soy hombre." He said puffing up his chest. I smiled feeling that heaviness settle in my chest.
"He wants to show us the way." I finished.
"He's only a boy!" Jessica exclaimed looking at me as if I were the one forcing Tony to his death.
"He's the man of his house. He's Melchiades' oldest son and that's the way things are here." I said with some finality looking at the others as well. I didn't want to have arguments erupting at inconvenient and potentially life threatening moments.
"Then lets go. Tony." Oded looked at the boy who's smile faded just a little. "Vamos." He said moving his arm towards the truck.
"Uh, that's not…" I said feeling just a little bad about this next part but before I could tell them we weren't using the truck several kids in varying ages arrived with our transportation.
"What are those?" Jessica asked.
"Our new rides. Any body been on a horse before?" I asked brightly.
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To be honest I hadn't ridden a horse since I was a kid and we had never really had any lessons we just got on them and prayed not to fall off. So far I was doing a great job of looking like I did this all the time. I glanced over my shoulder seeing Dom almost as red as a tomato clinging to his saddle. To his left Jessica looked uncomfortable though she had better control of the horse.
"You're smiling again." Ryan said and I turned to him nodding. "I like it." He leaned over and dropped a light kiss on my lips almost falling off his horse. I laughed quickly covering my mouth and looking around. Oded glance at us frowning but he didn't say any thing. Tony tugged on his sleeve and pointed at a rocky hill. I had noticed Oded's Spanish was pretty good, he seemed to pick it up rather quickly now that he was here. It was a little disconcerting how he would just stare at you quietly when you were talking.
"I think this is it.." Oded called back to us.
"Tony." I called the boy who turned to me. His smile was gone now and he looked scared being this close to the vampires though he told me what he'd seen. "There's an old ruin behind this hill. That's where he saw them come out." I said.
We moved along quietly now and as we rounded the bend we could see the ruins of an old church. I turned to Ryan about to ask if they usually ended up at a church when a blurry figure flew at me. We rolled off my horse and under the panicked feet of Ryan's mount. I could hear shouting but I was too busy getting untangled.
"Get off!" I yelled shoving the body away from me. I scrambled getting to my feet and turned to see a dirty red haired guy on his haunches growling at us.
"Wait!" I grabbed Ryan's arm and pulled it so the gun was pointed down. The others kept their weapons trained on the guy and as I looked at him again I could see his matted hair was tangled with twigs and leaves, his face was smudged with dirt or mud and he had scratches along his face. His clothes were ripped and also dirty.
"Who are you?" his voice rasped out as if he hadn't spoken in a long time. I arched my eyebrow at his impertinent tone.
"Excuse me. Who the hell are you?" I replied stepping forward. "You knocked me off my horse, not the other way around."
He actually smiled, those bright green eyes twinkling. The little shit!
"Name's Oz." he replied standing up. He held himself like a fighter. His body ready to move in a second as if he would pounce.
"Oz?" I thought. Somehow the name sounded familiar I just couldn't remember why or where I'd heard it. "Oz?"
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"They come out at sunset. They're buried under the dirt you cant see were they've dug themselves in but I can smell them." Oz said, his nose wrinkled for emphasis then he led us around another pillar before kneeling close to the ground and sniffing. He moved along little puffs of dirt rising under his boots then he stopped looking up at us.
"We're close. This way." He said and took off in a hunched over run.
"Shit! He moves fast." I exclaimed running after him. The others fell behind as the light began to dim then it was completely dark and both of us kept running. Oz stopped suddenly and so did I. I turned in a little circle seeing we'd hit a dead end.
"You can see." Oz said.
"That's what eyes are for." I said knowing exactly what he meant. "You're a werewolf." I could see him nod though he didn't approach me. Finally I turned to him hearing the others stumble in the dark though they were still far. "How?"
"How?" he repeated. I frowned at him. "Family trait." He said softly.
"You don't say much do you?" I asked and saw him shrug. "I wouldn't either if I didn't have much to say. I usually don't but." I shrugged. "So why are you here?" I asked. He hadn't answered the others when they'd been interrogating him so I didn't expect him to answer me.
"Looking for answers. Maybe a cure…" he said looking at his hands. There was a faint shine to his eyes reflecting light and I turned to see the flashlight beam.
"Why? It's a family trait, shouldn't you be used to it?" I asked.
"You never get used to it." He replied then the others showed up.
"You!" Ryan hissed towering over Oz.
"Hey, hey." I stepped between them making him move back. "You guys caught up nice of you to join us." Then Jessica screamed dropping her flashlight. I flinched and felt Ryan's arm pull me away from the center of the sandy floor. We hit the rock wall with a thump and I reached for the Sai at my hips.
"Get out of the center! Move to the sides!" I yelled. Dom had Jessica in one arm and was shooting at the ground with the other as he moved to the wall. Oded and Tony were already plastered against it. The screeching yells of the vampires as they ashed echoed in the church even after they were gone.
"Oz. Oz!" I called out looking for the little wolfboy and saw him drop down from the ledge above us as I pulled away from Ryan. "There are more coming." He said from his kneeling position. Then we all heard the howl of a wolf.
"Its starting." Oded said from his corner. Oz stared at me and somehow I understood. The others couldn't see in the dark and they'd only hinder us as we hunted. With a slight nod we agreed and I turned to the others.
"Get out. Take Tony and hold them off outside." I said before moving to the other opening.
"What!" Ryan grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked getting in my face. I shoved his hand off and glared.
"I'm working. This is what I do and we cant have any of you along to hinder us."
"Us?" he asked getting angry.
"We." I pointed to Oz and myself. "Don't need flashlights." There was another howl this time followed by another.
"There here." Oz said.
"Ryan! I'm not playing. You don't know me. You don't know what I am." I said thinking I didn't either. He let go then moving away and it felt awful.
'Dammit! I'm getting attached…' "
Lets go." Oz said dropping his coat. He had begun to change already.
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'You can hear me cant you?" I asked him as we moved through the inky darkness of the tunnel. So far we had found half a dozen nesting spots for the bloodsuckers and cleaned them out.
"Are you a witch?" Oz's voice came through just as softly as if he were actually speaking.
"I don't think so. I mean I play around with it but… why? Don't tell me you're a witch too." I replied. I heard his mental chuckle and saw him wearing a pointed hat and holding a broom. Its what he thought of at my words.
"No. just a werewolf. Used to play in a band though." He added.
"Hmm. Werewolf in a band. I would've never expected that." I said glancing at him. Just then a very clear picture of a redheaded girl flashed and I blinked at its brightness. There were strong emotions connected to it and I looked at Oz again sharply. "Who's the redhead?" I asked. He stopped startled as he looked at me.
"Willow. My girlfriend." He replied.
It all made sense!
"You're from Sunnydale! You're one of Buffy's Scooby's!" I exclaimed then hastily looked around realizing I had just given away our position. Oz frowned and quickly moved off with me right behind him.
"Duck!" I yelled and Oz obediently ducked rolling to his feet just as I decapitated another vampire. There were two more in the shadows and he jumped on one going completely wolf while I turned. My foot hit the vampires leg sending it to the dirt floor hissing. I brought down my fist smashing into its face then shoved the silver stake into its chest. There were sparks then nothing but ash and the low growling as Oz shifted back more human than werewolf.
"Any more?" I asked. Oz turned in a half circle sniffing the air then the ground.
"Its clean." he said.
"Good lets help the others."
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