So, am I the only person who didn't know the new Virals book comes out in March? This gem has inspired me to keep working. Knowing the series isn't dead gives me energy to keep pushing forward. March will be an excellent month...the new Virals book AND Once Upon a Time Will resume! Any Oncers out here with me?
I digress, enjoy this chapter. Sorry for the filler in chapter 9...It had to happen.
Chapter 10
Ben.
I tried sending a thought out to Ben, to see if he could hear me.
Can you hear me?
"What the frick? Tory, how are you doing that?" Ben sputtered, turning back to me. We were walking single file through the woods, Ben in the lead followed by me, Shelton and Hi the rear.
"It's something we can do. But you have to let me in." I pushed with my mind, showing Ben that there was nothing to worry about. He backpedaled slightly, but finally let me in.
So I just have to think?
Ben's voice was clear in my head.
Yeah, pretty cool right?
I froze. Something was near, I could smell it. I spun in a 360, searching for our stalker. Ben followed suit. There was a faint rustling from a nearby patch of shrubs.
From the shadows I made out a shape moving towards us. Glowing eyes sparkled at me. Whisper.
"No one move," I hissed. Fully emerged, the wolf glared at us. Whisper has never shown signs of being violent before, but the way she looked at us was unlike anything I'd ever seen from her.
I reached out to her with my mind, trying to tell her that we were no danger. Whisper's response was a growl. The boys looked nervous.
Whisper, we are friends. We are no danger to you or your family.
I kept sending messages to her, trying to convince her that we weren't here to harm her or her family. She stepped towards me, teeth barred. I stood before he, unafraid. Whisper had to know that we were friends.
Stop. The message shot out of my mind so powerfully, it screamed in my brain. Whisper froze in her spot. Her jaw relaxed.
Whisper, I'm looking for your pup. Where is he?
Her muzzle swung east, towards Dead Cat. Was Cooper there? Most of the workers avoided Dead Cat, there was nothing out there. A perfect place to keep a sick wolf-dog puppy locked up.
"She wants us to go to Dead Cat."
"Tory, how can you possibly know that?" Hi asked.
"She's right. I can tell too." Ben seemed amazed at his new wolf communicating abilities. "She wants us to go east."
Whisper backed away from me, the snarl on her face gone. Two words entered my head.
Find him.
Whisper threw back her head and howled. With that she backed away, back under the cover of night. She would be close-by though. Wolves never abandon their pack.
Dead Cat was a pretty long trek. We didn't want to risk taking the LIRI road, so we had to go it on foot through the untamed brush. Moving was slow. Ben and I had no trouble since we could see just fine in the pale moonlight. Shelton and Hi however, well they could struggle with hiking in the daytime, so putting them in the forest at night was asking for slow moving.
"We should have taken the boat," Hi grumbled, tripping over a log. "It would have been easier. And faster."
"And louder. Remember, we're sneaking around out here. We don't want people to know that we're here," Ben reminded him. "So quit your complaining and keep moving."
"Easy for you to say. You've got the freaky wolf sight thing going on."
"Shut up," I hissed. "We're getting closer." I reached out with my brain, looking for Cooper. If he was nearby, he would hear me. So far, nothing. Not a trace of anyone or anything. Even the monkeys were quiet tonight.
We hit a clearing. Across the way I could see the beach. The waves gently lapped against the sand. But still no sign of Cooper.
"Maybe the wolf was wrong?" Shelton asked. "How reliable can a wolf even be? It's not like she speaks English."
"No. He's here somewhere. We just have to find him. Split up and look around." I nod and the boys walk off in the three directions. I made my way towards the beach.
Ben, call out to him with your mind. If he's here he will head you before we see him.
Got it. Mind calls to the mutt.
I continue my search. Cooper would have to be somewhere secluded, safe and well-hidden. Dead Cat was big, the biggest beach on the island, there were a thousand places he could be.
"Tory!" Shelton's voice rang out like a bullet. "I found him!"
I took off running. Shelton was about 200 yards up the beach by a grove of trees. He knelt beside something square.
Friend! Help!
That was the first I had heard from Cooper since we got to Loggerhead. As I approached I saw the cage. There was room for him to pad around in, along with a dish of water and food. So Karsten wasn't a complete heartless monster. What a nice sentiment.
Hi and Ben reached us. Unlike the first pen Coop was in, this one was top notch. The metal bars were thick, and I knew I didn't have the strength to pry them.
"Ben, give it a shot. You're the strongest of all of us." I sidestepped and let Ben get a solid grip on the bars of the cage. Slowly the door started to pry away by its hinges. Cooper lay on his belly and wiggled out of the gap that was created.
He jumped up and nuzzled my neck. "I missed you too, dog-breath."
The feeling of joy couldn't be broken in me. My pack was all here, two of us had our powers back. For the first time, we were all safe.
"Are you two ready to become Virals?" I asked. A grin pulled at the edges of my mouth. I could barely contain my excitement. Shelton and Hi nodded. After everything it was amazing that they were still willing to go through with this.
Shelton went first. He held his hand out towards Cooper, trembling slightly. Cooper cocked his head and looked up at me. I nodded, telling him what I wanted him to do.
With a yip, he closed his mouth around Shelton's hand. As I expected Shelton let out a yell. He clutched his head and fell to the ground. In a reaction I lunged forward to grab him, when it happened again. A burst of pain behind my eyes, just as it did when Ben's powers came in. I moaned and fell beside Shelton.
In my mind I saw images once again. Two wolves were running, one white and one black. Ahead was a third, it's coat chocolate brown. A powerful head swung towards the white and black wolves. With a leap it jumped forward and ran beside the other two.
"What was that?" Shelton asked weakly. He looked to me. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the glow of his eyes.
"Welcome back, you two. You had us scared for a minute there." Hi knelt beside Shelton and patted him on the back. "You did great there, buddy. Minus the fainting thing."
"Shut up. You're next remember?"
"You OK, Tory?" Ben asked me.
"Dandy. Though after this, I plan to not use my brain for a month." Ben smiled.
"All righty, Hi. Time for you." I stood up, still wobbly from my brain attack. Hopefully this was the last of them.
Nodding, Hi walked up to Cooper. The pup practically grinned and sunk his teeth into Hi's open hand. Energy hummed through my head, not as sharply as when I touched Ben or Shelton.
I saw a fourth wolf. It's coat gleaming red, eyes fierce. The three wolves stood by, waiting. A howl was let out by the white wolf and the three followed behind. A flash of gray streaked across, a fifth. The five wolves sat together, howling at the moon. This was my pack. I knew it now. We were all together again.
Friends. Friends here. Pack strong.
Cooper understood. I looked at my three friends, each of them with glowing eyes. Something collectively raced between us. Something primal. My pack was here. Together we were strong.
Tap into your powers
Remember who you are
Bring out the wolf
Still a pack
The same words we heard before. They rang in my head. I looked down a Cooper. His tongue hung out, a sparkle in his eyes.
"It was you, wasn't it?" I asked Cooper. "You tried to bring us together. How?" I rubbed him behind the ears.
"That was Cooper? I heard him in my head. It's the same voice heard yesterday." Shelton was livid.
"What else can that dog of yours do, Tory? Fly? Walk on water?" Hi looked between Cooper and me.
I didn't get a chance to tell him he was an idiot. From somewhere in the darkness, a gun fired.
