Chapter Fifty Three

Leah

We hadn't gotten a mile out of town before we were stopped by a makeshift roadblock manned not by the police as we might have expected but by a group of men from the reservation armed with handguns and rifles. I guess we could have phased and made a run for it but even a guardian wolf can be slowed or stopped by a bullet and they held them as if they meant business. We pulled up and waited as men surrounded the truck, one motioning for us to move over so he could drive while another slid in behind Jackie having exchanged his rifle for a handgun that he held close to her head making escape impossible. The others climbed into a flatbed that had obviously brought them here after moving the barrier and we were driven to the reservation village in silence, an atmosphere of loathing thick in the cab.

Once there the truck pulled up outside a solid looking cabin and by the door stood four elderly men who inspected us gravely. We were ordered out and stood before the elders who studied us long and hard, why didn't they just say whatever they needed to and we would be on our way and out of their territory?

"You are the two shapeshifters are you not? The ones who were banished from Denali for fraternising with vampires?"

"Actually, I helped my best friend survive rabies the only way I knew how and we were both punished for that by being banished from guardian territory, yes. However, we are not friends of the vampires, far from it. We made a home here because there are no other guardians close by and we have kept our distance from your lands."

I saw my letter in one man's hand and gestured to it,

"You know what we proposed, I wrote it all down so why have you brought us here?"

"There have been several worrying developments since you arrived here."

"Worrying developments? Do you think we killed those women just because they appeared to have been killed by a wolf? Wouldn't that be pretty stupid of us? Anyway, we didn't. We do not kill humans, we protect them if we can."

"You protect humans? From what? Not vampires, you already admitted that, so what is to stop you killing them? Or perhaps you know who did?"

Jackie and I exchanged a look then shrugged,

"We don't know but we think it may have something to do with someone in town, Saul Blackwater."

The elders scowled and one spat disgustedly on the ground,

"He dares to use his mother's name?"

"I don't know whose name he's using but I think he might be trying to get us into serious trouble because Jackie broke up with him. We've been told he is vindictive and violent. Not only that but we know what his father is capable of and he is back in town too."

I realised this last wasn't news to them and suddenly I thought I understood, they thought he was responsible for the murders just like I did but I still didn't understand why. If he wanted to hurt us making the kills look like the work of wolves was stupid, after all, the humans had no idea of our true nature.

"You choose to blame those who you think have driven you to murder? That is not the true warriors way but then you are hardly warriors are you?"

I was puzzled, so they did think we had committed the murders and…...they thought we were trying to blame Saul and his father. Not only that but Saul probably knew how the tribe would react to the bloodshed, it was a neat way of getting us into trouble without even using the law.

"We're not trying to blame anyone, we don't need to, we haven't committed any crimes. Why did you bring us here? Because you think we are murderers? Why not just hand us over to the authorities if you think that?"

Even as Jackie asked that question the answer became apparent, they couldn't, because the authorities would never believe them and they couldn't break the secret of the existence of guardians.

Before I had time to warn Jackie what I suspected the door of the cabin opened and we were pushed roughly inside and the door slammed shut, then I heard a heavy bar drawn across and padlocked into place.

"What the fuck is going on Leah? They think we killed those women? Why?"

"Because they know we are guardians and they think any female guardian is an aberration. They think we phase and can't control ourselves and we are using Saul Blackwater and his father as an excuse for our own actions. I think they are sure we are blaming Saul and his father for causing us to lose control. Besides, what a clever way of paying us back for dumping Saul. He knew how the tribe would react to the murders and it was easy enough to drop a hint or frame us in some way."

"Do you mean you think Saul or his father killed those women, Leah? Just to frame us for the crimes? Isn't that a little extreme even for a screwball like him?"

"I don't know but even if they aren't responsible it would be easy to take advantage of the murders to get rid of us."

"Then why not hand us over to the police?...Oh, they can't admit we become wolves can they? What do you think they'll do with us Leah?"

It was dark so she couldn't see me shake my head unsure myself of what they planned to do.

"I don't know, but nothing good by the look of things."

I started to prowl the cabin which from the smell of it was newly built, the wood was fresh cut and smelled of resin but there were no chinks and the inside seemed far smaller than the outside had promised. Sitting on the wooden floor in the dark we tried to work out what to do but it was difficult to know what they had planned for us. Would they be contacting Denali? And if they did would Johnny H come here himself to deal out justice? If he did we stood a good chance of being freed, after all, he would soon work out it hadn't been us who committed the murders and though he had told us we were no longer members of the guardian community he might consider us subject to his laws and not that of this tribe.

"Do you think he'll really travel all this way for us?"

"I have no idea Jackie but I have the feeling we would fare better under his law than those of this tribe that has already found us guilty before we even go to trial. If they bother with a trial that is. They certainly built a sturdy enough jail for us, even putting in a wooden floor, maybe they thought we might try digging our way out. Did you see how thick the walls are? I guess our reputation is formidable."

"Maybe we should try anyway."

Like Jackie I didn't want to just sit here and wait to hear what was to become of us so we phased and tried to break out but after some minutes understood it was going to be a Herculean task and phased back, pulling on our clothes again.

"It's wolf proof all right Leah. They really built it to withstand anything we could throw at it, I couldn't even dig through the floor, the timbers are so thick. Maybe if we stayed as wolves and kept at it we might break through eventually."

She sounded about as convinced of that as I felt!

The cabin, it had solid walls, was about eight feet by eight feet and there wasn't a single chink in the logs, no light, no fresh air and seemingly no way to provide us with food, water, or any bathroom facilities. We sat in silence for a time, lost in our own thoughts of the future but then after an hour or so there was a creaking sound, a small opening near the base of the door opened, and a tray with cold food and drinks in cartons was pushed through.

"What about a comfort break?"

There was no reply to my shouted request and the opening was shut again with the sound of a bar being slid across the flap to secure it.

"Nervous aren't they? Do you think they understand what we are really capable of?"

"Yes, that's why they are being so cautious and that worries me, Jackie, because it means they might overreact to what they see as our guilt."
"You think they might kill us? Surely not, that would be murder, Leah."

"Not necessarily in their eyes. They think of us as murdering freaks rather than guardians or spirit warriors and I don't like to think what their tribal law says about murderers."