Chapter 4

Earlier

Ruby Cates took a deep breath and stepped through the Red Door in her sister's mind

She was back in the forest. The red mist had receded, but the day had also. It was dusk, and Ruby could hear shouting voices in the distance, followed by the heavy footfalls of boots tramping the underbrush. To her left, a small group of wolves exploded out of some bushes, followed by two male wolven in human form. The men seemed vaguely familiar, though she didn't know the wolves.

One of the men held a heavy duty hunting rifle and sported a thigh holster with a handgun, and a small crossbow strapped to his back. The other carried a tiny body, wrapped in a red hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. Gunfire sounded through the din of the forest, taking out two of the wolves. A bullet rocketed past Ruby and embedded in a tree behind her; another passed right through her abdomen, like it was smoke.

Not my dream, Ruby repeated to herself. The men and the wolves ran out of sight. Ruby felt a soft blow to the back of one of her shins.

Little Deirdre stood behind her with a mischievous grin on her face. "Tag! You're It!"

Deirdre bolted before Ruby could catch her. Ruby gave chase, dodging bullets and trees. She could hear the pained cry of wolves dying. Her heart wrenched. From the corner of her peripheral vision, Ruby saw what they were running from; a team of figures in dark tactical gear with submachine guns. A woman in a dark hood with glowing hands directed them.

Ruby kept running toward the sounds of struggle but tripped as she moved into a clearing, where the wolves had converged. The body of a large brown wolf lay riddled with bullets at her feet. In the clearing, all hell broke loose.

The wolves were doing their best to protect the two figures standing at the center, but they were getting picked off by commandos left and right. When the bullets ran out, the two groups fought with cold steel and dripping fangs. The armed man was down, as were a number of commandos and wolves.

In the middle of it all stood a little girl with green eyes and long chestnut hair, her red sweatered arms wrapped around the leg of a white haired man. The old man was firing bullets and crossbow bolts like there was no tomorrow.

Ruby knew that man, he was Solomon Creed; leader of Wolf Lake's Olde Guarde Protectors and Tyler Creed's grandfather. Solomon Creed had died fourteen years prior, the night that the Watchers Council had come for Deirdre.

"The night we split up." Ruby mused to herself. She remembered it well. Now, she was viewing the details for herself.

Ruby and Amanda had been thirteen at the time. They'd watched the men in stuffy tweed coats ushered into Willard Cates's office. They'd listened at the door while Will and Vivian argued with men who said they were from something called the Watcher's Council, telling their parents that Deirdre had been identified as a potential Slayer.

They wanted to take Deirdre; those stodgy old men. But Vee Cates wasn't having it. Ruby still remembered the icy tone in which Vivian had told their leader, Quentin Travers, that he would take her daughter "only over my dead body." Ruby remembered it as the moment she and Amanda agreed to never fuck with their stepmother. Will Cates seconded the sentiment by telling travers to "Get the fuck out of his town, and never come back."

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Was Travers's calm reply.

A week later the Pack sentinels had spotted the vans of commandos rolling into Wolf Lake. Ruby remembered her parents scrambling to get their children ready in the dead of the night. They had dressed Luke and Deirdre in matching outfits. They sent Lucas, Ruby, and Amanda with Matthew Donner, the newly minted sheriff. Deirdre was sent with an entire armed battalion of Olde Guarde wolves, to meet Sherman at a safe house deep in the woods.

Ruby remembered cradling a crying Luke, who could feel the deep terror and tension running through his twin sister. Their parents stayed at the house as a diversion, Luke was the second diversion; a decoy. But somehow, the Watchers never went for him. They knew exactly where Deirdre was, and they went straight for her.

All Amanda and Ruby were told later was that the team had fought valiantly, while protecting the Cates family. They'd given their lives for the Pack. Now Ruby Cates was watching their last stand.

Solomon Creed fired into the darkness as his team fell around him. Ruby held her breath when his clip finally ran out. She saw him make his final decision.

The old man turned and bent down to the trembling four year old girl at his feet. He secured the crossbow to the pack on her back and told Deirdre to run. She began to cry. Solomon sniffed the air wafting in at Deirdre's back, and smiled. Ruby saw him mouth the words "stubborn pup" before turning back to little Deirdre.

"You are the Spirit of this Pack, little princess." Solomon told her. "The Pack needs you. Do you understand?"

Deirdre paused a moment to wipe her eyes with her hands and nodded. Solomon pointed behind Deirdre. "The Watchers and their witch are almost here. I need you to run that way. Run as fast as you can, and don't stop. And don't look back! No matter what you hear."

Deirdre gave Solomon a terrified whimper but the old man swatted her on the butt, and she took off as fast as her little legs would carry her.

Ruby stood rooted to the spot, watching as old Solomon stripped off his clothes and Flipped. The large black wolf that he became hid in the underbrush near his fallen comrades, lying in wait. The witch came over a ridge to Ruby's right. Only two of her commandos were left alive. She spoke in a clipped British accent.

"Go for the girl, I'll scan here for intel." The witch reached a hand down to touch the chest of the other Guard in human form. Solomon sprang up and managed to catch her off guard. Ruby watched the black wolf rip out the witch's throat, and get shot in the back for his trouble. Solomon was able to spring at the shooter, clawing and ripping while the commando emptied a full clip into the wolf's chest. They died together, locked in combat. The last remaining commando ran off after Deirdre.

Ruby stood stunned amidst the carnage for a moment, then she saw the flash of a white easter dress round the corner of a tree. Ruby gave chase, red mist gathering around her feet. She could hear a mournful wolf howl in the distance. The wolf ran through the forest, a great sense of urgency accompanied him. But Ruby had to keep up with Dream Deirdre.

Ruby stopped short when her feet touched asphalt. She saw a car approaching at top speed and took a step back into the underbrush. It was a station wagon, and it looked vaguely familiar. Just then, Red Hooded Deirdre ran out into the street, crossbow tripping her, throwing the four year old directly into the car's path.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaalp!" Deirdre screamed at the top of her lungs.

Time shifted into slow motion for Ruby. She watched the young blond wolf that had been tracking Deirdre jump out of the brush. His huge white jaws hooked on to the little girl's shoulder, tearing into flesh as he threw her out of the path of the station wagon, into the safety of a ditch.

The driver of the station wagon spun the wheel, trying to avoid hitting the wolf. It was no good. Ruby waited to hear the crunch of bone under tires, but it never came. Instead, Deirdre scrambled to her feet, still screaming hysterically. A green mist shot out of her hands, forming a forcefield around the wolf. The station wagon hit that wall and flipped into the air. The car did a barrel roll, and landed on it's hood with a sickening crunch. The wolf's fur glowed bright red from the light of spinning tail lights.

Ruby could hear the driver, a woman, moaning from the front seat. She turned to see the wolf Flip back into human form. It was a panting, shaken, blood-spattered, fifteen year old Tyler Creed. Tyler made a move to try and help the woman in the car.

"Mrs. Donner?" Tyler croaked. "Aunt Marie? Are you okay?"

A groan sounded from the car, but it was drowned out when Deirdre started screaming again. Ruby and Tyler swiveled to look at her at the same time. The last of the commandos had her by the waist and was getting ready to run with her. Tyler hesitated for a moment, looking back at the car. He growled, eyes shining with silver daggers.

"I'll send help, Marie. Hold on!"

Tyler turned, Flipped and ran after Deirdre.

The red mist swirled around Ruby, obscuring her view of the station wagon. Then somehow, she was at the mouth of a cave. She knew the cave well. Tyler had once showed it to her, on one of their less disastrous teenage dates. It was deep and high; a perfect hiding spot. Rain poured down outside the cave.

Someone flipped on a flashlight. Ruby could see Tyler crouched in front of Deirdre in human form. The commando was nowhere in sight, but the excess of blood covering Tyler's mouth and torso suggested his end. Deirdre was crying. Tyler looked panicked.

"Shh, shh, shh." Tyler soothed. "He can't hurt you any more."

"Yyyou… You killed him!" Deirdre sniffled.

Tyler shrugged. "Yeah, I did. But he was trying to take you away. Away from your parents, and your brother and sisters. I had to. You understand?"

Deirdre's sniffles slowed to quiet huffs of breath. She nodded and unzipped her backpack underneath the crossbow. She pulled out a pair of men's jeans and handed them to Tyler. The teenager gave her a grateful look, and quickly took the pants. Ruby saw Tyler sniff at them, taking in Solomon's scent; the scent of the man who'd raised him, and was now dead.

Tyler turned away from Deirdre and quickly donned the jeans. Then, he turned back to her. Tyler sat down next to Deirdre. The little girl poked him in the chest, drawing her finger back covered in blood. "Are you hurt?"

"What?" Tyler replied, looking down at himself. "No it's not my blood." He found a cloth tucked into Deirdre's pack and rubbed away the sticky red mess.

"I am." Deirdre said, rubbing at her shoulder.

Tyler's head snapped up and he leaned over to examine the torn flesh of the little girl's upper arm. "Jesus!"

Tyler grabbed a t-shirt from the pack and tore it into strips. "I'm sorry Deedee! I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You were red." Deirdre giggled. Ruby could tell she was slipping into shock.

Tyler was concentrating on gently slipping Deirdre's arm out of her sweater sleeve. "Huh?"

"You were a Red Wolf." Deirdre mumbled. "A Red Wolf protecting me."

Deirdre lost consciousness, and Tyler cursed under his breath. "Shit! Shit, what do I do, Gramps? What do I do? Okay, focus Ty! Focus. Stop the bleeding. But how?"

Tyler sniffed at the little girl's wound. Silver darts shined in his eyes. Ruby felt something growl deep in her stomach. Dread filled her, as she watched Tyler half-shift, and dip his head to the wound, licking it clean. The blood stopped flowing. The wound glowed with a faint green light that Ruby doubted even Tyler noticed. But it closed.

Tyler Flipped back to fully human and bathed the wound with a bottle of water he got from the pack. He bandaged it with the strips of t-shirt, then slipped Deirdre's arm back into her sweatshirt. He pulled the little girl up against the side of his body, for warmth. He curled around her protectively, readying himself for any attack. Tyler poured little sips of the water into Deidre's mouth, looking relieved when she swallowed.

"Snow." Ruby mused. The rain turned to snow. She'd forgotten how cold it had been that day.

"Does this mean I can keep you?" Came little Deirdre's tiny voice.

Ruby turned back to see Tyler shift himself around Deirdre, so he could see her face. "What's that, pup?"

"Do I get to keep you?" Deirdre's voice was stronger as she repeated herself. "The Old Ones say that what this means." The little girl indicated her shoulder.

"Old Ones?" Tyler looked dubious.

Deirdre nodded. "The ghosts in the trees. They talk to me sometimes. Told me to trust you."

Tyler pondered it, then nodded. "Then yes, I guess that means we get to keep each other."

"Will you stay, and protect me, then?" Deirdre asked, her voice small again. Her lip quivered.

Tyler smiled at her, possibly the only sincere smile Ruby ever remembered seeing on him. He bopped her on the nose with a finger. "I will, little pup. Until the day I die, or til you do."

Deirdre nodded. She took one of Tyler's hands in her two tiny ones. She looked like a queen accepting the vow of a knight. Then Deirdre raised one of Tyler's arms and wrapped it around her shoulder, cuddling into his side. "Tyler?"

"Yes, little pup?"

"I'm sorry about your grandpa."

Tyler bit back a sob and hugged her closer, but Deirdre was already falling asleep. He clutched the flashlight to his chest. Ruby saw tears in his eyes just before he flicked it off.

The red mist swirled again, and Ruby could hear voices in it. Indistinct shouts rang out but she couldn't see the faces that went with them. She did hear one loud and clear. The voice of her father, Willard Cates. "Tyler? It's okay, son. You can let her go. We've got you now. We've got you both!"

Ruby felt a familiar tap on her calf again, but this time she was ready. "Oh no you don't!

She grabbed Dream Deirdre by her white sleeved arm and spun her around. "Enough, Deedee. Enough running through your dreams or memories or whatever these are. You need to wake up!"

"Don't want to!" Dream Deirdre replied. She stuck out her bottom lip. "I want to stay here with my Allie!"

"But you can't!" Ruby scolded. "Don't you see that? What can I do to make you see that you need to wake up? To make you want to wake up?"

The mist swirled again, but this time, Ruby didn't let go. She was getting tired of these games. Instead, she and Deirdre stood together as the scene changed to reveal an office in the Sheriff's station. Teenage Tyler sat fully clothed in a seat across from Matt Donner. The boy had tears streaming down his face. Matt Donner glared at him in barely concealed rage, while Vivian looked on with sorrow from a corner.

"But that's not possible!" Tyler growled. "Uncle Matt, tell her! I left Deirdre with Mr. Cates. She was fine! I killed the last of those fuckers that were trying to take her myself!"

"They sent reinforcements back to get her last night." Vivian said, nearly choking on the lie. "They said if they couldn't have her, nobody would."

"It was a car accident, Tyler." Matt growled. "You better than anybody should know what can happen in a car accident."

Tyler's face dropped. "I'm sorry for what happened to your wife. I didn't mean to run in front of her car. I really didn't!" To Matthew's silent stare, Tyler broke down again. He shook his head. "No. No! I promised I would protect her!"

"You couldn't." Vivian whispered. "None of us could."

Dream Deirdre turned and pointed to the door of the station, which began to glow red. Ruby walked through it, back into the forest of Wolf Lake. This time, she was back where the dream started, and Sophia was there.

So was Allie. "Now you're asking the right questions."

Dream Deirdre appeared and Ruby took the opportunity to grill her again. "Why did you show me that?"

"You asked what reason you could give to make me want to wake up."

"What does what happened with Tyler have to do with Deirdre wanting to wake up?" Ruby asked.

"Now you're both asking the right questions." Little Deirdre nodded.

Ruby jerked awake in the hospital waiting room. She and Sophia exchanged worried looks and commiserated over the weirdness of the experience they'd just shared. Then there was a scream from the hallway of the hospital.

Ruby and Sophia ran into Matt in the hallway, followed quickly by Dr. Glaser, Vivian, and Luke.

"Daddy, what was that?" Sophia asked, her voice scared.

"It came from Station 12." Dr. Glaser supplied. "The nurses were just settling Deirdre in when I left. She was heavily sedated."

A body flew out of the double doors leading to Station 12 of the critical care unit. The orderly cracked his head against the wall and crumpled to the ground. Matt drew his gun and turned to the doctor. "Apparently, she's not sedated enough."

"Matt?" Vivian asked, a silent question in her eyes.

The Sheriff nodded at Vivian. "Okay, Ruby, you stay with Luke and Sophia. Stay back and try to contact John and Mollie at the station. Vee, you and the good doctor come with me."

His tone brooked no argument, so they did what he said. As the group turned the corner for Station 12, they nearly ran into two figures coming the opposite way.

"Goddamnit, MacLeod!" Matt growled. "I told you two to stay upstairs! We have a situation here and I don't have time to deal with your egos."

"Te voi ucide!"

Deirdre's screech cut off MacLeod's response. She was screaming in a foreign language. Richie tapped MacLeod on the shoulder. "What is that? Italian? Portuguese?"

"Romanian." MacLeod replied. "Apparently, she's very intent on killing someone in that room."

Richie turned to Matthew and put on his best smartass face. "Do any of you speak Romanian?"

Receiving no response from Matt or the doctor, and only a dirty look from Vivian, Richie smirked. "Then, I'd say you could benefit from my friend's expertise."

"Alright." Matt relented. "MacLeod comes with us. You stay here."

Richie raised his hands in surrender. Duncan gestured toward the door. "Lead the way, sheriff."