Chapter 9
Where is he!
I was pacing the empty stage, it had been about half an hour before the show, and there had been no sign of Darren, and I hadn't seen him since our talk of leaving after the show I was starting to worry…I ran a hand through my short hair and paced more. Tall had been the one to tell us the news "The wolf man is gone, and I want to organize a search party to fight him, he could be anywhere…."
I had not thought much about it at first, when I realized…my face went paler than usual. and before any logic could tell me other wise, my younger side was forcing me out of the room, forget the show and forget the fact Darren had sworn to kill me or even that I had been just as mean to him as he was back, he could be in trouble…most likely…
He could be dead.
I ran towards the tent, he was not there…and ran back out, and back to the cage as Cormac shouted at me to ask where I was going. "Wolf Hunting!"
"y—y—Yes Larten but where are you going—"
I did not answer because I did not know myself exactly, I would have thought it must be obvious as I started running through the clearing of the camp, I had no weapons but weapons were not everything, running as fast as I could I reached the wolf mans cage…Evra was there, the one who had informed Mr Tall of the howls of the distant wolf man and he looked scared, and he looked at me and looked even more frightened.
"Last time I saw him I was talking to him about—about—dying…I never knew what happened this morning until Tall told me just now—or else I would have called the alarm about RV…I saw him running around too"
I frowned and looked at the blood and the cage, "It was opened…someone opened it on purpose..."
I bent down and touched the blood, it was adult male. "Darren's blood isn't here…so Darren is mostly likely being chased by the Wolf Man…"
I turned to Evra who also had something in his hand, I did not work out the description since I could not read and Evra thought it was because it was upside down, "It says "This is the property of Sam Grest" I found it that way" he said pointing and he realized as I did the direction was the way the Wolf Man's scent led and we shared a glance of concern and then we ran both Darren and Sam were in danger. As I ran towards the Wolf Man's scent and footprints, Evra I assumed went to inform them on what I had learnt.
I followed the scent, it was loud and in my face, as the wolf mans scent always was. A face of stern resolve I ran and I heard a shout near the old train station, heart stopping for a second, and then skipping several beats as I ran and saw the site before me.
The Wolf man was about to kill Darren, It was hard to explain what detail I could see in those few unbearable seconds, fear, powerlessness, courage and stubbornness… and those words are only to describe my assistant, I ran forward and twisted his neck before the Wolf Man could react.
The Wolf man fell to the floor, knocked out, and I took terribly deep breathes, there was silence for a minute and I turned to Darren who was breathing heavily, he looked startled, relieved and frightened all at once as he realized what I had done, and who I was.
I came as soon as I could!" I told him out of breathe, explaining what had been occurring that evening. As I started checking him for any fatal injuries and found nothing, though he was very bruised and very stunned
"I thought—I—I—was going to…die….I was certain. I thought nobody would come…I--" He ended softly looking up, and then flung his arms around me and gave me a hug. My face pale, softened, as he spoke continuously as tears run down his muddy face. I was still in shock at what he was doing, but the words shocked me even more. I was so great full he was alive.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…" he said taking deep steady breathes and then he looked up at me, "Sam!" I turned to look and see where Sam could be, and Darren saw a mound by a tree, and ran towards it.
"Sam!" I saw up close the damage…the boy was barely alive, dying slowly, his intestines ripped and eaten by the Wolf Man…I paled at the sight, but it was the sight of my assistant's grief that made it worse…
"Sam are you ok? Sam!"
I looked at the body and checked the wounds needlessly. Darren turned to me, "Can you save him?" he asked and I shook my head in despair slowly, sadly, "You must!" he insisted, "You can close the wounds, we can call a doctor, give him a potion, something!"
I understood today, how a doctor feels, when breaking news to a family that a loved one was dying…I tried to mask the words into an unsentimental tone, before trying to tell Darren which he would not accept.
"There is nothing we can do. He is dying. The damage is too great. Another couple of minutes and…" I trailed off and tried to continue. "At least he is beyond any feeling…"
I expected it, but nothing prepared me for it, I had seen death before, and grief…I have felt it…but to see it, now, a boy barely a teenager, break down so suddenly filled my heart with a sadness…
His world had been crumpled
Just like mine.
"NO!" Darren screamed and he threw himself onto Sam. Tears running hard down his face. "No, NO! Sam you can't die! Sam! Stay alive! You can join the Cirque and travel with us all over the world! You can…you!"
Darren could say no more and he lowered his head bursting into uncontrollably tears of grief.