CHAPTER TEN
I stood up not taking my eyes off the spot where I knew she was. Tom and Shannon's eyes were pinned on the same spot as mine.
"You feel that Shan?" whispered Tom.
"Like electricity, it's amazing!" said Shannon under her breath.
The figure moved from out of the shadows and stepped into the sunlight.
I was stunned. She was defiantly wild, I could see that by the way she dressed, her clothes were old and worn but practical, she wore browns, a mix of dark and light, perfect for hiding away in woods and trees. She moved with such stealth, sliding along the wall, even now in full view you could barely see her, if she had stood still probably the humans wouldn't even have noticed her. She had long dark blond hair that fell in waves down her back, blurring her outline, her eyes flicked across the yard and I could see her dark brown eyebrows framing her almond shaped eyes. The way she stalked, aware of her surroundings but clearly fixed on her goal she was more feline that canine. She reminded me of a cat the way her limbs moved with such fluid motion, her head hardly moved at all as she crept along the wall to the corner. Then she stopped, assessing the best place to cross in the open to the main part of the school.
She looked more like a cat than a wolf... something stirred in my mind, when Rydian had been talking about the people he had met when he was living wild with his Mum, the others in Ceri's pack.
A girl. I remembered the way he had spoken about her; it had made me feel jealous the way Rhydian had described her.
Grace.
This had to be her, I could imagine those long limbs being perfect for scaling any obstacle, she looked like she could climb up the wall straight to me in a single bound.
She flicked her head upwards and looked straight at me, it was as though I had called out her name. I stepped back from the window.
What was she doing here? Rhydian wasn't here, they would know that, so why come to the school? Wild wolfblood's wouldn't have any reason to come to the school would they?
It hit me. For me. They were coming for me.
"I need to get out of here" I whispered.
Suddenly someone shouted from just in front of me. "Who's that woman standing there?"
She had been spotted standing like a statue, so still in the middle of the playground.
"Create a diversion, we need to get out of here" I hissed under my breath.
Shannon was already rummaging in her large bag she had taken to carrying about for the last couple of days.
"Come on Hermione, what magic have you got in there?" Tom's voice was tense.
"Don't need magic when we have science Tom."
"NO! Is that a...? Shannon, don't do that! Not in here..." Tom hissed but it was too late, Shannon had carefully snapped the top off a small glass phial and dropped it on the floor.
The reaction was instant.
Screams and shouts broke out around me; people were pushing back chairs and moving out of the way. We stood up and moved to the other side of the classroom, Miss Blunt was trying to keep order and failing. Suddenly it hit her, we watched her disgusted reaction in her face.
"Everybody out!" she shouted "When I find out who did this there will be serious trouble!"
We all bundled out of the classroom.
"A stink bomb Shannon?!" I whispered under my breath. "Are you actually crazy?! I had hoped for something a little more subtle!"
"Did the trick didn't it? Created a diversion? No one is thinking about that woman standing in the playground right now are they?!"
Tom simply raised his eyebrows. "You could have given us some warning though Shannon, I think I'm gonna yak"
Everyone was coughing and trying to cover their faces, the smell seemed to cling to our clothes. As soon as I had had the first whiff I had held my breath, but it was still over powering.
"I still need to get out of here" I hissed to Shannon and Tom.
"And she is still down there" said Tom.
"How do I get away from this lot without anyone noticing I've gone and passed her without her seeing me? She'll smell me as soon as I step outside the door. I bet there are others in the wood waiting for me between here and home".
Tom and Shannon thought for a moment, then suddenly Tom took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.
"How likely is a wild wolfblood to attack a human, Maddy?" He asked me.
"They would only attack if they felt threatened; keeping their existence a secret is more important I would think."
"Good, right. Here goes then." And before we could stop him Tom had turned round and punched the fire alarm on the wall.
We waiting until the registers had been checked and the teaches knew that everyone was out of the school but now that the pupils had fallen out of the class lines and were milling about, the three of us had our heads together and were discussing how I was going to get home. I'd tried calling Mam and Dad as we all came out of the school, subtly holding my phone down in front of me as we clattered down the stairs. There hadn't been any answer which had me terrified.
The girl I assumed was Grace had disappeared, I imaging that hearing the fire alarm go off would freak out a wild wolfblood. It made my ears ring. I could tell that they were close by though, watching for me. I felt unsafe. Vulnerable.
We were right in the middle of the playground surrounded by chattering uniformed school children. There was much speculation about what was going on, first a stink bomb was let off and then the fire alarm in exactly the same place? The gossip and reasoning would last for days.
A flash of rust brown at the edge of the playground caught my eye. Would they really be so bold? Another gap in the pupils and in it a tall dark haired man made me turn back the other way.
Shannon gasped; I whipped round to see the Girl was back and creeping alongside the maths block wall again. Students were moving away from them, eyeing them suspiciously.
A tall scruffy man appeared from round the side of the car park loping towards me. His wide grin showed a mouth with more than a few teeth missing; he kept his eyes directly on mine. They didn't care who saw them.
I span around and saw another man coming towards me, again eyes fixed on mine, this time the eyes were strange, creepy. One eye was blue and the other brown, 'wall eyes' Rhydian had said it was called.
Four of them, Grace, the dark haired man, the toothless one and the walleyed man all coming towards me. People were looking around now, dropping quiet as they noticed the strangers.
Mr Jeffers called out "Excuse me, may I help you, you shouldn't be on school property without permission" towards the dark haired man who smiled at him absently.
"Ceri and Bryn are missing" I whispered to Shannon and Tom.
"It's a trap!" I suddenly reaslised. "They are distracting me here while Ceri and Bryn go after Rhydian!"
I span on my heals and ran across the yard, I didn't care who saw me, I pushed past people as I tried to move as fast as I could.
I heard Shannon and Tom call my name as I went, then Miss Fitzgerald shout as she realised I was running. I didn't look behind me as I crossed the field to see if the Wild's were following me. I hoped they were; I could lead them away.
I hoped that I was fast enough to out run them, that my sudden departure had caught them unawares and given me a bit of a head start.
I pelted towards the woods entering them running as fast as I could as a human, taking a fallen tree in a single long leap. I darted between the trees and along the familiar route towards home. At least if we were all together we might be able to frighten them off and protect Rhydian. I consoled myself that I knew the woods better than they did and even if they were following my scent then they would still be slower than me, I might be able to make it home before they caught me up.
Their smell crisscrossed the woods, they had been here looking for us. I could smell the wild wolfbloods' smell and that of Ceri and Bryn going backwards and forwards along the route I was taking.
I could hear the others following me, chasing after me, but they were still some way behind, even so the sound made me push on faster.
There was another fallen tree in the path ahead; I knew exactly where to plant my feet to get a perfect lift off to clear it in a single bound without even touching the log to push myself off. I soared through the air.
I hit the ground before I even reaslised that their hands were on me. Bryn and Ceri must have leapt at exactly the same time to grab me mid air, pulling me to the ground.
I was right, it was a trap. But not for Rhydian. For me.
The others weren't chasing me; they were herding me, knowing that I would follow the shortest, quickest, most familiar path home. Ceri and Bryn had been waiting.
The electricity began to flow through my limbs as I started to change into a wolf. I felt all their hands on me holding me as I thrashed about trying to break free as I changed. The others had caught up and were holding me too now.
I saw flashes of yellow eyes and felt their breath against my skin, their hands starting to claw tight around my limbs, six wolfblood's holding me down while I still struggled and fought against them with all my strength. I screamed and howled and a clawed hand was clamped over my mouth that was now becoming a muzzle, it was hard to breath but I could still smell them, the wild pack smell that overwhelmed me.
Suddenly the hand from my face disappeared; I took in a deep breath and prepared to howl for all I was worth. Before I could make a sound I felt myself being covered from head to foot in something, I was constricted, restrained, it was smelly and suffocating, I felt as though I had been wrapped tightly in a large rough blanket. I couldn't move. I couldn't even transform.
Everything went black.