Chapter Seventeen: A Walk in the Park
We'd hit Monday running, some of us faster than others. It had taken a little while for my brain to clunk into gear. I'd returned to my house late on Sunday evening and hadn't slept well. I'd woken up in the early hours convinced I was being watched and I hadn't managed to get back to sleep for ages. Now, of course, I felt like death warmed up and there was every possibility that I'd be fully converted into a caffeine-based life-form by noon. Mike had already proved himself as great boyfriend material by swooping in with the largest coffee from Fredericks on the way in. I even let him kiss me and it felt good, very good in fact. Mike was everything that Daniel wasn't: Here, attentive, not remotely dangerous and very affectionate. Today he was making me laugh; which, given what had happened, was what I needed more than anything.
The week flew by. If I wasn't teaching or invigilating, I was winding up for the summer. I had reports to write, final grades to submit and there wasn't a moment to myself. I felt Lyra's loss but didn't have the time to dwell on it. I promised myself that the second school was done; I'd bolt my door and hide under the quilt for a week. Daniel was still away and to be honest, I was glad he wasn't around. I didn't want to have the conversation with him that I knew would have to come. It was too painful. I couldn't live like this anymore. Killing my cat had been the last straw. Mike and I on the contrary were getting closer, so much so, that he suggested that we go hiking on Saturday. I jumped at the chance. Finally, I'd get out into Olympic National Park.
Saturday dawned bright and clear. Mike arrived at my house on the stroke of eight and handed me a pair of trekking poles. Or what I thought were trekking poles.
"You ever done any Nordic Walking?"
"Do Nordic people walk differently to Americans?" I grinned, looking at the straps that were attached to the tops of the poles.
"It's really big in Europe and it's getting popular here. I thought you'd like to have a go. I'll teach you."
"Walking is something you need to be taught?"
"There's a technique to it, but it doesn't take long to pick up. The poles propel you along faster and it's good for increasing your fitness."
"OK, I'll give it a go."
Mike drove for a while and parked up at the head of a trail. He produced a map and outlined a circuit. "It's seven and a half miles, which I don't think is bad for a first go at a trail."
"You've done it before?"
"Yeah, it's one of my favourites."
We set off and at first I was hideously uncoordinated with two poles strapped to my hands. There was a lot of stupidity as Mike taught me the technique and repeatedly got it wrong. This was more so I could steal kisses from him than me being genuinely abysmal at it. We were supposed to be moving at speed along the trail, but speed became sauntering and as the sun reached its highest point in the sky, we decided to break for lunch, coming to rest by a particularly large tree. From his backpack, which I'd supposed was full of survival gear, Mike produced a banquet.
"Mike this is crazy." I laughed. "I can't eat this much food and still walk, you'll have to roll me back." He produced a bottle of red wine with a flourish and I snorted. "Oh that's just ridiculous!"
"No it isn't, there's nothing ridiculous about wine." He unscrewed the bottle and poured two generous measures into plastic cups.
I savoured the wine and soaked up the sun, allowing the cares of the last few weeks to evaporate off me. Daniel felt like an unhealthy addiction that I needed to get over and the sun was blinding my eyes after what seemed like spending forever of darkness. This was good, this was right; I'd stay here in the sunlight. This was bliss!
What was not bliss and was utter stupidity was the walk back to Mike's car. With him being the driver, he'd had only one glass of wine. I'd drunk the rest of the bottle. That, on top of a pile of food and the heat of the sun made me a liability. On the way back I was tripping over everything in my path, so it was only a matter of time.
"Shit!" I yelled, as down I went to the ground, my weakened ankle buckling underneath me and shooting pain up my leg that even in my anaesthetised state I could feel. I tried to clutch my ankle, but the poles were still attached to the hand straps. I ripped off the straps and threw them angrily into the undergrowth.
"Don't take your boot off," said Mike. "It'll swell even more. I need to get you back to the car. I hope you haven't broken it again."
"So do I."
"Let me help you up. We need to keep going."
He helped me to my feet and very slowly we started down the trail again. We didn't make very good progress, I was in agony and chastising myself for getting drunk and in this compromised state. I went from happy and chatty, to whiney and miserable in a matter of minutes. On and on we walked and tears of laughter turned to tears of pain.
"How far is it?" I whined.
"Not far now, another mile."
"Another mile? Oh no!"
"I think."
I caught the uncertainty in his voice. "What do you mean you think?" My whininess vanished in an instant.
"It's been a while since I walked this trail. Everything looks different."
"Are you sure we're on the right path?"
Mike was silent for a moment. "Honestly? No." He admitted.
"Fabulous." I muttered.
"If I go to that ridge over there, I'll be able to pick out the way back. Do you mind waiting here? I won't be long; twenty minutes at most."
"No." I was grateful for the chance to sit down and rest.
Mike went off and I searched through his backpack fruitlessly for some pain relief, but there was none. Twenty minutes came and went, then half an hour but there was no sign of Mike. I tried to call him on my cell (pointless, there was no service out here) and I scratched rude messages to him in the path with the metal ferrule on the end of the pole. An hour passed and it became clear that either Mike had injured himself or he'd gotten even more lost. Either way I really shouldn't linger. Better that I got myself to the end of wherever this trail went and back to civilisation.
As I struggled to my feet I heard the sound of running. Someone was coming up the path from the direction Mike had gone.
I expected Mike to come into view, but it wasn't Mike who appeared, but Jake Black, out for a run.
"I am so glad to see you!" I nearly burst into tears with relief in seeing a friendly face.
"What are you doing out here?"
"I'm out with Mike, but I've hurt my ankle and I think he's got lost."
"What?" He laughed. "The trail ends about half a mile ahead. Where was he going?"
"He went down to that lookout point about an hour ago."
Jake's face changed to one of concern. "About an hour ago? He should've made it back here in twenty minutes, tops."
"That's what he said."
"I should go look for him. Are you OK here for another few minutes?"
"You won't get lost will you?"
Jake laughed. "No, I know the park like the back of my hand."
"That's pretty much what Mike said."
"Yeah? Well in my case it's true. Don't worry, I'll get him and come right back. Set your watch, I'll be fifteen minutes at the most."
"OK."
Jake ran off in the direction Mike had gone and I settled back down for another wait. It was chilling off now and I was beginning to feel the cold. Suddenly, something happened, or rather nothing happened. Where there was birdsong and the sound of other small wildlife, it was as if someone had pushed the mute button on the world. I couldn't hear a single thing. Not a chirp, a rustle or a call. The world was holding its breath.
Ahead of me the ground dropped away into a gulley and I thought I saw a blur of movement in the trees below. I focussed my attention on it but there was nothing there. A feeling of panic enveloped me and I grabbed a walking pole, holding it out with two hands like a light sabre, ready to hit anybody that came my way. There was a sharp crack close by, as if someone had stepped on a branch. My head whipped round at the sound, but there was no-one there. Just then, in the corner of my left eye, someone came into my field of view. I turned around and the scream in my throat died before I had chance to vent it.
Before me was a man and the most enormous wolf I had ever seen. That, in itself would be cause for screaming, but that was not what I wanted to scream about. The reason I wanted to scream was that the man had Daniel by the throat.
"Miss Chambers." He said. "Thank you for making it so very easy to find you today. I believe you know Mr Mitchell."
I recognised the voice as being the same man in the stairwell of my apartment building. But I didn't look at him, because all my focus was on Daniel. He looked dreadful, as if he'd been dragged through the forest. There was a corresponding look of terror in his eyes. His eyes were drawing my attention though, there was something different about them; they looked weird. They looked… ochre-coloured.
"My colleague," the man continued. "Tells me that Mr Mitchell no longer occupies your affections. May I congratulate you in that? You have made a wise choice and I hope a long and healthy life is granted to you as a result." I kept my eyes fixed on Daniel. "Sadly for you this is unlikely to be the last time you see Mr Mitchell. You may have chosen another; but he, the pathetic creature, cannot. The fool has allowed himself to bond with you and so is destined to spend the rest of eternity pining for you. I am a merciful man so I am willing to spare him the agony. In this I am doing both you and him a service."
As the speaker's words sank in, my eyes moved upwards to him and another bolt of panic flew through me, as I registered the speaker's bright red eyes. To the side the impossible wolf had his eyes fixed on me too. It was huge, to the middle of its back it had to be nearly six feet tall.
"Focus on me Miss Chambers." My attention snapped back to the speaker. He was very pale and his face was framed by short, neatly clipped black hair. His clothing appeared to be from another time, it looked almost Victorian. "You've noticed that I am somewhat anachronistic. I will not explain why, you are not meant to know. But I will tell you my purpose here. It is to rid the planet of those pathetic specimens, who insist on trying to integrate with humanity." That made no sense to me and my confusion must have shown on my face, because he raised an eyebrow in query. "You have not guessed what he is?"
"No she hasn't." Came a disembodied voice.
"Good! Well done Mitchell." The man shook Daniel by the throat. "You did something right then." The man turned his attention back at me. "Let me explain Miss Chambers. There are many of these pathetic creatures in this area. My good friend Mr Wolf here has told me all their identities and in time I will deal with them all. In this, Mitchell's demise will serve as a warning to others who seek to demean our species by choosing to associate with lower life-forms such as yourself."
I still hadn't the slightest idea of what he was on about. What lower life-forms?
"She's still not getting it." Said the voice.
"No I don't suppose she does with such a limited intellect. Humans. Always convinced that they're the top of the food chain. Think again. You're not the hunter, you're the hunted. You would've been his prey, had he not fallen in with a band of imbeciles and started trying to fit in. Working, living in houses and yes Miss Chambers, falling in love. Pathetic, it will never work. None of them can deny their true nature indefinitely. Such defiance of the natural order is an abomination and sets itself up in opposition to the ancient and very noble house of…" He cut off. "I do not need to tell you of such things, they are above your comprehension."
Above my comprehension? I'd gotten my head around Heather having a father who was an angel; I had intellect enough for this guy.
"I think you should stop this." Said the other man, his voice told me he was over to the right of me. "There's no point stringing it out and I have better things to do. I want out now."
The red-eyed man looked confused. "Stop this? You don't want to watch the destruction of Mitchell, after all these months? To see the fruition of what we've worked for?"
"No. You finish it off. There's been too much death and destruction in my life." The wolf snarled at him. "You can say what you like. I really don't care anymore." I've found something good and I want to work on that." There was a rustle close behind me. "Please keep facing forward Stephanie, but this bit is for you. I'm sorry about your cat. I'm sorry about the unpleasantness that has been inflicted on your life and I'm sorry for this whole mess. This may come over as racial superiority from them, but it's mere jealousy."
The red-eyed man gave a hollow laugh. "Very droll. Please, don't tell me that you too have fallen under the spell of humanity.
There was a blur and where there once was a wolf there was a very naked Jackson Green. "Hey we had a deal wingman; you can't go back on it now!" He spat and turned to the red-eyed man. Come on, finish it up! I've had my gut full of leeches and one, perhaps two less even, would be a very good use of my day."
"Leech?" I said. The word coming from my mouth caught Jackson's attention.
"Leech, as in what your precious Mitchell is. What do leeches do Miss Chambers? Or have you not had enough personal biology lessons yet to get that far?" He chuckled menacingly. "Leeches suck blood. Figure it out for yourself." He spat at me and Jackson turned back to the red-eyed man. "Kill him and do the school a favour and finish her. I want to get the hell out of here." He blurred back into a wolf.
"No!" Shouted the man behind me. "I won't allow this."
"You won't allow it?" said the red-eyed man. "You knew this was plan all along. Besides, she's made her choice; you've told us she doesn't want him. Think of it as a kindness, this way you'll spare him an eternity of anguish. He'll only go after her if we let him go."
"I will not be party to the taking of another man's life."
"He doesn't have a life, he has an existence. What sort of life is consorting with humans? You of all people should know that it gets you in to such a wretched mess. We are above all that. Mitchell here is a traitor to our cause."
"Your cause?" The man behind me laughed. "You wouldn't know a cause if it came up and smacked you in the face. All you're interested in is yourselves."
"And quite right too. Looking after number one is what we do best. You should know about such things, isn't your friend Satan into that."
"He's no friend of mine!"
"Really? So what are you doing still here then? Fly away home why don't you?"
The wolf phased back again.
"Just get on with it! You can argue theology later!"
"Yes indeed. We will get on with it. Miss Chambers?" I gave the red-eyed man my attention, but my eyes slipped again to meet Daniel's anguished ones. "Catch!"
For a moment I was transfixed as Daniel's eyes widened in horror and then my mouth caught up with my brain and vented the scream, just as Daniels' spinning head cannoned into me and everything went black.