~ Sven was tired of losing.
He knew the second the first trap went off. In the daylight, however, his magic was not strong enough to bridge the distance. The unraveling of his trap cut his celebrations short, washing away the taste of sweet revenge from his mouth. He ground his teeth, raging as one by one his traps became undone. At night, their movements ceased. Sven had remained watching, hoping for one of them to slip, and so it happened. Now he had hours until sunrise.
Sven was not aware that Marx had anyone who could match him. As far as he knew, he was the only one on earth who used or knew how to use shadow magic. Whoever it was, he needed them dead and out of the way.
Littered about his feet were pieces of wood from his bed, the chairs, one nightstand, and half of his vanity. There were also th
~When Ava disappeared, Marx and the others lost their focus. One minute she was blasting the shadows that had floated out of the trap, and the next she vanished. Daniel’s lifeless body discarded at their feet. Helick roared his anger, feeling the betrayal as Marx did. Not an enemy, but not a friend, either. She had told them. Marx had hoped whatever was happening between her and Daniel would have swayed her towards being a friend. He was wrong. Or not... Ava was back again, her hands moving frantically as she continued to unravel the trap. The attacks trickled off; the creatures snapping back to themselves one by one. They looked confused, disoriented. That drove Marx’s guilt harder. Soon it was only them and the ca
~The girl kept looking at all of them nervously, especially Ava. All Ava did was scowl and mumbled to herself as she created an alternative path towards Native lands. The traps here, as Ava told them, did not show the same level of sophistication as the others. It was as if Sven had expected no one to come through. No werewolves, at least. "My father will have your heads." It was the first thing the girl had said in almost an hour. "Be grateful we're not sending him back yours." "Ava." "Every time she opens her mouth, it's another insult. The child needs to be taught manners." "Lopping off her head would not teach her that," Marx said. "The Natives hate us for good reason. Our ancestors' sins are our own."
~Dempsey woke up feeling like a wreck. He noticed the bandages around his torso and the fact that he was barefoot, wearing pants that were too loose to be his. Gingerly, he swung his foot off the side of the bed, attempting to sit up. His torso protested. He took in the gothic-style bedroom around him. Heavy gold drapes hung open at the double bay window, the black walls that absorbed the sunlight that washed over it. The only pop of color was the royal purple silk sheets he was sitting on. The door to the room opened, and he looked up to see who it was “Ah, you’re not dead. A miracle. Your—DNA perplexed our physician. We do not cater for werewolves here, so you can imagine it took quite a bit for him to figure out what was wrong and keep you from dying. Usually, you do that yourself—heal, I mean. Dying isn’t a choice.” “Mr. Vescovi.” Dempsey tried to s
~Helick and Ava were investigating the mauling of the two hikers. The working theory was that a trap had gone off. After scanning the area, she had determined that was not the case. There were no traps at the site cordoned off as the crime scene. “It wasn’t an animal attack.” It was a safe enough guess, considering the person who had found them had made it out alive for it to make prime-time news. Still, she went there to have a look around. All the traps she found were off the trail designated for hikers. She removed them. “Why do you say that?” Helick looked distracted. She could not prove that it was not an animal attack, only that shadow magic had nothing to do with it. Ava ruled out Sven’s involvement. There were bears and wolves in the woods, though less now after last night. A normal animal att
~Helick went back to Lochlan's house with the others. He was more than relieved to find that neither Ava nor Marx was around. It was easier to keep a secret without those two poking holes in him. The others seemed to behave as normal, so Ava had said nothing. Not that he would admit it to her, but he was grateful. It gave him time to consider what to do next. He knew what the right thing was. He just did not know what to do next that did not involve that. After hours of going back and forth with himself, he spoke to his brother. Give him a chance to explain. Maybe he’d tried to fight off the attacker. Maybe he had tried saving the wounded hikers, and that was what got the blood on his fur. Maybe… Helick stopped himself. If any of those things were true, Garrick would have disclosed it. He would lead the charge to find the attacker if he knew
~Breaking through the trees into the clearing, Helick saw his brother taking the stairs to the porch. "Garrick." He called out to him. Garrick turned to face him, looking confused by the harsh tone in his voice. "We need to talk… Now." Helick walked off, not looking back to see if his brother was following him. Helick did not stop until he was far enough from any prying ear and he stood waiting for his brother. "What the hell is going on with you?" Helick demanded. He raised a hand to cut off his brother when he opened his mouth to answer. "And don't tell me it's none of my business." Garrick sighed. "I'm sorry about that. I should not have… I shouldn't have said that.
~Helick found the wolfsbane tucked away in his brother’s room and knew immediately the situation was dire. Not only was his brother attacking innocent people, but he had the presence of mind to ensure no signs led to him. That was the action of a man with intent. Yes, things were dire indeed. If the others had visited the first site, they would have known it was Garrick. After that slip-up, he employed countermeasures to not repeat the mistake. It was all premeditated. There was no excuse now for his brother’s actions. If his twin had gone off the rails, gone rabid, Helick would assume the responsibility of taking him down. He prayed it wouldn’t come to that. Prayed they could figure out a way to help Garrick. Dammit, Helick swore. If Garrick had confided in him from the start, they could have avoided all
~Helick stood watching over his brother’s bed. Martha and Ava moved in and out of the room, taking blood, mixing potions, trying different things to get his brother to calm down. Strapped to the bed as they would a man in an asylum, Garrick looked wild. All night he growled and all day he screamed threats to have their heads. He was stark raving mad. Finally, a sedative worked, and he calmed down, sleeping for a few hours. He woke up, confused. “Wha-what the hell?” He struggled against the restraints. Helick was not sure which side of his brother was speaking. Or how much of his brother remained considering his condition. He did something he never thought he would ever do… he turned to Ava for her reassurance. She nodded. “Take it easy,” Helick said, goin