Amaris knew that it was going to be a long wait. So she decided to have something to eat and then read some more. The book had been very helpful so far, maybe it can help her with some of her other questions. She grabbed one of the MREs and a bottle of water and started to make the macaroni and beef packet that she had grabbed. She heard a howl from Anna's room, and then there was a crash. It sounded like the fridge had gone over which meant that she had gotten out. Now Amaris was trapped in the room, and she had no where to hide if Anna got in. Amaris quietly put down the bottle and package that she held and started looking around the room for somewhere to go if Anna got in. At first there was nothing. Then Amaris noticed that under the desk in the wall there was a large metal panel. She got down on her hands and knees to take a better look. She crawled under the desk and saw that the metal panel was held in place by four screws. Amaris looked around the room. She had no
Amaris' heart started to beat out of her chest. She began to run and move over as close to the wall as she can get. She could hear the train getting louder now. She wonderd in her head if there was a real train driver, or if it was compouterized. She did not think that it would matter either way. The train would not have enough time to stop. Amaris was afraid that she was not going to make it. She was quick, but the rocky terrain under her feet was slowing her down. Terror was now enveloping her. A burning, like the pain that she had felt out in the woods when she had run from the men at the hotel,washed over her. She felt odd, like she was melting apart. Looking down she realized that she was now running on four paws and not two feet. At once she was able to pour on the speed and to get better traction. The train was no longer gaining on her and the end of the tunnel was near. She made it to the opening and darted around the corner to a stop to let the sleek locomotive
Christos seemed to no longer be in the conversation. Marco took over, "Mari, where are you? We will come and get you. We need to keep you safe." Amaris could hear the worry in his voice. "I am down by the train tracks, just as you come out of the tunnel. The duct that I used to escape from the panic room led me here. I will need some clothes though, please. I had to turn into my wolf to avoid getting run over by the train." Marco laughed. "Mari, you do get yourself into predicaments. It seems to be my job to bring you clothes out in the woods. I will dig up some clothes and be there in a little while. " Marco was still chuckling when he broke off the contact. Amaris decided that if Marco was coming to find her she better find the thickest bushes that she could find. She moved out of the clump of bushes that she was in and down a short way to another clump that had more leaves. The more dense foliage would at least give her the semblance of dignity. She hunkered down a
With an enormous sigh of relief, Amaris once again climbed out of the bushes. She went cautiously down the hill to find Marco scraped and bloodied, but whole and clothed. She wondered how he always managed to have clothes after he changed back. The three men were on the ground. Two of them were unconscious. The third man was tied up and gagged sitting with his back against a tree. The man's eyes grew wide as he saw Amaris come out of the woods. He tried to say something but his gag prevented him from saying anything coherent. "Help me over here. Roll him over so I can bind his hands." Marco said without looking up. After tying the man's hands, he slid the other unconscious man back to back with him so they held each other up and tied them together so that they would have a hard time getting away. With the rest of his rope he tied the conscious man to the tree that he was leaning on. Once he was done he silently took Amaris' shoulder and walked her away from the men.
Amaris walked in and went straight to her room. The room looked like it had been bulldozed. The bed was destroyed and the desk was unrecognizable except for the drawer that was in the front. The books had been strewn all over and she was going to have to hunt to find it. Marco starting picking up books and putting them in a pile on the book shelves that were still usable with the spines all showing outward so Amaris could look at them. Many books had been destroyed. There were pages and pieces of bindings mixed in with the debris. It made Amaris sad to know that so much knowledge had been lost in one fell swoop. Amaris and Marco had piled as many of the salvageable books as they could find up on the useable book shelves. Amaris went through them all, but she was not able to find the book. She even started looking where the chair used to be and worked her way out, but to no avail. Amaris finally sat on the floor where she had been looking and put her head in her hands. "Oh
Amaris was exhausted but still had several things to do before she would be able to sleep. "Marco, can you take me to Anna please. I want to check on her." Marco looked to Christos. "Where is she right now? You said that you were getting a horse trailer to move her." Christos was silent for a moment. "Stefano says that they have her locked in one of the horse stalls at the stable at the moment. He is one of the mated men that I was telling you about. I have all four of them taking care of her right now. I will give you directions to walk there, but Marco and I will stay here as she is still giving off phermones even though she is drugged." Amaris understood, and after getting directions from Christos and being told that Stefano would meet her part way, she set out to the stables. Stefano met her halfway and greeted her with a bow. She noticed that since she had healed the soldiers in the med tent, the men's bows had gotten deeper. Stefano was a short man built like a tank.
Amaris had the soldiers go back to their stations with the promise to alert them if something happened. She sat on the bale and waited. She checked on Anna every ten minutes, and still found no change. The tea had done it's job with her and she felt relaxed. She found and old sweat shirt in the lost and found and drapped it over herself like a blanket and fell asleep. When Amaris woke it was to a familiar voice calling her name. "Amaris, Hey Mari!" The voice was urgent and insistent, but still at barely more than a whisper. Amaris opened her eyes. The sun was shining as if it were just after dawn, with bright yellow and orange rays streaming in through the windows in the stalls. "Amaris wake up!" This time something hit Amaris in the leg. She jumped and sat upright. "Thank goodness! I thought one of those guards was going to hear me and come in before I woke you up. That would have been embarassing." It was Anna. She was standing at the stall door looking out at Ama
Amaris and Anna went out of the horse barn to tell the four soldiers that she was cured and they were ready to go meet up with Marco and Christos and the others. It was very quiet. Not a sound. "Wow. These guys are good. I would never know they are there. I don't hear a thing." Anna said to Amaris. "Stefano." Amaris called out. "Hey Stefano! We are ready to go! It worked!" Amaris tried again. There was still no answer. "Stefano can't hear you anymore, but you are going with me." Adam walked out of the under brush along with eight men who were all clearly vampires. They all had their fangs out in a feral snarl. "Adam. What are you doing here?" Amaris asked him. She took a couple steps back and put out her left arm to push Anna back too. Amaris noticed as she did that Anna looked far away. She hoped that meant that she was mind linking Marco and Christos. Adam seemed to have caught on to the look too. "Don't bother trying to call Christos is rather..." He made a