Chapter 4: Hatred

Elliott's ears rang at the sound of the scream, his heart catching in his throat. The black beast that carried him sprinted at seemingly full speed, tossing the blue haired teenager around like a ragdoll. Behind him Valerie clutched to Elliott, while he hung tight to Damun, and Damun held Shania's fur. Danni had his arms wrapped around his partner's massive neck. But Elliott's mind was wandering, not to the girl hanging to his waist but to the mysterious boy that sat in front of him.

For once in her life, Valerie didn't daydream about holding onto a boy's waist. Something in her told her that she would never have him. But at the moment she had to focus on not falling off of the crazed beast that could topple trees with one push. Her eyes closed tightly.

Shania, Danni's enraged thoughts reached out to his beast, if they hurt Wray-

We'll end them, Shania finished his sentence with a mental flash of red; anger and agreement. The black beast continued on, now she could smell the scent of a drooling mutt. Suddenly she crashed through a particularly large bush and barreled into the mists of armed men. Several fell victim to her crazed charge.

A dog barked loudly as men and women scrambled to ready their guns. But Shania was crashing through their mists too fast to catch. Her anger fueling her limbs. The great beast followed the scent of Wray, her nose twitching at the foul scent of gunpowder and sweat. Soon they reached a large van where Wray's scent ended. The van was a grey coloured steel and, when she tried, Shania only managed to dent it.

"Try your claws!" Damun offered as several gunshots rang through the air, the bullets flying by their heads.

Shania didn't speak but did as he had suggested, digging her dagger-like claws into the steel. Her claws punctured the metal and she was able to rip a good section free, just enough for her to look inside. Inside there were bits and pieces of furniture and against the opposite wall trembled a young girl, about the age of eleven. Next to her, on a table, was Wray, she was unconscious with a dark bruise forming on her forehead. A bruise ran down her leg and she had several dozen small scrapes and scabs that bled. The coppery scent filling Shania's nostrils.

The little girl was ad pale as a ghost as she stood in front of the massive black beast. The girl shrank to her knees, pointing at Wray, "T-t-take h-her..!"

Shania didn't budge but, instead, waited as Danni climbed down and rushed in, the loud bangs of guns echoed in their ears. Bullets flew by their heads as Danni picked Wray up and stumbled to Shania. He placed Wray onto his partner and mounted Shania as well.

Valerie ducked down, her heart stopped everytime another trigger was pulled. Her eyes searched for any sign of escape but she only found that they were surrounded by men and women armed with guns. Her heart thundered in her chest, what are we going to do now?

Elliott was frozen as bullets whizzed past, one scraping his ear and making him grunt in pain. Elliott sealed his eyes closed as he thought; can a miracle work twice?

Damun steadied Wray after Danni climbed back on and Shania turned to face the men and women. Damun gasped, realizing there was no clear escape route. His heart leapt into his throat as his mind whirled, can we survive this?

Danni patted Shania, signaling her to attack the group cautiously. The black beast obeyed, looking for a weaker human. She found the youngest of the group; a young boy that couldn't be older than fifteen. Danni gave her the signal again and she lunged forward, her teeth ripping through the soft flesh of the boy before he could even scream. Crimson drops rained down everywhere as she twisted her head violently before dropping the carcass at her paws. The other people stared in horror, frozen in place. This gave Shania the perfect escape.

She leapt over their heads, clearing the space almost effortlessly. The black beast bounded toward the treeline but the roars of mechanisms slowed her. Danni, what is that sound?

Vehicles; go!

That was enough to spur Shania into a full out sprint. She raced into the forest, crashing through the trees gracelessly. The loud snaps and cracks sounded from the trees as she moved by. The mechanical roars died down and became part of the background until they disappeared completely. By this time Shania was short on breath and her movements were starting to become sluggish.

"You can stop now," Danni whispered soothingly to his beast. He rubbed her head affectionately as she slowed to a stop.

They now stood in a small meadow with wildflowers of all shapes and shades there are. The massive trees that made up the forest shaded half of it while the sun shone on the other half. Large puddles of rainwater was splashed around the place randomly, the green grass waving in the slight breeze. The sky was clear and birds sang distantly, scared of Shania. Shania took a firm step forward and collapsed, her paws turning up the dark soil. Danni scrambled off her and went to comfort her while Damun, Elliott, and Valerie heaved Wray down and collapsed into a circle. Everyone's bodies were stiff and ached. Shania's was from running and crashing and the humans' were from bouncing on her back the whole time.

The only happy or peaceful one of them seemed to be Wray. Her expression was as blank and emotionless as ever. The bruise on her forehead was darker than earlier, dried blood coated her bottom lip, something that hadn't noticed at first, a giant bruise ran down her leg. Her legs bled near her ankles, miniature bruises and scratches and scrapes dotted her arms and legs, even her face.

Elliott closed his eyes, exhaustion and wariness crossing his face. He relaxed in the warm days of the sun, the cool grass underneath him. This is better than Florida...

Valerie, on the other hand, was sound asleep, her arms spread wide. She had lost her hand purse a while back and now she didn't even care anymore. She just slept.

Damun laid his head next to Wray's, a deep sorrow filling his heart. Its all my fault... Its always my fault! He sighed, watching her breathe made him relax.

Danni sat by Shania's head, not caring about the others at the moment as Shania's exhaustion flooded into him. It made him drowsy and he had to fight to stay awake. Shania was fighting too, she knew that those wretched demons would be on their tail soon. And there were so many of them! All wearing the exact same thing. It confused her.

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A small girl paced around her mother's house, biting her nails. She couldn't stop fussing about how stupid her sister was. I mean, Wray just has to go solo! Doesn't she realize she's human?!

"Laurel!" A scream from outside sent shivers down her spine, the girl raced out from the house and was met by chaos. Evil men and women held weapons pointed at innocent villagers, not a touch of sympathy on their ugly faces.

Her mother, Ballma, lay in a heap at the man the girl presumed to be the leader of the group's feet.

The man sneered, baring his disgusting yellow teeth. "This is a warning for all of ye; if ye don't surrender by midnight tomorrow, then we'll exterminate ye all!" The man place the point of his weapon onto Ballma's chest and he pulled the trigger. A loud bang echoed through the clearing and blood spurted from a wound in Ballma's chest. Her eyes glazing over and staring blankly at the sky.

"No!" Laurel screeched, salty tears forming at the edges of her eyes as she ran forward to attack the man but stiff arms wrapped around her and pulled her off her feet.

The familiar voice of Thomas filled her ears, "Relax, Laurel. Everything will be okay, I promise."

"No! Mother! Why did you let them do that!?" Laurel shrieked as the vile men and women swiftly ran into the forest, disappearing into the shadows. "Why didn't Apel and Vohin stop them?!"

"Calm down already!" Jay's grief stricken voice interrupted Thomas, his blue eyes filled with anger.

Laurel's anger faltered and she went limp in Thomas' arms, her blue-green eyes dazed as her mother's death set itself in replay in her head.

Jay sighed, whispering as to not let Laurel hear, he said, "Where is Vohin and Apel?"

"I don't know, Jay..." Thomas whispered into the younger boy's ear.

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Valerie snapped awake, the sound of a distant gunshot still ringing in her ears. The good thing about living in California was being a very light sleeper. Valerie turned and realized all the others - including Shania - were still asleep. Next to her was Elliott and on his other side was Damun and Wray while Danni was sleeping next to his beast.

"Hey, hey Elliott!" Valerie shook his shoulder roughly, her eyes wide as she realized something bad had happened. "Wake up!"

As she urged Elliott awake, Damun stirred, blinking his eyes against the light. "What happened..? Where...?" He trailed off and his eyes glimmered in remembrance.

"Damun! Something's happened; I heard a gunshot! We need to get home! Now!" Valerie muttered urgently in his ear.

"What? Where? When?" Damun bombarded her with questions while getting up to check on Wray.

"Only a few moments ago, it woke me up and it seemed to come from..." Valerie trailed off as she pointed at thre direction in which she had thought she heard it from.

Realization sparked in Damun and his face paled in dread and fear. Tears welling in his eyes, he uttered a choked cry, "Home..."

Valerie reached up to brush his tears away like a mother would do to her child, her own eyes watering in grief. "It's okay, I won't let anything happen to you."

Damun suddenly embraced Valerie, a warmth spreading into their hearts and Valerie finally understood. I wasn't meant for romance; I was meant to give the frightened love and hope and protection. And that's what I'll do.

They pulled away from each other and Valerie sighed, "Come on; we've better wake the others and get going before something worse happens."

Damun agreed with a silent nod of his head and together they woke the rest - even Wray was able to open her eyes. The once confident, strong pools of deep green were nothing more than coloured shards of broken glass, glazed in pain.

Wray couldn't stand, she could barely move without pain lacing through her body. But, worst of all, was this sense of hatred bubbling in her heart, and it wasn't just hatred and anger, there was also love and a sense of fullfilness that settled there.

Damun and Elliott had to heave Wray onto Shania's back, although she weighed like nothing counting how she hadn't of eaten for almost two days and that she lost a lot of weight by living on this island. In front of her was Danni, behind Wray was Damun, then Valerie, and finally Elliott. When they were ready, Shania took a drowsy leap and clumsily began the trekk home, her hazel eyes constantly closing from the lack of sleep, but Danni kept her awake with loud outbursts of chatter.

As Shania loped through the forest, Wray's mind kept drifting to the smell and taste of blood that seemed to surround her. She couldn't stop the flashes of fighting from covering her vision. All she could do was cling to Danni and hope for the best.

Keep them safe, Wray prayed to both gods as they progressed through the looming trees.