Chapter 5

I was standing in a glen, the sounds of birds filling the spring air. The wind smelled of fresh vegetation waking from its winter slumber. The warmth of the mid-day sun felt good on my face as I basked in a ray that had pierced the blanket of leaves. I took a deep breath and then focused myself. I looked down at the ground in front of me, searching for a sign of which way my prey had gone. Tracks in the grass and dirt showed that it had gone east of where I was now. The wind was traveling in an eastern direction through the trees, and unless I took a longer approach it would smell me before I got close enough to strike. Looking at my options it seemed that heading north east far enough would keep my scent from reaching them and allow me to approach easier. I set off in my chosen path, making sure to step lightly to limit the noise I made as I moved through the brush. As I made my way, I could feel a shift in the wind; it had shifted enough to blow north east and allow me to start heading south to look for sign of my prey. As I neared where I hoped would be more sign of where my prey had run off to, I heard movement a few meters ahead.

I slowed my approach, nocking an arrow, as I moved south towards the source of the noise. Once I was able to see the source of the noise, my heart skipped a beat. The beast was there, growling in what seemed to be pain. Its muscles rippling and contorting as hair started to fall from its massive body. The creature’s form, reverting to a more human shape with each passing moment. I held my breath in awe as I watched the person behind all of this being revealed. When the sounds stopped, a large naked figure was huddled before me. I slowly drew back on the bow string and lined my arrow up with my target. The figure began to rise, and I could tell that it was a heavily muscled man. I aimed for the bastard’s heart and let loose the arrow. As it flew towards its target, the man turned, and I watched as the arrow slammed into his chest. The sound of the beast howl of pain filled the air, as its legs buckled, and it fell to the ground. I watched with mild fascination as the wolfs body began to shift and contort, its fur becoming thinner revealing the skin beneath. Slowly the wolf became a man, I would finally see the face of the man who had brought so much pain into the lives of me and those I care for.

I watched in horror as I saw the man revealed and the person I had shot was me. Pain tore through my chest and I looked down to find myself naked, with an arrow in my chest. The pain was beyond anything I could describe, even that of my shoulder. Each breath became harder to take, and I felt myself becoming weaker. Looking toward where I had just been standing, I saw the glowing eyes of the beast, heard his maniacal laughter. Despair filled me as I realized he had won, and my last thoughts before I could no longer stay awake, were of Violet.

I awoke with a start and felt disoriented, as I looked around me and tried to get my bearings. I looked to be in the back room of the clinic, lying on one of the beds. My pillow and sheet were soaked with sweat, as were my clothes. I looked around and found that there was no one in the room with me. Moonlight shone through the windows into the room, offset by the candles lit, here and there, across the room. They cast a mixture of shadows as the light was blocked by various surfaces in the room. I could hear nocturnal insects faintly, outside in the distance. The door to the front was closed, and the back door was secured with a long plank of wood. No doubt designed to be able to withstand great force trying to enter the room from the outside. I continued to look about the room, noticing that the other bed was not occupied. The tables on either side of it unlit, unlike their counterparts in the room. I looked to the table on my right and saw that there was a set of my clothes, neatly folded, on it. On the table to my left, there was a lit candle, a small plate of food and a cup of water. Lying against the cup was a piece of paper, which looked to be a note of some kind. I took a deep breath, worried about what the note might contain, then I picked it up and read its contents.

My love Davik,

Mother and I are sorry to have left you, but we feared moving you would set off another attack. I am so sorry that my anger caused that to happen. You know I would never intentionally hurt you. Liza brought over a bowl of the rabbit stew she made for dinner tonight. Trina brought you a change of clothing, which is on the opposite table. If I can, I will return later in the evening to check up on you and keep you company. Love always,

Your Violet

I placed the letter back down and sat up in the bed. I grabbed the bowl and began to eat slowly. The broth was cool, meaning it had sat for a while, but it was still delicious. The chunks of rabbit were succulent and flavorful. Along with the rabbit, were pieces of carrot, turnip, corn and rice all adding to the flavors and textures. Liza must have been experimenting with different mixtures of herbs and spices. Since I first woke up, it has been only stews for our evening meal, no doubt to be easy on my stomach. Yet, each stew had different taste than the next, and only made me want more. I took a drink of the water left for me; I was feeling refreshed from that meal. I collected my clothes, made sure I could not be seen from the window, and changed my clothes. It felt good to be in clean clothes, given how much I had sweat in the ones from yesterday. I made my way to the door leading to the front of the clinic and found that the door was locked. In the dim light it looked to only be unlocked, on either side, with a key. I had no doubt that the same would be the case for the other door. I also did not want to remove the board reinforcing the door, as I would not be able to put it back into place.

I decided to look about the room at the shelves. Each had jars or bottles on them. Each was labeled in what looked to be Violet’s handwriting. I recognized some of them from the collection that my elder mother had kept in her house. Some helped lessen pain by eating or by drinking a powder added to liquid. The others were ointments that could be rubbed directly onto the skin or effected area. The same went for others that helped with burns, cuts and various infections. It was not in any way foolproof and there were always a few cases where they did not work, and they would have to take more extreme measures. There were others that I had not seen before, but that was the contrast between a large town and a small village. One that caught my eye was the Wolf’s Bane. I thought back to some of the things my elder mother had taught me, and Wolf’s Bane was one of them. She would never collect or use it for any reason due to the highly poisonous content of the flower. As such, I was shocked to see it sitting in a jar on the shelf with the other medicinal items.

I would have to ask Violet when I saw her tomorrow., but for now I was stuck in their clinic, until someone showed up to let me out. It was like I was hidden away, until someone found my hiding spot. The thought made me laugh a bit, as I remembered the games we used to play as kids. One of the games she was good at was ‘find the spy’. We used to play it with a bunch of other kids when we were younger. There were usually nine of us playing. Eight would search for the ninth who would be deemed the spy. The spy was given a head start of thirty counts to dash into the woods and hide from the rest. He or she could move from their different hiding spots to keep one step ahead of the group. Each person had a piece of cloth hung from their belt, the person who was the spy wore red and the other eight green. You had to claim the cloth to say you caught the spy. However, the spy could claim the cloth of someone searching for them, removing them from the game.

We would each take turns playing, most of us would try to just stay away from the group. Violet, a friend named Ethan and I always tried to take out everyone before we could be caught. Ethan could get about one or two before he would be caught. I was able to get about five or six before I was caught. Violet got maybe three or four, but that happened randomly for her. Where she always excelled was finding the spy. Nine times out of ten, it was her holding the red cloth up in triumph. I could sometimes catch her off guard, but even I was not immune to her just popping up out of nowhere and snatching my cloth. It had been a simpler time, and I missed the freedom and peace we had as kids. Regret filled me as I thought of those friends from so long ago. None of those kids are alive today, each was a victim of one of the blood moons over the years. Resigned to the fact I was stuck here in this room until I was let out, I returned to the bed and tried to go back to sleep. I do not remember when sleep finally claimed me, but I welcomed the rest.

I did not dream, and for that I was thankful, for I did not want to repeat the nightmare that had claimed my sleep before. I felt myself being pulled out of the embrace of my sleep and I awoke to the gentle touch of Violet. She was softly shaking me awake, her beautiful smile highlighted by the light shining through the window.

“Good morning, my love. I hope you slept well last night, as we could not bear to move you after the fit you had. Given the way some of the people in the town have acted lately, we felt it best to lock everything up tight. I hope that you do not mind?”

“It is okay, my sweet Violet,” I replied with a soft smile. “I awoke in the night a little disoriented, but I found the clothes and food that had been left for me. I did try the doors and understood why I found them to be locked. So, I explored the room a bit, and reminisced about our childhood before returning to sleep.”

I got out of the bed and stretched my aching muscles. The fits I suffered from the night before did a number on my body, from the force of the spasms. As I stood, Violet bent down to make the bed, I could not resist a look at her backside as she did so. Today, she was wearing leather pants that seemed to have been sewed right onto her, given how form-fitting they were. The shirt was silken, with a light purple hue, and the billows in the loose fabric did some measure to hide her ample charms. She had to have on something underneath the shirt, as there was no noticeable sign of her nipples against the fabric. Violet caught me staring at her, she responded in kind as she gave me a wink and a sultry smile. As we shared that moment, Ilane walked into the back room and smiled when she saw me awake.