Earned in Blood by Devi

Earned in Blood

by

Devi

“Wasps sleep at night.” My little sister said to me one night when we were young. I was probably 5 or 6, my sister 3. I never forgot that statement. It haunts me. Because not all wasps sleep at night. Some prey on their victims in the dark…

I should have known better. He didn’t seem like the best person, and oh was that an under statement. Billy was the worst kind of wasp… he was the kind that stings you over and over until you die. His moderate good looks, his jeans with holes in the knees and his tight t-shirt (showing off, of course, his muscles), his striking blue eyes. All those things made him seem somehow okay. Until he opened his mouth, and then he didn’t just get ugly, he got scary.

“So you coming, Devon?” He asked me. I should have said no.

“Sure.” I said, because I had nothing better to do and I didn’t realize quite yet how ugly he was. He was a friend of a friend, or so they all claimed. Really it was more like a drug dealer of a friend’s friend.

Billy smiled, showing his too-white teeth. It was obvious he used one of those whiteners and had left it on too long. “Great. Let’s party.”

I got into his truck. It was a newer duel cab RAM. Black. The windows were all tinted to the darkest black. I figured we would drive around awhile, do some drugs, maybe hook up with some girls… the usual Friday night. Nothing too unusual.

He floored it going out of the parking lot, burning rubber. A big smile on his face.

“What do you have under the hood?” I asked, trying to make conversation but not really caring.

“Hemi, man.”

“Nice.”

“Hell yeah it’s nice. Cost me a pretty penny, let me tell you.”

I didn’t know what else to say. I wasn’t much into cars, trucks… I was more into computers and video games, I’ll be honest. How I was cruising with a known dealer was beyond me, really. Not my scene. My friend Mickey had introduced us when I said I needed something to make me feel happy. Yeah, Mickey had introduced us and then conveniently disappeared. Probably fucked up with some chicks back at the condo.

“So you’re looking for something to make you happy, eh?” Billy said, reading my mind.

“Yeah. Been feeling really apathetic lately.”

“Got something to fix you right up.” Billy grinned again. It was starting to bother me. It wasn’t a happy grin, it was almost painfully fixed to his face like a grimace.

Billy pulled over in an alley. He took off his seat belt and popped the jockey box open. Inside was a small bag of white powder.

“This is going to make everything perfectly alright.” Billy took out the bag and opened it carefully. He pulled a small straw out of the jockey box as well.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s your dream come true.” Billy handed the straw and made a small mirror appear out of the box.

“You got everything in there, man.” I laughed.

“It’s your lucky day. Usually I charge a crap load for this shit. For you, tonight, it’s free.”

“Oh.” I said. I wasn’t sure how lucky I was, but I have to admit I was curious.

Billy made two lines on the mirror deftly. It was obvious he was practiced at it.

“Snort this.”

“Up my nose??” I asked, stupidly. “I mean, yeah OK.”

I leaned down, straw in my nose. I snorted the thin, long line of unknown substance.

It was as if my brain lit up. Everything became bright, and I felt happiness overwhelm me. I laughed. “What is that stuff?” Perhaps a question I should have asked beforehand.

“Heroin.” Billy said as he leaned down and did the second line.

My breath caught in my throat. I had just done heroin? Was I insane? I laughed again. Ahh, who cared, I felt GREAT!

“You like, huh?” Billy laughed.

“Oh yeah.” I leaned back in the truck seat, feeling relaxation taking hold of me. I had never felt so… happy and relaxed at the same time. I realized there was a smile stuck on my face and I thought of the grin that Billy had been sporting all evening. Yeah, it all made sense now. Heroin. I’d heard really bad things about it, but they seemed distant now.

“Let’s go for a ride. I feel a bad decision coming on.” Billy pulled the truck out of the alley and we were on the road, cruising toward downtown.

The buildings went by in a type of blur, the lights bright and smeary. Especially the neon lights! So amazingly beautiful. Part of me knew that heroin was bad, but part of me was along for the ride.

Once we were downtown, Billy slowed the truck. We were cruising along at what seemed walking speed. He seemed to be looking for something. It was around 2am and I didn’t have any clue what he could be searching for.

We didn’t talk. We didn’t need to. I was so relaxed and taken in by the buildings and the lights that I didn’t hardly notice Billy.

Quite suddenly he sped up a bit and turned into an alley. Another alley. Was it time for more drugs?

Yes, it was.

He quickly put two lines out and I snorted one without saying a word. My head exploded with colors and sounds. It was a beautiful thing.

Almost as soon as he had pulled them out, they were stashed away.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Billy paused, studying me. “No matter what happens, STAY HERE AND CHILL.” The last was said with a hint of threat.

I merely smiled at him and laid back in my seat. Why would I go anywhere?

Five minutes or a million years passed, and Billy was opening the back door into the cab. He shoved something in, laughing, and slammed the door. I didn’t bother to look back. Who cared? Probably some beer he had lifted.

Billy jumped into the driver’s seat and took off. He peeled out again, his truck speeding down the alley, then turning left onto the street. He didn’t slow down.

After about 20 minutes I finally came around enough to wonder where we were going.

“Where we headed, my man?” I asked.

“Cabin up in the woods that my family owns. We’ll chill there with our cargo.” Billy smiled slyly. “Have you looked in the back seat? I got you a gift.”

I cracked my head back and saw what he had shoved into the truck. I closed my eyes tight and opened them again, but she was still there. That’s right, SHE.

Maybe 20 yrs old, maybe younger. Long brown hair covering most of her pretty face. Blood still dripping from the wound at the place where forehead meets hair. She was out cold.

“What...” I started and shut my mouth. Even through my drug haze I knew this was bad. Like, really bad.

“What? You don’t like brunettes?” Bill cackled. His ugliness was showing now, and it wasn’t just ugly, it was scary. He had, what? Kidnapped this girl? Hit her on the head, rendering her unconscious and shoved her in his truck.

My thinking was slow, but I was putting it all together. He had kidnapped a girl and for what? Oh, I thought I knew alright. And what scared me the most was how he had done it. Like it was something he did all the time. Like it was as common place as lifting some beer.

I sat in horrified silence for the rest of the ride to the cabin. I didn’t know what to do, but I had to do something. I couldn’t let Billy hurt his girl any further. I couldn’t be a part of it. I was frozen with fear, with uncertainty.

Billy seemed to think I was just high and enjoying the ride. I tried to keep the smile on my face. I tried to remain calm and not scream. Was this really happening?

As we pulled up to the cabin I still had no plan. The drugs were coursing through me, making my thoughts sluggish. I would probably end up fighting Billy. I looked over at him. His muscles were clear through this skin tight blue t-shirt. I had no chance.

“Get on out. Help me with the girl.” Billy said as he parked the truck as close to the cabin as he could get.

I went back and opened the cab door. She was unceremoniously crammed in there. I put my arms around her and lifted her as gently out as I could. She weighted so little as to be a baby doll in my arms.

“Aren’t you the gentleman?” Billy sneered. He took her from me. I tried to hold on but my hands had no strength and he pulled her out of my arms. He threw her over one shoulder and headed up to and in the cabin.

She had begun to stir.

I stood outside a moment, making a wish on a star. A childish thing to do perhaps, but it had about as much chance of working as me stopping Billy.

I came in to find him tying her hands. He threw her to the floor, hard. I winced.

“Listen, Billy, I just don’t… I don’t think we should do this.” I managed, my voice quiet.

He turned on me viciously. “Oh, don’t doubt that WE will be doing this. You’re involved, my friend, in kidnapping. You try to leave here and I’ll rip your fucking head off.” He snarled as he said it, and lifted up his shirt, showing a gun in his waistband.

Suddenly he smiled. “Just chill. I got some more stuff for you. It will make you feel all better.”

“I … I think I’m okay...”

“No, I think you’ll be doing some more.” Billy said and started to leave the cabin. He turned. “DO NOT let her loose or I’ll shoot you both. You have a chance to live, and so does she.”

Bill left the cabin.

I stood perfectly still, his words echoing in my head. I should let her loose. I should run. I couldn’t move.

“Let me go and I’ll let you live.” Her voice was like silk. Her eyes, emerald green, blazed at me. Her hair was still in her face but it was obviously she was very beautiful, despite the blood matted hair. She had no fear on her face, only anger.

Still, I could not move.

“What’s your name?” I asked, hoping words would give me the power to act.

“Sabby. Short for Sabrina. You?”

“Devon. I really want to help. It’s just… he’ll shoot us.”

“And what will I do to you?” She asked.

As I tried to comprehend that Billy came back in.

“Let’s get this party started.”

Billy walked over with a needle, his intentions clear even to me. He planned to shoot Sabby up with heroin (I assumed). Probably make all his plans easier that way, as she would be stoned out of her mind.

Sabby spit at Billy as he leaned down, the spittle hitting him in the face. He slapped her with the hand not holding the needle. Her head snapped to the side with the impact.

I felt like I was in a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. I didn’t want to be a part of this, I didn’t want anything to do with it. If I ran he would shoot me in the back, of that I had no doubt.

The ease with which Billy was doing all this showed that he had done it before. Probably many times.

Billy grabbed Sabby’s arm. Instead of thrashing around or fighting, she became oddly still. She smiled up at him. The blood from her head had left a trail to her mouth, and she flicked her tongue out and tasted her own blood.

I shuddered. Something weird was going on here… something stranger than a sicko getting ready to rape a girl.

Billy jammed the needle into Sabby’s arm. Except the needle didn’t pierce her skin, it bent. It bent away from her and then broke off.

“What the fuck!” Billy yelled, his happy-go-lucky facade breaking. He reached his arm out to slap Sabby again but this time she was ready. As his hand reached her face she opened her mouth wide and bit into his hand. Her teeth buried themselves deeper than human teeth could and she snapped her head back, pulling the meat of his hand off and then she began to calmly chew the flesh.

Billy screamed in pain.

I watched in horror as Sabby – or what had been Sabby, changed. Her teeth were long fangs now, hanging from her mouth like a saber tooth cat. Her emerald eyes shown with inner light and seemed to be laughing.

Her gaze fixed on me. Billy was laying on the ground, holding his hand and screaming. In his screams I could hear the word “bitch” thrown in.

“I hate to say it… but I told you so.” Sabby said and stood up. She glanced down at the ropes holding her hands and simply moved her wrists apart, breaking the bonds.

Fur was sprouting out all over her body. Her arms were larger by the second, muscles bulging. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize she was a werewolf. I happen to believe in such things, but seeing one in person, one that was probably getting ready to eat you, is different than just believing. I am pretty sure I pissed myself about then.

“Run, little rabbit.” She said and winked at me.

My paralysis broke and I did as she suggested. I ran.

I started to pass the truck, but then realized I needed to look for a weapon. Certainly a drug dealer would have a gun, or a knife. Or maybe the keys were still in the truck! I threw open the driver’s door, expecting Sabby to pounce on me at any second.

No keys. Dammit. I opened the compartment between the seats… nothing but what looked like some drugs in little baggies. I ignored them and reached under the driver’s seat. Nothing. But I saw what I wanted. It was next to the consul and the seat. I grabbed the handle and I pulled out a fucking machete. Perfect. I spotted a hunting knife as well… Billy really was prepared for Armageddon.

I could hear Billy. He was screaming. I could only imagine what she was doing to him. I hefted the machete and ran over to the passenger side. In the jockey box, under the heroin, was a big pocket knife. I put it in my front pocket. With that and the machete, at least I had some hope. I looked around.

The road was dirt and full of large dips. Water was puddled the holes. I could take the road, but that would be expected. Sabby… and maybe Billy (who was still screaming) would just see me running down the road. Better to take the woods near the road.

Suddenly Billy stopped screaming. There was a whole lot of growling and snarling coming from the cabin now. Too much to be just one werewolf. I headed into the woods, wishing I had more time to get as far the fuck away from them as possible.

The night was mostly quiet, except for the sounds of the two werewolves. I could hear them now, sniffing around, perhaps near the truck. I ran. I ran as fast as anyone has ever run, fear giving my legs extra power. Branches snapped under my tennis shoes and several times I nearly slipped on rotting vegetation. I tried to keep sight of the road off to the left of me. I could see glimpses of it through the trees. I had an insane hope that a car would happen along, and I could picture myself chasing it like a dog. Barking “help” as loudly as possible.

I had no idea what effects the heroin might be having on me still. I felt sluggish in my mind, but the adrenaline pumping through me seemed to have nullified the drugs effect on my body. I knew I was running really fast. Was it fast enough though?

The moon was full and I could see it high in the sky, above the trees. How ironic. I wondered if it really had anything to do with Sabby turning, or if she could whenever she wanted, like the werewolves in more current movies. Since she had spoken to me and seemed to know what she was, I assumed it was the latter.

I continued to run. I could hear noises of pursuit now in the distance. Sniffing, snarling, growling. I knew they could smell me. I thought back to a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had covered himself in mud so that the monster – Predator, couldn’t find him. I wondered if it would work on smell. It was possible.

I ran to the right, going deeper into the woods. It didn’t take long for me to find a small stream… and a lot of mud. I didn’t know if I had the time to cover myself, but I had to try. As long as they could track my smell, they would be able to find me.

I grabbed handfuls of mud and smeared it on my arms. I smeared it on my face, the smell making me gag. Neck, shirt, pants. I was completely covered in just a few minutes. It would eventually dry, but right now I smelled more like a wet, rotting pile of leaves and probably animal shit than a human being.

I stopped and listened. I didn’t hear them any more. Had they given up? Could I be that lucky? I moved to the left again, back towards the road. My breathing had calmed some, my heart wasn’t racing nearly as fast. I just couldn’t keep up that level of panic.

I nearly walked right in to Billy. He was standing next to a large pine tree, sniffing the air. When I saw him, I darted behind another tree and peeked around. Billy seemed confused, and I figured it was the mud doing it’s job. He couldn’t smell me, at least not as well. But where was Sabby? That worried me. A lot.

I had a decision to make. I could sneak off and keep trying to outrun them. Or I could attack Billy and hopefully kill him. The machete felt good in my hand. It felt like it could do this job. It was me I was more worried about being able to kill a living thing. Still, kill or be killed.

I circled around the tree so I was behind Billy. I moved as quietly as I could, placing my feet gently down. The machete was at the ready. If I could just sneak up on him I could kill him without a big fight…

Billy turned to face me, a huge smile forming on his wolf-face. Long, sharp fangs rose up as he smiled, missing his chin by a fraction of an inch. He looked like a cross between a wolf and a saber tooth cat.

My heart stopped. The terror was rising up again, and the urge to turn tail and run was strong. But the machete felt good in my hand. I could still do this.

Bill roared and came for me. I was only a few feet away. He moved fast… too fast. I tried to swing the machete but he hit me so hard that he knocked it out of my hand. I fell to the ground. He loomed above me, laughing. His laugh sounded like gravel in the tide of the ocean.

I felt something jabbing me in the leg. I remembered and as quickly as I could, I pulled the hunting knife from my pocket.

“Come on then, you fucking piece of rat fur!” I yelled, keeping the knife near the ground so he wouldn’t, hopefully, notice it.

As expected and hoped, Billy literally threw himself down on me. I raised the knife as he fell. I didn’t know if it would kill him, but it sure would hurt like hell.

Billy fell directly onto the hunting knife blade. It was at least 10 inches of steel that went into him. Into his heart.

With my other hand I grabbed his neck, trying to keep his snapping jaws away from my face. It seemed to take him a second to realize he had been stabbed. He let out a howl that turned into a cry of pain. I pushed him as hard as I could and he rolled off me onto his back. The knife stood straight up out of his chest.

He lay on the ground, looking at me. I got up and stood over him, the tables turned. I leaned down and grabbed the machete and hefted it again. His eyes were the brightest blue I’d ever seen. I wondered why he didn’t get up. Steel could not kill a werewolf. Still, he just lay there, quietly looking at me.

“Please.” He said

“What?” I asked, feeling weird having a conversation with him at this point.

“Kill me, Devon.” He whispered, his eyes filling with tears. “I can’t live like this.”

I felt a wave of pity wash over me, but then I saw how he had handled Sabby. I thought of this total shit he had gotten us involved with. He wasn’t any better than Sabby. But yeah, I’d kill him… I didn’t need him changing his mind and deciding I was dinner.

I raised the machete up, thinking of ways you kill werewolves. Beheading certainly had to work… what would they do with no head? And there was something else.

I stood over Billy, machete still above my head. I was about to take a life. It was a serious matter, and I knew it would haunt me. However, what other choice did I have? I brought the machete down with all the strength I had. It hit Billy in the neck and severed about half his head. He didn’t make a sound, but I knew I had to finish the job and now. I got into position and brought it down again, the metal slicing into his neck and through his spinal cord. I didn’t even realize I was screaming as I did it… screaming and screaming.

When I was finished with his head I felt a wildness I had never felt before. I grabbed his hair and threw the head a few feet from the corpse, screaming as I did. The screams had turned into war cries. I leaned down over his body. Yes, I had to do it, it was necessary.

I took the hunting knife from his chest and then plunged it back in, hitting his rib cage. I worked the knife down, cutting his flesh away from his ribs. I felt like I was going to be sick. Grabbing his ribs, I pulled and pulled, barely budging them. I needed to part them, like heart doctors do.

Finally I got the machete and wedged it in, then used the hunting knife to pull the ribs apart. It wasn’t easy. And I had to work fast, because I had no idea where Sabby might be.

Covered in blood and gore up to my elbows, I told myself again that this was necessary. I wanted to survive and this was how I was going to do it.

I looked down into his chest cavity, his ribs sticking up now. There was his heart. It no longer had a hole in it where the knife had punctured. It had healed itself.

I reached in and grabbed his heart. It was big in my hand and felt warm. My gross out factor was at an all time high. I pulled the heart out with one quick motion.

I stuffed it in my mouth and bit down. My gag reflex tried to activate and make me throw up, but I fought it with all I had. I bit deep and tasted blood and muscle. I didn’t bother chewing, knowing that would for sure make me barf. Instead, I bit off smaller pieces and swallowed them whole. I heard my mother’s voice, telling me to chew my food. I almost laughed.

Then, clear as a bell, I heard my little sister’s voice. “Wasps sleep at night.” Not all wasps, honey, not by far, I thought.

Heart eaten, I decided I better get moving before Sabby found me. I got up off the ground and fell back down. I felt something… I was changing. Not into a werewolf, per say, but changing just the same. Quite suddenly I could smell everything around me. I could see like I had never seen before. Blood drops on my hands stood out with amazing clarity. I could smell the iron in the blood. I could smell that Billy had diabetes. I could smell that there was a small, cancerous growth on his liver. I could smell everything. I could see everything. I was different.

Finally I was able to stand. I went over to Billy’s severed head. I hunched down and pried his mouth open. His teeth were long, so long as to hang out over his chin. I reached in, told hold of the tooth as high up as his gums would allow, and I pulled. I felt strength flow through me like a rising tide. I was getting strong by the second. I pulled harder and the tooth came free. Almost too easily. I grabbed the other one and pulled. It, too, came out with minimal effort.

I heard a noise in the distance to the right of me. It was something moving fast through the forest. It was Sabby. I could smell her. Her odor was like a pungent perfume that made my head swim. I wanted her. But no… I fought the feeling. It was just a basic instinct. I put Billy’s fangs in my pocket and got moving. I looked down at my hands, covered in gore but still human. Somehow I was both now – I had eaten the heart because I had read, once, on some obscure web blog that eating it gave you the power of the werewolf. It gave you the racial memory, the strength and senses of all werewolves.

And I could feel that now. I was much more than I had been. I was no longer scared. Not scared of anything.

I didn’t want to fight Sabby if there was any way I could help it. She hadn’t been in the wrong, she had been kidnapped and beaten. She had every right to fight back… even if she was a monster. Course, if she was a monster, wasn’t I now too? I thought about prying the ribs open to expose Billy’s heart. Yes, I was a monster.

I moved the forest so much more quickly than before. Trees blurred past me on both sides and I ran. I headed toward the road, realizing even as I did that no one would pick me up. I looked far too wild and I was covered with blood. I’d be lucky if they didn’t try to hit me with their car.

Still, there was a town somewhere and I would find it.

But, as it turned out, not before Sabby found me. I was running full out, actually enjoying the moment as I sped through the forest. Then, before I knew what was happening, I was hit by a mac truck. At least that’s what it felt like. It was Sabby, her body slamming into mine with such force that all the wind was knocked out of me before I even hit the ground.

Sabby was up and laughing in seconds, a playful look on her wolfish face. Playful and deadly. Her eyes glinted in the moonlight.

“Knew I’d catch up to you, Devon.” She smiled.

“Lucky me.” I said as I shook it off and got up. I hurt, but not too badly and it was fading fast. Clearly I could heal as werewolves did.

“You knew you would see me again.”

“Yes, I figured. Are you going to try to kill me now?”

“Try?” She laughed.

I tried on a smile and it felt okay. I leapt at her. She met me head-on. It would have been comical, if not for the fact I was fighting for my life. Her teeth came inches from my throat and snapped thin air as I pushed her away. I could feel my body changing as we fought. I raised my hand up and grabbed her by the shoulder, and my hand was not mine anymore. It was a huge paw with wicked nails.

I pulled her close to me and whispered. “You should let me go.”

She snarled. “Like you let me go?” Sabby jumped back, escaping my grip.

“I couldn’t. I would have.”

“Sure.” She said, the real anger showing now, her playful smile gone.

I turned and ran. I did not want this fight. I realized I could smell the city. It wasn’t far… if I could just outrun her…

“Run rabbit run.” She growled and followed.

I ran like the wind. That’s something people say, but I really did. I ran faster than I’d ever run before… faster than an Olympic runner. The trees were blurs going by, my feet barely touched the ground. I could hear Sabby behind me, and she was laughing again.

The smell of her skin was still driving me nuts. I felt like a high school kid on his first date. Even when we had been fighting it had felt like some sort of weird, werewolf foreplay. Except in this case she wanted me dead.

The woods ended with such suddenness that I almost fell. Instead, my body, sensing the change in the ground, leapt into the air and landed with grace on a road. I ran across the road to what was an industrial district of some sort. I stopped there and turned around to face Sabby. I thought she would be on me, but she wasn’t. She stood at the edge of the woods, looking at me with a slight smile on her face.

I realized that the sun was coming up. If not already, soon people would be around this area. She didn’t want to be seen.

Even as I watched her she changed back to her human form. Fur fell from her and her pale skin was beneath it. Her face came back in to focus. Her brown hair fell gracefully to her shoulders, not hiding her face this time.

Breathtaking and deadly.

“I guess you got away.” She said softly.

“I guess so.”

“Just like I did.” She winked at me and disappeared back into the woods.

I smiled then. I knew she was done chasing me. Perhaps it had been a lesson of some sort, to feel some of what she had. Perhaps it had all been in fun.