Chapter Eight.....Scene Five

Ramona managed a quick peek behind her. The damn thing was still charging after her! She guessed the others must be far away by now and decided to stop running and take the damn “dog” on. A single werewolf did not scare her. She came to a sharp stop and so did the werewolf, the bright yellow eyes almost boring into her. Ramona hissed and the werewolf growled back. They circled each other, each one calculating their best way to attack.

Ramona knew she had to be extremely careful. One bite from those gnashing teeth and she would be history.

The two super naturals both rushed at each other at the same time. Quick as a cat, Ramona ducked under the werewolves advancing arms and grabbed it in a choke hold from behind. She tried to locate its spine. If she could break it, she might stand a chance of getting away.

She didn’t want to kill it for she knew the repercussions would be too extreme. The werewolf on the other hand seemed quite intent on ripping her head off. Well you couldn’t blame it. These base animals couldn’t think for shit.

The werewolf was strong and it kept twisting and turning, its arms flailing about until finally it caught a handful of Ramona’s short cropped hair and hauled her off its back, throwing her into a nearby tree. The blow knocked some wind out of Ramona. She got up slower than normal for her just as the werewolf advanced again.

“Bryce!” It was a shriek and it came from Jade. She and Tristan had followed behind the two and had suddenly come upon them when they were engrossed in trying to kill each other.

Tristan, just like his brother, couldn’t believe what he was seeing. There was this huge black wolf-like creature in front of him and Jade had just called it Bryce. Then there was Ramona on the other side looking very much a different person from the one this morning. Her eyes were stark red and she had fangs protruding out of her mouth!

Jade saw his reaction and took pity on him. It was horrible that he’d had to find out this way about some of the residents of Sereneville. She didn’t know what he thought about all this but she had a decision to make right away. Of all the idiotic things Bryce could have done, why did it have to be hunting a vampire? This could only end in disaster, especially for the humans that would be caught in the cross fire between the two species.

“Stay here,” she told Tristan firmly. She doubted if he would have followed anyway, he was practically rooted to the ground. Jade quickly went across to Ramona and Bryce, getting in between them.

“What the hell do you think you two are doing?” She burst out.

“He started it,” Ramona answered.

Bryce countered with a menacing low growl.

Jade communicated with him telepathically. “Is that true Bryce?”

There was silence for a minute. “No it’s not. I caught her about to drain your boyfriend’s brother. Get out of the way Jade.”

“Bryce get a grip on yourself. We both know what will happen if you kill her. Don’t be foolish!”

“I will gladly accept the consequences! It’s time we ran these vampires out of our town anyway.”

Jade put her hands on her hips. “I’m not moving from here. If you want to fight her, you will have to go through me.”

For a second, Jade actually thought Bryce would really go through her but at the last minute, he changed his mind. “Fine, but don’t come crying to me when these blood suckers drain your little boyfriend dry over there.” Bryce howled once into the moon and charged off again into the woods.

Tristan was mesmerized by the things unfolding before him. If he’d had a knife, he’d have stuck himself just to see if he was dreaming. Had Jade been talking to that wolf-like creature? But he hadn’t heard her or even seen her lips move. What she could talk to animals now? This town was getting weirder and weirder by the minute.

Ramona was about to convey her thanks to Jade when Raven suddenly appeared from nowhere.

“I just saw the werewolf heading back towards town and thought you were a goner.” She said.

Ramona shrugged. “I’ve got nine lives. Where’s Eric?”

At the mention of his brother’s name, Tristan found his voice and movement. “Eric was with you when this thing attacked?”

Raven replied, “Don’t worry. He’s fine. Your mom just took him home.”

“Wait a minute, my mom was here too?”

“No. She came after the attack. I think someone must have told her we were here.”

Tristan nodded solemnly. “Can anyone tell me what the hell that thing was back there? Or better yet just what the fuck is going on in this town?”

The questions had started and although Jade had been sure they would come one day; she still would have liked them to be on her terms, not like this. She eyed the vampires, suddenly feeling very alone since Bryce had left.

“Let’s go Tristan. I’m sure your mom is worried about you.”

 

It had been a very long day and Raven was grateful for the comfort of her own home. After a brief overview to her parents about what had happened, she went upstairs and ran herself a scalding hot bath. She was happy that Eric was okay and she was sure that this little ordeal would put Ramona off of his blood for a while.

No one had been hurt from either species and perhaps things could even go back to normal, well at least as normal as they were twenty four hours ago. Raven took her shirt off and stared at the dark patch on her forearm. When she realized what it was, she screamed.

Her parents were in her bedroom within seconds.

Her mother asked anxiously. “What is it Raven? Are you okay?”

Raven came out of the bathroom, tears falling down her face. “Mom, she bit me. Athena Xavier bit me.”