Hi Everyone,
It has been such a long time. Too long really. It has been 9 months since my last chapter post. Whilst I never intended there to be such a time lapse in posting, so much has happened in my life; my engagement, my first niece (my first time being an aunty), buying our first home and my dog having to be put to sleep are some of the notable events.
It has been so long, that I would strongly suggest everyone read at least the previous chapter (or it all over again) to reacquaint themselves with the story. I cut this chapter in half, since I want to polish the second half, but this part is ready to go.
Please comment/send private feedback and rate. I love hearing from my readers and always do my best to reply to PF if a reply address is left. Commenting/PF always helps me get my ever distracted mind back to my story and gets me in the mood to write.
With that being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the continuation to my tale.
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An annoying, echoing drip broke Ally from the darkness. Dazed and bleary eyed, she shifted uncomfortably. Her body was stiff and sore, and she shivered from cold. Underneath her was a cold hard surface, which woke her quickly through its wrongness. Her arms were stiff above her head, and when she moved, she felt thin chains pull against her wrists.
Blinking against the dim lighting Ally saw she was on a slab of stone. Looking up she saw her wrists were indeed bound by thin, shiny silver chains. Shifting her legs she felt a similar chain binding them. The light chinking sound of metal echoed off the walls in the large cement chamber. There were flaming torches driven into the concrete ground at intervals, providing eerie flickering light in a perfect circle around her. Ally could just make out shelves and dusty boxes around the edges of the building she was in.
"Ah," came a quiet voice from the shadows, "Finally she wakes."
Ally spun her head to find the figure who had spoken. The shadow detached itself from the darkness and moved into the light. Hood drawn over, all Ally could see was the basic figure of a person. Draped in a tattered black cloak, the figure stood tall and imposing, its faceless form watching her.
"Who are you? What do you want?" she demanded as confidently as she could. There was no way she was going to cower or show her fear.
"What I want," the hooded figure chuckled dryly, "is revenge."
Ally's mind whirled, trying to think of anyone she knew who could fit that description. Coming up blank, she shook her head, "I don't know you. I haven't done anything to you. You don't want revenge on me. You have the wrong person."
A slow, cold, harsh laugh emitted from beneath the hood, "You are the vehicle for my revenge, not the victim."
Ally struggled against her binds, feeling them cut into her wrists painfully. They didn't budge. "There is no point, my dear. Those binds are designed to hold you at your strongest, though I needn't have bothered. The guards on your true power border the ridiculous; I don't know what he was thinking."
Ally had no idea what the man was talking about. Her wrists throbbed against its binds. Unease growing, she looked around for something to aid her. She needed something to break the chains.
"Ah," the figure said, as though she had spoken aloud, "You can't break them, there's no way. Things have finally worked out perfectly. You are virginal once more and thus useful to me again."
"How did you...? I'm not a virgin," Ally contradicted. She thought maybe if he couldn't use her he would let her go. "I have been deflowered," she continued matter-of-factly, her chin held high, "it can't be undone."
The figure laughed, "Pathetic, stupid girl. The churches all bleat about some stupid scrap of blood? It is not the act of sex that destroys a virgin; it is the bond the act creates. The bond you destroyed hours ago, leaving you alone and vulnerable.
"It took me years to find you after your mother's death and your father's interference. When I did, I tried for delicacy, to make you form a bond with me, which would make the transference easier and more powerful. But you were too stupid and it was pitiful having to exhaust so much energy just to bow and scrape to you. Then that stupid wolfman of yours almost ruined my plans," the anger in his voice disappeared as he shrugged, "But it makes no matter now; I have succeeded through sheer force alone."
Ally's mind, still groggy, fought to comprehend. Her father? She had no father; it was unspoken between her mother and her. If he did exist, and he cared enough to intervene in something, surely he would have revealed himself to her at least once. And what was that about trying to form bonds with her? She had never met this creep in her life!
And yet. There was something about him. Her gut was telling her she missed something. But what? she asked herself.
He watched her closely from underneath the hood. Her eyebrow creased in thought. She was missing something; a vital piece of the puzzle.
"Really, don't strain yourself there. Look at your face, all screwed up trying to think," He chuckled coldly, "pathetic."
With a gasp, it fell into place. Brown shaggy hair, chiselled nose and eyes closed as he leaned in to kiss her, his smile and attempts at seduction... Sneering with derision as they were stopped by road workers, "Pathetic," he had said, "Stupid, useless creatures. How dare they hold us up."
"Paul?" she whispered.
He laughed, "You finally figured it out."
He threw back his hood. Despite the dark lighting from the flaming torches, his face was thrown into stark relief. Ally stared in disbelief.
~~~
The blackened husk of the car sat ominously silent against the tree. Its doors hung loose, swinging softly in the breeze that rattled through it, like a soft mourning howl. Zac stood still, taking in the sight with horror as his people swarmed around. Keith gripped his shoulder, turning his friend away.
"There are no bodies inside, Zac," he said quietly, "She's not here."
"Then we are too late," Zac replied miserably.
"No," hissed Keith, "We are still in the game. She is still alive; you and I both know it."
"We don't know where she is."
"We will find her. We're the good guys, remember? We always get the girl," Keith tried for a smile and managed only a grimace. He was just as worried as his alpha.
One of the other betas came up and saluted, "Sir, there are no bodies in the wreckage. The fire has cleared away all scents in the vicinity. There is a trail in the leaves leading back into the forest that seems like someone was dragged; maybe a rescue from the car. The trail leads just into the tree line and just vanishes. We think mayb-"
A cry of discovery interrupted the man. They raced over to see what the trackers had found. Keith cried out in horror at the scene that lay before him.
The Braanan woman lay on the ground, her skin a mixture of nasty red and ghastly black. Her clothes were in rags around her body, most of it had burnt away. She lay on her side, curled up in a foetal position. Most of her body had been burnt badly. Had she been in the car when it exploded? Zac wondered.
Keith knelt gently next to the woman, almost afraid to touch her. He tried to listen for her heartbeat, but there was too much noise from his people at the cars and in the surrounding scrub. He gently rested his had on her shoulder. A faint groan met his ears. There was a collective sigh of relief.
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Caitlin scoured the streets from the shadows, her full focus spent on trying to detect any hint of the vile things that followed the creature around.
Growling in frustration, she slammed her fist into a wall. They had to be somewhere, creatures as foul as those would not be able to stay hidden for long.
~~~
Ally's mind went blank; in front of her stood her ex-boyfriend in the flesh.
He was looking at her, a sneer marring his handsome features. "Paul?" Ally asked, "I don't understand."
"Paul does not exist, he was a means to an end... You. My true name is Alamihr and this is what is left of my true form." He stepped further into the light and closed his eyes. Slowly his face started to ripple and morph. The change happened quickly, but Ally saw everything.
Red eyes with empty black slits bore through her soul as she took in his new features. He was a combination of a cobra snake and human but unlike anything she could have ever imagined. He had a slight snout with nostril slits, and his skin was a dull red with black markings. Fangs dropped from behind his almost invisible lips, his smile making them prominent and terrifying. His ears had morphed into a hood that ran from his temples to his shoulders, with markings like a cobra's. When he spoke, she could see a forked tongue through his fangs and teeth, through his speech was somehow not affected.
"Yes, my true form is now hideous, thanks to my brother and family. Look at what they have reduced me to! I was a god and they destroyed my followers and cast me out. I am barely more than mortal. I can hold other forms, but it takes energy and concentration. But this... This is my true form, nothing is left of my perfection," he looked at Ally, his smile widened and a malicious glint entered his eyes, "You are the final piece to my revenge. It will be swift and complete. Those fools won't know what hit them."
She watched his fangs with apprehension, wondering what he was going to do with her. She opened her mouth but he spoke before she had the chance to ask.
"You will see once my preparations are complete," he said dismissively, "For now I need to concentrate."
He then turned to a dusty book sitting on a lectern. Flipping through the pages, reading carefully, he ignored her completely.
A door opened, the sound echoing off the walls. Hope beamed through like a ray of sunshine as Ally tried to twist and see whoever had come in. She could barely make out a figure moving through the shadows between dark shelves. A smell wafted through the room, coming from the creature that burned in her nose.
