One of them, YA Urban fantasy A.D. Duling (Author of The Anna Kippling Series) Read online

  One of Them

  By: A.D. Duling

  To the Werewolf or Vampire lover in all of us…

  Text copyright © 2011 by A.D.Duling

  License Notes

  This e book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Chapter One-

  An unexpected discovery…

  Missing the bus was the least of her troubles; being a teen was also the least of her problems. Being the daughter of a depressed and on the verge of alcoholic mother ranked at the top of her worries right now. Her mother wasn’t always like this, they never are. It took her father, only just over a year ago to cause that. All he had to do was leave. Well a little more than that to be honest; it took betrayal, selfishness and unfaithfulness to really drive that outcome. Isn’t that always the story? To add to the dramatics, you could expect their living conditions to be drab. You could even envision her to be a misguided youth on the verge of self- destruction, poor self-esteem and perhaps even the town tramp. Sadly even the well to do have their problems; even if more for the dramatics and out of self-pity instead of the usual demoralized and poverty stricken issues.

  Her mother was actually a prominent local artist here in Bigfork and their home was a far from “mobile” and as for Evie, she was far from self-destructive and thankfully did not feel low in any manner. Town tramp would have meant people noticed her, even if in a bad way. She was noticed, but never for too long. She was pretty, very pretty in fact but far from vain (in defense to the previous statement.) She could have meshed right in with the “clicks”, but trend setting, social partying and achieving the ultimate drunken stupor was far from interesting to her. Having grown up here, she was “noticed” and “known of”, but not “known.”

  At seventeen, because of this choice, the only place Evie ranked in the high school status field was lost among the unnoticed and she liked it that way. She would choose her meager little friendship circle over any click, any day. To her, all she really needed was Cass and Peter. Becoming just another blur of a teenager living the life of doing the same, stupid teenager things that teenagers did held no interest for her. Evie was not just another teenager, her mind worked far differently from her fellow juveniles.

  She had a keen sense of direction; somehow, whenever she would venture out of her boundaries, she could always find her way back. One year when she was twelve, while her parents were out shopping, she had snuck into the forest behind their house and ventured deep, very deep inside of it. Somehow no matter how many twists and turns she had made, she still found her way back to the wooden steps of their deck. She also had a very observant eye; she saw things deeper than what others would perceive. She was smart, very smart, so school was never much of a challenge to her, even her advanced classes. And in these advanced classes, Evie never did anything above the standard expectation to bring attention to her either. Again, she preferred to be unnoticed. So every year, school was a drag, homework was boring and her mind was open to wander and to read.

  She loved reading and did a lot of it. She loved history, mystery and most of all she loved crime, well only the solving of it of course. Anything mysterious and needed to be solved was captivating to her. She also loved her fiction and a total sucker for romance.

  In the recent months strange animal attacks had surfaced in her small town around the Flathead Lake that was still unsolved. Bear or possibly cougar have been the assumption, a quick declaration to ease the community mind, but not hers. Evie wanted to know more about these “animal attacks”. She wanted to know what kind of animal was behind these gruesome attacks. Things like this didn’t happen often in this small town and when there were three … who could not get nosey?

  She had even gone to the extent of visiting each “crime scene” to find her own clues; of course long after every inch of the area had been combed over by the local authorities first. She was after all one of the “unnoticed” and wanted it to stay that way, especially to the authorities.

  So missing the bus was far from accidental. It had become her excuse to delay her arrival at home on occasion and lately the excuse to get to investigate. Her walks home gave her time to think as well, she thought a lot about the past and liked to get lost in the better memories before the ones of this past year. Her mother had become an empty vessel which now only alcohol could fill and Evie hated having to watch it.

  Evie stopped by the sub shop and bought herself her usual foot long for dinner to munch on as she took her time getting home…if you were worried mom, you could have called my cell…. was her rationale.

  Today she had another stop planned, the latest attack. She crumpled up her wrapper and stuffed it into her pocket and crossed the ditch. Some of the crime scene tape still hung from surrounding trees. She could tell others had ventured in before her, probably teenagers. The attack had only happened a month ago, but long enough for the police to be thru with it.

  The dry fallen pine needles crunched beneath her boots, fall had come to Bigfork and the sight was beautiful. The colors of the leaves splattered gold, red and orange contrasts on every aspect of the valley. The air was now crisp, a small reminder of the winter that would follow. Her nose and cheeks were already red from the cold and she pulled up her scarf to warm them. She reached inside her backpack and pulled out the small flashlight she had started carrying to investigate the attacks. Like the other two, this attack was also near the edge of the lake instead of deep inside the forest, were she had always assumed animals would attack.

  The golden hue of the setting sun reflected on the water’s surface, creating a beautiful dancing effect on the rippling water of the lake. Since night came early this time of year, Evie knew her time was limited. She flicked on her flashlight and started searching the ground. She didn’t really think she would find anything and never had, but always checked anyway. When her flashlight scanned the surrounding trees, something glimmered back at her from one of the trunks and she walked over to it for a closer look.

  Something was imbedded inside of what appeared to be animal claw marks. They were deep and cringed at the thought of what damage the animal had made on its victim. The victim had been on a man; a husband and a father. Evie didn’t know the family, but knew of them, their daughter had been a classmate of hers. She held the light on the object and pulled on it; it took a little wiggling, but pulled free. It was a claw and even though it had been used to murder, she couldn’t help to admire it.

  The uniqueness of the color was what made it beautiful; it was golden brown and had a pearled effect to it. The first question that came to her mind was why had not one single officer found this nail? Or had they? Perhaps more than one had been left or maybe they had collected others from the previous attacks, making this one mundane. She had seen claw marks on a tree or two at the other sites, but never this deep. This one was scary, bear or cougar would not write this one off. What made it scarier was the marks may have not been a mere coincidence, like she thought before.

  The possibility of other nails being left meant the possibility of this animal intending to leave these marks, making it intelligent. Meaning it wanted others to find it and notice it, but for what? She had never seen a claw like this before and would h
ave to research heavily when she got home.

  Snap- Broke the silence and startled her; she jumped and looked around herself. It had gotten dark too quickly while she played sleuth and the beam of her tiny flashlight was not strong enough to shine that far ahead. What had been behind the noise she could not tell and nor was she going to stick around to find out. Evie turned and headed back in the direction she had come, heading back to the safety of civilization. A snap came again and horrific images flooded into her mind sending her running towards the road. More snaps followed after her making it clear she was being followed and whatever it was, now no longer did it with stealth.

  A “Growl!” sent her recklessly sprinting for the road, which was still a good half mile away. Snap… Snap… growl… came again from behind her as the animal went into full chase after her. She screamed and pumped her legs as hard as she capably could and focused on the road ahead. Snap! Swoosh! Growl! Came again and she felt something swipe by her head, just barely missing her. Evie darted to her left, in attempt to get away from it, but its heavy breathing close behind her made it clear she was unsuccessful. Lungs burning, legs on fire, Evie ran as fast as she could for her life. Stupid…Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! Her words screamed inside her head.

  Snap, Snap, Swoosh, It pounced again, sending a throbbing, burning pain racing down the arch of her back. She screamed and anticipated its attack, but just as she heard it leap into the air, she then felt something grab onto the back of her jacket collar and lift her up into a nearby tree. Below, she watched as the animal landed into the empty space where only a second ago, she had filled.

  Its fur was black and it resembled a wolf, but much larger and with human features to it. Where paws would have been, the creature had fingers and toes. It circled back walking on all fours, but then easily stood upright as it looked above for her. Her dangling body was pulled back and her boots hit the branch of the tree she had been pulled up into and she quickly tried to balance herself.

  “Hold onto the trunk! A male voice ordered her and she complied with no argument.

  Beneath them at the base of the tree, the animal sank its claws into the bark and began to climb. She looked over her shoulder and watched her rescuer jump from their towering height and land on his feet upon the earth beneath without injury. The animal leapt off of the tree to attack him and the man raised his hands in defense, propelling the animal away sending it landing a few feet onto its back.

  The creature quickly recovered and charged again; this time successfully tackling him and wrestled with him on the ground. The wolf opened its jaws, revealing its razor teeth, ready to sink them into the man’s shoulder as he held it back only inches away. Evie watched in awe as this man then somehow pulled his legs up underneath it and kick it off of him, sending it backwards onto its back again.

  Within a blink she then found the man on his feet and standing over the creature pressing his thumb against the side of its temple. The animal instantly went limp and with eerie calmness she watched as the young man walked back to the tree and climbed up with as much ease as the horrific animal did just a minute earlier. With perfect balance and grace he walked on the limb over to her.

  “What are you?” she asked him, surprised to find a young teenaged face looking back at her. His eyes were dark black, even his irises.

  He didn’t answer; instead he pivoted himself around. “Climb onto my back.” he ordered her.

  “Is it dead?” she asked him.

  “No just unconscious, but not for long…so hurry and climb on.” He stressed as she inched her way over to him with barely an eighth of the grace he had and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Now jump up and wrap your legs around my waist.” He instructed her.

  “A little easier said than done…” She complained and did her best, slipping a little but he caught under her butt and pushed her back up. “Hold on.” He told her and jumped down, the grace at which he landed made no noise nor had any effect on his body “You stupid girl…what in the hell are you doing out here alone? Haven’t you heard about these attacks!” he yelled back to her.

  Evie didn’t say anything, she couldn’t; all she could think about was this young man carrying her piggyback. She had leaned herself against his back to protect her head and face from any low hanging twigs and the smell of him was intoxicating. A mixture between a soap fragrance and then something sweet she could not place a source to. He raced speedily along the unsteady forest floor without problem. Whatever this man was…one that could snatch a hundred and forty pound girl out of a sprint and up into the air like a mere feather, was far from your normal human being. To combat a terrifying and strong creature such as that, could only confirm more of his un-human like qualities. His frame was thin, yet he had a muscular definition to him. She could feel them contracting beneath his shirt.

  The skin of his neck was ice cold against her cheek. The speed at which he ran was ridiculously fast, making the trees around them a blur; no Olympian she was sure would ever reach this speed. A fallen tree came into their path and he jumped it without hesitation. His leap would have even put Superman to shame. It did not take much observation for her to realize what he was, a Vampire, the words echoed in her head. She had read the books; she was familiar with the signs; but her sources were from books labeled fiction and physically holding onto the back of one of those fictional characters was uncomprehend able.

  “Having fun in there?” he yelled back to her, interrupting her thoughts.

  “What?” She spoke in his ear.

  “I said… having fun in there… trying to figure this all out?” his tone insulting. “Well don’t!” He snapped before she could muster a response. “You’ll just give yourself a headache, you stupid girl!” He insulted as he slowed his speed.

  “Can I get down now?” She asked him as his pace crept down to a walk.

  His hands immediately let go of her and her lower half dropped down. Her arms that were still wrapped tightly around his neck gagged and jerked his head back a little. She unhooked her arms and grinned as he complained under his breath, feeling his “just deserves” had just been dished accordingly.

  He turned around and crossed his arms.

  “Where are we?” She asked him having not recognized the area.

  “My house is just up there.” He pointed towards the houses up on the hill.

  “Why did you bring me to your house?” she asked him, leery.

  “We need to clean up your wound, unless you want to explain to your parents how you got it.” He reminded her of her injury and she shook her head.

  As they walked up the hill towards the homes, Evie stayed close to him staring at his back as he walked in front of her. She contemplated with herself if she had ever seen him before, but could not remember. He was attractive and seemed the type who wouldn’t go so easily unnoticed, yet somehow he had and she felt he made sure of that too. His home was very large and showy, his wealth was obvious. She almost wanted to laugh at the realization of how much this echoed her favorite vampire books. The only difference was the werewolves were the good guys. If she really had never seen him, it was only because their paths had never crossed. He the back door and went inside.

  I guess they don’t lock doors. She silently observed, yet thought why he would; being a vampire.

  The inside appeared welcoming, its décor was contemporary yet traditional and reeked of history and wealth, yet there was warmth to the home. The room they had entered through was a study; many of its books that lined the shelves had binds older than she. The living room they crossed through after put her mother’s decor to shame. The kitchen was stark which ironically was not surprising to her. The vampire walked over to the pantry and opened it; its empty shelves gave more evidence to her theory.

  He reached above and grabbed a first aid kit from the top shelf and carried it over to the center island. He slid the lap top and paperwork occupying it aside and looked up at her. “Take off your shirt and lay on your stomach.” He directed.r />
  She remained in place and stared at him; his face showed no reaction and he stood patiently waiting her out. Finally with a sigh of complaint, she unbuttoned her shirt and took it off.

  “You’re going to have to take that off too.” he told her, addressing her undershirt.

  Evie nodded in embarrassment and turned away from him. Every movement hurt, every inch of her back throbbed in pain as she pulled it up over her head. She held the undershirt to her chest to cover herself and lay down onto the counter. The parts her shirt did not cover touched the cold granite and she flinched, bringing more pain down her back.

  “Why no bra?” he asked her as he opened the case. She flipped her head over to him, sending more pain down the muscles of her back and she watched him grab a handful of alcohol swabs from the case and laid them down in front of her.

  “Is this your idea of small talk?” she asked him, feeling a bit offended.

  “No, just curious” He stated.

  “Do I look like I require a bra?” she rudely asked.

  “I don’t know, how about you show me and I’ll tell you.” He shot back, his tone unreadable and Evie could not tell if he was joking or insulting her. She decided to go with the second thought and ignored him.

  He grabbed an alcohol packet and tore it open. “Please tell me you are not going to use that to clean my wounds?!” she squeaked.

  “How else am I going to kill the germs?” he rationalized.

  “How about peroxide?” she suggested.

  “This is all I have.” He told her.

  Pain shot again throughout her back as she grabbed her shirt and pressed it against her as she painfully stood up. She turned away from him again, to get dressed. “Well then…I guess you’re going to have to take me to the hospital then, because you are not going to put that on my open wound!” she told him.

  “And what are you going to tell them, a werewolf attacked you?” He calmly responded behind her. “Have you seen your back by the way?” he added.