The Day They Emerged

Ashley Garrison

Hollywood Maryland

“Hello?” I called from the dark passageway. My head buzzing and my hands shaking. A burst of sudden light ahead had me shielding my eyes. I squinted against the growing brightness and turned away as a wave of heat rolled across my face, and a searing pain engulfed my body. A scream erupted from my chest before I landed on my hands and knees on the floor.

I wasn't sure how long I stayed there panting before I heard the sweet voice in my left ear. “Ashley,” it whispered, sending a calming sensation through my body, erasing the burn.

“Who is there?” I gasped.

“Sera…”

The voice was cut off and replaced by a nagging metallic sound that transformed into a ringing and then my eyes flew open as I knocked the alarm clock off the nightstand.

It took a few seconds before the dream fully dissipated. It was the sixth time this month I had had this nightmare. It was always the same, the darkness, the bright light, the burning heat, and her voice. If I didn't know any better, I would have wagered I was going insane. With a sigh, I pulled myself out of bed and got ready for school.

I had tried to get out of attending classes with the pending weather, but my dad forced me to go. But I wasn't there long before they canceled school due to the snow. I was now sitting and listening to a message from my mom when I heard Jean's voice say she talked to Austin. My head snapped in her direction as I deciphered what she said.

“What did you say?” I asked, anxiety building deep inside.

“I said, I told Austin that you were crushing on him,” Jean smirked.

“Jean, what were you thinking of telling Austin that I had a crush on him?” I whispered-yelled, looking over the green bench seat of the school bus. We were on our way home, having been let out early due to a blizzard that was covering Southern Maryland with nine inches of snow and still showed no signs of stopping.

My best friend Jean Andrews looked at me with doe eyes and a sheepish look. “Ashley, we both know you would have never approached him, so I did,” Jean said with a confident smile. “Don’t you want to know what he said?” Jean further said with a mischievous grin.

Of course, I wanted to know what he said, but I couldn’t let her off that easily. Austin was the captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. Every girl in the school wanted to be with him. I did too, but I was in a different clique than him. Yes, I was a cheerleader, and I was a co-captain of the swim team, but I wasn't one of the popular kids. I was a social caterpillar, whereas others were butterflies. So, I counted to ten in my head as I fended anger, crossing my arms over my chest, and then I smiled, excitedly. “Tell me! What did Austin say?” I was eager to know. I think I was holding my breath as I watched her come closer.

But before she could tell me, the bus lurched and slid off the road, flipping on its side as it skidded down the embankment, causing me to collide into the window. Billy Hudson, who was sitting on the opposite side of the bus, slammed into me, as the bus tipped over, pinning me under his weight. I heard metal screeching before darkness flooded my eyes and I struggled for air. I pushed and shoved, but it was no use. It felt like half the football team was on top of me, crushing the very life from my lungs.

I passed out.

It was the sound of growling that woke me. Somewhere between the sirens and gunshots, I heard intense growling and snarling. I opened my eyes, but I found I was still dreaming. I was no longer on the bus, but lying in the blood-coated snow among mangled bodies. Standing above me, roaring, was a beast. I have seen enough Hollywood movies to know this was a werewolf. But seeing one hovering above me with blood-coated claws only told me that I was either dead and in hell, or I was still asleep.

Sadly, I was awake, and this is how I found out that Werewolves were real, with a raging angry monster standing over me. I was frozen in place, petrified by panic. I attempted to move, but a searing pain radiated up my left arm into my shoulder as I struggled to inch away. I managed to roll on my belly and used my knees and feet to propel my body forward. My left arm didn't seem to work, though I managed to get six feet away when a set of fur-covered clawed toes landed in front of me. I looked up, in horror, at a half-man half-wolf creature.

I screamed when I felt my body hoisted from the snow. The creature held me by the back of my coat, suspended a good four feet in the air. I felt my left arm burn in pain as the fabric stretched with my dead weight, pressing what felt like a dagger into my chest. I kicked and wiggled, but it was useless. I looked into the eyes of my attacker and gasped, seeing a pair of emerald-green eyes looking back, and calm flooded my mind.

Then shock and understanding hit me. This was not a mindless beast, but a highly intelligent creature. This realization terrified me. I should be fighting to free myself, but there was an aura of peace that settled over me. I let go of a breath I had been holding as our eyes continued to hold each other's attention.

I heard a male voice behind me. “Your Highness, don’t concern yourself with the trash. I will take care of it.” I knew the voice. Slowly, I glanced over my shoulder and saw a disheveled Austin staring at me. He had blood smeared on his cheek and his shirt was stained crimson.

“Austin,” I whispered, shocked that he referred to me as trash. But then it occurred to me that he was talking to the werewolf and called him Highness. I felt my body unexpectedly crash into the ground, and my attention was brought back to a naked man standing where the monster had been. He was tall, standing six-foot-six, had brown hair and beard, and those emerald eyes. His body was chiseled to perfection.

Stop looking.

I chide myself. He was just a monster, I reminded my fractured brain. At this moment I have no idea why I can't look away. He is a beast, a creature, an anomaly that I should fear. It was then that I heard a distant giggle in the back of my mind, and I questioned my sanity.

“Austin, take her to get medical treatment, and then send her to the south encampment.” The man said, never taking his eyes off me. Something transpired between us and I couldn’t put a name to it. It was as though he saw me as something besides a panic-stricken teenage girl. As he spoke, his eyes glowed yellow and then returned to their emerald hue.

I gasped, not in fear, but in awe. He commanded so much power, but I didn't feel the fear I had moments ago. I felt safe as if being in his aura was the safest place on the planet. How could I feel safe? I was still lying in the blood-covered snow, surrounded by beasts and dead bodies. I asked myself if I was dead.

“Of course, Prince Anatole,” Austin said as he leaned over to bring me to my feet.

The instant Austin touched me, I came back from my thoughts. I shrugged off his hand and shot daggers at him with my eyes before I addressed the so-called prince. “I am not going anywhere. Who in the hell do you think you are?” I demanded as I smacked Austin’s hand for a second time. I honestly felt angry at the situation. This wolf, man, person was barking orders at me, about me, and I was not about to just follow blindly.

“You might want to lower your eyes and show some respect to the Prince,” a gruff voice startled me before the back of my knees were kicked, sending me crashing into the snow and onto my left arm. A burst of red-hot pain surged through my chest and I couldn't breathe. I gasped for air and passed out, again.

“Ashley, come back.”

I spun around in the darkness and tried to find the woman speaking to me. I could hear her, but not see her in the blackness. “Where are you?” I gasped as my hands stretched before me, searching for any obstacles in my path.

“I am coming. She is coming. We are coming.”

I breathed out slowly as I twisted my head and a bright light appeared in the abyss before me. I could see a dot in the center of the light and it grew larger as it approached. I squinted and tried to focus on the figure but an intense heat wave rolled across my body and I was knocked to the floor in withering pain, causing me to scream and claw at my chest.

When my eyes snapped open, I was lying on a cot in a dimly lit room. The nightmare was receding and I was left drained. I tried to sit up, but found my body sluggish, as though I had been drugged. Fully opening my eyes, I realized my left arm was in a fiberglass cast and my left shoulder was covered in a blood-stained bandage. “What the hell?” I mumbled in a hoarse voice. I was still wearing the jeans I put on before school, and my shirt had been replaced by an oversized black cotton t-shirt that had the left shoulder cut open. I can only guess it was cut like this to look at my wounded shoulder.

Glancing around the room, I noticed a white styrofoam cup and a red straw on the small table next to the cot to my right. I reached over with a trembling hand and brought the cup to my lips. I was grateful to whoever left the water. My throat was dry and scratchy and if I wasn't wrong, a cat had shit in my mouth by the taste of my breath.

I tried to stand, but my legs weren’t responding. Instead, they were numb, tingling, and cold. I rubbed my right palm over my thigh trying to circulate blood. Then the accident came flooding back, as did the fact werewolves were real.

Oh, fuck!

My heart started racing. I could hear the thumping in my ears as the urge to run overtook me, the calm I had felt before no longer encompassed me. I managed to stand, only to fall back on my ass, electricity shocking my ankles as blood flowed through my legs. I stood for a second time, slowly, the room spun for a few seconds as I found my balance. Once I was sure I wouldn’t fall, I hesitantly moved to the metal door, and placed my ear and right palm on it, listening for any sounds from the other side.

Not hearing any, I tried the door handle and to my shock, it was unlocked. As the tumbler clicked open, I held my breath. In the B movies, it is at this point the hero gets out of the locked cell and gets a false sense of freedom. In reality, I opened the door to discover a seven-foot monster glaring at me. Okay, he might not be seven feet tall, but he was tall, and he wasn't furry, but well muscled and had piercing blue eyes.

Stop looking!

I do not know why, but I made eye contact and my frazzled brain started to look for clues. I don’t even know if he was a human or a wolf. And then it struck me I was trying to see if he was a wolf. But it was too late to shut the door. So I took a deep breath in and steadied my trembling thighs. “Hello,” I croak out. My throat felt like it was stuffed with sand and my mouth was made of cotton. My head spun a little and the room tilted sideways. I reach out to grab the door frame. But instead, I fell right into the man as gravity pulled me to the floor. My cheek hit the cold tile with a heavy thud. I blinked and saw a pair of bare feet in front of my face.

“What the hell is going on here? Who let this thing in here?”

The woman stressed the word thing with so much venom that I thought she might be a part viper. I tried to get up, but the dizzy haze still had a tight hold. There was a growing buzzing sound deep in my head, and the voices started to sound like the teacher in the old Charlie Brown cartoons.

“Waa waa waa waa waa,” was all I heard as a rough set of hands pulled me from the floor by the back of the thin shirt I was in, I felt my body being dragged down the hallway, forcefully. Whoever had a hold on me didn’t have any care for my life or safety. In the corner of my mind, I knew she was one of them, a werewolf. I was tossed across the floor, sliding until I came to a crashing stop against something hard.

My eyes fluttered several times as I lay on my back, pain shooting through my left side. I felt fat tears leaking from my eyes as I fought not to cry with the intense heat in my shoulder. I tried to slow my breathing and control the pain, with little luck. My hearing slowly returned.

“Waa waa waa the meaning of this! A fucking human scumbag in here! Who let this disgusting bitch in?” As she spoke, she kicked my side and placed her foot on my throat, threatening to cut my airway off. I struggled with my right hand to free her foot, but I was no match for her strength. “Well?” She growled.

I looked as Prince Anatole stepped into my eyesight. I caught his green eyes for a split second, a tinge of calm washed over me before I heard his deep-chested growl.

“That thing,” he nodded in my direction. “Is mine. It dared to speak to me. I want it alive.”

He sounded angry, and I couldn’t tell if it was at me or her. Again I began to feel a heavy pressure trying to suffocate me. Black dots filled my vision, and then I noticed the woman who had me pinned, shifted her weight, and I could breathe again. I rolled on my right side, curling in the fetal position, and choked several times until I could inhale and exhale without coughing.

“My apologies, Highness,” she said as she lowered her eyes.

“Dimitria, if I ever see you touching what's mine without my permission again, it will be you who feels my punishment instead of it! Do I make myself clear?” Prince Anatole stepped closer to me, leaning down he gripped my ankle and slid me across the floor, causing my casted arm to collide with the wall.

An agonizing moan slipped free as I gritted my teeth. A hot searing pain radiated through my body. Those fat tears hung on the edges of my lashes and threatened to fall. I didn't know whether it was fear or just stubborn luck, but those tears did not manage to get free.

“Austin, deal with this,” Anatole’s voice was heavy with command.

“Yes, Highness,” Austin said seconds before I was ripped from the floor. Blinding pain rocketed through my body. I cried out as I tried to get my feet under my body, but Austin was moving too fast, and I could only be pulled along behind him, fighting my scream.