Not Afraid of the Dark

Dani moved her head towards the voice. Her eyes lit up with joy when she saw the shadowy outline of Riley. She could just barely make out his pale blonde hair.

"Riley, oh thank God," Dani whispered.

She didn't want to attract attention to any lingering people. Katie moved her head in the direction she heard Dani speak and her heart soared with hope. Her wrists and ankles were sore, but she knew that that was her own fault for struggling. She just wanted to get out of this alive.

Riley moved forward quietly. He went towards Katie first. Micah and a local clan of werewolves were providing a distraction, but he didn't know how long the distraction was going to last. He knew he had to work fast. He broke the manacles holding her ankles and then the ones holding her wrists to the table. She looked at him wide-eyed and he knew that he must have scared her.

"I'll explain later," he whispered.

Katie didn't know if she could trust him now. She was scared for her life.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Riley said.

They were wasting time, but he couldn't force her to go. He looked towards Dani for help. Dani wasn't sure how to respond either. She'd never seen something like that happen before. She knew that if it weren't for Riley though then Katie would still be manacled to the table.

"Katie, go. He promised to explain things later, just go," Dani urged.

"What about you?" Katie asked.

"Don't worry about me," Dani said.

She wanted Katie safe first. She didn't care about her. A twig snapped nearby and Riley froze. He turned his attention to Katie. "Come, we must go now," he said.

"No, not without Dani," Katie said, shaking her head.

"Katie, don't worry about me. Go," Dani said sternly.

Katie shook her head. She didn't want to leave her best friend. A howl sounded through the night air. Riley glanced behind him and tensed.

"We have to go," he said again.

"No, I'm not leaving without my best friend," Katie said, moving away from Riley.

Dani looked at Riley. "Take her," she said.

Riley nodded and then picked Katie up in his arms. She screamed and kicked to try and get away from him. He held onto her as he walked away.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," he informed Dani.

Dani nodded and watched her best friend get carried away.

"NO, LET ME GO, DANI, DANI," she screamed.

Dani felt a single tear slide down her cheek as she watched her friend get carted to safety. She hoped that Katie wouldn't hate her for making her leave her here. She wanted to leave with them, but she knew that she couldn't. A howl pierced the night air and Dani felt chills run down her spine. A twig snapped and she turned her head in that direction. A shadow walked past the stone pillars and her heart stopped. He stopped short once he came to the tables.

"Where's the other one?" he asked.

"I don’t know," Dani answered.

"Don't lie to me," he said.

"I'm not lying," she replied simply.

She had to play as dumb as possible in order to make him believe her. She had to keep Katie safe. All that mattered was keeping her safe. She didn't mind going through any kind of torture as long as she knew her best friend was safe. Her head turned towards the side as he smacked her across the face. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed through the sting of pain.

"Now, that was just a warning. The next time will be much worse. Where is the other girl?" he asked again.

"I don't know. Someone came and took her, but I don't know where they went," Dani replied. It was more or less the truth. She wasn't about to implicate Riley in this.

Pounding footsteps could be heard approaching. The man jumped up onto the empty table and crouched down ready to attack. Dani screamed when a large wolf sprung through the air and towards him. She wasn't afraid of the wolf, it just startled her. The man and the wolf rolled around on the ground fighting for control of the battle. A shadow came near her and she almost let out another scream, but stopped.

Another wolf had jumped up onto the table. It bit into the manacles holding her to the table until they broke completely. The noise was a bit loud, but the other wolf was making even more noise as it snarled and growled. The wolf that was standing up of her moved and joined the other one. Two more men came running to help the one on the ground followed by at least four or five more wolves.

Dani was amazed at the sight. She had never seen wolves act like this before. She got off of the table and ran towards a pillar. She stood behind it and watched the scene before her. She knew she should run, but she wasn't sure how far she'd be able to. She didn't want to try and run in case one of the wolves decided to come after her.

A shadow moved quietly in the shadows. The noise of the snarling wolves masked his footsteps and any twigs that might have snapped while he walked. He saw the girl behind a pillar and moved towards her. He couldn't mess this up because this was the last chance at capturing one of them in order to complete the ceremony.

Dani watched the wolves completely destroy the men who had taken her and Katie. She didn't know what to think of the situation. She had never seen something like this before and it completely amazed her, but confused her a lot more. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react.

The shadow moved fast. He grabbed her from behind and made sure to cover her mouth with his hand. Dani gasped when a hand covered her mouth. She turned her head to try and see who had grabbed her, but it was too dark to tell. She wasn't afraid of the dark, but the things that the dark hid were starting to frighten her. She tried to breathe, but couldn't. Instead, she managed to inhale a fowl stench that made her drowsy. The last thing she saw was two wolves trying to come after her.

****

Micah had been watching the wolf pack attack the men who had been responsible for taking Miss McCallister and Miss Peyton. He and Riley had found their gowns and masks and he had taken them back to the inn so that they wouldn't get ruined. Micah then called upon the local wolf pack that they had found a few nights ago for help. Riley had gone ahead to try and find them. When Micah had arrived the battle had already been in full swing. He saw someone take Miss McCallister and carry her off. He followed in the shadows.

****

Back at the ballroom the masquerade was just ending. People were leaving. Sir McCallister and Lady McCallister were standing with Sir Peyton and Lady Peyton. They hadn't seen their daughters all night. They figured that they would see them once the party was over.

"This was nice," Lady Peyton said.

"I must agree, but I wonder where the girls could be. Usually they are the first ones to leave these things," Sir McCallister chuckled lightly.

They split up to search the entire ballroom for them. Lady Peyton checked the restrooms, Lady McCallister checked the terrace, and the other two scoured the ballroom. They returned back to the doors looking stricken with worry.

"Did you find them?" Lady Peyton asked.

"No, but I found this," Lady McCallister said, holding up both Dani and Peyton's shawls.