You Fight For All The Wrong Reasons

The shockingly cold October wind hit me hard as I crouched down on all fours, thankful for the warm coat of fur that came with being a werewolf.

But I knew that I wouldn’t be feeling all warm and fuzzy inside for long.

After the vampire’s attack on Ray, everything had blown up. We had all known that there were vampires in the area (we meaning everyone in the pack except for Mitch, Alicia, Jess, Christina, Ryan, and I) but we had assumed that they were extremely few in numbers, maybe even just one lone vampire. They had never bothered us. Until now, that is.

Trey was outraged and grief-stricken, but now that Ray’s death had passed two weeks ago, he and the other wolves were beginning to become bloodthirsty. Whispers had been going around about an ambush, a hunt.

Tonight we would find out if what we had heard was true.

I reached our little gathering and brushed against Julia. Her black eyes were wide with anxiety. She too was nervous for Cam.

I’m nervous I murmured. I realized I was shaking.

Julia nodded. A ribbon of pink ran along her glistening canines, something she always did when she was nervous.

I have called you all here tonight The ferocity of Trey’s tone scared me. to announce our next hunt. He paused. But this isn’t just any kind of hunt, he continued. Tonight, we will be hunting vampires.

Cam’s face flashed in front of my eyes. Sirens went off in my head, drowning out that whoops and howls of agreement and excitement.

What the hell am I going to do?

Trey was babbling his master plan, saying something about following their scent, but I couldn’t make out a word of it. I stood there in shock.

I should have seen this coming.

Cam and I weren’t going to slip by this one.

However, one word did catch my attention.

Tonight?! I echoed. My heart was bouncing around the walls of my ribcage.

Yes, tonight Trey said. His eyes gleamed. Alright! Let’s split!
Immediately, the night air filled with blood-chilling howls. I looked at Julia for guidance. What…where are we going…Oh God, why are we doing this so soon?!

I can answer one of those questions Julia was already walking quickly towards the heart of the woods. Trey, Mitch, and Christina bounded toward us, trying to catch up. Trey said that we would be staking out in that shack with the bodies while the others follow their scent. They’ll send us Ashley, and when he gets to us, we meet up with everyone else and attack.

I wrinkled my nose. That’s a stupid plan Suddenly I was excited. This had been arranged awfully. There was a slim chance of this actually working out. Maybe Cam didhave a chance.

We’re supposed to be the deadly and surprising reinforcements Julia said, low enough for Trey not to hear.

We grinned at each other. Trey had clearly thought of this plan as a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. Maybe Cam and I could pull this thing out.

************************************************************************

We stood in human form outside the shack, shivering from the cold. I tried to look excited and not scared out of my mind.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

We followed Trey into the shack.

I bit back an outburst of joy when I saw the interior. The vampires must have cleaned out their morgue. There were no bodies in sight.

However, there wereotherthings looming against the walls of the shack. They looked like huge canisters, but it was too dark to read any labels on them.

“Trey, what are these?” I heard Christina’s voice ask.

“I…I don’t know…these weren’t here the last time I was back here.” Splendid. Things were already going wrong.

“When was that?”

“Two or three days ago.”

The Paynes were sure quick to act. But then again, I couldn’t be certain that the Paynes were the only vampire coven out here. Although I’m sure Cam would have told me about any other covens by now.

A loud crash made me jump. “Oh, shit…” I heard Mitch’s voice say, before it was drowned out by two more thumps.

“What was that?” I asked nervously.

“Nothing, I just knocked some of these canisters over by accident.” My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and now I could see Mitch’s shadowy figure crouched down next to one of the fallen canisters, his face so close it was almost touching the cold metal shell. He was trying to see what was inside.

“Careful, Mitch, you don’t know what could be…”

Trey’s warning was interrupted by my own exclamation.

“It’s chlorine!” I shouted, immediately recognizing that bleach-like odor. “Don’t breathe!”

Sirens went off in my head. I could only imagine what was going through Mitch’s mind. You are so stupid, Mitch I thought as I saw how close he was to the canisters. That anger instantly evaporated as I saw him jump back, arms flung over his face. “Ah…that burns…” he yelled, his voice drenched with panic. Trey grabbed Mitch around the waist and pulled him upright and backwards.

My heart was pounding, my lungs screaming. The gas was spreading quickly.

Julia was feeling around the walls for an exit. There was another loud crash, but this time from Julia kicking down an old, rotting door. Moonlight poured into the shack.

I have never ran faster in my life. But I guess fear pushes you beyond your limits and out of your comfort zone. One thought was ringing simultaneously through our minds as we sprinted through the night: Get to Mitch’s house. We paid attention in science class and worked hard on our reports. We knew our anatomy. And we didn’t know the details, but we all knew that the results weren’t going to be pretty if you inhaled a full canister of chlorine gas.

I had no idea how Mitch was keeping up. Trey was half-dragging him, and he was coughing so hard that I was amazed he hadn’t collapsed yet.

Relief flooded through me as the numbers on Mitch’s house became visible. We were almost there.

How the hell were we supposed to explain this to his parents?

Trey pounded on the door. “Mr. and Mrs. Windsor!” He screamed.

“I would take a gentler approach if you wanted them to actually answer the door!” I yelled at him, pulling his arm away from the door.

A terrified Mrs. Windsor opened the door. Good job, Trey I thought angrily. One look at her son and she completely lost it. “Oh my God! What happened to him?! Is he okay?!”

“We hate to barge in on you so rudely, but this is an emergency,” I said quickly, as Trey shoved his was through the doorway, still holding Mitch. “We need to use your shower.”

The doctor’s daughter stepped into action. “Get rid of Mitch’s clothes! Get rid of everyone’s in fact. And get Mitch through the shower first, but make sure everyone gets washed. You don’t know how much of you has been exposed to the chlorine.”

Trey and Ryan stared at her blankly for a second. “Oh come on, you’re all men!” Christina sighed angrily, waving them away. “For the sake of keeping things G-rated, we ladies will use the other bathroom.”

With that said, Trey and Ryan grabbed Mitch and dashed up the stairs. Instantly, I heard water running through the pipes, shouts from Trey and Ryan, and horrible coughing from Mitch.

I turned to Mrs. Windsor. Her eyes had welled up and she was shaking uncontrollably, her hand held to her mouth in shock.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Mrs. Windsor…” I was about to hug her, but then I remembered that Mitch wasn’t the only one who had been in that shack. “I promise we’ll explain everything once we shower off. We’ve been exposed to chlorine.”

Her expression grew even more bewildered as we ran upstairs, through the master bedroom, and into the master bathroom. I felt awful leaving her at a cliffhanger like that, but we really needed to wash up ASAP. My eyes were already stinging like hell.

But as I listened to the awful, explosive coughs coming from the other side of the house, I considered myself lucky.