A Howl In The Night by Lorelei Sutton (best novels for students TXT) 📖

fend off attacks with the Shifters running after me. And these creatures are not normal in the least. They are fighting machines, able to continue through near anything. And even now they are flooding onto the beach in countless numbers.

I swing a tall mace to the monsters in front of me as Griffin tries to hit them with the knife. "Take them now!" I call as they fall to the ground. Griffin casts me an amazed look and then leans forward to stab them one at a time. I can hear him groaning as one of them lashes out and hits him in the side. I feel pressure closing in on me from all sides, my conscience blurred with red.

There's way too many. We are putting up a good fight, but for every one we kill, five take its place. Anger courses through me as two of them make it through the others to Wes and Danae, both of whom don't notice anything.

"Watch out!" I scream as I throw a glistening spear directly towards them. It heads straight through the two Shifters and vanishes when it reaches Danae's body. I cry out when the Shifters collapse on the sand, running towards them and stabbing them with my newly constructed sword, actually splitting them in half this time. At this point weapons are just magically appearing left and right, and most of the time I don't even know what they are when I throw them. The appearances seem to be fueled by my emotions, in desperation the sword, in hope the spear, and in sadness the arrows.

"Mona!" I hear Griffin's voice to the side and immediately turn to see three Shifters bashing at his body without mercy. His face is bleeding, dark blood running down his nose and neck.

There is just too much. My attention is constantly diverted, diluting my chance for action by introducing so many possibilities. I am losing myself, losing the rationality of free thought in the face of so many enemies.

I call his name and shoot several arrows into the faces of the attackers. Casting a glance at the rest of the beach, it looks to be covered in bodies and blood, most of which is ours. I grab Griffin's arm and tug him over to Danae and Wes. "Help him," I tell Danae firmly, and then turn back towards the battle.

My vision is suddenly, without any warning, knocked out as I am hit in the stomach. I double over, coughing violently. I feel dizzy, and fall over completely as my consciousness starts to fade away. All I can think is that it's over. This pain now corrupting my body will inevitably take over.

I look upwards to see a huge Shifter leaning over me, swinging a huge branch directly in front of my body. I snap my head back, but I can tell it is going to hit me anyways. Fear like nothing I have ever felt before seizes my heart.

There is a loud growl as a flash of color races across my vision. "Don't you dare touch her!" Xavier yells as he jumps at the Shifter with his arm outstretched and his hands clenched into fists. As soon as he is close enough he punches it with such strength that it literally bursts into pieces. Right after he does so, he races back towards me and cradles me in his arms. "Are you alright?" he asks, staring into my eyes.

"P-put me down. You need to fight," I protest, and then he sighs in response.

"I can fight and carry you at the same time." He smiles, and then slings me over his shoulder. I grab his neck while battling the temptation to give up my consciousness. Surveying the area, I can see now that the attack has abated slightly, with Yi having dropped his invisibility, and Jake not wearing that same look of desperation. But my eyes widen as I turn my head to Ray's side of the beach.

"Xavier, Ray!" I call, and he turns his head. Literally covered by ten or more Shifters, he seems to have been knocked down and halfway morphed back to his regular self. Xavier starts running, barreling through some lone Shifters on the way.

"Ray!" He calls, while punching a few of the Shifters surrounding him. On Xavier's back I still manage to produce a small spear, throwing it weakly into another that was beating on Ray's head. As we get a clear view, I gasp as I see several terrible injuries cover his neck and body. One of the Shifters must have been striking him repeatedly with the scourge-like branches, because the same puncture marks I saw on Jake are abundant on Ray's chest.

Xavier bends down to check his pulse. "I don't feel anything," he whispers weakly, causing me to gasp. What... this just... can't...

"Ray, you just can't do this!" I scream pointlessly into the distance. Xavier stands up, and turns slightly to survey the rest of the battlefield. He seems surprisingly calm, but tears are pouring down his face in a betrayal of his real emotions.

I just can’t help but think that there is something wrong with the picture before me. That Ray is breathing, that he will open his eyes, and nothing will be amiss. That he would say something like “were you fooled?!” in his low, flippant voice, and immediately jump back into the battle. I try to push forward this proposed reality while wondering, if I wish it enough, that it could become the actuality.

"They seem to be... backing off. But Griffin..." He narrows his eyes and immediately starts running. Griffin was standing up when he clearly shouldn't, the only one who could fend off the ones attacking the wounded, and pushing two monsters to the side.

"What are you doing! Ray-"

"I can't think about him right now, Mona," Xavier says through gritted teeth, "or I'll fall apart before the battle is over."

I realize he is right, but at the same time I don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe any of it—that any of this is real, that there are monsters such as these who are so merciless, emotionless, and cruel.

He helps Griffin for a few minutes while I lie on his back, images swirling before me. A wave of nausea almost overcomes my body, and the entire battle starts to blend together after a little while. I have no clue what's going on anymore, struck blind by the intensity of my emotions. There was something about Ray's bloodied face that makes me feel so guilty, and defeated.

I jerk up as Xavier jumps backwards to swing his fist at another Shifter. "I think they are leaving for some reason," He comments wryly, "luckily for us."

The Shifters do seem to be retreating, the sea of monsters abruptly turning as if they had suddenly received a direct order. As if spellbound, I watch them turn away and march backwards. They step over their dead without a second glance, having no emotion whatsoever. These are not representative of the many Shifters I saw dotted within the forest, full of desperation, hope, and longing. These are beasts, mere monsters that cannot be salvaged.

Immediately my gaze shifts to the side where Ray had been fighting. My eyes widen, and I start shouting in alarm. "Xavier! Look!"

There is no body over to the side of the beach, only hundreds of tree trunks and scraps of bark. In such a horrific scene of destruction, the only thing missing is the only thing that I wanted to be there.

"Where's Ray?" I ask with tears streaming down my face, knowing that I won't receive an answer. Xavier starts running, but I know no amount of speed will change anything.

"They took him," I murmur chokingly as Xavier frenziedly checks the area, "they... took him. How could they be so cruel?!" I burst into sobs as I grip as Xavier's back.

I never thought of Ray as my best friend, or even liked him half the time I knew him. But I had grown more attached to him over this short while than I could even acknowledge, and now a piece has been ripped out of my heart, and only a gaping hole remains.

Splatters of blood are scattered along the coastline where they must have dragged him. I try to follow the trail, but soon give up as the tears blur my vision. I drop to my feet, sliding off Xavier’s back, and soon find that I don’t have the energy to even stand. Xavier wraps his arms around my body, sensing what I could never say, and leans forward until our bodies are just barely touching.

“Xavier… you saved my life,” I start, acknowledging him in a halting voice, “thank you. I owe you.”

He nods, his blue hair blowing in the fierce wind, looking not at my eyes but past me entirely, casting his gaze into the furtive unknown. I realize that even though he is here, he is not, and at this moment—what he is, he isn’t. There’s a questioning of identity that comes with every horrible situation, whether it is realized or not.

I can hear the others coming closer, but their approach is about the last thing I recognize. Caught in the pain of the indefinite moment, I lift my face up towards his and let my lips rest against his cheek.

Xavier’s arms tighten around me, almost to the point where I can barely breathe, and his face tilts so that he can brush his lips against my eyelid, and then my temple. Once again, his hand rubs up and down my back, as if confirming my existence.

“I’m here,” I whisper, knowing that for the first time since I met him, he is the farthest away of all of us.

 

 

The Pursuit

 

"Xavier, wait!" I call after him, racing into the vast underbrush. I know that I have no chance of catching up with him unless he wants me to, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't even try. No one knows more than I about how large the world can be when you feel so alone and vulnerable.

"Please!" Tears form in the corners of my eyes, dripping down my cheek and lips. Within this desperate pursuit, I can't help but feel a variety of intense emotions. The most predominant of these is a strange form of affection that cannot be easily described as desire or simple amity. I want to absorb his sadness, take in every negative emotion so that his pain will fade away. And the strangest thing is, there is no personal gain involved. I will get nothing of value out of consoling him.

But I still want to. And that fact scares and enthralls me beyond measure.

"Mona." Strong hands encircle me from behind, trapping me in the place I desired most. His body heat surrounds me, his shoulders lightly shaking. His voice is pained and his grip emulates that same feeling. In confusion, I look down at the ground to see a red splotch of blood.

"It stops here." Xavier says, his tone heavy. His face lowers and rests on my shoulder, his eyelashes fluttering against my ear. "The blood stains disappear. I... don't sense him at all."

I let him embrace me, closing my eyes and immersing