Shadows of the Shifter

Chapter 5- Apple-Smoked Wood

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If I'm going to be a caged bird, I'll sing the best song I can.

~Wes Craven

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1 hour earlier

Esfir Cyzarine POV

My motorcycle roared, tires firming the pavement as I raced through the gates, headed for my next assignment. The wind whipped at the curls that spilled out from the foam of my helmet, swirling in wild motions as my bike raced over the solid pavement. After clearing a couple more checkpoints with my ID, I was on the main road and then the highway.

Dashing between the slight cracks in between the cars, I weaved my way closer to my checkpoint, earning little honks from horns of indignant drivers.

I looked at the exit sign and read Highway 43. I needed to be on Highway 17, but I knew I was safe from the facility's sharp eye. They could only hack into the security cameras up to Highway 43 since we were located off the map, past the old Highway 106.

The further I got from the facility's eyes, the less my skin itched as I felt the prick of their all-seeing eyes leave me. A small sense of freedom buzzed in my chest. The feeling was quickly outweighed by the dread that I had to return to red walls and silent whispers.

Those same whispers taunted me, daring me to just end my slow suffering, to add my own stain upon the red walls. Somewhere deep down in my chest, yearning for that type of ending, for that type of satisfaction. Yet, here I am, a warm heart beating to the drum of my own life out of my hands. Dying would be a disgrace, and picturing what my mother would say to me in hell furthered my resolve.

I never really knew my mother, nor could I properly recall a clear vision of her face. I only had her name, Elmira Adolphus, plainly labeled under a blank portrait back at the mansion. Father rarely talked about her unless to point out my imperfections, yet compared me to her likeness. The file under her name is also encrypted. However, I was able to gather three pieces of information.

First, a small civil war within the Cyrazine family was in direct correlation to her appearance in our records. Second, the Aldophus family joined in the civil dispute, and now the entire Aldophus lineage lies and will end with me. Finally, my father, Trevor Cyrazine, killed Elmira Aldophus three years after my birth by means of public mutilation.

Whatever would cause a person like my father to distribute such a punishment to the mother of his child is beyond me. To be publicly massacred in front of family, in front of your child no less... I don't fear what my father would do to me, as he has already proven the means that my fears can be achieved by any means necessary.

A signaling beep fills my ears, the monitor on my inner wrist grabbing my attention for a split second. It would soon be time for my next dosage. I click the monitor off and make the last exit, a town forming as I leave the fastest-paced highways behind.

In my records, this town was a mix of humans and werewolves, a college combining the two as the current owner of the college was a human. The pack occupying this territory was to the south of the main campus. The thick forest acted as a border in separating them, as barely any wolves lived out in the main city. Furthermore, since the city wasn't owned by any pack, the human town was good for travelers of other species traveling to the area.

Weaving my way through the mundane traffic, I edge closer to the south border. The stiff concrete below gives way to gravel then patchy dirt as I cruise along the pack. I check the monitor map to confirm the direction of path fourteen and slowly make my way deeper into the surrounding forest.