Ice -- Wolv book II

18 - Vivian

Nearly an hour later, I felt the car slow to a stop once more. Doors slammed, and the trunk was flung open, bathing me in the harsh sunlight yet again.

"This is your stop." An arm hooked under my shoulder and yanked me forward. I fell down to the ground, scraping my knees on the gravel.

"Rrrph,"  I growled through my gag.

"Here, let me get that for you." Norm reached around and pulled the gag from between my teeth, than pulled out a knife and slashed through the bindings on my feet. "Get up. I've carried you enough for one lifetime."

I scowled at him and stood up shakily; my feet were numb from being bound for so long. Norm pushed me forward, and I stumbled back down to my knees, breaking my fall with my hands.

"C'mon, let's go."

I shook my head weakly. "I don't want to."

Footsteps circled around me. "Yeah?" Machk's voice sneered at me from above. Norm growled at him warningly.

"Machk..."

"Hey! Humfrey!" Machk snapped at me. I kept my head down, not daring to look up. "Are you deaf? Look at me!" he roared.

I cringed, and peered up at him. "What--"

Smack!!!

Stars crossed my vision, and I slumped over onto my side, my cheek burning from where he'd punched me.

"Get up, filth!"

Norm growled at him again. "Machk, get back in the car."

"He tore through my arm! I'm going to kill him! Pathetic excuse for a direwolf...there's no way I'm letting him--"

"NOW!"

Machk fell silent, than trodded away, the car door slamming behind him. I could here him growling and cursing from inside the vehicle.

Ow. I ran my tongue over my teeth--one of them had been knocked loose. Bastard. I pressed it down into my gums, hoping that my body would be able to heal it back into place.

Norman pulled me to my feet once more. "Are you okay? You're okay. Good."

Wow, you care.

I looked around, squinting against the sunlight. I was on a gravel driveway, leading up to a rather beautiful looking house; in fact, it looked more like a mansion than it did a house. Huge windows adorned the front entrance, and the steps looked like they'd been hewn from giant slabs of polished granite.

The house actually looked rather out of place in comparison to the rest of the property; with the exception of the elaborate mansion, the property bore a striking resemblance to a farm. Three cylindrical grain silos stood directly across from the house, rising easily forty feet into the air. Right next to them was the long, weathered-looking beige building the man had spoken of. Two large barn doors stood at one end, chained shut and sealed with an over-sized padlock.

The rest of the property seemed to be unlandscaped acreage; trees, tall grasses and shrubbery filled the land, forming a wall of foliage just a hundred meters behind the barn. Cattails had sprung up in patches all across the property--at least, the parts that I could see.

"Where are we?" I asked. The air here was warm, and there wasn't a single flake of snow to be seen. The trees were still green as ever; they had yet to lose their leaves.

"The town of Vivian," Norm muttered, than pointed to the beige building. "Let's go."

I started forward, taking slow, deliberate steps on my bent, paw-like feet. My heart had sank down to my stomach--I knew where Vivian was. It was a tiny town not fifty kilometers east of Winnipeg.