Ice Cold

30: Rescue

Chris

I breathed in and sighed, once again, in defeat. Nothing. Scarlett's scent was untraceable and I assumed that Carlos had forced her to fly. The soft padding of paws against grass followed me through the woods and I looked down at the brown wolf next to me. She nodded her head and sniffed the air but I knew it was in vain. I let out a low growl of annoyance. How could our combined senses not be good enough?
     The woods became thicker as we walked and I began to get goosebumps. I never ventured to this part of the forest because it gave me a bad feeling, and I knew why. My hands started to shake and Indigo looked up at me, a little confused.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about me." I said quietly and we carried on walking. But I knew what was wrong. I knew that that part of the woods led to where the Council were situated and I knew that I definitely didn't want to see them. I'd committed my fair share of crimes over the years.
Suddenly, I felt a presence all around me. My body tensed up and I looked down at Indigo who was slowly moving closer to me in fear. She sensed it too. I stopped and closed my eyes, giving in to my other senses. The scent of wolf hit me hard and I winced, eyes snapping open.
"Wolves. They're coming this way." I whispered and Indigo nodded. That's when I remembered that I had told her to see if she could find a pack. But would they try to rip my head off?
A single jet black wolf stepped out of the thick of the trees and stood before Indigo, obviously communicating in some way. My instincts were telling me to either run or attack but I knew that I could do neither. I had to simply bear the presence of these old enemies.
Another one. And another. Soon enough, six more wolves stood within the trees at varying distances, some more wary than others. I tried smiling at a couple but they began to growl at me so I decided to avoid eye contact altogether.
"Okay, so what is the plan?" I hissed at Indigo and she turned to face me. Weirdly, she held her paw up to me. I frowned and knelt down so that I was eye level with her and she nodded. Reluctantly, I took her paw in my hand and my face scrunched up almost immediately as mud from the paw came off on my hand.
But then something happened that blew my mind.
Images were thrown at me, one after the other, too quickly for me to comprehend. Some were of a jail cell and others were of a large domed black building with three spikes sticking out of the top at all different angles. It was a building I knew all too well. The home of the Council. The Dome.
'The wolves have been searching for Scarlett's scent all day and some have been able to smell it near the Dome.' Indigo's voice appeared in my head very suddenly and I jumped but continued to listen. Why would Carlos have taken her there? Back when I had known him, he had had no affiliation with the Council whatsoever. So why would he go to the Dome?
But one thing was for certain. Scarlett was in trouble and I needed to rescue her. Indigo could obviously hear my thoughts as well because she nodded and removed her paw from my hand. I stood up again and looked at the various wolves scattered around me.
"My kind may be enemies of yours, but for now I would like to make a truce. I don't agree with the beliefs of the Council and I just want to save my best friend. I know you guys have also been treated poorly by them so I think it's time to make a stand. Are you with me?" For a second, there was stunned silence. But, slowly and surely, they started to move towards me. For a second I feared that they were moving to attack me, but one by one, they placed their paws on my hand and showed me any information they had gathered.
The first showed me the outside of the Dome, with the usual black cloud swirling above it. The second showed me the jail cell and explained that he had managed to slip under the radar and sneak into the prison, as her scent had led him there. The next also showed me the Dome, but closer up, and I could just make out someone walking towards it in the distance. Carlos. I growled at this one and the wolf backed up a couple of paces, obviously still wary of me. I apologised and he continued to show me slightly closer views of Carlos.
After the next few wolves, I was starting to get the picture. Carlos had obviously taken Scarlett to the prison and was holding her captive, but I didn't know why. Would the Council kill her? I took a deep breath and addressed the wolves once again.
"Thank you all for coming. I have received lots of information as to Scarlett's whereabouts and I am very grateful. But we must think of a plan to rescue her now. And...I have a quick suggestion before we start."

An hour later, nine of us were sat around a large wooden table, trying to work out how to go about rescuing Scarlett. I had convinced the wolves to become human so I could talk to them and had promised to provide them with clothing if they came back to my house. I looked at each one in turn and had to hold back a laugh as I saw that all of their noses were scrunched up in disgust. The smell of vampire was probably very strong here.
     "Okay, so we need to make a plan. And fast."