The Queen Of Darkness

3.Creatures of the night

I hit the ground hard, something snapping in my leg. I roared in pain, my eyes swirling with different colors as my adrenaline tried to cause my shift. My eyes found my mom's as she yelled out, higher up from where I'd left her

"Run Regi!, find Anna, keep safe!."

Her voice spurred me into action. The hunter's grew closer, their heartbeats erratic at the possibility of finally catching me. I twisted onto my feet, crying out from the broken bone in my left leg. I hardly had a chance to recover before an arrow was launched at my head, whistling so close to my neck I felt the air swoosh.

I hid behind the tree, grounding myself as they grew closer. I took one final look at my mom, before forcing myself into a run. I dodged bullets, arrows and trees, my hair getting caught on branches, pulling painfully. At least I had a home grown advantage. I knew this mountain like the back of my hand.

I twisted, changing course and running straight along the side of an over hang, losing one of the hunters as they fell down the long drop. The hunter's ran down the descent towards me, fanned out in a straight line. I grabbed onto a thin tree, avoiding a hunter, and swung around the over hang.

I finally began to lose the group, running faster through the trees. I turned, searching through the trees to my right, finding my mom safely up high on a branch. I smiled, my heart skipping a beat knowing she was safe. The hunter's wouldn't bother themselves with a lowly human.

Distracted, I didn't notice a hunter flying towards me, until my breath was knocked out of me as we collided and was flown down the over hang. The ground rushed up, sticks and rocks poking me as the Hunter and I tumbled down, rolling and twisting, the woman managing to keep ahold of me.

I heard a loud snap, wincing as something jabbed at my back. We rolled for what felt like hours but was probably only seconds. We slowed to a halt, only a few feet from a massive tree that could have nearly killed us.

I wobbled onto my hands and knees, dazed and dizzy. I sat up, my eyes landing on the motionless hunter. Her neck was twisted at an awkward angle, and I realized that the snap I heard wasn't a branch. Her eyes were wide open, the order backwards, the easiest way to spot a hunter. The whites black, the pupil white, a ring of their normal eye color. Hers were a pretty blue. As her soul began to leave her body her eyes faded and returned to the human form.

Bile rose in my throat but I pushed it down. The rest of the hunters stood at the top of the cliff, weapons raised, nonchalant about their fallen member.

As I stared up at the group, I called for the other half of my ability, my incisor teeth sharpening and my blood thrumming. One second I was crouched below the hunters, the next I was sprinting through the trees, my speed faster than any hunter or human. I was off the mountain in a matter of minutes, leaving the hunter's and my mother behind.

I pushed the thought of her to the back of my mind, ignoring the human emotions that told me to go back, to cradle her from the dangers of the world, to take her with me. I didn't know when I would see her next, and my heart ached at the thought. Human thoughts were the epitome of naivety.

I rushed on, feeling my wounds begin to heal, and my body reject the silver bullet. It fell from the injury a second later. I felt my body whine for the comfort of night, drying my throat and mouth with the need to sustain myself. I didn't slow down.

As my sensitive skin began to turn red under the harsh sun, my hunger grew. I needed to get to the jeep. The hunters were still trying to find me, but their efforts were in futile. I looked out at the horizon. Hope bloomed in my chest. The town was in view, which meant that I was close to the shack.

The sun sat low in the sky when I reached the wooden structure. Sweat beaded on my entire body, and I basically collapsed next to the extra supply. I pulled a bottle off the shelf, downing the thick contents in a matter of seconds. Soon, 11 out of the 20 bottles were empty. My body was aching and lethargic, but I had the energy to act. I grabbed the remaining bottles and raced to the old jeep. I grabbed the gas can and filled it up, before starting the engine and leaving my mom up in the mountain.

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"No no no! Come on!" I yelled as I turned the key, causing the engine to emit a whining sound and smoke to bellow from the front of the old car.

It was nearing 8 pm, and I was sitting in the car on the side of the road, right in the middle of No Man's Land.

On one side of the mountains was the town, and the other, a vast space of trees for miles on end, respectfully named No Man's Land. Rumors floated around town of strange men, monsters, that claimed the land as their own, and staked claim to any human who ventured too far into the dense woods.

The rumors were true, other than the claiming of wandering humans. The 'Monster's' were in fact half human half beasts. Werewolves. With a Lycan as their leader. A pack.

See, humans are too naive to realize that other beings walk among them. Vampires, werewolves and witches, Purebloods and halfbloods alike. Each ruled by a democracy and dictatorship.

Vampires had cohorts, run by a Pureblood. Werewolves had packs, run by a Lycan, an Alpha. Witches had covens, run by Elders. Each had their own rules. Each had people who preferred seclusion and loneliness, who rebelled against the confines of dictatorships. They were the rouges, the lowest of their kinds, vermin, traitors, nothing. The men on the night of my accident were rouges, a vampire and a werewolf. Which brought me back to current dilemma.

The problem I faced with sitting in my Jeep on the side of the road, was the fact that a pack owned No Man's Land, and smelling all the bottles I had on me, they'd come and investigate. But the old jeep wouldn't start, leaving me open and vulnerable.
That's when I heard it. The familiar sound of paws beating the ground, compacting the dirt. A second later, a howl so loud and powerful it rattled my bones. The large beasts emerged from the thick trees, surrounding the Jeep with me still inside.

Werewolves only generally grew to 3 to 4 feet tall, unless they had lycan blood, which could bring their height to over 5 foot. Lycans were never mistaken for a common wolf. They had the ability to walk on their hind legs, like a human, or run on all fours. This Alpha stepped from the tree line on its hind legs, making it over 6 feet tall. It stared at me through the windscreen, it's eyes an orangy gold, the same color for all Alphas. Steam rose from its nostrils as it's breath rushed out. In a few snaps of some bones, it shifted.

"Get out." His deep voice reverberated through the air, and I stumbled out into the cold night. He lifted his head and inhaled, frowning.

"I can smell your shifter blood...but it's tainted." The way he said it insinuated a question. I quickly answered.

"My father was a werewolf halfblood, my mother a human. Since my father was only half, the human blood overrided my father's, I'm not considered a werewolf, but it's still in my DNA." The lie flowed as easily as my blood. The Alpha didn't look so convinced, but he shrugged it off.

"Why do you have a supply of-?" I quickly cut him off.

"The shifting ceremony. I'm friends with a witch who needs it for a spell. She wants to ward the city, to try and prevent hunter's from attacking." I calmed my heart, so it didn't race with my lie. The werewolves would hear the change.

The Alpha stared me down and sighed, before turning to my jeep.

"Looks like your car's out of commission. I have one you can use, but it'll cost you."