Werewolf Forest

Werewolf Forest::Chapter 34

Recap:

“Goodbye, brother…” he whispered. There was a loud snap as Connor jerked Danny’s head to the side in a quick movement. Danny’s body fell to the ground, limp and hollow as ever.

With the death of their leader, the last of Danny’s pack fled into the woods. I caught a glimpse of Gage as he ran away with the rest of them. We were all silent, staring around at each other. We were injured, exhausted, and soaked in the blood of our kind. Our eyes drooped in sorrow and we held our limbs in pain. We looked around at our fallen comrades, our friends, our family. They stared at us with their dead eyes and we could not help but to stare back.

Connor called out to what remained of his pack, “Carry the wounded and as many of our dead as you can, we’ll return for the rest. It's over. Let’s go home.” 

* * *

Chapter 34

The wind blew across the field, still stained with blood. Not a living thing was there. The only thing left were the bodies of James and Jason. We had taken all the other bodies, even those of Danny’s pack. Connor carried Danny himself; he wanted to bury his brother. We returned the ones we could to their families, and the others were buried in a makeshift graveyard a mile or two from the house.

The house was filled with packed bags and boxes. Those who could were going home to their families. Some were leaving to start a new life somewhere and put this secret war behind them. But for now, we were all here, convened in the courtyard under the shining full moon. We had just gotten back from the graveyard, where we said our last goodbyes. We were all dressed in black, many of the guys wearing suits or ties. There were few that weren’t covered in bandages. I, myself, had a cast and a sling on one arm and bandages around my ribs. Andrew had about fifty stitches in various places and a broken nose.  The injuries were extensive, but we would all be healed in a matter of days. However, there were people who lay in the infirmary who would take longer to recover. Every bed had been filled, and the ones that were worse were sent to a hospital.

Connor stood on top of the picnic table and called out to his pack. “We have lost many good people, and we will miss them all dearly,” He looked around at all of us with sullen eyes. He knew how much we all lost, how much we sacrificed. Andrew reached down and griped my hand. “I want to thank them, as well as all of you, for staying with me, and fighting by my side. Our chances were thin, but we prevailed, though not without great losses. We gather here tonight to honor them and to say our goodbyes. We have put our friends to rest, and may they sleep in peace, knowing that they fought for a just cause and took part in extinguishing a threat to all mankind.” He pulled a small piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. “Please take a moment of silence as I read the names of our fallen pack-mates.”

 He began to read off names, most of which I didn’t know.

“Leonard Rhoads, Gunner Hillman, Peter Wyatt...”

I watched the faces of the crowd as they winced at the names, as tears dropped from their eyes.

“Gerald Borders, Jenny Hacker, Tina Finch…”

The list of names went on and on, almost a hundred names were listed. But there were only two that cut at my heart.

“Kyle McGraw, Elli Rivera…”

Connors face twinged as he said Elli’s name. Andrew squeezed my hand tight in his, the reassuring contact helped the pain in my chest, but it didn’t cure it. I could still see Kyle’s face.

“No!” I screamed. “Kyle!” James looked up, the knife still above his head.

It was as if I was there again, when my friends died.