HOWLER

Chapter 55: "Shiver Still"

"Wow" he lengthily breathed with a large signature grin that placed a fear within my heart. The maroon collar shirt cleanly folded over his shoulder with a heavy black equipment belt crisscrossed over his breasts.
He came loaded. At his left hand was the shining beacon of a metal blade, the shadows twisting over him as I could only take in the scene and exhale nervously.
"Great to see how you turned out Martinez, but I must say, I was expecting a bit more."
He taunted cruelly as a few chuckles came from the suited soldiers behind the glass shields.

"Let's make this easy," he nonchalantly smiled, it was almost sweet and enduring. Almost.
Before the truth oozed from his eyes and I could feel his excitement from where I laid, "Come nicely here or I'll have to apply my own methods to convincing you to come."

The black curls curving into his smooth dark toned complexion.
"What did you do with Steven? Where is he?" I asked ignoring his question. Where was he?
I couldn't hear any movement beyond the area. They couldn't have brought any more men, right? Looking around at the number of shields surrounding me, I could only imagine this was it. Of course, what would I know? My heart shivered at the thoughts of what that could endlessly mean.
He only chuckled and shook his head, his silky hair shifting before he stares down at me with a menacing smile.
"Just come here and no one else will get hurt," he started to walk to me, "I'm sure you know how this will go, so unless you are asking for more trouble than it's worth, I suggest you choose the option while it's available."
I quickly looked to my side to see my grandmom's body thrown over broken branches. A tremble overtaking my body as I stood upright, clueless as to what I could possibly do, I couldn't even shift, yet for what every reason I needed to know where Steven was.

"Where is he?" I snarled, making the tremble visible. I felt as if I was tapping against something. I couldn't get another word out before I felt the clean burn on my arm. The burn of a paper cut only the oozing blood tingled against the open wound. It was such a strange sensation. I had somehow caught my arm in between his slide and his real target. My eyes met his when I noticed he had leaped into the air and the shirt on his shoulder served as a cap. He didn't let me continue to think. The blade came down again on the same hand.
Gasping loudly, my feet stumbled with no room to fall as he quickly brought the blade down, but I moved out of the way.
The wind around me shifted with I heard the guns start again. The banging popping the drums of my ears when he grabbed onto my short hair and was about to hold my head into a lock when I reacted.
My head slamming back at his face and my hand digging down at his wrist and crushing down.

The veins of my hand pulsed with heat as the guy hissed and threw my body to the ground. The bullets almost piercing through, I shifted on the ground and growled. The dust of the ground expanding out before the soldiers flew back and their shields cracking. Alavi didn't seem at all fazed as he leaped again and yelled angrily over me, his blade leading down before I moved out on all fours. The winds flowed through my hair and what seemed to be my fingers. My eyes trailed his movements until his leg connected to my face. My body scrapping the branches and sand. I could only hear the distant voice of grandma coughing. The beating of my heart keeping me from staying down although I could already hardly move without feeling the pulling strain in my muscles.

The next thing I knew something wrapped its way around my neck and pulled me to the side.
"Gotcha, Alavi!" Virginiah commanded with blood at her hands. I felt the grasp around my neck. Under the buzzing of my sore ears, the spark of a loud whine. I opened my eyes, now full of tears, I tried-I really did this time.
With another hair flip of his silk, he started his way to me. "You know, you are fighting for the wrong side Austry. How could you?" A smirk over his lips as his eyes look to Virginiah.

"I'm fighting for the wrong team?" I practically growled before what felt like an explosion of anger fused out of my body, "You're the one attacking people for no good reason."
Pushing my head to the ground, Virginiah held my head to the forest floor with the end of the gun she had in hand before.
"I'm sure you know about us enough to know we are on the side of the public, and they-" her hand pointing at my grandma, "aren't people."