Pn1 (16 page)

Gillian tried to shrink down, hoping he'd aim high, when the

Sebastian she'd been focusing on slipped sideways in the air and fell

onto its side with a thud that sent shock waves through the soles of her

feet. She'd completely forgotten to keep Patryk in her viewing loop,

but he now stood, jaws hovering over Sebastian's unprotected

stomach.

Sebastian's muscles rolled over his top side and he flipped himself

onto his feet with a flowing motion that questioned whether human

vision could keep up with his speed. His canines came out dripping

venomous saliva and he snarled through the viscous liquid, shaking

his mouth to throw mucous over Patryk.

Sebastian used his shorter height to jump up and latch onto Patryk's

neck.

Patryk's paw swiped across his nose leaving a rent in the warm-

toned amber fur that was now glistening with rapidly cooling blood

before he could sink his fangs in.

Shaken, Sebastian hunkered down and crept backwards, his tongue

coming out to get at the blood. He circled towards Gillian.

Patryk lashed his tail to force Sebastian back, managing to aim the

tail tip in Sebastian's eyes.

Blinking and pawing at his eyes, Sebastian's yips turned into a

cacophony of howls and snarls that made Gillian want to plug her ears

with cement to drown it out. She couldn't be sure Patryk was

protecting her versus claiming her, but either way it bought her time

and she slowly scampered against the wall so he was directly between

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her and any quick leap Sebastian might make. Growls from Sebastian

didn't faze her, not when Patryk had shown him capable enough for

the moment at aiding her continuity of breath.

Patryk's tail slowed down from lashing to wagging. Was that

towards her because she was now out of Sebastian's direct line or

because he thought she was giving herself to him? God, these demons

had better work on rewriting the fairytales to give humans a clue.

Sure she'd wanted Cinderella and the Prince to be true, but why did it

have to be the dark ones instead, the ones furthest from human

sympathies?

Patryk jolted off the floor a second before Sebastian, catching him

in the throat with a bowed head.

Sebastian fell from the air, his head bouncing off the floor as Patryk

crashed down on him, keeping Sebastian's back pinned to the ground.

Gillian winced at the impact Sebastian's head made, but the wince

turned into a smile as she saw the two turn their full vengeance on

each other. Maybe they could tear each other to shreds or maim each

other to keep her out of their plans. She wanted to shout a cheer

leading chant but she resigned herself to mouthing it internally to keep

from distracting the melee that ensued. If only she had pom poms

maybe she could treat them like overgrown puppies and play catch

with them, yeah, right, overgrown puppies that would use her head as

a bowling ball.

The two started tussling, rolling around on the floor with rear legs

pumping to implant claws in exposed anatomical regions that weren't

protected by bones. From the blurred tumbling, it seemed to Gillian

that it didn't matter if Patryk was on top or on the bottom that his

superior size was more than Sebastian could overcome. Or was that

fear making wishful thinking appear real?

No, Patryk was on the bottom again, she thought, and there were

more yelps coming from Sebastian than Patryk. Thank God their yells

sounded different; it was the only thing giving her any clue into the

fight. There was no way this was play, too much blood started to slick

the floor around them, and if house pets were any indication

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Sebastian's increasing pitch and tone meant he was desperately losing

or afraid he was losing.

She needed a manual on werewolves. For all she knew she was

completely misreading this and about to die from lack of

preparedness. Gillian inched a bit from the wall and craned her neck

for a better view. Sebastian was back on the ground and it wasn't just

saliva drenching his breast anymore. A large gash ran across what

once were pecks and had turned the fur brown.

Patryk remained on top this time.

She bent down to see between their two heaving stomachs.

Sebastian's rear legs were still trying to gut Patryk but were running

on less steam than she'd seen at first to the point Patryk wasn't even

bothering with them. His snout creaked open, jaws coming unhinged

from her human point of view, and plunged into the gash still leaking

profusely.

Sebastian howled pitifully, his body shaking and trembling on the

floor. For a nanosecond Gillian felt bad for him, but that was all she

spared of her energy on sympathy. Any sympathy was purely based

on knowing what it felt like to lose, not caring for him personally, but

that did mean she could be next and Patryk didn't look that phased

from the fight. Was he ready to take down another, and do her far

worse than his own brother?

Gillian froze.

Patryk wasn't stopping. His teeth came out drenched in Sebastian's

blood and when he leaned back his head to howl it was clear his face

was caked with fast drying blood.

Sebastian writhed between Patryk's legs.

She squirmed back into the wall, wondering how Sebastian was

going to heal anytime during the night.

She started to reassess how quickly Patryk might turn on her, when

Patryk went back for the kill. Patryk's teeth sunk in and submerged in

Sebastian's throat. Gillian was sure he'd hit the floor and go out

through Sebastian's spine soon. Jesus these two fought hard. There

was no way anything close to human could survive their level of

interaction.

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She waited to see what Sebastian's next move would be. Would he

cower and acknowledge Patryk in defeat or prolong the inevitable take

down? Nothing. Weren't animals supposed to admit defeat and not

simply lie there like road kill?

She refocused her eyes on Patryk's muzzle to see part of Sebastian's

esophagus hanging out of his panting mouth as he sucked in what was

too much for one swallow.

Gillian threw up her lunch and what was left of breakfast. Acid and

mucus dripped from her quavering lip as she bowled over, coating her

shoes with an intestinal mixture of foul smelling liquid and chunks.

The site and smell of her own internal contents made her retch again,

until she was left with dry heaves and the aftermath of a heinous

tasting mouth that reflexively gagged.

She pried the fingers apart that had clasped over her eyes. Through

the slits between her fingers she saw Patryk crack Sebastian's chest

open, ligaments, skin, and muscle spurting out in glops that slide over

his once breathing sides and landed on the floor.

Gillian couldn't watch. She wasn't even aware she had screamed

until the sound of licking and slurping stopped in a growl. The

change popped her eyes open to see Patryk staring at her covered in

Sebastian's blood and guts. Her tongue swelled up until she was sure

she was hyperventilating, but it got her throat to stop making sounds.

The growling stopped and Patryk gave up staring at her.

It was a choice between going blind and sight, Gillian was ready to

choose blindness, but she couldn't get herself to gore our her own

eyes, at least not quite yet. If Patryk made a move towards her she

might be willing to do it to quicken up her own death so she wouldn't

feel his teeth or have her blood mixed in with Sebastian's for an

aperitif.

There was no choice but to see Patryk eat. Anything else might

make her go into a comma and moan herself out of awareness. She

wanted the dark of covered eyes, but that seemed to make sounds

come out of her throat and get attention redirected to her.

She didn't know how her eyes did it, stay still watching the scene.

At some point she was sure her mind shut down, because she had no

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idea how long it took. One hour, two, three? At some point in the

haze of reality Patryk had eaten every part of Sebastian that wasn't

calcium based. Even the fur and eyeballs were gone. Gillian started

to heave again, but only drool came out to cover her knees and wrists

as she sat arms clasped holding her knees tightly together and

covering her heart.

Patryk dragged his sagging stomach around and faced her, blood

and bodily residue hanging in coagulated strings from chin and teeth.

His tongue worked overtime to uncover pristine fur.

Gillian gave up trying to think one step let alone five ahead and

went for comatose. Her eyes gazed over as his form got bigger and

bigger, filling up more of her view until he was her entire vision.

Breathe halted then stuttered back up in drags and heaves as his

tongue retreated and his fangs were nearly touching her nose.

Heat prickles solidified into melted ice freezing her limbs into

place. She lost track of where her limbs stopped and started; instead

her body became a heavy fading mass that sank into oblivion. His

breath filled her nose, making her wish breathing would stop

completely and give up keeping her alive before he bit her too.

Fangs skittered over her nose, sliding down her cheek to rest on the

meaty part of her neck by the jugular. She closed her eyes, and tried

to faint by holding her breath, but it was too late to deaden herself to

pain. Teeth sunk into her flesh. Hot liquid dripped down her neck,

and she passed out but not before a weird metallic taste filled her

senses and made her want to throw up. She didn't or if she did, didn't

know it.

Time dispensed with the friction of running her life. Nothing

mattered, but the gentle calm beckoning her. There was a light at the

end of the tunnel and a commanding voice calling her forward. She

wanted to please the voice, because it was so insistent and sure of

tone.

More light filled her space.

"Come on Gillian, wake up. You've been sleeping long enough.

Hiding won't work anymore. One way or the other I'm getting you on

your feet."

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She knew that voice. Hatred boiled up from the warm calm making

her want to lash out and tell the voice to stop bothering her.

"Keep your eyes open on your own or I'm getting tape. Don't make

me hurt you again."

Hatred, animosity, and fear swirled around and in her to catch the

voice and try to make sense of the words. A sharp spike of pain hit

her.

"I told you to wake up. I can keep hitting you if that's what it

takes."

Gillian opened her eyes on her own and looked up into Patryk's

face. That is when she knew she threw up.

"Should have expected that." Patryk looked down at his lap and

grimaced, wiping her mouth clean with his arm.

She spit saliva out of her mouth to rinse out the taste. "I'm alive?"

Her eyes flashed around picking up that she was still in the room and

he was not dressed. In fact she could feel the lack of clothing hit the

side of her head repeatedly.

"In a matter of speaking, yes." Patryk leaned her up against the wall

and stood up to look at her, giving off undeniable proof that he was

both free of clothes and free of fur.

"You killed your brother," Gillian slurred.

Patryk hung his head and looked over his shoulder to where only a

stain remained. "Better me than one of the others."

"You tried to kill me." Gillian blinked on every word, not knowing

where to look.

"If I'd wanted you dead you would be. It's not like you could have

stopped me." Patryk clutched his fists into his sides.

"But..." Gillian tried to speed think.

He stamped off and hit the far wall with his balled fist. "What

choice did I have? Huh?" He whirled around and paced. "It was you

or him. Should I have made a different call?"

"But..." She was hoping another word would start coming out of

her throat.

"Need it figured out for you? I bring the clean clothes to leave

outside the door and he brings the food. He brought you, nothing else.

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Do the math." Patryk ground his teeth and kicked at the stain on the

floor.

"Then..." She ran her fingers through her tattered hair.

"Precisely. He was going to rape and kill you or kill then rape you.

One way or the other you were dinner." He picked up a scrap of

Sebastian from the wall and tossed it into the incinerator, closing the

door so quickly it bounced back open before closing.

"You choose me." Gillian spoke each word distinctly.

"Your disappearance would be noticed a lot sooner than his..." He

choked back the last words.

"But then why did you bite me?" She backed up the wall until she

was standing, not wanting his cock to be the first thing she saw when

looking in his direction.

"Rules are rules." Patryk strode back and forth across the room.

"No human can see us change and remain..."