The Nightmare Brought to Life

Gretchen’s heart began to pound against her chest as a hooded figure came into view while he approached from the darkness beyond the ruins. A flash of a memory from one of her nightmares came back for a fleeting second and Gretchen became very afraid.

Involuntarily, her wolf took over and forced Gretchen to shift. As her bones snapped and her body contorted, she could hear Rhett’s voice in her head telling her that she was in no danger, but Gretchen was no longer in control. The wolf was crazed on brand new life-blood, lack of sleep and finally being confronted with the three men who have been stalking her for days.

As soon as her four paws hit the ground, Gretchen gnashed her teeth and snarled at the mysterious cloaked man. Damien put up his hands and said, “No! Stop! It’s me. Everything’s alright now.”

Just as Damien put his hands to his head to remove his hood and reveal his face to Gretchen, trampled footsteps and snarls could be heard in the distance to her right. Her wolf senses told her danger was near, It was a new and different kind of enemy- Not Lycan. Not witch. Not human.

Gretchen turned and sprinted towards the invaders. They were unlike anything she had ever encountered before on Earth- pig like man creatures with axes and long knives.

As the first of them barreled towards her, Gretchen bound through the air and tackled the goblin to the ground then began clawing and biting at its face. The goblin tried to push Gretchen off of it, but she held on tightly and ripped out its throat out then spat it aside.

The next goblin ran at Gretchen with his axe raised to strike when suddenly a black wolf leaped over her body then tackled the goblin before it had a chance to reach Gretchen. Then, another black wolf ran into the remaining crowd. Gretchen’s wolf loved a good battle so she prepared to follow her brethern when she was suddenly grabbed by the scruff of her neck and slammed into the ground onto her side.

The hooded figure said, “Shift.”

Gretchen rotated her head towards the man and sank her teeth down onto his arm. Damien grunted as he tried to break free from her bite then he forcefully pushed his arm forward into her mouth forcing her to gag and break her hold on his arm.

The man demanded, “Shift back, now!”

Gretchen snarled and struggled to break free then clamped down again on his arm. As the man struggled against her, his hood fell off his head. Damien looked down into Gretchen’s eyes, and the breathtaking, heart pounding feeling returned to her but she pushed it away and continued to fight him. Given no other choice to calm the raging wolf, Damien said, “Shh…”

As Gretchen fell under Damien’s spell, she began to quickly shift back to her naked self. Damien hurriedly took off his cloak and wrapped Gretchen in it then lifted her up in his arms and carried her back to the ruins.

Damien knelt by the fire and then gently laid Gretchen down and sat beside her on the ground. He looked over his wounds then huffed through his nose and said in, “You know, this isn’t how I saw us meeting again, my love,” as he wiped the blood off onto his pants.

He looked over at Gretchen and smiled then wiped away the goblins' blood from her mouth.

“She is a beauty, Damien,” said Rhett as he came back to the fireside after getting dressed again. “Bad fucking attitude though. I wonder what pack she belonged to.”

Jason reappeared and sat down beside Damien then wiped the sweat from his brow. “I’d know that scent anywhere- She’s a Hexom. She must be heading for the North Woods.”

“Well shit,” said Rhett. “I didn’t catch it. Damn, she must be one of Stella and Teddy’s kids.”

“A Hexom, hmm?” asked Damien as he looked her over. “Well, that certainly explains a lot doesn’t it?”

“No shit,” said Rhett as he started to laugh. “I wonder how she got here.”

“She died,” said Damien.

“Awe, man! No wonder she’s in such a bad fucking mood,” said Rhett.

“She doesn’t remember anything yet,” said Damien as he ran his fingers across her forehead and tried to read her mind. “Once we get her back to the castle and she’s safe, I’ll help her get her memories back.”

Jason rubbed his hand over his head and said, “She’s not going to like that Damien. She wants to see her family and they’re probably expecting her now.”

Damien said, “I don’t care. I’ll let them know where she is.”

“You going to try to wake her up or what?” said Rhett. “I just want to know first so I can hide behind one of those pillars over there. If she’s Teddy’s daughter, we’re in for a fucking showdown. He’s a pretty nasty warlock.”

“Are you serious?” asked Damien as he looked back at Gretchen. He hadn’t seen it, didn’t realize she was a witch at all.

Damien picked up Gretchen's bag and found her a change of clothes then said, “Alright turn around and walk away.”

Jason stood up and followed Rhett to the other side of the ruins then turned out towards the darkness.

Damien looked at Gretchen’s face then said, “RIght. Here’s how this is going to go. I’m going to let you wake up and then I’m going to turn around and let you get dressed. Are we clear?”

As Gretchen’s subconscious answered back in his mind, Damien said, “Alright, I’m turning around,” then he stood and turned his back to Gretchen. “You can wake up now.”

Gretchen’s eyes snapped open and she gasped in a deep breath.

Damien said, “Get dressed, we won’t look. I swear.”

As Gretchen grabbed her clothes and started putting them on she spat, “How dare you use your magic against me you fucking coward!”

“You didn’t leave me much choice,” said Damien as he waited for her to finish.

“Where I come from, that kind of bullshit gets you killed. Not exactly the most honorable thing a fucking witch can do,” she said.

“Is that what got you here?” he asked.

“Fuck you,” she said as she pulled her shirt down. “If you can’t fight like a real man you should get back on your bike and go home to your Mommy.”

Damien clenched his jaw as Gretchen continued to berate him then he said, “Are you quite finished?”

“Yeah, I’m done,” she said as she threw herself back to the ground on her bottom then picked up her shoes and started putting them on.

Damien turned around and looked down over Gretchen, then yelled to Jason and Rhett, “She’s finished.”

Gretchen tied the strap on her boot then stood up and crossed her arms and looked at Damien. His face looked so familiar to her, but she just couldn’t place it. She turned her head slightly as she looked around in the darkness trying to remember.

Damien said, “Yes.That’s right. Just keep looking.”

Gretchen scrunched up her nose. “I know you. I’ve seen you before,” she said. “You’re...” Gretchen breathed out through her nose hard and said, “I...I don’t know.” Then, she shook away the thought and looked back at him.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Before Damien could answer, Rhett said, “Are you Stella’s kid?”

Gretchen looked to Rhett and said, “Yeah, who the hell are you?”

“Like I said before you went all fucking badass werewolf on those goblins, I’m Rhett. I used to be the alpha the next territory over from yours,” said Rhett.

“Well, fuck-a-doodle-do!” said Gretchen sarcastically as she grabbed her bag. “It’s been nice chatting it up with you pricks. Have a nice life,” she said then started walking away.

“Where in the hell do you think you’re going princess?” said Rhett as he watched Gretchen walk off towards the darkness.

Gretchen lifted her hand in the air and flipped up her middle finger as she continued walking.

Damien sighed then misted in front of Gretchen. “I can’t just let you leave,” he said as he reappeared in front of her.

“I’m not asking for permission,” she said as she continued walking.

Damien stood directly in Gretchen’s path so she tried to walk around him, but he ducked in front of her. Then, she tried to go the other way and he ducked that way too.

“Where are you going?” he asked as he walked backwards in front of her.

“None of your business, now, move out of my way,” she said.

“I can’t do that,” he said as he stopped and walked closer to her. “See, I’m Prince Damien. So, it is my business who you are, what you’re doing here and where you’re going.”

“I don’t give a damn who you are, you can either get the hell out of my way, kill me or put me back to sleep, but you’re not stopping me,” she said.

Damien looked down at the ground then licked his lips, “Come back to the castle with us. I’ll send for your family.”

“I’m not going anywhere with a traitorous witch like you,” she said then she pushed him out of the way and continued away from the ruins.

“You can do what I tell you or I can throw you in the dungeons and you’ll never see your family again. It’s up to you, really,” he said as he stood tall and straightened his back. Damien didn’t want to threaten Gretchen, but he couldn't let her speak to him like that, not in his kingdom and definitely not in front of his family.

Gretchen stopped in her tracks and then turned around and walked back to the ruins. As she passed Damien she hissed, “I fucking hate you.”