Free Story #17 - Foretold (Chapter 7)

The bullet in question, went straight through Campbell's head.

His body, silent and unmoving, fell to the ground. The blood oozed from the wound and landed in a puddle next to his body. Jenna's scream of grief had rung through the air. And not surprisingly, it took Arc, Zoe, Stephen and Doug to keep her from clawing at my father's body.

"There's nothing you can do, he's gone" Arc said to her.

"It can't be! He can't be gone!" she screamed.

Every single werewolf in the clearing changed form if they hadn't done so already. Even the people who couldn't change shape naturally became another form if they were able. Slowly, every animal in the clearing began to howl. Jenna transformed and howled louder than anyone else in the clearing.

It was the same kind of howl that had been sung the night Hax had been murdered. And I felt the familiar pang of grief beginning to strike. But I had to be strong for everyone so I joined in the howl. If I hadn't been able to, it would have looked disrespectful. Thank god for my instincts.

When the howl was over, we all changed back into human form. Whilst Jenna lay sobbing beside Campbell's torso, Stephen knelt before his fallen father and closed his eyes for the last time.

Farrell's body was thrown unceremoniously into a small marsh that was in the woods whilst my father's was left on the ground to rot. They offered to let us release our emotional discharge on Farrell but I had to refuse. Doug and Shadow also wanted no part of the deal, which made me feel proud of my two boys just for a minute. After thinking it through, it made me sound like an old mother looking out at her sons.

But the memory of the incident brought me back into the room within seconds. This was a good thing because everyone was starting to leave. Doug and Stephen carried Campbell to the car and lay him on a mat. It felt so wrong to see him being carted away in such inappropriate conditions but we all knew that he wouldn't have wanted us to make a fuss.

Doug got in the car with Jenna and Stephen. I walked over to the car and went up to the window. There was barely any room for the three of them in there with Campbell as well. I said the only thing that I could given the circumstances.

"I'll take Shadow home" I offered.

Doug looked up at me. He knew I didn't know what to say so he nodded as if to check it was ok after a deep cut.

"Sure. Do you mind if I stay with Jenna and the others tonight?"

I shook my head.

"No of course not, but call me if you need me"

Doug weakly smiled. It was a happy smile by any description but a smile of someone waking from a coma and not being sure where they are. As if the sight of his hands were part of an elaborate trick.

"Tell Shadow it's not his fault" Doug explained.

I understood what he meant entirely. The guilt must be starting to seep into him. Doug wound down the window and the car left as quickly as it could. I turned back to see that Shadow was stood looking at the place where Campbell has died.

"Oh fuck" I thought to myself. I didn't make a habit of saying the word very often but given the circumstances, I figured I was exempt from any kind social etiquette for a short period of time.

Zoe and Arc walked over at that moment. They looked just as heartbroken as we did.

"Do you need any help?" Zoe asked.

"No, I'll get Shadow home, you two go" I replied.

They opened their mouths to protest but upon seeing the look on my face, they nodded.

"Call if you need us" Arc said.

"Of course"

After our conversation, Arc and Zoe started walking back to the town. After a minute, I walked over toward Shadow.

When I reached my son, he looked at me with eyes glistening with unconditional sorrow.

"It's not your fault" were the only words I could say.

Shadow nodded.

"I know" he answered, his voice racked with emotion, "But why him?"

That was a question I couldn't answer.

"Probably because my father wanted revenge for both his life and Farrell's"

"Was he always that way?"

"How do you mean?"

"Did your dad always hate werewolves?"

I stopped. I hadn't considered this at all. For some unknown reason, I felt the need to defend my dad even after everything that had happened.

"I don't know, but for his sake, I hope he sees his mistake"

Shadow nodded at my response. He seemed to have reached a peak in his emotional flow so he was sad, but his voice remained neutral. It also seemed my words had cured him of any guilt, at least conscious guilt.

"I'm sure he wasn't always that way. I just wish he could have found another way to express his hate"

"You and me both, Shadow" I said with a half smile.

He wiped his eyes of his almost tears then looked at me with a curious expression.

"Do you feel sorry he's gone?" Shadow asked.

It took me a while to answer. But eventually, I did.

"As his son, yes"

"And as a man?" Shadow asked.

"Honestly?" I said.

After a moment, I knew the answer. Hard as it was to admit.

"No"

After a second, I let go of Shadow, stood up and turned away. He put his arm around me.

"It's okay to hate him you know" he said.

My emotions rose to boiling point after his words. Without thinking, I pushed away from him and ran over to my father's body. Shadow followed after me a second later but I didn't notice in my blinded state.

When I reached him, I began to punch his lifeless face.

"You bastard!" I screamed at this top of my lungs.

A few seconds after I began, Shadow grabbed me and pulled me away from him.

"Let me go!" I screamed.

"Dad, you need to stop! Otherwise you'll just as bad as him" Shadow said his voice twisted with desperation and grief.

After a final punch, my dad's nose broke. The sound brought me back to reality and I realised Shadow was right. After a second of stunned silence, I placed my head into his chest and began to cry.

My son stroked my hair just as I had done for him and I cried until I couldn't anymore. When I was done, I looked at him with what hoped was intense gratitude.

"Thank you, for making me sense" I said slowly.

"You'd do the same for me" Shadow replied.

I nodded and licked his ear. After he returned the gesture, we turned to face the shining full moon.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Shadow said to me.

"Beautiful but dangerous" I admitted.

"Kind of like us then”

We held each other close and gazed at its silver surface for a while, then we walked back to my car and drove back to the flat.

When I look back on it now, it was almost too painful to bear at the time. If I could have found any words to express the shock of what had happened in those seconds, I wouldn't have said them out of respect.

But now, Campbell was gone.

How me, Shadow, Doug and both of the packs were going to cope was something I didn't know, but I knew we had to adjust to this new way of life. In a strange kind of way, it was almost as if this was foretold. But if there's one thing I had learned over the last three months, it's that no matter how much you think you know how the world works, there's always something to surprise you.

And in some ways, I wouldn't have it any other way.

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Hope you enjoyed Forteold. The series will continue with Endangered. It is available now on Smashwords, but if you want to wait, it will be released on the blog in the next few days.