Keeping Human

Chapter Five

"Where are we going?" Madeline whined tiredly as Caleb scurried around the house packing bags and boxes.

Caleb picked up the cutlery draw and emptied it into a half-full box of things. "It's a good thing we don't have a lot of stuff." He mumbled to himself, ignoring Madeleine's question.

Nelly watched from across the room, she had already packed her own bag and Madeleine's, yet Caleb had ordered her to keep out of the rest of the packing, presumably so she didn't pack what he didn't deem 'essential'.

"Caleb," Maddie tugged on his sleeve, "where are we going?" She asked again as she rubbed her tired eyes with her other hand.

Caleb continued packing the essentials; Nelly assumed that he planned on leaving whether they had all of their things or not.

Maddie tugged on his sleeve once more, whining impatiently. "Caleb-"

"-WHAT?" He suddenly barked, spinning around to face his little sister.

Madeline wobbled her jaw and her tear ducts opened like Niagara, within a moment, she started bawling like a baby.

Nelly pulled Madeline back quickly, keeping her eyes on Caleb's. She noticed that his eyes had involuntarily shaded to an auburn-orange colour as he shook angrily.

He stopped what he was packing and moved towards Madeline, calming himself down. "I'm so sorry, Maddie. I didn't mean it. I'm just really stressed right now. Why don't you talk to your sister instead? She will tell you what you need to know."

Madeline seemingly calmed down after he had, and gazed into his eyes, nodding every-so-often.

She waited for him to stop talking before speaking up again. "Your eyes," she mumbled, "they're golden."

Caleb smiled slightly and glanced at Nelly before turning his attention back to Madeline. "I know, I found some contacts in a box over there. They're pretty cool, huh?"

Maddie grinned and nodded quickly, "Could I have some? Are there some pink ones?"

Caleb chuckled. "Maybe later, Princess. Okay?"

She nodded again and turned back to Nelly. "You've got some too!" She exclaimed, gesturing to Nelly's eyes.

Nelly frowned and moved to the mirror that sat on the wall in the centre of her living-room. Much to her surprise, her eyes were a deep gold colour. She gulped and chuckled nervously. "So they are."

She tugged on her eyelids curiously, but ignored it and put it down to the fact that her eyes were hazel anyway, and they just shifted towards gold in the sunlight.

Caleb stuffed everything he could carry into the car and nothing more. Before long, the three of them were taking off in the direction of Veciba, the next town over. Nelly's school was there already, so it made sense in the moment.

Madeline rested in the backseat, her head squished against the window and Nelly kept her eyes on her brother worriedly.

"What are we going to do when we reach Veciba?" She asked curiously.

Caleb grunted and readjusted his hands against the steering-wheel. "I have a friend there that owes me some favours."

"From your pack?" Nelly asked worriedly.

He let out a long, dreary sigh. "Yes, from the pack. I trust him." He glanced at Nelly almost as though he was telling her to stop asking questions.

•

The Callista Lair was well-lit, and despite it being the morning hours, not a ray of sunlight penetrated its walls.

"Whatever will we do?" Justine said worriedly.

"We will do what we can." Seth retorted.

"You don't suppose entering the Wolves territory? It's against the treaty law. We cannot cross! If we break the treaty without at least having access to the girl first, all Hell could break loose!" Carter added.

"I don't mean that," Seth growled beneath his breath, "perhaps we could strike a deal with the wolves of Veciba."

"Striking a deal with the Wolves..." Odette started.

"...Would be suicide." Odile finished. "You know how hostile they would be to us, we wouldn't stand a chance against a pack that large."

"We need to feed...but Odile and I will go if you ask of us." Odette added.

"We could send Angela, I know she would be more than happy to do this small favour for us." Carter suggested.

"She's a tracker, Carter," Seth mumbled, "she wouldn't bring her back alive, she'd bring her back in seven pieces. She would hunt and kill her for sport. Plus, she would null the treaty as void and bring nothing but chaos. We need somebody fast to beat her to the border, yet able to control their urges."

Carter glanced over at Adam. "Would you like to make yourself useful, boy?"

Adam gulped and nervously clasped his hands together. "We could let her be." He chirped.

"And what? Let the wolves get a hold of her so they can come at us full-force?" Carter growled.

"It was only a thought..." Adam quietened.

"Would you go for us?" Seth asked. "Despite not feeding, you are the fastest out of all of us combined."

Adam's eyes trailed to the ground. "I will not force her back here," he began, "but if I can convince her to come on her own accord, perhaps that would be the best way."

"Very well," Carter reluctantly agreed. "Maybe we should send the twins too, just in case he isn't as persuasive as he says."

"Certainly." Seth agreed.

Odette and Odile nodded and left the room simultaneously, with Adam in tow.

"And what of her?" Carter gestured towards Ophelia standing silently beside Seth after the three had left. "What are we do to with her?"

Seth glanced at her then glared back at Carter. "What about her?"

"You said it yourself," he adjusted his monocle to his face, "the girl fled, and if I recall correctly, the deal was that she dies if that happens. The whole reason we agreed to turn her was to get to the Fox girl, and now, since she escaped, she is of no use to us. She knew what was at stake from the moment you sunk your teeth into her."

"Why are you so eager to kill one of your own?" Seth taunted.

"I'm not eager, I simply uphold my words. Isn't that the very foundation our house is built upon?"

"Perhaps we mustn't be so hasty," Justine said softly, "she's a new-born, almost incapable of rational thinking and judgement; she most probably had no idea to what she was agreeing!"

"New-born or not, she must be punished for not being able to uphold her end of the bargain." He snapped. "And that punishment is death. Seth, I suppose you'll see to it? Seeing as you created her, it seems only fitting that you should be the one to end it." He said impatiently.

Ophelia remained silent. Hoping for asylum from somebody, but they were finished speaking. Seth glanced down at her, and with a sigh, he nodded.

"Very well," he said, "I shan't be long."

"Jolly good." Carter sighed and warmed his hands by the fire before cracking his knuckles and stretching. "Does anybody fancy a crisp white?"

Seth avoided Ophelia's gaze and hurried her into the basement. Once down there he locked the door and took a deep breath. "It won't take long, I swear. I will make it as painless as possible, you have my word."

"What good is your word if I am dead?" Ophelia snorted. She stood before him, limp, frail and defeated. "I do need you to promise me one more thing," she asked gently, "protect her, protect Nelly. Do as I ask, please."

Seth hesitated but nodded slowly.

"Promise me." She repeated sternly.

"I..." he sighed and looked away, "I promise you."

"Thank you." She said with a satisfied smile. Slowly, she closed her eyes and gave into his will.

•

"It's but three miles away." Caleb breathed. "We're almost there."

Nelly sighed, her head squished against the window. "Yes, I suppose we are."

He glanced over at his sister's gloomy expression before turning his attention back to the road. "What are you thinking?" He asked, clenching the steering wheel.

She shook her head slowly and sat up. "I'm wondering whether we did the right thing. Leaving out of the blue like that. I can't stop thinking about Ophelia."

Caleb tightened his grip on the wheel. "Nelly, she isn't even alive. That girl you once knew, she's nothing but a hollow shell now, living off of the life of others so she can keep on...wandering. It's selfish, it's cruel, it's vile and it's not something you need to concern yourself with anymore."

"Caleb I can't just go back to my normal life after this. I know things now that a few days ago I considered only fairy tales. I'm going to see the world differently. I mean, we're going to a town full of werewolves, to find your werewolf buddy to protect ourselves from vampires who want to kill me!"

Caleb sighed deeply. "I know, it's a ridiculous thing for me to ask, but could you try for me? Could you try for Madeline?"

Nelly glanced out of the window and copied her brother's sigh. "I could try, but I can't promise anyth-"

"-What the bloody Hell is that?" Caleb exclaimed.

Nelly jolted as the car came to a halt; ahead of her, a pale-looking boy around her age stood in front of the car and refused to move. "Adam?" She muttered to herself.

She unbuckled her seat-belt and opened the door.

"Nelly wait! Something is off, he doesn't have a scent. Nelly!" He called, but his voice was not heard for she was already from the car and by the boy.

He grumbled to himself and hopped out, leaving the car running.

"What's going on here, huh? Could you get out of the way of my car, mate?" He asked calmly.

Adam smiled. "Sorry, I just wanted to talk to your sister."

"How do you know-"

"-We're in the same biology class at school. I don't own a phone, and well, I wasn't sure of what other way to get the car to stop; I do apologise." He finished.

Nelly nodded. "Would you mind if I spoke with him for a moment?"

Caleb glared at Adam threateningly. "Very well. Five minutes, no more." He agreed and moved back to the car, without taking his eyes off of Adam.

Nelly shook her head in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to ask you something," his voice trailed off to glance at Caleb, "I'm awfully surprised your brother hasn't figured out what I am, he's not very bright is he?"

"Get to the point." She said impatiently.

"Alright. Ophelia is on the brink of execution and if you don't come with me right now, they're going to send a deadly tracker after you...and then nobody can protect you." He said bluntly.

"But I'm about to enter a town protected by werewolves. What is one vampire going to do against a pack of them?" She asked with a snort. 

Adam shook his head with an anxious smile. "You don't get it, this one vampire in particular has no problem with werewolves - in fact, I've physically seen her take on six." He murmured. "That's more than some packs. She will see it as a game, trying to reach you. And she will stop at nothing to get to you. You must come with me now...I don't want anything to happen to you-" Adam's sentence broke off short, "-what the Hell?"

"Nelly get away from him!" Caleb suddenly shrieked. "It's a trap, get away from him!"

Nelly looked over to the car to see the twins from before atop it, their faces full of anger and determination.

Caleb rushed to the backseat and unstrapped Madeline. "C'mon kid, we gotta get."

Madeline groaned but let Caleb pick her up just as Odile slammed her fist onto the hood of the car, leaving a giant dent. Maddie let out a scream as the sound of glass smashing forced her awake and Caleb took off towards Nelly.

"Adam?!" She yelped. "How could you-"

"-I swear, I didn't know!" He stammered and moved toward them, holding up his hand. "No! Stop!" He shouted out, holding a stand in front of Nelly.

As Caleb stormed forward, he threw Maddie aside to safety before jumping at him. As though it was nothing, Caleb suddenly phased into a gigantic timber wolf, his clothing tearing off of him as his body shifted from human to beast.

Nelly stumbled backwards and scrambled towards her sister, keeping her eyes on her werewolf brother. She grabbed a hold of Madeline and held her close into her chest, trying desperately to shield her eyes, by a nearby fallen tree.

He snarled towards where Adam had landed; he had smashed his head against a rock and was bleeding profusely.

Adam sat up slowly and held his head in anguish. Caleb stalked towards him. Maddie screamed and Nelly desperately tried to calm her; but how could she? Madeline was seeing everything first-hand before Nelly had even a chance to tell her.

"Caleb no!" Nelly called out and ran forward as he lunged for Adam who lay helplessly against the ground.

Suddenly, Caleb was ripped from his kill and brought to heel by the twins who had launched themselves at him. They hissed and he growled in return. The twins held their arms out, ready to grab him and crush him as soon as he pounced.

As he lunged forward, Caleb struck the twins before they could grab a hold of him, involuntarily swiping Nelly who stood behind them. She fell to the rocks behind her and grazed her arm across a sharp piece of flint, piercing her skin. She grabbed the cut shakily in shock and watched as when she pulled her hand away, blood trickled from her fingertips and down her forearm. She hissed at the sudden rush of pain and watched as the twins sniffed the air and turned towards Nelly.

Their attention, though, was suddenly occupied by somebody else. Adam had caught a whiff of the scent of Nelly's blood and the veins in his face were poking out of his skin as his eyes involuntarily turned black.

He let out a rabid scream before finding his adrenaline strength and sprinting for Nelly.

Caleb was about to intervene before he saw that the twins had done it for him. They used all of their strength to hold his snapping jaws back and without another moment the three of them vanished in the direction they came.

With a groan of discomfort, Caleb phased back into his human form and fell forward on his two-feet. Naked, he stumbled towards Nelly.

He reached her and said no words as he ripped a slight from her shirt and wrapped it around her wound.

His eyes welled up with tears and he sniffed. "I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am, Nelly." He whispered.

Nelly shook her head slightly and smiled gently, avoiding his gaze due to his birthday suit attire. She turned towards Madeline and walked over to her.

Her sister was shaken, and as Nelly got closer she held up a hand and shook her head rapidly.

"No, no!" She yelled with a raspy voice. It seemed 'no' was the only word currently in her vocabulary.

"It's okay," Nelly hushed, "I'm not going to hurt you. Your brother won't hurt you. He was protecting you...you saw those girls, and that other boy?" Madeline nodded slowly. "Well, they...they're the bad guys, sweetie. Not Caleb." She said hesitantly. She wasn't entirely sure if she was speaking the truth to her sister, but it made sense in the moment. The truth was, the vampires had tried to kill her, and he brother, the werewolf, had saved her life. "Come on, Maddie, we will tell you everything when we're safe."

They all stumbled towards the car; Caleb rummaged around in the boot for some clothes and Nelly got Maddie tucked in the backseat.

Once Caleb was dressed he wandered over to the driver's seat and turned the key that was still in the ignition. "C'mon," he gestured for Nelly to get in the car, "we should get that arm looked at, just to be sure."

Nelly snorted. "You have a Doctor friend now?"

"An ex-Doctor, werewolf friend."

"A renaissance man, I like him already." Nelly joked. Her tone thickened, "It was pretty terrifying seeing you phase like that," Caleb glanced at her worriedly, "but also kind of cool."

He smirked. "Yeah, we are the cooler race. A lot cooler."

"Actually, you're a lot warmer. They're ice-cold, remember?" Nelly smirked.

He chuckled into a frown. "That's why I couldn't smell the blood-sucker. He's dead, he has no scent. I should've known, I'm so sorry. It's been a while since I've done the whole wolf thing." He sighed disappointedly.

"No," Nelly replied, "blood-sucker isn't very fitting, he's a vegetarian, he has never had a sip of blood."

Caleb snorted. "Well, it sure as Hell looked like he wanted a gallon of yours."

Nelly shook her head, "It's probably the first time he had ever smelt it. He was just frenzied." She shrugged.

"Don't tell me you're actually excusing what just happened to you?" Caleb retorted.

"I'm not defending them, I'm just saying it could've been a lot worse." Nelly sighed, "In fact, it will be worse now."

"Why? What did he tell you?" Caleb asked quickly.

"He said they were going to hire a tracker, somebody that kills for sport to hunt me down. It's like-"

"-I know what a tracker is." He growled. He sighed and shook his head, "Jesus. Will it ever end?"

"Not until they have me." Nelly admitted.

Caleb turned to her protectively, and placed an hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, that will never happen."

Nelly sighed and leaned by the window. "Then it will never end."

CHAPTER FIVE, END.