WATCH HER DIE (Shifter Series Book 2)

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE SECOND ENCOUNTER

Kevin stood up from the bench and trudged towards the birds. As he neared, he noticed they were the same crows from his dream. The crows stopped to stare at him in a way that struck him as odd. He quivered at the sight of their scary red eyes looking up at him and stopped dead in his track. They let out loud caws, as though they perceived him as a threat. Then they spread their wings and found flight.

Almost immediately, a flurry breeze blew in his direction, brisk, cool. He heard a voice from the wind call out Natasha’s name in a faint whisper. The voice was clear as day. He’d heard the same voice last night—in his dream. There was no mistake.

Kevin’s eyes widened when he suddenly realised he was reliving a moment—a moment that had already happened in his dream. He knew what was going to happen next. Heart pounding against his chest, he took out his phone to call Derik.

“Derik,” Kevin said as soon as he heard his voice over the phone, “I saw the vision again last night, and it’s already happening as we speak! T-Murek is going to kidnap Natasha. Rush over to William’s. He might already be there.”

Derik immediately hung up.

Kevin dashed into Landry’s car. “Natasha’s house, now!” he blurted out.

“The hell!? What’s going on?” Landry asked, looking around, momentarily confused. “Is someone after you?”

“Just drive, I’ll explain on the way!” he thundered.

Landry started the car engine and drove out of the park, into the road. It was a fifteen-minute drive. When they finally arrived at William’s residence, Kevin quickly pushed the door open and dashed out of the car. He ran along the walkway leading up onto the front porch. Standing at the door, he knocked, shaking with impatience, huffing and puffing.

A loud noise of something breaking inside startled him—sounded like a glass object scattering on the floor. The noise was immediately followed by what sounded like gunshots, and he quickly ducked. He scampered away from the door to the side, leaning back against the wall, chest heaving. Many questions were running through his mind.

When the noises died out for a moment, he forcefully kicked the door open and rushed inside. His eyes went round as he took in the sight of the room which was in such shambles. Broken glass and household furniture lay on the floor. The television set had been smashed to pieces. A broken lamp lay on the floor. He was alarmed when he saw the blood that was sprinkled on the floor.

He pressed his hands to his ears when another loud gunshot came ripping across all four corners—it came from one of the rooms inside. He knew what was going on. Everything was happening just as he’d seen in his dream.

He rushed to the room where he’d heard the gunshot and stood at the door; it was Natasha’s room. He hesitated for a fraction of second, because he was scared to face her—or guilty. The memory of the kiss they’d shared played in his mind. Then came the slap. And the warning—Don’t do that to me again. It left him feeling miserable.

Another gunshot rang out from inside the room, followed by Natasha’s loud screaming. He quickly pushed the door to open and dashed inside. Horror transformed his face at what he saw.

T-Murek was holding William against the wall. Natasha sat on the far corner of the bed that was closest to the wall, watching with frightful eyes. Kevin’s eyes were drawn to the gun lying on the linoleum beneath William’s feet. Then T-Murek slowly turned to look at him. Kevin swallowed hard. His legs, now having a will of their own, moved backward. He was terrified of T-Murek.

T-Murek quickly let go of William and dashed towards him.

Kevin gasped, eyes widening.

William dropped to the floor. He let out a shrill as his ankle gave out.

Kevin watched with frightened eyes as T-Murek trotted towards him with an impelling momentum. He became horror-stricken at the loud gunshot that sounded from behind, and instantly, T-Murek dropped before him. Blood smeared the wall.

Kevin heard a gun c****d behind him and threw his hands in the air in a quick surrender. He slowly turned to see who had fired at T-Murek and found relief when he saw Derik. “Oh, thank God you’re here.”

Derik again fired at T-Murek as he struggled to get up on his feet. The bullet embedded in his left shoulder, causing him a great deal of pain. Exhausted and in deep pain, T-Murek collapsed back onto the floor. Derik pulled back the hammer to fire at him again—this time at his head, but then T-Murek transformed.

Brown furs grew from his skin; they covered the wounds on his shoulder. Fangs shot out through his lips, and his eyes' colour deepened. T-Murek let out an angry roar and snarled at Derik, his body visibly vibrating—ready to pounce on him.

Derik levelled the gun at him, looking through the aim to fire, finger jogging the trigger, but T-Murek trotted towards him. Sharp claws sprang from his fingers as he slapped the gun from Derik’s grip. He picked him up and pinned him against the wall as if he weighed nothing, then clutched his neck and stared directly at him, growling.

His beastly hands were huge and rough around Derik’s neck. His claws dug into his flesh. It drew blood. Then came another loud gunshot that echoed off the room. Blood spilled from T-Murek’s back. The Beast roared angrily and turned to see who’d fired at him. He found Kevin holding William’s revolver, looking through the sight to aim at him. His fingers were getting ready to fire at him again.

T-Murek quickly threw Derik in his direction. They both fell backward, and T-Murek fled, escaping through the window. His blood stained the window frame. Natasha whimpered as she sat at the edge of her bed, her body trembling as she watched everything that transpired.

Derik scampered to her soon after he was gone, holding her hands, cupping her cheek, ruffling her hair. “Are you alright?”

Natasha nodded her head like a frightened little girl, tears streaming from her eyes. Kevin thought he was being too intimate with Natasha and got a little jealous. He knew he had no right to be angry, but then he couldn’t help it.

The blood gushing from Derik’s neck terrified her. “Oh my God! You’re hurt.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

She turned to gaze at her dad, who seemed to be in quite some pain. “Please help him. We need to rush him to a hospital. He’s seriously hurt.”

Derik—leaping, rushed to William to examine him. “Call an ambulance, he’s bleeding!” he yelled.

Kevin turned to scrutinise Derik. He’d been injured badly and was bleeding seriously. Something didn’t seem right. It appeared T-Murek had just been playing around with them. He already had Mr William beaten, and Derik was no challenge either. Neither was he. T-Murek could have easily taken Natasha at that very moment, in his transformed state — if he wanted, and no one could have stopped him. But he didn’t. Instead, he chose to flee without taking Natasha. Why?

Kevin’s mind went back to the day T-Murek had first attempted to kidnap Natasha at De-Laurel. He had stabbed Derik multiple times, and Kevin was powerless against him—even though he’d been armed with Derik’s gun. Yet T-Murek fled when he could still put up a fight and take Natasha with him.

Some things were just not adding up, and it bothered Kevin. T-Murek would be back again—he knew—and this time, it might be sooner than he expect. But how soon?