The Human Mate

My sister and I snuggle into the covers on the air mattress inside the tent. My father, sister, and I love the outdoors, so we have made it a habit to go camping every fall once the weather gets more manageable. My sister and I shared a tent while our father was in another tent about fifteen feet away. It was part of our bonding time after my mother left us for a much younger man, a man that is only two years older than me. "How you girls doing in there?" Our father asked us from outside the tent. "We're doing good, but what are you doing up?" My sister, Lily, asked. It wasn't unusual for our father to be outside late at night. He always said it brought him peace and he wanted to make sure that we were safe. "I heard a noise so I'm just going to check it out, nothing to worry about." I could hear him c**k his shotgun. I know he likes to be prepared, but that just seems extreme to just be checking for a noise. Dad became different after mom left, not in that he loved us differently, but because of the fact that he got a workshop and got really into guns. I never understood it but it seemed like it gave him another chance at life and a reason to go on. My mother was his whole world and when she left, she shattered his heart. He moped around for weeks, barely ate, and stopped taking care of us. After mom left, I really had to step up and make sure my sister and I were cared for, made sure every bill was paid for on time, and made sure that we had food on the table. I almost dropped out of school so I could work full time to provide for us, but I knew our dad wouldn't like that, even if he couldn't be bothered right now. A grunt of pain knocked me out of my thoughts, and straight into panic mode. Lily had fallen asleep sometime while I was thinking back on the past, so she was unaware of the sounds I was hearing. A shot going off had me jumping off the makeshift bed and grabbing onto the hunting knife I always carried with me. Dad taught me how to fight in hand to hand combat and how to fight with my hunting knife. I never understood why, but I finally did as the grunts of pain got louder. I stepped out of the tent and zipped it close, not wanting anything to happen to Lily. My hands were sweating but my grip on the knife never faltered. I heard my dad yell to run but I was frozen in that moment, not knowing what to do. I could listen to him and leave with my sister, or I could go and help him but leave my sister by herself. She was 14 but she never took fighting lessons and it was my job to protect her. With that in my mind, I hastily unzipped the tent and shook Lily awake. "Lils, we got to get up and run to the car. When we get out, just make a run for it and don't wait for me." I tell her as I hand her the keys to the car. She may not know how to fight, but she sure did know how to drive. Which wasn't surprising considering she stole the car for joy rides starting from when she was twelve years old. I dont know if it was the urgency in my voice or seeing the knife in my hand, but Lily shot up and put her jacket on. We rushed putting our boots on, not bothering to lace them up. It was when we got out of the tent that I realized I could no longer hear my dad but could still hear footsteps making their way towards us. I pushed Lily behind me and started to walk backwards towards the car. We had to hike a little way to find our favorite clearing and that thought just made me more nervous. We heard a twig snap not that far in front of us and I made the decision that I would stay and fight to protect my sister. "Remember when I said to run and don't look back? Do that now. Run to the car and lock the doors. If I don't make it there then drive off without me. Dont hesitate or wait, just drive and save yourself." I gave her instructions and just hope she would follow. I could feel her squeeze my arm three times which was our way of saying I love you. I reached back and squeezed her hand three times before I felt her take off running for the car, leaving me to defend not only myself but her as well. I heard another twig snap in front of me and I strained my eyes to see anything, something. A growl made me tighten my grip on my knife and get into my fighting stance, bending my knees and putting a foot forward. What I saw come into the clearing was definitely not what I expected but scared me all the same. Two men in tattered clothes stepped into the clearing, but it wasn't their clothes that had me shaking in my boots, literally. The fact that their clothes were covered in blood and their eyes were glowing yellow; not to mention that their canines were longer than normal. All in all, they looked like something out of a horror movie. "Well, it looks like the old man had some company." The man on the right said while looking at me hungrily. I felt that I could take them, even if their appearance scared me to no end. The man on the left tilted his head up and sniffed the air before smirking at me and laughing. "Looks like there were two of them here.” I couldn't let him get past me to Lily. They both started to walk towards me but the man on the right was closest. I waited for him to get close enough before swinging my knife at his stomach, just barely slicing it as I did. He hissed in pain and brought his hand up striking me in my cheek. I've taken hits before during training, but none have ever hurt that badly, my cheek was numb, but I could tell I was bleeding. I turned around and drove the knife into his body, trying to hurt him wherever I could. I ended up stabbing him in his shoulder, turning the knife and taking it back out. He grabbed his shoulder in pain and I wasted no time in running towards the car. I was halfway there when I realized I couldnt see the other man, the one that was on the left. While I was thinking of whether or not to keep running, a strong force rammed into me and knocked me into the tree beside me. My vision went blurry, my ears were ringing, and my body was on fire not being able to get enough oxygen in my body. I sucked in air trying to breathe but I started to violently cough, not helping the burning sensation throughout my body. I searched for my knife that I dropped when I got shoved into the tree. I felt like Velma when she loses her glasses. The only difference is that mine is a matter of life or death. While I'm searching for it, I get pulled up by my hair to my feet. A muffled scream comes out of my mouth, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of knowing how much pain I was in. "Now why don't you be a good girl and just give up. You humans are all the same, thinking you can take us on." He smiles at me, showing me his extended canines. I was focused more on his eyes and teeth than the fact that he said us humans. What he didn't know was I had found my knife and got it ready to attack in my hand. He only found out I had it when it was too late and plunged in his stomach. I twisted it to cause more damage and took it back out before plunging it back into his stomach again. He let me go and I dropped to my knees, but I was not there by accident. I kick my feet at his legs and knock him to the ground before kicking him in the stomach and taking off again. My adrenaline was so high that any pain I had previously felt, dissipated to the back of my mind. My feet pounded on the ground at a fast pace, trying to get away from whoever those men were. I heard growls in front and behind me, halting me in my tracks. I put my back against a tree so I couldn't be attacked from the back, whipping my head from the left and right to see my potential threats. I expected the same men to be on my sides, but there was the man who started on the right side along with a new man. I was ready to fight my way out to get to my sister, ready to take these men down. They didnt make a move to come towards me which scared me more than if they ran right at me. The new man on my left growled and caught my attention just as he started running and jumped in the air. My breath caught in my throat as the man didn't land as a human, but as an auburn wolf, snapping his mouth at me. I didnt know what to do except run, I didnt care where as long as it was away from that beast. I made it a short distance before once again I fell to the ground, I didn't understand why until I felt the searing pain in my side. A scream was heard throughout the forest, coming from my mouth and not stopping anytime soon. I looked down where the pain was radiating from only to see claw marks deep in my side, blood oozing out from the wounds. I applied pressure to my wounds, but the blood was not stopping, and neither was the pain. My vision starting blurring and the pain started to fade to the back of my mind, my breathing slowing down. I was conscious enough to hear a powerful growl come from behind me, louder than the other growls I had heard. This is how I go, I thought in my head as I heard the paws of the wolf get closer to my shaking body. Through my blurry eyesight I saw a black wolf attack the man and the auburn wolf, hearing screams of the man and whimpers of the wolf. I muttered a please, but even I dont know which way I meant it. Please end my suffering or please spare me so I can take care of my family or whoever is left of my family. I saw the black wolf turn into a man and while everything was out of focus, I could see him reach a hand out to touch me. I flinch back and want to crawl away and find my sister, but my body had other plans, it stated shutting down and my eyelids started to weigh a couple tons. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as my breathing started to even out, so I let my body shut down with only one thought in my head; please let my sister be safe.