Nocturnal Read online

  “You got something to tell me, boy?”

  “It’s my fault,” Salvatore said. “My pack has been following me since the day we found Pippa near New York. We knew who she was, we had spies in their library and knew about the plans to send her west. We’ve been following her since she left. My pack wanted to migrate, to find a better home, so they’ve been tracking my scent all this time, knowing I could slip into Pippa’s group. But they didn’t count on me finding real friends. Now they know about Pippa and Abby, and they’re planning to kidnap them tonight to demand control of the safehold.”

  Rathbone glanced at Rebecka, and she went to alert the troops.

  “I’m sorry, I never meant for this to happen,” Salvatore said. “I don’t want anything to happen to my friends. I never—”

  At that moment, the hyenas began to emerge from the woods. Rathbone’s soldiers raised their weapons and faced them.

  “You got one choice,” Rathbone said to the alpha leader. “You can turn back south or east and live, or all those little red dots that are shining on your people will turn into bullet holes.”

  The hyenas glanced at their chests and saw the laser dots on their chests. The alpha leader turned to his pack and released a sinister laugh. Then he turned south and led his pack away from the convoy.

  “Thank you,” Salvatore said to Rathbone, but the big man shot him a withering glance.

  “You have to leave,” Rathbone said.

  “But why? I told you the truth. I did it to protect you and your people, and my friends.”

  “Damn good thing you did, but you’re still a traitor.”

  “I tried to do the right thing.”

  “I don’t trust you. You have to leave, and you have to leave now. I suggest you head east, since your pack is going south. Now get going before I blow your brains out myself.”

  Without another word, Salvatore turned east and disappeared into the woods.

  When Abby learned from Rathbone what had happened, the news nearly sent her back to a rabid state. She didn’t know who she hated most, Rathbone for forcing Salvatore to leave or Salvatore for his betrayal.

  The convoy was soon back on the road. Rathbone and Rebecka rode together behind the flatbed, while the others stayed with the doctor. Rebecka wanted to be with Jack, but as the future leader, she knew her place was with the troops. Her duty was to protect her people.

  The convoy left Highway 5 and worked its way into the mountains on back roads. They covered their trail with teargas and smoke bombs that could mask any scent.

  Jack was unconscious, his skin as red as fire, his body covered in sweat. One curious guard bent down to check on him, and Jack morphed and bit the guard’s neck. The man screamed as blood poured from his jugular. Aiden, Piper, Pippa, and Abby fought to rescue the guard, but it was useless. Jack didn’t let go until he was finished.

  The guard lay on the bed of the truck, convulsing until he went limp. Seconds later, he opened eyes that were pure black. He began hissing and screaming. Aiden silenced him with a tranquilizer gun.

  Jack was shrieking and struggling against his restraints. When he snapped one, Aiden morphed and pinned his hand with his reptilian claw. He remembered the words of the three beings who had saved Jack’s life. Aiden’s mission was to protect the doctor.

  Jack stared at him and finally relaxed. “I understand now,” he whispered.

  Aiden knew the doctor’s transformation was over. He released his grip from the doctor’s wrist and unlocked the remaining restraints.

  “You better watch your back,” Jack said as Rathbone laid his plans out before them all, concealing the fact that he planned to shake the nocturnals as well. “I can’t smell the ferals for some reason, but I know they won’t give up. In fact, I can’t smell much of anything.” Jack sat on a folding chair, too weak to stand, recovering from his metamorphosis. It was dusk, and the convoy had stopped for the night.

  “Maybe it’s the change, doc,” Rathbone said. “I’m sure your smeller will come back.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Jack replied. “I’m just so tired.”

  “We all are, doc, but maybe this will help you rest,” Rathbone said as he stabbed Jack with a tranquilizer dart. The doctor’s mouth fell open, and the guard who had been turned into a nocturnal came to his defense. Rathbone stuck the man with a second tranquilizer dart.

  “Was that necessary?” Rebecka asked.

  “Yes,” Rathbone replied. “I was going to ask you to do it, but I knew you’d let personal feelings get in the way. If you’re going to be a leader, you can’t let that happen.”

  Rebecka nodded, and she and Aiden and Piper got the doctor back on the flatbed and covered him in salve.

  The convoy continued on under a starless sky, their headlights extinguished, werecats at the wheel of every vehicle. Their destination was only hours away, but the recent rainstorms had washed out many of the roads, making the ascent into the mountains more difficult than they had anticipated. Two hours in, they stopped on the approach to a bridge. The span was washed out, and Rathbone knew it would take four or five hours to detour around the ravine.

  “I don’t like it,” Rathbone muttered to Rebecka. “This will cost us too much time. And our werecats can’t even sniff if we’re being surrounded by ferals.”

  “I’ll head back to speak with all the drivers,” Rebecka said. “I’ll let them know we’re working on a new route.”

  Rathbone heard a noise and spun around to stare at the woods. Eyes were shining there. “Ferals,” Rathbone shouted.

  Pippa, Abby, and Piper leaped from the flatbed, leaving Aiden and a handful of soldiers to guard Jack and the newly turned nocturnal. The three women morphed, and Rathbone heard growling as several hundred other werecats morphed. As he drew his sidearm, he saw hundreds of hyenas—not ferals—emerge from the woods. They swarmed into the temporary mountainside camp, and another battle was on.

  Release me, release me, the doctor whispered to himself softly, sensing the attack. Release me, release me. The words became louder, cutting through the veil of fog that held him captive. “Release me!” he finally screamed aloud, the words ringing out in the covered flatbed, startling his guards.

  He opened his eyes, and the last shreds of gray dissolved. He sat up and slowly got to his feet. He looked at Aiden and the guards, who were watching him. The doctor nodded ever so slightly at Aiden and morphed. He ran to the back of the flatbed and leaped out, then spread his wings and took to the sky.

  Jack Tanner glided on the air like a hawk riding thermal currents. He wheeled about and attacked a hyena and then continued to attack them one by one. But the hyenas kept coming.

  On the ground, two hyenas attacked Rathbone at the same time. He was on his way down, when Piper, in her werecat form, slashed both hyenas at the same time and ripped out their throats. Rathbone reloaded and returned to the fight.

  “Salvatore’s pack must have joined with another pack,” he yelled to Rebecka, who stood back to back with him.

  “We need to get the doctor and the girls out of here!” she yelled back.

  “We have to kill the alpha leader, and we’ve got to kill him fast,” Rathbone shouted back.

  They scanned the grounds for the hyena leader and saw him fifty yards away, leading a group of hyenas on an assault against Pippa and Abby. Piper was trying to reach her daughters. The girls fought ferociously, but there were too many hyenas, and they went down under the onslaught.

  A chilling scream filled the air. They looked up and saw a nocturnal standing on top of a vehicle, screaming to the air. His call was returned, and dots appeared on the darkened skyline. The nocturnals had found their leader. The winged creatures fell upon the hyenas with a ferocity no one had ever witnessed before. Fear spread through the two packs of hyenas, but the fight carried on. Rathbone and Rebecka watched in horror as Pippa and Abby were taken away.

  The alpha leader ordered a retreat. Jack directed his nocturnals to the girls’ aid, but
the hyenas packed in tighter together, protecting their prey. The alpha leader laughed, but his laughter was silenced as a young hyena appeared from the woods.

  Salvatore challenged the leader head on, a challenge for control of the pack. The pack made way, forming a circle for the fight to come. Pippa and Abby screamed but were held tight by their captors as nocturnals, werecats, and humans fought to reach them. Jack hovered over the circle, watching, waiting.

  “Stop the fight,” Rathbone yelled up to Jack. And then his mind was filled with the doctor’s words.

  I cannot. This is our only hope. This is a fight to the death for Salvatore to regain his honor and control the pack. If he succeeds, he will become alpha leader.

  The fight commenced, and the alpha leader quickly pinned Salvatore to the ground. The slightest twist of the leader’s grip would snap Salvatore’s neck. Salvatore heard Abby scream his name. The sound of emotion leaking from her cry filled the young hyena with renewed strength. He was fueled by love. Salvatore howled, a scream of control and new power. Fighting against the alpha leader’s grip, Salvatore howled and morphed more deeply than he ever had. In an instant, he thrust his hand into the alpha leader’s throat. The surprised creature fell on his side, choking on his own blood. Salvatore climbed to his feet and looked down at the dead alpha leader. Then he screamed into the night. The hyenas bowed before him.

  “Release the girls,” he demanded. The hyenas did as commanded. Pippa and Abby ran to him and wrapped their arms around him. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. Rathbone, Rebecka, Aiden, and Piper worked through the pack and entered the circle.

  “Looks like you’ve redeemed yourself, son,” Rathbone said.

  “Hyenas, acknowledge your new alpha leader,” Salvatore roared. The hyenas cackled in unison and bowed to the ground.

  “They can’t come with us,” Rathbone said to Salvatore. “But you can.”

  Jack descended to the ground next to them. “The hyenas can be trusted now,” he said. “They now follow Salvatore, as the nocturnals follow me.”

  Salvatore spoke aloud. “Hyenas, as your new alpha leader, I affirm that our pack is changing our ways. This is a new world, and we can’t take what we want just to survive. We must begin to work together, to rediscover civilized behavior. I will help lead you into the future, but not as your controller. We must work together with the humans, werecats, and nocturnals to establish a new system of leadership in order to survive as an equal race. This is my decree.”

  “Well put,” Rathbone said, patting the boy on the back.

  Abby took his hand as the entire group cheered. “I forgive you,” she said before kissing him.

  Over the next few hours, the groups worked together to bury the dead and tend to the wounded. Salvatore’s speech had dissolved the groups’ hatreds, if only for a few hours. They all knew it would be a long road to forgiveness and trust.

  The wind began to clear the smoke bombs that camouflaged their scents, and the smell of ferals filtered into the woods. In response, Jack sent his nocturnals into the air to scout the area before the sun returned.

  “I believe the two groups of hyenas have led the ferals right to us,” Jack said to Rathbone. “Not intentionally, but their scent was easy for the ferals to track.”

  “Should we post a rear guard until we work the convoy around the mountain?” Rebecka asked.

  “They’re still a ways off from us,” Jack replied. “But it would be wise to send some men behind us as we work our way around.”

  “I’ll send the hyenas,” Salvatore said. “Let them prove their worth.”

  “Will you go, or will you send the other pack’s leader?” Abby asked.

  “There is no other leader, but I’ll stay with you,” Salvatore replied.

  “What happened to the other alpha leader?” Aiden asked.

  “He’s dead,” Salvatore said. “That’s how we take control of another pack—we kill the alpha leader, which have all been males since the Fallout. That’s another result of the virus.”

  “Just so you know,” Rathbone said, while pointing his thumb at himself. “You try to kill this alpha leader, I’ll slit you ear to ear.”

  Salvatore’s jaw dropped, but then he saw Rathbone smile.

  “All jokes aside, keep your hyenas on a leash, boy,” Rathbone said. “I still don’t totally trust them.”

  With hundreds of hyenas guarding the path behind them, the convoy worked westward and reached another bridge four hours later. The road was much rougher and delayed their ascent, but they were nearly home and were able to contact home base via shortwave radio. Hundreds of scouts and guards from the Olympic Mountain safehaven began appearing in the woods to welcome their brothers and sisters.

  “So close, yet so far away,” Rathbone muttered. His Jeep was overflowing with passengers who refused to be separated. In the back, Pippa sat on Aiden’s lap, while Abby sat on Salvatore’s. Rebecka scrunched next to Piper as Rathbone drove, and Jack hovered above them.

  Aiden knew that Jack was blind, but the beings had said his other senses would heighten. Recalling what he knew of bats, he figured the doctor now relied on echo location. Aiden’s train of thought was broken as man-made lights began to filter through the woods. They reached the top of the mountain, and the hidden safehold known as the city of Olympia opened before them.

  The forest city was the most beautiful thing Pippa and Abby had ever seen, a place of brick and mortar and huts woven into trees, covering acres of land. The sheer size of the place was overwhelming, and Pippa wondered how many thousands of her own kind existed in this hidden paradise.

  “This is just the capital,” Rathbone said. “There are many smaller villages spread all over the mountainside. I live farther north, near the water.”

  As the sun began to rise, Jack dropped to the Jeep and leaned against the roll bars. He closed his black, blind eyes to protect them from the light. Though he couldn’t see the sun, it felt uncomfortably hot on his skin.

  They rolled into the city, and hundreds of residents greeted them. The small group that had traveled together from New York and Athens felt as if they’d finally found a home.

  A woman wearing long colorful robes approached the Jeep.

  “Prophetess Mariana,” Rathbone said, lowering his tone. Pippa knew by the sound of his voice that he cared little for the woman.

  The woman smiled at the big man. “I see you’ve played your part in bringing the prophecy to fruition. These must be Piper’s girls, eh?”

  “Yes, Prophetess, they are Pippa and Abby.”

  The prophetess looked at Jack. “And you must be the winged one, the one who holds the knowledge of the cure.”

  Jack made no reply.

  “Please, all of you, come, we have no time to waste. The prophecy says ferals will arrive two days hence. We must create the cure!”

  The woman turned and disappeared in the crowd.

  Other residents came to help the newcomers. Pippa and her friends were taken to a large stone building in the center of town where they bathed and were fed. Afterwards, Pippa and Abby and Jack were taken to another building that looked like a hospital. Soon Piper arrived, holding hands with a dark-haired man, but they stepped aside as another group appeared and approached Jack.

  “You must be Dr. Jack Tanner,” one of them said. “I’m Dr. Timothy Adel, and this is my wife, Dr. Angelica Adel. We’ve reviewed your blood samples. The results are quite amazing. We’re here to assist you. And we have some live feral test subjects already prepared.”

  Jack turned to Abby and Pippa. “I’ll need more of your blood.”

  After the blood samples were drawn, Pippa turned to her mother. “Who’s your friend, momma?” Pippa said the word as if she and Abby had known their mother all their lives.

  “This is Gabriel, my husband.”

  “Wait a minute,” Abby said. “Is this the same Gabriel from New York?”

  “Yes,” the man said. “Abby, I’m your father. Pippa I’m your uncl
e.”

  Dr. Jack Tanner turned to Gabriel. “No, actually, you’re father to both,” he said.

  “No, Jack, that’s not possible,” Piper said.

  Jack sniffed the air. “It’s true. I can smell the bond between the four of you. It’s the same. We can do blood tests to prove it.”

  “But how?” Gabriel asked.

  Jack shrugged. “I don’t know, but maybe the man you thought was her father was sterile.”

  “Let it be true,” Piper whispered.

  An assistant withdrew blood from Gabriel as he looked at the girls. “It doesn’t matter if it’s true,” he said. “I’ll be a father to both of you.”

  Abby and Pippa looked at him and then at each other. Tears were sliding down their cheeks.

  “Rebecka, I need your help,” Jack said, closing his blind, yet light-sensitive eyes. “I’d feel more comfortable if you could be my eyes.”

  “I’ll be here for as long as you need me, Jack,” she said.

  Rebecka led the doctor through the room as he directed the Adels on how to mix the blood samples between Abby and Pippa. Once completed, they performed tests on the feral subjects. As the creatures were injected, they scowled and howled in protest for several minutes, until their catlike features faded, revealing near humans, frightened and confused, but normal.

  “This is amazing,” Dr. Timothy Adel said. “How did you know how to create the cure?”

  “I can access knowledge outside of me,” Jack replied, thinking of the three beings hidden hundreds of miles away. “Speaking of which, Gabriel’s blood tests are done, and it’s as I said. Gabriel is father to both Pippa and Abby.”

  The family reunion and celebration sparked by the good news was short-lived. Gabriel had to go on a scouting mission in one of the planes.

  “Leave that until tonight,” Jack said. “My nocturnals will report back to me about the approaching ferals.”

  “We can’t wait,” Gabriel said. “And as leader of the scouting patrol as well as this community, it’s my duty.”

  “Then your duty will leave you dead,” Jack said.