The wind blows through my locs and sends a shiver up my spine. I grip onto Vanesa’s arm with one hand, and the other is scraping against the side of the cliff we had dived off of. My who body jerks as finally we get lucky, and I catch onto a chunk that’s stable enough to hold both of us. My breath comes out in little huffs, and my body trembles. Oh, Goddess, that was close. I lean my forehead against the rocks, and after a second look down.

Vanessa’s eyes are blown wide and keep fidgeting from where we fell to my face. She goes to open her mouth before I see a beam of light coming from up above. I flatten as to the side of the cliff as much as I can. I swing Vanessa against it and hope that I didn’t bang her up too much.

“You see anything?” It’s the man, Marcus, from earlier.

“Negative, sir.”

“Dammit, the Commander’s going to have our asses. All right, everyone pull out in five.”

“Copy, sir.” The answer echoes from up above.

“So which one do you think did that to Wasp?” The footsteps are further, and I can still clearly make out what they’re saying.

“Had to have been the shapeshifter. We checked the girl for weapons. Not our fault if Wasp made the rookie mistake of not checking.”

“Right. Besides y’all forgetting one fact.” This one sounds like Sloth.

“What’s that?”

“He was a Shapeshifter.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s that dumb thinking that got Wasp killed.” Marcus joins back in, and I can hear his footsteps as they come closer to the edge. “Weres can have superior strength in their human forms. Some do, and some don’t at least it appears that way. He could have done that with a knife, but for all, we know he struck his hand through him.”

“Are you serious? They don’t tell us that in training.”

“There’s a lot they don’t tell you in training. Alright, let’s get going. Rather not lose another man tonight. Jeez, can already see all the damn paperwork I’m going to have to fill out.”

“Grab Wasp’s body, Sir?”

“No, leave him for the Ghouls. At least it’ll distract any from coming after us.” I hear his heart skip a beat at the slight lie he just told his men. So dear Marcus knows more than he’s saying.

“Ouch never pictured that Wasp would become Bobby chow.”

“Rat, please, if you must make fun of the dead, at least use the proper term.”

“Sorry, Sir.” They all trudge away, and I hear several engines roar to life. I wait for a long while before I dare to move. Gently I bring up my arm that Vanessa limply hangs from the end of, and bring her to my back. She doesn’t grip my shoulder, and I have to shake her to get her to respond.

“Nessa come on; I would rather not stay here all night.” I heave a sigh as she tightens her hold on my neck. I reach up to my now free hand and try to find a way to grasp at the wall. None of it’s smooth, but everything is either too hard or unstable to continue up. In frustration, I slam my finger into the wall and groan once they go through a little bit.

I lean against the wall, but soon enough, start the slow destination upward. Over and over again, I burrel my fingertips through the hardened rock and dirt. Pausing, I pull my hand away and grimace at the slippery blackened blood that stains the wall. Great, we’re off to a beautiful start. We’re near to the top, and I take a slight break to catch my break.

My heart drops as I feel Nessa start to slip off my shoulders. She lets out a high pitched squeak that has my ears ringing. Her hands catch onto my belt, and I nearly lose my hold on the wall.

“What the fuck were you doin’?” I clench my teeth and breathe out through my nose.

“N-nothing, I’m sorry,” she sheepishly responds.

“You didn’t fall asleep, did you?”

“No, how could you accuse me of such things?”

“Nessa, we are literally hangin’ from a wall, and you think this is the time to catch some z’s.” I’m unimpressed with her. “I thought you were better than that, Witchy.”

“I am sorry. I think the adrenaline leaving just sucked all the life out of me.”

“It’s fine, just don’t let it happen again.” I plunge my nails higher up and continue our journey to the top. “Not all of us have fancy witch powers. If you fall, I ain’t catchin’ you. I can’t catch you. Understand.” My voice is thick, and I clear my throat a little.

“Yeah. Sorry, Nate.”

“It’s fine.” I can see the edge, and of course, at that moment, I feel my pants begin to slip. “You have gotta be kiddin’ me. Nessa, you gotta climb up higher.” She grunts, and I can hear her going higher before her grip slips back down. I stop and groan, banging my head on the loosened dirt.

“I can’t.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Just hold on tight. I’m gonna go faster.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Okay.” I make a couple of jumps and just reach the top as I feel my pants fall to my thighs. Oh, Goddess, whatever I have done to offend you, I humbly apologize and beg forgiveness. “Nate,” she howls out. I reach down as she finally loses her grapes on my pants. Unfortunately, I neglected my hold on the wall in the process, and I feel as gravity starts to pull us down.

I scarp along the wall, trying to find any purchase but only grapple at loose dirt. Well, A+ for trying, I suppose. Just as my fingers slipped off of the wall, a hand grabs my wrist holding me in place. I look up, and there’s Samuel slowly pulling us up.

“You sure are a handful, boy.” He glares down at me before reaching down for Vanessa. I lift her up, and he quickly pulls her up; he then pulls me up all the way. I quickly bring my pants back up to my hips. “Might want to tighten that belt next time.” I open my mouth to respond before a scent hits my nose. I stalk away from them and to the carcass of Wasp.

No other Bobbies were out there though that’s not a surprise. If one looks, there’s plenty of corpses, old and fresh, littered around. The only real thing that can draw them out is the scent of blood being pumped through living veins. But the body is just lying there in front of me. I’m kneeling down and about to sink my fangs in the meat when someone pulls me away.

It’s Samuel. I push at him, but he quickly throws me to the floor of the desert. He’s sitting on my chest, preventing me from getting up. I scream in his face, but all that does is make the drool pooling in my mouth to droop down my neck. I thrash and shove at him, but he’s unmoving. Eventually, I have no choice but to lay there and gaze back up at the stars.

“Nate, can you hear me.” I flick my eyes Samuel’s, and his shoulders sag downward. “Do you always act that feral?”

“Not towards Witchy.”

“Of course. Should have figured you’d soften for a pretty face.”

“We ain’t like that.” I don’t feel like explaining it’s not her looks that drew me. It’s never people’s looks. She cares about me, and that is the most crucial factor. Most people don’t understand this, though. Samuel hops off me, but his eyes don’t leave mine.

“C’mon boy, let’s go for a walk.”

“I don’t think so,” Nessa spits out. Her eyes have darkened, and her stance is tense.

“Yeah, I have to agree with the little girl.” Dewit steps forward and just misses the venomous look that Nessa shoots him with. The others obviously have self-preservation as they take a big step away from her. “This boy obviously has no control. You can’t think that going off with him is a good idea.”

“Are you questioning me, Dewitt?” Samuel stares him down, and I can feel the rage that waves off of him.

“No, of course not Samuel, but we have to think about this.”

“I have thought about this. Trust me, this is the best course of action we can take.” He grabs my shoulder and pushes me away from them. He pauses before walking back towards them. For a moment, I think he’s changed his mind. He swoops by the body and pulls off a chunk of the neck about his hand's size. He nudges his head forward, and I start to move again.

----------------------------------------

We walk a little ways out, and even in the silence of the night, I know nobody will be able to hear our conversation. I try to turn my head every so often to see the meat again, but Samuel lets loose a growl that has the hairs on my neck standing at attention. I wouldn’t even call it fear, but something in me wants to listen to that warning he gives.

“All right, let’s stop here.” He turns toward me but still a couple of arm lengths away. He starts to circle me. He’s in front of me, letting me dead in the eye. I hold it for all of a second before the desert floor takes all of my attention. You’d think that in a terrain that is smoldering all day, it’ll be the same at night. Nope. I can feel the cold seeping into my legs, and I’m just thankful I still wore all my layers today. I would tell Vanessa how right I was, but then she might really set me on fire, and I wouldn’t want that. “Nate.” I bring my eyes back up but still refuse to speak. “Ignatius, if you want to act like a pup, I can treat you like one.”

“How do you even know that name?” Mom doesn’t even use it like that. Or she didn’t use it like that. I bite my lip and scuff at the sand, kicking it up into the air.

“Yeah, well, Amelia and I go way back.”

“Oh, yea?”

“I know a bit about each of you brats. D and his kids. Karl and his poor life decisions. Should I go on?”

“Nah, I get the point.”

“But it’s around ten years ago that I really remember.”

“And you’re gonna keep goin’.”

“She calls me all heartbroken. Her littlest baby was gone, and she doesn’t know if he ran away or just never came home.” He walks forward until we’re nose to nose, and it takes everything in me not to edge back. I look up slightly, and for the first time, I notice he’s a little taller than me at my six feet and some inches. “Do you know what it’s like when your child goes missing, and you have no idea where they are?” I steadily shake my head. “Use your words, Ignatius.”

“No, Sir.”

“Then what the hell were you thinking?” he exclaims. Did you think she wouldn’t love you any more or give you up to the NTSCU? She’s not that kind of person. Your family is not those kinds of people.”

“I know that. You think I don’t know that?” Twirling around, I start to viciously tug at my locs. I pace in front of Samuel, my mouth forming words though none fall from my lips.

“Come on, Nate, explain this to me. Don’t you think she at least deserves that much?”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s en route to Huxley as we speak.”

“What but how I-I mean what-”

“I knew who you were the moment I saw you. Your mother has been looking for you a long time now.”

“She’s been looking this whole time?” My voice is soft and whispering. If I didn’t know any better, I’d never know the words had ever left my mouth.

“Yeah, she has. I always thought she was crazy for not giving up on you. I mean these days, it’s not unheard of to hear of kids just going missing after leaving a campground for a second.” I nod along with his words though I really have no idea what he means. “Honestly, I thought it was going to be a close and shut thing, but then…”

“I turned out to be a Bobby,” I state and turn my head away, unable to meet his eyes. Thus the reason for my leaving was showing its ugly mug, at least part of it.

“Yeah. You hid it so well that it wasn’t until everybody was sitting down and eating that we started to realize.”

“Really? Guess my acting skills are on point then. So what gave me away?”

“Your lack of an appetite.”

“Yeah, well, you try to eat food that smells like shit.”

“That’s what I’m not understanding. Why don’t you control yourself better? Biting Vanessa. Going feral like that. If I didn’t know any better, I was sure you had Rot.”

“Well, I don’t know. I guess I’m just bad at controlling myself. Next time I’ll just wait until we come across a stranger and go straight for the jugular.”

“Nate… I’m not knocking your food options. I understand you have little choice, but there are other options.”

“Yeah, like what,” I tensely question. I start pushing on his chest. “You don’t think I’ve tried everything? I’ve tried food, but that just comes back up. I’ve tried just meat, and I can stomach it for a while, but after a while, it made me so sick I thought I was dying. Blood...all blood does it take the edge off. So tell me all-powerful and knowing Samuel what the hell should I do,” I bellow in his face.

I put more of my strength behind one shove, and he goes skidding a couple of steps back. I’m panting and trying to rein in the heat pooling through my veins. I do the breathing techniques my dad had shown me growing up, but they honestly have little effect. I glance at Samuel just in time to see his retreating back. I fall to my knees and claw at the ground, but the sand just slips through my fingers. Just like everything else in my life.

Just like Vanessa will eventually. She’ll eventually realize I’m trash and then what. I start pounding on the ground, but it does nothing to fix ache in my chest. I put my forearm to my mouth and bite down hard. I don’t stop until the taste of my sickly sweet blood rushing my taste buds.

I was about to press harder when something hits the back of my head. I pick my head up, and there is Samuel. There’s something furry squirming in one of his hands, but the other looks suspiciously close to my head.

“Did you hit me?” I drag my arm for enough away from my mouth to question the main as I narrow my eyes at him.

“Yes, you were doing stupid shit again.” He drags me up by my collar, and for a moment, I’m afraid he’s going to hit me again, but he just checks me over. He heaves a sigh before letting go. He shoves something into my abdomen, and I bring my hands up as it starts to squirm. I look down and see brown fur paired with long ears. A rabbit. But that can’t be right, the legs look a little too long. The body is more substantial from what I always thought that a rabbit would look like.

“Alright, take a bite.” I jerk my head at Samuel, and despite the blank face, I present my stomach is rolling.

“But it’s a cute bunny.”

“Are you telling me you’ll happily eat people, but cute animals are off-limits.”

“I do have standards.” Samuel just groans and leans his forehead down to meet his fist.

“Ignatius, I swear to the Goddess above if you don’t eat that damn jackrabbit, I’ll make you.”

“You can’t make me.”

“You want to bet.” His eyes gaze up into mine, shining a bright steel blue where soft chestnuts used to rest. No, I surely don’t. I lean down and take a whiff of the animal. It doesn’t carry that sweet and lavish scent that humans carry. But from the look on Samuel’s face, it’s doubtful that I’ll be allowed to leave before at least taking a bite.

I bring the animal up to get a glimpse of its face. The animal jerks and is trying to escape my grasp. Unfortunately, my grip is firm, and there is no chance of its life being spared today. Sorry, little fella. I turn the rabbit, so it’s back is facing my neck. I lower my head and open my mouth up. Hopefully, this don’t end up a black gooey mess on the desert floor. With a quick snap of my jaws, I sink my fangs into the rabbit’s neck.