They moved off at a trot. William stayed in between Charles and Katherine. Charles could not seem to keep his head from swiveling off to the side to look in the direction of whatever it was that he smelled. Katherine wore a look of fierce determination on her face. As long as whatever it was kept its distance from them, they might be ok. William mentally shook his head. He understood that he knew nothing about this place or the things that inhabited it. Katherine had been right. Home field advantage was huge, and those shadows had all of the advantage here.
He remembered playing hide and go-seek when he was a kid. The thrill of watching the kid who was it walk right past where he was hiding. The surge of fear induced adrenaline when he ran out of hiding in a full sprint for the base. Sometimes he wasn’t fast enough to out run the kid who was it and sometimes he was. He smiled at the memory than reality crashed down on him again. This was no game and he was pretty sure that there had to be at least a few shadows that were faster than he was. The feeling of being watched was unnerving. This was only compounded by the fact the Charles kept looking off to the side, as if at any moment whatever it was, was going to come out through the mist and attack. He really wanted to slap Charles and tell him to stop doing that but that wouldn’t do anybody any good. He took a deep breath to try and control his fear induced anxiety. Along with the slight buzzing in his ears he could also hear something else, something very familiar but just out of hearing.
The three of them moved through the mist. The swirling whiteness of this place was hypnotic in a lot of ways. The slight buzzing in his ears, of a voice just beyond hearing was also adding to his discomfort. It was subtle and ominous, leaving him very much on edge.
The fog they walked through shifted and danced in front of them. There was no contrast between the white of the mist and the white of the Whyte Plain itself. It was only textures and forms that gave any hint of movement. The very fabric of the Whyte Plain breathed with their passing. It was as if this place was alive. The thought was more than disquieting, if this place was alive than they had no chance of surprising anything here, and if they had lost the element of surprise than their plan was doomed to failure.
William shook his head and focused on the feeling of Aceso. Those thoughts would only get them killed. The fear of being hunted by that unknown thing out there was taxing. He wanted nothing more than to have a stand-up fight, which is exactly what this place wanted. The faint buzzing in his ears could almost be ignored but that too was probably a mistake. Everything here was a weapon that was being used against them. He glanced sideways at Charles who kept looking over to where he sensed the unseen predator. Katherine was hunching her shoulders, concentrating on moving forward, glancing over at William’s feet from time to time to keep her bearings.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
William grabbed both of them. They stopped and looked at him. “Do you guys hear that?”
Both of them looked at him for a moment. Katherine glanced off to the side and nodded her head. “It’s like an insect in my head only much gentler,” Katherine replied.
William nodded. “Have you been trying to ignore it?”
She nodded. “After a while it went away. I had forgotten about it until you asked if I heard something.”
William looked into her golden eyes. “Don’t ignore it,” He whispered fiercely at her. “I can’t tell you why but I have a feeling that trying to ignore it is doing something to us.” William looked around them as he faced the cream-colored werewolf. “Everything here is a weapon. Can’t you feel it?” he looked over at Charles who had become almost neurotic with looking over at the unseen monster whose scent he couldn’t get out of his nostrils. “Charles, why is it that you are the only one of us who can smell this thing out there?”
Charles brought his attention back to the enforcer. “I’m a Tracker, my sense of smell is better than yours.”
“True, but not that much better.” William stepped back and looked at them. “The more we try to ignore this place the more it is messing with our heads.” His two companions were a little lost and looked very confused. “Look, Katherine and I are trying to ignore this buzzing in our ears, we are becoming more fearful with every step. I can’t keep images of being overrun by an army of shadows at any minute out of my mind. Katherine, I know you are having the same kind of thoughts. You look scared half to death.”
Katherine licked at her snout and nodded her head. She had tried to hide it but being hit with the truth of her thoughts flat in the face she was unable to run from it anymore. She took a deep breath and nodded. She looked up and met William’s eyes with a renewed vigor that was good to see.
The buzzing in his ears grew to a fever pitch. He tried to focus on it, to hear what it was. The buzzing continued. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t hear what the buzzing was, even as it grew louder it remained only an irritating sound in his ears. He felt that if this kept going, he might be driven insane. He couldn’t ignore it now even if he wanted to.
Katherine was also feeling its dangerous effects. William could see pain and fear in Katherine’s golden eyes. She tried to remain upright and strong, but she couldn’t stop her claws from reaching up and covering her ears. She closed her eyes and shook her head. William knew that it was no use, but he allowed her to try anyway.
He couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer either. The pain of the buzzing, driving out all thought and sensation from his mind and body. There was only the buzzing. He felt himself laughing. There was nothing to laugh about but the laughter came anyway. The buzzing was his whole world. He couldn’t open his eyes. There was only darkness and the buzzing.