A Mate to Howl For Ch. 11

Looking around, she could vaguely see shadows of buildings, so she figured she was downtown. Walking to the still partially open door, she spotted a woman just inside. "Hi, I was wondering, is this Miss Anne's?"

A rather plump woman turned with her hands on her hips. "I'm Anne."

"Oh thank goodness, I thought I was lost." Hope entered the store, and out of habit took her phone out of her pocket. There was something about browsing and holding her phone. "Sharon over the diner said to check with you about a room."

"I do have a room, are you looking for a long-term or something shorter?" She walked behind the counter.

"I was thinking about the weekend, maybe a week?" Hope looked down noticing her shoelace had come undone. She spotted a bench, sitting down she could feel the cool air tingle down her arm and felt the hair stand on end. This had been happening more and more, she knew she wasn't alone. "Don't know who you are, but I won't be long." She said to the spirit near her. Sure she couldn't see them, but it didn't mean she couldn't speak to them, and sometimes they even spoke back.

"Run," a whispered voice said in her ear.

Hope wasn't expecting a voice, or even to have the voice tell her to run. She looked up and over her shoulder as she tied her shoe. As far as she could tell she was alone. "Run? From what?" She asked.

"Him," the voice replied.

The blonde didn't see anyone and figured the spirit was talking about another spirit. She stood up, smoothing her shirt on her left arm when she felt the wave of energy pushing against her back, shoving her forward. Now that was new! Until then she had only heard them and conversed with them, and none had ever "touched" her. "What the hell?"

"You don't belong here," the voice said in a near growl. "You need to GO!" The male voice was getting deeper and angrier.

Hope could feel the change around her, whoever this had been was an angry individual and dangerous. Hope moved to her right but felt the wall of energy again, this time she could feel a hand in her throat and pressure. "Let me go," she said in a calm voice. At this point, she didn't know if she was sleeping and if this was a nightmare or if this was happening. "I am leaving," she added. She was ill-equipped to handle a situation like this.

The unseen force that had her squeezed harder. "You don't belong here," the voice said again.

Hope was struggling for breath. The store started to distort as she fought against the entity. The stocked shelves turned into decayed ruins. Hope looked and a man emerged in front of her. She bawled her fist, leaving her right knuckle higher, and punched the thing in his eye. It startled him enough he released his grip. Hope ran from the store.

Outside the mist was changing, she started to see the buildings a little clearer. They were desolate and old.

"You don't belong here."

Hope looked over her shoulder at a man chasing her with a golf club. She sprinted to the diner. As she neared the door, the same kid from earlier held it for her. She looked at Sharon who rippled like water. The trucker looked in her direction.

"You don't belong here!" He stood up and started running in her direction.

The young man at the door turned around, his eyes were solid black. "You don't belong here."

"Yea I get that," she said, backing out the door. She ran as fast as she could towards the truck. She was almost there when a hand reached out from the side gripping her ankle, tripping her hard. She skidded to a stop. She looked, it was Jenna.

"He is here," she whispered.

Hope's hands and knees were raw and bloody. She wanted to cry out in pain, but everything was moving in slow motion. A few feet ahead was a wire across her path. A husky man was near the truck with a long blade in his hand. Hope realized Jenna had just saved her life.

She looked at the little girl and nodded, rolling to her side. "Can he see you?"

"Yes," Jenna said, half hiding behind Hope.

It was now Hope's turn to use the sudden rush of adrenaline in her favor. She pulled her keys out of her front pocket, folding a long key between her fire and middle finger. "When I go, you go with me. Get in the truck and get down." She whispered as the man disappeared on the far side of the truck. Hope got to her feet and sprinted ten feet to the truck, she opened the door and barely had it shut when a beast of a man slapped his palms to the window, screaming, "You don't belong here." Hope had one second from the time she slapped the knob to lock the door before he tried it. She fumbled but got the truck started.

Jenna was on the floorboard looking up as Hope got the truck into gear. "He is coming." She saw the man trying to jump on the back of the truck.

Hope depressed the gas lever and loose gravel peppered the area. She swerved at a pole and the man rolled to the ground.

A loud roaring sound started to chase her through the town. Building by building was torn from its foundation until she passed Anne's store. The mist and the roar faded and the only thing Hope saw was the wreckage of an old building. Hope drove another hundred feet before stopping. She opened the door, stepping out into light rain. She saw a man standing at the building. He just stared at her, daring her to come back.

Hope tried to call 911, but her phone still had no service.

She drove away until she finally had serviced. She placed a call and waited on the side of the road for an officer. She had the driver's door open and was half-leaning on the steering wheel. She must have fallen asleep.

"Ms. Carlson?" A voice said as a man approached her truck.

She nodded and relaxed seeing his uniform. "Yes. And thank you for coming." She said waking a little more. She ran a hand through her hair.

"When Chief McDaniels called and told me you had trouble in Paradise Falls I thought it was a joke." The officer said.

"I would never call the police as a joke." She said, stepping out of the truck and shutting the door behind her.

"I'm not sure how much you know about Paradise Falls, but the town was destroyed back in 1962 by a tornado. But days before seventeen people were murdered." He stepped closer. Hope would be able to read his name tag. Howard Davis.

"Officer Davis," she said. "I was just there. I saw people. I had some man chase me and try to kill me."

"I'm not sure what you saw, but I'm telling you the town was never rebuilt."

She held the bridge of her nose as though fending off the pain. "Well Officer, thank you for your time. I know what I saw, I know what I heard." She frowned. "Did they catch the killer?"

"No." He simply said.

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but I might have seen him. I sometimes see things, people, and events, sometimes they are the future, and sometimes they are the past. I am not expecting you to believe me, but your chief did send you out here when he could have simply told me I was crazy on the phone."

Howard gave her a nod. "Ms. Carlson, he told me his wife saw you in a dream, her exact words were 'Hope has come to Paradise Falls. Now I have known Kylie all her life, and she has often known things before they happen. So all I am going to say is, what do you need from me."

Hope relaxed. Finally, someone who believed her when she talked about the supernatural.

~~~

There was a very good chance that one of the spirits she encountered in Paradise Falls was the one who warned her. She knew it was a male's voice and he sounded young. Hope decided to start there.

After renting a room in town, she looked up the local archives from the town library. It was there in big bold print. The murder and the tornado. As she looked through the pages she felt a small tickle on the back of her neck. "I know you are there."

She moved her hand on the machine, advancing the page. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just looking up some history." She often spoke to the dead, even if they didn't always talk back.

"You might not hurt me, but he did." A young man said. He stood beside her, looking nervous.

"I'm Hope," she said looking up and saw a vague impression of him. He was tall, maybe 5'10", and had brown hair. He wore jeans and a white t-shirt which looked dyed pink on the front. She took a better look and realized it was blood.

"I know who you are. She told me all about you. She said you could help." He again looked around. "Your little girl, the one who travels with you."

"Do you mean Jenna?" She gave the spirit her full attention.

He backed away from her while looking at her feet. "Did you know you have a wolf?" He seemed troubled.

A wolf? Did he mean Chappy? "I'm not sure I understand."

"You have a wolf sitting at your feet. A rather large one and he looks overly protective." He started to reach his hand out but stopped.

Hope put her hand in the locket and nodded. "I think I understand. He won't hurt you. As you noticed he is for my protection. Can you tell me your name and what happened?"

The application paced back and forth and finally settled. "I'm Luke. I was raised in Paradise Falls, back when the falls were still there. It was a natural spring, a very pretty place. In fact, that is where I met Kimberly and him." He said 'him' with some fear. "I was up at the Falls with my friends, we had decided to go for a dip. I noticed this chic sitting alone." He smiled thinking about the girl.

"I did what any true-blooded American boy in 1962 would do. I stumbled over my feet and fell on my face. It worked, she rushed over to help me up. I have to tell you I had never seen anyone so pretty in my entire life. She was a few inches shorter than me, had the deepest blue eyes I have ever seen, and her blonde hair was nearly white. I have to tell you I fell in love at that moment." He seemed content.

"We spent the rest of the afternoon talking and discovered we had so much in common. It was the perfect day. I told her I was leaving for boot camp later in the week. I had signed up for the war. I told her that I loved our country and I believed in our President. She grabbed my shirt and kissed me. Oh, how did she lip lock me." He was grinning ear to ear.

"I don't know how it happened but we ended up in the high grass and I lost my virginity to her. I'm not complaining. She was remarkable, and I knew my heart was hers until the end of time. But my time was limited. As we got dressed I spotted a man watching us." Luke sighed and looked at his hands which were now covered in blood.

"He came at me first. I had just put my coat around Kimberly when I saw him running at us. I told her to run." His voice grew lower. "I didn't see the knife until it was too late. He stabbed me just under my ribs on the left side. And then ran after Kim. I tried to get to her but he came back. He opened my belly and chanted in some insane language." Luke started pacing again.

"Hope, the police found seventeen bodies, but there are more of them. I was his fifteenth kill, and he killed eight after me. I know where they are buried. He kept me alive for a few hours as he did things to my body." Luke didn't want to give Hope the gory details. "I know you have seen the dead, but there is something far worse than death. I know you have seen things, but where I am about to take you could hurt you. Not all of the dead are friendly."

Hope listened and saw his last day as if she was there with him. The connection he felt to Kimberly was strong, and it was what allowed her to see. When he spoke of his concerns, she stood, slowly. "I know the dangers, and I will be prepared." She let out an audible breath. "I need a few hours to focus my mind. Do you mind staying with me or do you need to prepare yourself?"

"I need to do something before I take you there. I will find you." Luke started to turn pale. "I have to go." He said and turned away, walking through a wall.

Hope felt as though something had just suddenly drained her. She leaned back and fell into the computer chair. She closed her eyes, her palm over her left one. "Jenna, what did you get me into?"

~~~

Dealing with the dead can and does take its toll on the living. Hope needed to prepare for the possibility of possession or worse. She gathered a few candles, a smudge stick, a small bag of pot, a blanket, a six-pack of Killian's Red, and a bag of food. She could have gone to the hotel and shut the curtains, but she needed to be outside and talk to the spirits. Possibly even have one watch over Jenna. Jenna had a strong connection to Hope and could be used against the woman.

Hope packed everything in the truck and walked around to the driver's side. She noticed a man talking on the phone and then felt the waves of energy flowing off of him. He was something more than human, possibly a druid, possibly not. Feeling energy waves were just a vague way druids felt others. Hope decided not to approach him.

Like was sitting on his Harley, talking to his friend. "The slow burn of the desert isn't apparent in movies. Oh, it looks large enough on movie and TV screens, but no one understands the nature of the beast until they experience it firsthand. Firstly, there is a large amount of nothing for miles and miles. People think they understand nothing because they've been in the country or through Kansas. Whatever. Those places have nothing on the American Southwest. In those places, the nothing hunts you like a desert beast. People have to take breaks from it. So I'm stretching out the muscles," he murmured. "But everyone understands--you have to get out of your car, or in my case off the bike and touch dirt. Because the truth--the horrible truth of it--is that you sometimes forget where exactly you're going... And that's when the nothing is winning. And that's just the first shitty part of the desert."

He turned to see Hope. "Garfie, let me call you right back." He sighed listening to his friend. "Yes, it is exactly what you think." He laughed and slipped his phone into his front pocket. He knew instantly what she was but not who she was.

"Why hello you beautiful sexy lady." He smiled and walked a little closer. He winked at her and looked over the truck. "Oh and hi to you too." He said to Hope.

Hope couldn't help but laugh. "Hi," she said from behind a real smile. She put her hand on the driver's door and returned her attention to him. Then something hit her. "Oh my gosh, you are Luke Combs, the singer." She was suddenly a fan girl and brought pause.

"That's me, guilty as charged." He semi-leaned on the hood and looked her over. "I have to say, she is sexy, but I might have been wrong, you might be a little sexier." He grinned. "I'm Luke, some call me Damian in private, and others call me a bastard. You, however, can call me anything you want." He was hitting on her hard.

"I'm Hope," she said, looking him over.

"Well Hope," he stepped closer, taking a deep inhale. She didn't smell of another, so this was his lucky day. It wasn't often he met a single gorgeous unmated she-wolf. And oh did she smell great, clean, very clean. "I know what you are, but not whose you are." He moved some hair from her eyes.

She looked to her feet and then back to him. She held the locket in her hand. "I belong with Chappy." She paused. "Steven McGregor is part of The Straw Hat pack." Hope didn't want to say much more.

"Well darling," he laughed. "When you see him you tell him he made a new friend a touch jealous." He looked her over again, very tempted to not be honorable, but Garfie would kick his ass if he tried. "Is he here?"

"No, he went to New York months ago. I'm here on personal business. I didn't do anything wrong did I?" Werewolves had their politics when it came to pack borders.

Damian made a sour face. "I am not aware of you doing anything wrong. I'm just passing through myself. The Paradise Fall pack fell years ago. Neither of us is trespassing." He moved his hand over his chin. "The band is on tour. I would like you to stop by later, maybe for dinner with us."

Did she bow out? Did she go? Was she getting the wrong idea? Did he have the wrong idea? She was about to tell him no.

"My sister will be there as will a few other unmated she-wolves. Zoey would kick my ass if I didn't invite you."

After a few seconds of thought, Hope nodded. "Okay. When and where?"

"Tonight, about sixish, we are staying at the Hilton, Presidential suite. When you get there tell the desk that the bard bastard is expecting you. If you say anything else, they won't let you up." He took a pace back, bumping into the truck. "And please bring her with you. She is so sexy. I want the others to see her."

Hope nodded with a sigh. "I will see you then, Damian."

~~~

Hope was listening to a country station as she drove into the desert. She was still amazed she met Damian and got invited back to meet the band. Telling her his true name showed the level of trust he was giving her. Things like that didn't happen every day. She would have to make a note of it in her private journal.

She looked and noticed a small puff of steam coming from under the hood. "Ah shit," she cursed, remembering in her haste she forgot to check the water. The desert was cruel under its cursed heat and the old truck was no match. She pulled the old Ford over and grabbed a jug of water. Slipping a bandanna in her back pocket along with her phone, she popped the heavy hood and climbed up on the bumper.

She had just vented the cap when the sound of an approaching Harley caught her attention.