Blood Rites

Jacque watched as Cynthia began to search the room, she presumed for something to pick the lock on the cuffs. When she couldn't find anything she came back over and examined the chair it was cuffed to.

"Okay, I'm going to try and break the frame," she told her. Jacque looked a little skeptical.

"Hey, werewolf remember?" Cynthia said, slightly offended.

"My bad," Jacque said, holding her hands up in surrender.

Cynthia grabbed the chair where the front legs met with the cross bar of the frame and pulled with everything she had. At first she didn't think it was going to work but then she felt the wood give and then crack! The frame snapped.

"Nice," Jacque said, impressed with Cynthia's strength.

She was able to slide the cuff straight off the broken end of the cross bar.

Jacque stood up and stretched, unable to believe she was free…sort of.

Cynthia grabbed her hand. "Come on, we have to get as far away as possible. Once they are back they will be able to track us so we need to run in circles and then try and find some water to hide our scent."

Jacque nodded her head. "Okay, doc. Let's do this."

Cynthia paused briefly. "Jacque, I truly am sorry."

Jacque held up a hand to stop her. "Save it, let's just get our butts out of here. We will deal with the rest later, okay?"

They held hands as they crept through the cabin as quietly as possible, looking around constantly to make sure the really were alone. As soon as they were sure, they made a bee line for the front door. Once again they crept out silently. Cynthia took in a deep breath, scenting the air.

"They're not here. Let's go." With that she pulled Jacque off the porch and out into the night. They ran hard and fast through the trees. Jacque didn't know how Cynthia could see but was glad that she could, because otherwise Jacque would have become intimately acquainted with one of these lovely trees they were breezing by. Jacque was trying hard to stay on her feet but Cynthia was making it very difficult. Just when they would get in a rhythm Cynthia would make a sharp turn, causing her to stumble a few steps before gaining her footing again. This went on for what seemed like hours but probably was no more than 30 minutes and then they finally found a creek. Cynthia didn't even hesitate as she ran straight for it.

Without pausing she pulled Jacque into the cold water. Jacque's breath caught as the chill seemed to seep into her bones. Cynthia never slowed. Suddenly Jacque doubled over as pain shot through her body.

"Jacque, are you alright?" Cynthia asked as she kept Jacque from taking a nose dive into the creek.

"I don't know. It's hard to breathe, the pain is so intense." Jacque tried desperately to drag air into her straining lungs. She felt Fane stir in her mind.

"Jacquelyn, I can feel you are in pain. Are you alright? We are in the woods on the way to the cabin."

Jacque couldn't hold back the sob of relief that came out. He was here. Fane was here and he would rescue her.

"We aren't at the cabin anymore. Logan and the other wolf left and we broke out," Jacque told him.

"Where are you? How far from the cabin are you?"

"Cynthia, Fane wants to know how far from the cabin we are," Jacque told the doctor.

Cynthia looked off in the direction they had just come from. "Probably about two miles east. Not far enough. Why?"

"They are here in the woods on their way to get us."

"Fane, she said we are about two miles east from the cabin. How far away are you?"

Just then they heard a loud angry howl in the direction of the cabin.

"They're back." Cynthia grabbed Jacque's hand and started to run again. "We have to get farther. Once in their wolf forms they will be able to run fast."

"Fane, Logan is back at the cabin. Where are you?" Jacque knew her voice sounded shaky even if it was in his mind.

"We're about a mile from the cabin. Tell Cynthia we have a car parked two miles west of the cabin."

Jacque was trying again to stay on her feet as they ran through the creek. The water level changed constantly and made it difficult to stay upright.

"Fane said they have a car parked two miles west of the cabin." At her words Cynthia changed direction and crawled out of the creek, dragging Jacque behind her. They paused briefly and Jacque watched as Cynthia stuck her nose in the air and took a deep breath, then cursed low. Jacque heard the rustling and crunch of leaves and knew why Cynthia was cursing. Logan had found them. Without thinking Jacque let go of Cynthia's and took off running. She heard Cynthia shout her name but Jacque didn't stop. She couldn't stop. All she could think was that there was no way she was going to be at Logan's mercy again. She would rather die than go through that again.

Cynthia watched as Jacque ran then turned back to where she could hear Logan running. She made a decision then. She had gotten Jacque into this and she would do anything she could to get her out of it. She phased into her wolf form and waited for Logan to come crashing through the woods. He stopped just at the edge of the creek and his wolf form was huge, much larger than Cynthia's. She snarled at him, showing her teeth. She remembered how he had manhandled Jacque, how he had forced himself on her, and that fueled her rage. She watched as Logan took a couple of steps back and then jumped. He cleared the creek with no problem and landed several feet from her.

They began to circle one another, looking for an opening. Cynthia knew she unmatched Logan in size but she was fast. If she could keep him distracted so Jacque could get to the car it might be enough. Logan took a step towards her and she growled and snapped her teeth at him. She lunged forward, knowing her boldness would take him by surprise. She was right. She went in low and latched onto one of his legs. Cynthia heard Logan yip and then felt his teeth latch onto her side. She thrashed her body, letting go of his leg and rolled to get out of his bite. She continued to roll until she was up on all fours again. Logan tried to lunge for her before she could right herself but she jumped to the side. He was so close she felt the air from his bite ruffle her fur. He turned quicker than she would have thought a wolf his size would be able to and grabbed her back right leg before she could move. She felt a snap and let out a loud whine. Logan released her leg and backed away. He was taunting her. He knew she could never defeat him. She let out a whimper as she tried to put weight on the broken appendage. Logan lifted his upper lip in a snarl and lunged again. Cynthia tried to jump out of the way but her weight shifted unevenly and Logan was able to grab her left back leg. She twisted and rolled, trying desperately to get out of the death grip he had on her. Again she felt a snap and the pain that raced up her leg to her spine. She realized now he didn't plan to kill her, he just wanted her immobile. She laid on the ground, her body heaving, her two broken legs lying useless. She began to drag herself forward with her front legs. Logan sunk his teeth into her neck and squeezed. He didn't break her neck but as the world around her got fuzzy, she realized he was cutting off her air, and then everything went black.