CHAPTER 18
“Let’s go!” the Sheriff said, yanking her off the ground and onto her feet. Erica squinted as the flash went off, tears still running down her face. “Look up!” the man shouted.
She didn’t move, preparing herself for another blow.
“Are you deaf?” the Sheriff yelled in her face, his breath reeking of coffee, his eyes wild. “Look. At. The camera!”
“No,” she muttered.
She hit the floor before the pain registered, but she didn’t care. She and her friends were going to die here; she knew it. There was no way she was going to give him the satisfaction of following his orders. If he was going to kill them, he was going to have to work for it. Erica was not going down easily.
He yanked her up again, and this time, she threw her head back and smiled when she heard a crack and he stumbled backward. He dropped her, covering his nose and squealing like a stuck pig. But Erica stayed on her feet. She ran up to him, kicking him hard in the groin and again in the face, then running out the open stall door with her hands still cuffed behind her back.
She ran to Danni’s stall, turning around and trying to open it with her hands behind her back. The handle was so high that she had to stand on her tip toes to reach it. She screamed in frustration, but the rusty latch would budge.
“Erica, run and get help!” Danni shouted. “Don’t waste time, run!”
Erica looked at Danni, then at Jessica, who was still lying unconscious in the stall next to Danni, then she looked back at the stall she’d escaped from. The Sheriff’s was still groaning and retching, his whimpering almost pitiful. But she knew as soon as he recovered, he would be on his feet, and he would kill her. It was only a matter of how long he would drag out her suffering.
She had to run.
“I’ll come back for you,” she promised, then turned and ran with her arms behind her, trying to stay upright despite the drugs that were still coursing through her veins.
She ran out the open barn door and skid to a stop just in time to avoid being seen by a man getting into her car. She pressed against the barn door, hoping the dark shadows and the moonless night would work in her favor. The man didn’t appear to notice her, getting into the car and driving off without a backward glance. Erica felt sick when she realized that he was probably taking it somewhere to ditch it, making certain that their families would never find them and never know what happened to them.
Stop thinking about that, and stay calm! Erica thought angrily. There was no time to freak out. She had to stay calm and pay attention or they would end up dead. She had the upper-hand right not, and she wasn’t going to mess that up by freaking out like a little kid. She had this. She had to believe that she could get away and stop getting into her own head. There were a lot of them, but they weren’t immortals. They had weaknesses, and she had to capitalize on those flaws.
The Sheriff roared from behind her, but he was far away, and as soon as he yelled, he started retching again. She didn’t have much time, but he was still incapacitated, and this was her chance.
She ran into the woods, taking her chance with the forest since instead of the road. She didn’t know who she could trust in the town, and the guy who took her car had gone that way.
She tried to stay upright, leaning back a little so she didn’t pitch forward when her hands were stuck behind her back and unable to break her fall. Running as fast as she could, she ignored the branches and leaves that clawed at her body and slapped her in the face. She had to find someone to help, and she was hoping that there was a neighboring farm on the other side of the wooded area, or a ranger’s station. Anyone that might help her and stop the Sheriff from killing her.
Her foot caught on a rock poking out of the ground, and she pitched forward at full speed. She closed her eyes, preparing herself to hit the ground hard, but the impact never came. Huge arms encircled her in the darkness, stopping her fall and yanking her off the trail and into the trees. Before she could scream, a hand went over her mouth from behind, and a woman’s face appeared in the darkness in front of her.
“Don’t make a sound,” the woman whispered. “Nod your head if you understand.”
Erica nodded.
“Good. Turn around, and I’ll uncuff you.”
Erica did as she was told, the man’s hands on her shoulders to steady her as she turned. Her eyes landed on the man’s face, and then she saw what was behind him.
She took a breath to scream, backing up into the woman who was undoing her cuffs in the dark and almost stumbling to the ground. The man holding her covered her mouth before she could scream, and the cuffs came loose and dropped to the ground. The woman behind her turned her almost roughly, shaking her a little as she trembled and shook her head.
“You have to get it together,” she said in a hissed whisper. “We can’t sit here and coddle you until you can handle this. Yes, there are werewolves in the woods. But the man you ran from is more dangerous than anything you see here. I need you to stay calm and listen to me, got it?”
Erica nodded.
“Good. Now, how many girls are in the barn?”
Erica closed her eyes and thought back, knowing she’d seen more than just her friends.
“My two friends, and there’s another girl, maybe two.”
“How many men guarding the barn?”
“I didn’t see any. The Sheriff came to take pictures of me, and I headbutted him in the face and ran.”
“Good for you,” the woman said. “How many cars in the parking lot.”
“Five? Maybe six?”
“Well go with six.” The woman looked up and over Erica’s shoulder. Erica fought the urge to look, too. “I need you to stay with Hannah and Laken. We can’t risk you two being in the way when we do this, okay?”
“Hannah?” Erica asked, looking into the woods, shocked when she saw a girl a few years younger than herself astride a massive wolf in the darkness.
Erica shook her head.
“I’m dreaming. I didn’t escape; I’m dreaming.”
Her breath started coming in short gasps, but the woman shook her again and forced her to look at her.
“Breathe. You’re fine. Stay with them. Do not leave their side or I can’t guarantee your safety. We will save your friends, okay?”
“Okay,” Erica said.
The wolves scattered, and the man that was holding her smiled at Erica, then walked away. She watched him go, her stomach clenching in fear when the man melted as he walked, turning into a massive wolf and walking alongside the woman as they headed toward the barn.
“Am I dreaming?” Erica wondered out loud.
“I know the feeling,” the girl on the wolf said. She held out her hand. “Sit behind me and hold on. We’re not going to let them have all the fun.”
“Fun? They said to stay here.”
“Do you really want to miss the look on the Sheriff’s face when he realizes he was taken down by teenagers?”
Hannah’s smile was infectious.
“Who are you?” Erica wondered out loud.
Hannah shrugged.
“No one special. I just wanted to live more than the Sheriff wanted me to die.”
Erica nodded.
“Me, too.”
She took Hannah’s hand and used a low branch to shimmy up onto the wolf’s back and into place behind Hannah. Erica’s hands went around the girl’s waist, and she held on tight.
The wolf started off slowly, keeping a good distance between the pack ahead as he was supposed to, but far from staying put. If Erica had to guess, she would say that the wolf beneath them was a teen, too.
She was shaking with relief as the adrenaline that had gotten her out of the barn began to crash, and reality set in. She had escaped. Hopefully, her friends would be as lucky. She would never forgive herself if something happened to them.
There was shouting, and a man screamed, followed by the growl of a wolf. Then, all hell broke loose, and Erica was left sitting in the darkness, watching it all unfold in the dim light of the security lights scattered around the property.
Men appeared out of nowhere, their guns drawn, faces shocked when they saw the wolves coming out of the forest en masse, their angry eyes locked on the men. A few turned and ran, fleeing for their lives rather than fighting for something that they didn’t believe in. They were still at fault in Erica’s mind, but she wondered if those men had been forced to work with the Sheriff against their wills.
Erica watched from her safe vantage point, wincing when shots were fired and a wolf went down. The wolf beneath them tensed and looked over his shoulder at them. Hannah grabbed Erica’s arm and pulled her to the side as she slid off the wolf and onto the ground. Erica was about to ask what was going on when the wolf took off toward the man that had shot his friend.
The man was turned, his back facing them as he held the gun pointed at the wolf on the ground. He shot again but missed. The bullet sprayed dirt from where it hit, and the man cursed under his breath. The man lowered his gun, taking a couple steps as if he wanted to get closer and shoot point blank, but he was afraid. Without warning, Laken slammed into the side of him, taking him down and snapping his neck in one swift motion. The man lay there on the ground, dead in an instant, his blank eyes staring in their direction. Erica shuddered, and a sob caught in her throat.
“I’ve never seen someone die before,” she whispered to Hannah, reaching out to grab the girl’s hand for comfort.
“Don’t waste your tears on him. He used a Taser on me twice for fun. He was far from a good soul. A quick death was better than he deserved.”
“And the wolf?” Erica asked.
“He’s already getting up. His body will heal itself unless the guns were loaded with silver bullets. I doubt they were since he’s already on his feet and shaking it off.”
Erica followed Hannah’s gaze, shocked to see that the wolf was indeed up and walking around as if he hadn’t just been shot in the chest. Laken was by his side, leaning into him to help him stand up. The fallen wolf shook himself, then the pair of them ran off into the battle, jumping in without missing a beat.
“I don’t see the Sheriff,” Hannah said, her voice calm as if she wasn’t watching the battle playing out in front of them. “There’s someone in the cabin over there.”
Hannah started walking that way, leaving the forest and heading into the darkness.
“Wait, we’re supposed to stay here,” Erica said, almost begging. “We’re not safe if we leave this spot.”
“Do you think that the Sheriff and his men are going to respect a ‘safety zone’? We’re not safe until that man is captured. Stay here if you want, but we’re safer together.”
Hannah kept walking, leaving Erica to follow her or hide in the woods like a coward.
Erica stood for a moment, then ran after the younger teen and crouched outside the cabin in the shadows with her. Hannah looked into the window, then motioned to Erica to do the same.
Erica looked in, her stomach dropping at the sight of the Sheriff sitting in front of a computer, furiously typing and muttering under his breath.
“He’s erasing everything,” Hannah whispered angrily. “We have to stop him.”
“We?” Erica said. “No way.”
“Then I’ll do it,” Hannah said.
She walked in a crouch along the wall and up to the door. Erica called after her, but Hannah ignored her and kept moving.
“Damnit,” Erica hissed.
Then, she followed Hannah, and they stopped in front of the door. The door was slightly ajar, left open in the Sheriff’s haste to get into the cabin and onto the computer. Hannah put her fingers to her lips and slowly pushed the door open. The Sheriff didn’t move, still focused on what he was doing.
Hannah and Erica crept into the cabin, Erica breathing slowly, trying to keep from throwing up right there. Why in the world were they in the cabin with this man? Hannah was insane.
Erica’s hands were shaking, and she wanted nothing more than to turn and run. Hannah looked completely calm, focused on the Sheriff’s back and grabbing what looked like a paperweight off a nearby table and holding it in her hand. Erica’s eyes went wide, and she searched the room frantically for a weapon to grab.
Erica took a step and froze, but it was too late to stop the floorboard that creaked suddenly. The Sheriff stiffened and turned around before Hannah was close enough to hit him with the makeshift weapon in her hand.
“You!” the Sheriff yelled when his eyes landed on Hannah. “You ruined everything, you little bitch!”
He fumbled for his gun, but it was pinned between his body and the chair. He’d sat down so hastily, he’d sat in the chair almost sideways, making his firearm harder to access. Erica took the moment of confusion and his focus on Hannah and grabbed a lamp off the table, swinging it at the Sheriff and yelling in anger.
He turned, and the cord pulled taut, stopping the arc of Erica’s blow and forcing the lamp to bounce off the Sheriff’s shoulder instead of hitting him in the side of the head as she’d planned. It knocked him backward, but not completely out of the chair. Hannah rushed forward, shoving the Sheriff so that he fell the rest of the way down and jumping on him knees first. Erica was in shock, watching Hannah in awe for a split second before she remembered the computer and ran to it.
It was running an auto delete program, and the bar across the screen was showing the progress at forty percent. The Sheriff was wiping the computer clean and already almost half of the files were deleted, permanently destroyed.
“No, no, no,” Erica said, getting in front of the computer and typing as fast as she could.
She tried canceling, but the program kept going and seemed to speed up. Erica focused, trying to remember what she’d learned about computers in high school and wishing she’d paid attention in class. She could check her social media, and that was about it.
Grabbing the mouse, she clicked the right button and almost whooped in delight when she saw the word “cancel” on the dropdown menu. She clicked it, and the progress stopped. Erica was relieved, but then a dialogue box popped up, demanding the password.
Erica stared at the dialogue box, drawing a blank. She had no way of knowing what it could be, and the Sheriff was quickly gaining the upper hand.
Erica turned, then she saw it. The Sheriff’s gun on the floor, knocked out of his hand when he’d pulled it from the holster. She grabbed it, pointing it at the Sheriff and cocking the gun. She might not know about computers, but Erica knew a lot about guns.
The Sheriff froze and looked up.
“What’s the code?” Erica asked, her voice calm and cold.
“I don’t know the code.”
“Liar.”
“What are you going to do, shoot me? If you do that, you’ll never get the code. And if you wait all day to act, you won’t get it in time.”
He was laughing, and a quick glance over her shoulder told her why. Without a password, the program had picked up where it had left off, and now fifty percent of the files were scrubbed from the hard drive.
“What to do, what to do,” the Sheriff chided. “Lower the gun and risk your life or let the computer delete everything?”
Erica shrieked in anger, pulling the trigger as she did. The Sheriff’s laughter stopped abruptly, he looked confused, and then he slumped over. A single drop of blood and cerebral fluid leaked out of the wound in the center of his forehead, and his line of sight dropped to the floor.
Hannah jumped up, wriggling away from the dead man and running to the computer.
“What do we do?” Hannah asked.
“We need help.”
Hannah nodded and ran to the front door.
“Senora!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, then she ran back to the computer and a moment later, the woman who had uncuffed Erica burst through the doorway.
“Shit!” the woman swore and ran to the computer.
Erica got out of her way, and watched, looking over at the Sheriff to make sure the man was still dead.
“Hurry!” Hannah shouted, but it was too late.
Senora tried everything she could, but with only ten percent left, the program finished, and an angry, demonic face filled the screen, laughing.
“The Gatekeeper?” Senora said in shock.
“Who is the Gatekeeper?” Erica asked.
Senora shook her head.
“This is bad. This isn’t just one small trafficking operation. This is bigger than we thought.”
She looked at Erica, then at the dead Sheriff, then back at Erica again.
“Did you do that?” she asked.
“I had to.”
Senora nodded.
“Good for you. Without the computer files, we would have had a tough time convicting him. Even with a guilty verdict, he would have been out in five years tops. He’s better off dead.”
“I tried to save the files,” Erica said.
“Don’t worry about it. The Gatekeeper is the most prolific human trafficker in the country. Even with the password, you wouldn’t have been able to save the files. I’ll get him someday, but today is not that day.”