Caught

Crystal stared at her neighbourhood. What had once been a place full of laughter, rich scents of food and flowers were today filled with the black smoke and the stench of gunpowder and blood. She tried to pinch herself, hoping against hope that this was a nightmare. A nightmare that was suddenly repeating itself. But as she heard her best friend's voice stutter and question, "Cr...Crystal, what happened?"

But before, Crystal could answer, she noticed something that made her pull her friend away from there and run towards the forest. Why would people from the army attack the entire neighbourhood, that too in broad daylight? It made no sense. And yet, the people she had just glimpsed were dressed in their camouflage uniforms.

Once they were deeper into the forest, both the girls bent down slightly, placing their hands on their knees as they panted for breath.  But their relief was short-lived, for they had barely caught their breath when a man jumped down from a tree.  Before the girls could scream in fright, the man, fired a shot, straight at the brunette girl who looked as if she was too shocked to even move.

But, Crystal was not going to let her best friend get hurt! Pulling, Lashley down, she rolled over her friend, moving towards a big tree trunk and spoke in a hushed tone," Lashley! Stay down, I'll handle the man."

Lashley nodded and crouched against the tree trunk while the man called out," Come out, you little humans. I won't kill you. Come out and don't make me come to you."

Crystal narrowed her eyes as she heard the man and the sound of the gun being loaded again echoed a bit. She pulled out her short blade from the leather holder that was banded around her thigh making Lashley's eyes widen in horror. With a finger on her lips, telling her to stay quiet, she looked around the tree. She could see Lashley was in shock but this was not the time for any explanations.

As the double-edged blade glinted against the sparse sunlight, Crystal pushed the blade into the back of her panelled skirt for easier access and walked out with her hands raised.

Seeing that she had decided to surrender, the man paused as his eyes widened in appreciation and hunger. When he watched these girls enter the forest just now, he had not been able to make them out clearly but this one was a young nubile beauty fresh out of high school mostly... Her long legs encased in the jade panelled skirt and thigh-high socks could not hide how shapely they were. Her short-sleeved shirt was fitted and he could already see the outline of her beautiful breas*s that were outlined due to the fact that they had run and were covered in sweat.

But what caused him even more happiness at being able to capture this girl, was her long hair. Even from here, he could see the platinum blonde hair was long enough to hold as he would take her forcefully.

Crystal stared at the man in the front and wished she had her gun on her. This man was scum that was clear.. The way he stared at her made her feel as if there were ants crawling all over her body. But for now, she would endure the gaze. She needed to know if her parents were safe. Though if they were, they should have warned her by now... However, she could let herself think about her mama and papa now.

Gathering her courage, she asked with her voice raised, "Why are you attacking us?"

The man laughed and as he walked forward, she could see the sharp fangs and blood that covered his lower mouth... A rogue! Dam* it! This was a deranged outcast werewolf!

As her mind supplied the answer to this person's identity, Crystal guessed why exactly they had been attacked. While her mind processed these things, the man assumed that the girl had been shocked and that was why unable to run away.

It was widely known among their kind that werewolves could turn deranged from many things and lose their soul. But this werewolf was not old enough to have had that. It means this man was more dangerous and had become a rogue of his own choice!

Unknown to him, Crystal was working out her plan of attack. If it was just this man, then Crystal would have shredded him to pieces with her blade. But this was a werewolf. Her mithril blade would not work well enough to kill him. She would be able to hold him back but if there were more of them then she and Lashley would be in danger.

Already she could hear the rustling crunch of the dried leaves as people moved inside the forest. If all these people were werewolves then, she would have to lead them away from here. But first, Lashley's safety was of utmost importance. Even from here, she could feel her terror.

Holding up the blade in a swift movement, she warned the man," Don't come forward."

The wolf laughed at this and shook his head," Little girl, don't play with such sharp toys. Give it to me and I'll let you have it easy."

But soon when the man would have said more, his eyes fell on the engraving on the blade and he stepped back in fear. "Where did you get this?"

Crystal frowned at the sudden change in the attitude of the man, trying to guess if it was some trick but before she could do something, she heard movement from behind her, making her stiffen. There was someone at her back.