Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely. Here's chapter 24 where the excitement continues.

Chapter 24

November 20, 2011

As I laid on my belly, listening to the goon squad move off looking for me, I hoped that they didn't do anything to Tracy. Doing something to someone who couldn't defend themselves in any way was extremely low. Although, I hoped I provided enough of a distraction to keep them away from her so she could snap out of the funk they knocked her into.

I could hear some shouting, as Cameron and his pet snake, Bellock, ordered their men to secure the perimeter of the building and to turn the place upside down to look for me. I smiled a bit at that. I liked it that I managed to throw a wrench into their plans. Although, that woman definitely presented a problem.

I knew next to nothing about her, except that she held Cameron's and Bellock's leash. Although, with me causing some havoc, my guess was the leash was off. At least in here.

I heard a few hurried footsteps come closer quickly. I tried to press flat against the roof of the container, keeping as quiet as I could. Luckily, they just ran past. I heard one of them shout, “Quickly! Search in between these things!”

That didn't sound like Bellock or Cameron. But, I figured if these guys had some degree of common sense, it wouldn't take too long for them to search the tops of these, and I would be exposed.

I crept up slowly to get a better view, and I could see the many cargo containers nearby. I could hear the goon squad running through them, and I decided to take a chance and make a break for it.

Jumping down, I cringed a bit at the landing. My legs had suffered a beating at the hands of that damn Snake. I quickly looked around, listening intently, and made a dash down another corridor, the right one at a cross intersection. I had to get to Tracy and see if she was still alright.
I wandered around what seemed like a lot of the same walls, in the dim light. I turned a corner and I could hear the woman talking to someone. More specifically, someone on her phone.

“Are you ready for the next phase of the plan?” she asked.

I listened intently, hoping that I would learn some kind of information.

“What do you mean you don't have a lead for the Wiccalore and Vryklore?” she shouted over the phone. “I gave you plenty of time to find them. There's no excuse for this!”
She muttered to herself, “Must I do everything around here....”

She continued the conversation with the person on the phone, sounding extremely agitated and angry, “If you don't find anything by springtime, being unemployed won't be the least of your worries.”

I believed she hung up the phone, and walked elsewhere in the room. I took that as my cue to get moving, lest I be seen by her.

I continued down the corridors, eventually coming to a familiar intersection. Taking the other corridor, knowing that I know where two of them lead, I hoped that this one would lead me back in the direction of Tracy. I had been away from her for far too long. Not only that, but it was quiet in this building, too quiet for my liking.

Where did everyone go? How come I couldn't hear their shouts of frustration as I had so far eluded being recaptured?

I continued to walk cautiously down the corridor, hoping that I would see the interrogation room where I started. And hoped that Tracy would have regained consciousness by now. After what seemed to be an eternity, I found the interrogation room. And, sure enough, Tracy was still slumped over in her chair, appearing to still be unconscious. I quickly rushed over to her side, and tried to bring her around.

“Tracy,” I said, “Tracy! C'mon, wake up!”

I thought I her groan, but she was definitely still out of it. I tried shaking her, and frantically yelled, “Tracy, it's time to go! Now!”

I heard a little bit of laughter coming from the shadows. Bellock and Cameron soon emerged afterwards. “Try as you might, young wolf. Your friend won't come around that easily,” Bellock stated with a sneer.

“What did you do to her?” I demanded.

“Oh, nothing grotesque,” Bellock teased. “Just put her in a deep sleep. She'll come out of it, eventually.”

Cameron continued, “My associate's..., venom, renders people unconscious for a significant amount of time.”

Bellock smiled evilly, clearly enjoying his work.

“You bastard!” I shouted at them.

“Now, now,” Cameron coolly replied, “I suggest you surrender, or I'll tell Bellock to have some more fun your young friend here.”

I growled loudly at that. These bastards had no honor, if they would gladly hurt someone unable to defend themselves. That really boiled my blood.
“Then if you want me, come and get me!” I shouted, as I quickly turned on my heels and fled the room.

“After her!” Cameron yelled after me, as I ran.

I quickly ran out of there, hoping to distance myself from Tracy, so she wouldn't get hurt anymore than she already was. However, as soon as I got back to the crates, I ran straight into a snarling lion. I heard a hiss behind me, as I saw that cobra rear up, looking extremely threatening.
'Damn,' I thought to myself, 'I sure didn't get very far.'

I looked around, trying to find another avenue of escape. There was a gap between two of the large metal crates, the lion was closer to it. But, hell, I had to try.

I made a leaping dash between those containers and continued to just turn as much speed on as I could. I could hear the snarling behind me as the lion closed the gap. I turned at the first corner I saw that was away from the direction the snake had been earlier.

The lion ran right past the turn, but quickly turned around and resumed its pursuit. I knew I couldn't outrun a lion, being a werewolf or not. And to top it all off, I quickly ran into a dead end.

I turned around and faced the lion, trying to show a look of fierce determination. I didn't want to go down without a fight. To my surprise, Cameron turned back into a man. What did he want to do? Gloat?

He merely stated, “Just like the previous lorekeeper. Falling into my trap.”

“What?”

“You don't know? Well, I guess I did hide the body pretty well, all those years ago.”

“You killed him? To get at his ring?”

“Yes. He fell into my trap so easily. I just didn't know how he got rid of the ring before I got there. I guess I'll never know.” He cracked the knuckles of his hands and said, “Last chance. I'll get that ring from you, one way or another. Doesn't matter to me if you're dead or alive.”

I could definitely feel my blood boil. If I had any chance of getting out of this, I had to turn into a wolf. I reached deep down inside me, and tried to call the Wolf out. To my surprise, it did.

“What? How?”

I merely answered with a ferocious, growling bark, and wasted no time in viciously pouncing on him. I quickly tried to bite his arms and other limbs, trying to render them useless, in case he changed back. I sunk my teeth into his flesh, trying not to think of how disgusting it tasted. He struggled to get me off of him. He did succeed in doing that though. He grasped his arm where his blood now flowed freely.

“You bitch!” he shouted at me.

He quickly turned into a lion and came at me. I quickly dodged him as best as I could and the two of us fought as animals. I dove for his limbs, he dove for mine. I went after his neck, he went after mine. We managed to scratch and claw at each other, and we each got a few bites in.

The two of us, after several rounds of that, managed to eventually go to our corners and pant extremely hard from the fight. We both turned back into our human forms. I turned back first, breathing extremely hard. Both of our bruises, cuts, bite marks, and other injuries clearly visible on our bodies and on our clothes.

I continued to breathe hard. It felt like I was constantly on the ropes during the fight. Like that Lion at any second would bite my head off. Hopefully, I could figure something out to help even the odds some more. Head-to-head did not seem like a good strategy to continue with. Over the course of the fight, I unquestionably took more damage than I dished out. I could see some of the wounds on me, and wondered if they ever would fully heal, or if I would be left with many scars from the battle.

“I'll give you this,” an exhausted Cameron started, “you definitely know how to fight.”

'Looks like the time I spent at the Harper's dojo was paying off,' I thought to myself. Glad that I had made some time for those lessons. I stared at Cameron and didn't give him any reply; I simply felt too exhausted to. It definitely looked like this guy still had a good deal of fight left in him, while I felt like I could barely stand. Out of the corner of my ear, I heard a loud hiss.

Whipping my head around, I saw a large cobra rear up. Dammit! I forgot about Bellock. Two against one, those were not good odds. Especially when the one felt like passing out. Where was that second wind of mine?

“But,” Cameron continued, “you must realize that you can't win.”

Why did I get the feeling that he was right about that? Everything seemed hopeless at the moment. It seemed like it was just a matter of time before the two of them killed me. Rescue seemed like a lost cause, even if people knew where to look for the two of us. And Tracy was still down for the count. I looked around, trying to find some avenue of escape. No paths easily presented themselves. The two of them had me nearly cut off.

Outnumbered, outgunned, and without an easy way to escape or winning this fight. The only thing I knew was that I didn't want to curl up and die.

Was there anyone out there who even knew we were kidnaped and here? Did I have a chance of stalling and waiting for some kind of help to arrive? That would only work if I knew help was on the way.

Bellock had turned back into a man and the two of them were circling me. Like vultures ready to pick off a carcass in the middle of the road. The two of them had evil smiles, like they were ready to give me a thrashing for being such a pain in their side. I tried keeping my eyes on the two of them. I kept trying to wrack my brain for anything that I learned in the Harper's dojo to help me, but I kept drawing a blank.

I kept my eyes on the two of them, looking for some way out. Then, I saw it. As they were circling, one avenue of escape became exposed. I waited for the right moment, before they decided to stop playing with their food, typical cat behavior, and quickly turned into a wolf and made a mad dash back.

“Damn it!” Cameron yelled.

“Don't look at me, Cat,” Bellock replied. “I waited for you to strike.”

I ran as fast as I could, trying to avoid them. I also thought of Tracy, of how vulnerable she still was, and who knows what their boss woman would do to her. Then, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my back legs. Running suddenly became extremely difficult for some reason.

I limped along, feeling something protrude from my leg. I could hear them following me down the corridor, but they didn't seem like they were in a rush. I turned back into my human form, and looked down at my legs. A large knife stuck out of the back of my calf. I reached down and yanked it out, screaming out in agony.

I hurried along down the corridor, and finally collapsed near Tracy, who to my annoyance, was still knocked out.

Cameron and Bellock entered the room, as I backed into a corner. I knew that a cornered animal was very dangerous, and it would be easier for me to protect my back if there was a wall behind it.

“No more playing with your food, Cameron,” Bellock stated.

“Fine,” he answered. “Besides, she doesn't have much left in her.”

He was right about that. I could feel the blood from the knife wound gush out. I felt so exhausted that I could barely stand, let alone fight. I had to use my hand to help me lean up against the wall, as I desperately tried to catch my breath.

Bellock casually walked back over to where Tracy lay on the floor, still strapped to the chair. He pulled out another one of those knives, and held it to her neck.

“Now,” Cameron started, “surrender, or Bellock will slit this girl's throat.”

“No!” I shouted.

“Then surrender, now!”

“Oh, I've had enough of this!” Bellock shouted, taking the knife he had at Tracy's neck and threw it straight at me, hitting me squarely in the right shoulder.
I gasped in pain as I reached for the knife and tried to yank it out. However, I could only feel my strength begin to leave me. The deep knife wound seemed to tap whatever strength I had left. Slumping down to the ground, I could hear Cameron yell at Bellock for doing such a stupid thing, but I didn't make any of it out, as I blacked out.

---------------------------------------

When I woke up, I bolted straight up from laying down on my couch. I looked around my apartment, and figured that it had all been a very bad dream. However, as I did so, pure white light seemed to pour in from every window.

I heard a growl and caw coming from behind me. Whirling around I saw a wolf and raven sitting comfortably in my chair, where neither had been before a moment ago. I begun to get a really creepy feeling about all of this. Nothing seemed to be adding up.

More growling and snarling, I saw a bear, cougar, fox, and a coyote looking inside my apartment from just outside the windows. Sitting comfortably I might add. Wait a second, my apartment was a couple of stories about ground level. What was going on here?

“Nothing makes sense!” I shouted in frustration.

“Not supposed to,” my voice answered me from deeper in the apartment.

“Who's there?” I asked, quickly looking around the room.

From the hallway, I saw myself emerge from the shadows. That me looked like she had just finished getting cleaned up and ready for the day. I looked at myself and I noticed that I still had all of my injuries from that fight. I guess that wasn't a dream. Then what was this?

“Who are you?”

“I am you..”

“Me?” I replied. “But, you're not? Are you?”

She shook her head. “Yes and no.”

“What do you mean?”

“We are the Varlore.”

“Varlore? I've heard that before from somewhere. But where have I heard it?”

“We are the Varlore,” she repeated.

“Are you, this?” I asked, holding up the bracelet.

“We are the Varlore.”

“Okay..., so not helping here.”

“You need to unleash them and yourself.”

“What? I don't understand.”

“You need to unleash them, to save the Wolfen heir.”

“Unleash who? What heir?”

“Unleash them and you! Save the heir! Save yourself!”

“I don't understand!” I yelled back in frustration.

The wolf and raven began growling and cawing loudly. “Unleash them and you!” the other me commanded again, in a loud, echoing voice.

The room shook violently, as a large earthquake had begun to shake the ground directly beneath me. A loud howl soon followed, seeming to come from everywhere. I instinctively covered my hears to try to keep most of the deafening sounds out, but the howl, the caws, and the growls just kept on going, and all of them eerily seemed familiar to me.

“Do it!” the other me yelled again.

I looked at her, and saw the eyes and teeth I had as a wolf across her face.

I jumped off of the couch and ran to the front door. It didn't budge, as if locked. “Why can't I leave? Where am I?”

“Do it now!” the other me commanded again, strangely looking more and more feral.

“Fine!” I yelled in reply, trying the door again. “I'll do it! Just let me go!”

This time the door ripped open very easily, and the white glow that was out my windows was out my door. All of the sound dropped leaving everything mute. I quickly looked back, and saw the other me smiling and nodding.

“Become the beast,” she whispered. “Save yourself and the heir.”

Everything began to fade from view, just leaving that white glow. The wolf and the raven remained, as well as the other me. They turned and made their way over to me. The raven landed on my shoulder while the wolf licked my hand.

Soon, both animals faded from view as well, but I could still sense them.

“Awaken!” she shouted.

--------------------------------------

Suddenly, I came to, it looked like no time whatsoever had passed. Cameron and Bellock argued over Bellock's throwing the knife into my shoulder. I looked at that shoulder, and thought about ripping the blade from it. I thought that it wouldn't be a good idea, since it probably was preventing some blood loss that could send me to my death. I resigned myself to listen as the two of them argued.

“You idiot!” Cameron shouted. “We needed her alive!”

“Why?” Bellock calmly replied, “You can just claim that bracelet now that she's dead. Like you intended to do all those years ago.”

Cameron growled in frustration. “Fine!” he shouted. “Get your men ready to go. We need to drop off the other girl before we have the Wolves bear down on us.”

“Why? We can still use her as leverage to get out of this accursed town.”

I thought to myself, 'Was all that I just had experienced in my head? And what did that other me mean by “Unleash them?” Unleash the animals within?'

“Fine,” Cameron resigned. “You're right, and we'll probably need every edge we can get to get out of Ravencrest.”

“I'm glad you see it that way.”

Bellock turned and walked over to me. I tried to feign being dead, but I don't know what he did, but he quickly shouted. “She's not dead!”

“What do you mean she's not dead?”

He grabbed me violently and I opened my eyes and stared at him with cold fury. He whirled me around and showed me to his boss.

“Well, then why don't you just finish her off already and be done with it?”

“With pleasure,” he replied.

I could feel something inside of me well up in protest. Something powerful and feral. Something that wanted to be unleashed.

“I don't think so,” I replied, my eyes quickly flashing over to my wolf eyes.

I could feel my body change rapidly. Muscles began to grow larger and stronger. I could feel myself grow taller, my clothes being pulled tight under the strain my body put them under. They soon fell to the ground, leaving me naked.

Fur began to sprout from most of my body, in the same pattern as my wolf form. I could feel my face transform, growing longer in the nose and mouth area. Sharp teeth emerging from my mouth. My fingers grew longer, with my nails becoming claws. My feet did the same, but I stayed on my feet erect. I felt some of my wounds healing and closing up.

As I struggled against my captor during this transformation, I managed to buck him off easily. He ran away from me and stood next to his boss. I reared back and howled, deeply and loudly.

Cameron and Bellock both backed up, looking very afraid of me. That's when I reared back and pounced on them.

I thrashed about with my arms and just let the two bastards have it. I howled a long deep howl to showed that I meant business. They most certainly had to pay for all the hell they put me through for the past few months. Shadowing and chasing me through town, the torture and interrogation, and finally beating me within an inch of my life. They had to pay.

My thrashing had knocked them both against the wall. Cameron, closest to the exit, got to his feet and bolted. Coward. A few seconds later, I thought I heard a dull thump. I shrugged that off, and stared that snake down. I could feel saliva drip down my mouth as I snarled at that bastard.

He simply smiled, and stated, “Two can play at that game.”

He quickly reared back and transformed into a cobra again. This time, he grew large, as tall as a human. His fangs grew long, sharp, and dripped with venom. The coils of his snake form grew long and powerful. Once he finished transforming, his dark scales shimmered in the low light. He hissed and lunged at me with speed. I quickly dove to one side, and turned around and faced him, roaring angrily.

The two of us jumped towards each other and quickly became tangled. I used my claws and tore at his sides, ripping into those scales. He tried to bite me, but also used his tail to trip me up in an attempt to wrap me around him. Bellock managed to wrap his coils around one of my legs, and gave it a sharp tug.

I fell to the ground and landed on my back. I quickly reached for the coils and tore at them with a vengeful fury. It had to get off my leg, now! I wouldn't let that bastard get an inch from me. And I would not let him get an opening to sink those fangs into me.

I swiped furiously at the coils, while rolling when he came at me with his fangs. After several minutes of this, I managed to sever it. Bellock reared back and hissed. He quickly forced his tail behind him, protecting it. He wobbled, trying to regain his balance. The severed bit of his tail flailed around until stopped. It then changed back into a human form, specifically his right foot.

I reared back and roared at the snake. He hissed, although he it seemed like he had a second thought about attacking me again. Although, I could tell he was pissed about the foot. Bellock took a position near the exit, thinking about making a run, or slither, for it.

He then reared back and hissed at me, and started to lunge at me from his sitting position. As if afraid to move against me. I jumped around, trying to avoid those long sharp fangs of his.

As I waited for his next move, I noticed something come out from the middle of his head. A second later, the snake fell to the ground, dead. Bellock reverted to his human form, missing the one foot I had sliced off, and just lay there. His cold eyes, stared out in surprise.

I quickly took a defensive position, as another man began moving forward, brandishing the gun that killed my opponent.

I stood there confused, while he simply stated, in a cold voice, “Thought you could use a hand.”

I didn't recognize the man as he emerged out of the shadows. Dressed in black military-style gear, with slightly different shades of black, he held a Glock in his right hand, lowered at his side. A belt carrying a long sharp knife was tied around his waist. His face was painted black, as I've seen actors portraying special forces soldiers in movies.

Holstering his gun, he walked over to Tracy and whipped out the knife. I growled at him, not wanting him to hurt a defenseless girl.

“Relax, Mikaela” he answered me.

I turned my head in wonder, as I tried to think of how he knew my name. I mean, I never met this man before. Suddenly, here he was, the cavalry to the rescue. He made a deliberate move to show me that he was severing the bonds that strapped Tracy to the chair. He quickly put the knife away in its spot on his belt.
With a simple fluid motion, he reached over and picked Tracy up in his arms. Her form was still limp from Bellock's blow.

“Now, I suggest that you calm down and follow me if you want to get out of here.”

He turned back to the exit, leaning his head for me to follow. I nodded, and tried to will my human form back. Suddenly I felt very tired, practically dead on my feet. I could feel the raw strength of this form ebb away, as I could feel the transformation happen within a second. I collapsed to the ground in my human form almost simultaneously. I definitely felt extremely exhausted, and about ready to pass out.

As I could feel myself growing tired from that, I could hear him sigh and mutter, “Dammit. Get over here and pick her up.”