Kingsley left him alone throughout the month. How much inner torment Kingsley went through, I didn’t know, and wouldn’t ever know. But I suspected the darkness within him—a darkness I’d personally spoken to before—no doubt slipped into his thoughts here and there. Hard to say. On the outside, Kingsley seemed normal enough.
Of course, the very nature of Kingsley’s supernatural existence—a werewolf—dictated that the thing within would make a full appearance each month. Kingsley, of course, didn’t have to be so accommodating. He could have chained himself up all night, rather than let the creature roam within a secured cell. He could have denied it rotting meat, too. Kingsley didn’t give it much, but the agreement seemed to work, and my werewolf boyfriend led a mostly normal life.
I, of course, had no guarantee that Elizabeth would ever relinquish her hold on me. I suspected her goal would be, and would forever be, to gain complete control of my body, mind and soul, forever and ever.
I shook my head at that, and picked up my speed. How I picked up speed, I don’t know, since I was already blazing down the empty sidewalk. But I somehow willed myself to go faster, somehow willed my legs to run faster and faster, and they responded. Boy, did they respond.
Of course, my situation wasn’t all bad. Elizabeth had given me much of her strength and supernatural abilities. From where she had gained such abilities, I didn’t know. My guess: a pact with the devil. Or something damn close to the devil. Or not. Maybe they had tapped into humankind’s limitless potential. Maybe she and others like her had figured out how to unlock the inner superhero in all of us.
Again, I didn’t know, but I knew a handful of people who might know. And I was getting closer and closer to needing more answers. This was, after all, personal. Damn personal.
Anthony and Tammy were with Mary Lou tonight. I hadn’t gotten to the point where I trusted the kids alone, all night. Okay, I didn’t trust Tammy. Not these days. Not with all the skipping class and questionable friends. Not with the drinking last year and now the cigarette smoke I smelled on her. Not with her coming home way past her curfew.
I’m losing her, I thought, and somehow, some way, found yet another gear. I sped past parked cars and driveways and houses and lamp poles. I sped through green lights and red lights, through intersections and around bends and over hills. Imperial is scenic... and quiet at night. I soon found myself running through Brea and then, Placentia. Over the 57 freeway, which sped below me in a blur. At an intersection, I leaped over a car turning left in front of me. The driver never knew I was there. Hell, maybe I wasn’t.
I’m here , I thought, and I was running faster than anyone had any right to run.
The speed. The wind. The pounding of my Asics. The streaking lights. Total control of my body, of my legs. Seeing everything. I could have been running backward through time, or forward. Everything a blur, a big blur. Yet, I saw everything, too. Everything.
Backward in time... something tugged at me, but I let it go, or tried to, and continued forward.
Faster, I prodded myself. Go faster and faster.
Time, I thought again. Had I gone backwards in time? I didn’t know, couldn’t remember, but the thought felt right. What the hell had happened to me in New Orleans? I didn’t know. Maybe I didn’t want to know.
In one movement, I reached around and pulled off my backpack without breaking stride. And as I crested a hill and headed down toward Yorba Linda, I leaped as I high as I could, and saw the single flame in my mind. And the creature within.
A moment later, my clothing exploded from my body. I lost more workout clothes that way.
I gasped and arched my head back and felt myself become something much, much more—and caught my backpack with a curved, black talon. I thrust my wings and, just missing the concrete, flew low to the
Of course, the very nature of Kingsley’s supernatural existence—a werewolf—dictated that the thing within would make a full appearance each month. Kingsley, of course, didn’t have to be so accommodating. He could have chained himself up all night, rather than let the creature roam within a secured cell. He could have denied it rotting meat, too. Kingsley didn’t give it much, but the agreement seemed to work, and my werewolf boyfriend led a mostly normal life.
I, of course, had no guarantee that Elizabeth would ever relinquish her hold on me. I suspected her goal would be, and would forever be, to gain complete control of my body, mind and soul, forever and ever.
I shook my head at that, and picked up my speed. How I picked up speed, I don’t know, since I was already blazing down the empty sidewalk. But I somehow willed myself to go faster, somehow willed my legs to run faster and faster, and they responded. Boy, did they respond.
Of course, my situation wasn’t all bad. Elizabeth had given me much of her strength and supernatural abilities. From where she had gained such abilities, I didn’t know. My guess: a pact with the devil. Or something damn close to the devil. Or not. Maybe they had tapped into humankind’s limitless potential. Maybe she and others like her had figured out how to unlock the inner superhero in all of us.
Again, I didn’t know, but I knew a handful of people who might know. And I was getting closer and closer to needing more answers. This was, after all, personal. Damn personal.
Anthony and Tammy were with Mary Lou tonight. I hadn’t gotten to the point where I trusted the kids alone, all night. Okay, I didn’t trust Tammy. Not these days. Not with all the skipping class and questionable friends. Not with the drinking last year and now the cigarette smoke I smelled on her. Not with her coming home way past her curfew.
I’m losing her, I thought, and somehow, some way, found yet another gear. I sped past parked cars and driveways and houses and lamp poles. I sped through green lights and red lights, through intersections and around bends and over hills. Imperial is scenic... and quiet at night. I soon found myself running through Brea and then, Placentia. Over the 57 freeway, which sped below me in a blur. At an intersection, I leaped over a car turning left in front of me. The driver never knew I was there. Hell, maybe I wasn’t.
I’m here , I thought, and I was running faster than anyone had any right to run.
The speed. The wind. The pounding of my Asics. The streaking lights. Total control of my body, of my legs. Seeing everything. I could have been running backward through time, or forward. Everything a blur, a big blur. Yet, I saw everything, too. Everything.
Backward in time... something tugged at me, but I let it go, or tried to, and continued forward.
Faster, I prodded myself. Go faster and faster.
Time, I thought again. Had I gone backwards in time? I didn’t know, couldn’t remember, but the thought felt right. What the hell had happened to me in New Orleans? I didn’t know. Maybe I didn’t want to know.
In one movement, I reached around and pulled off my backpack without breaking stride. And as I crested a hill and headed down toward Yorba Linda, I leaped as I high as I could, and saw the single flame in my mind. And the creature within.
A moment later, my clothing exploded from my body. I lost more workout clothes that way.
I gasped and arched my head back and felt myself become something much, much more—and caught my backpack with a curved, black talon. I thrust my wings and, just missing the concrete, flew low to the
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