Parahuman (Parahuman Series) Read online

  Oh, God, she was going to hyperventilate.

  “Hey, is anyone in there?” The voice from outside yelled again.

  Taking a few deep breaths Laney got her panic attack under control. She had made a promise to him that she would keep him out of this and she would. However, she would be making a point of looking for him later and getting a hold of his uncle. She was sure he had some knowledge of what was going on.

  Leaning down Laney rubbed her hands in the puddle of blood pooling around the wolf’s body, and smeared it down the front of her jacket. After another deep breath she walked over to the window. She was doing something totally against her nature. She was going to lie, and not just a little lie, but a whopper of a lie, and not just to one person, but to everyone.

  When Devan had asked his favor she had gone into shock there for a minute, but the look of desperation in his eyes, those amazingly hypnotic golden eyes, had bypassed every moral facet she possessed. There was just no way she could have said ‘no’ to him. Plus, it wasn’t like this lie was going to hurt anyone, which made it a lot easier to say ‘yes’.

  A little voice in her head whispered, ‘would you have been able to say ‘no’ to anything he would have asked?’

  Laney walked up to the window. “It’s Laney Jennings, and I have a bit of a situation in here.” Mr. Abcott, the principle, was standing on the other side with a shot gun in his hand.

  “Laney! Oh my…are you alright? We saw one of the wolves jump in there.”

  “Yes, it’s in here, but its dead.”

  “Dead!” Mr. Abcott gasped. He ran over to the door but it wouldn’t open for him. He started butting it with his shoulder.

  “Hold up a minute. The lawn mower in pushed up against it.” Laney walked away from the window. Fortunately, she knew where the key to the mower was, otherwise, there was no way anyone would believe she had pushed it in front of the door. She was still amazed Devan had been able to move it. It was a several hundred pound mower for crips sake. Then there were the two fifteen foot jumps, one while holding her. And let’s not forget the fight with the wolf itself. Everything was an extraordinary jumble of super feats rolling around in her head.

  Grabbing the key from a concealed hole under a side shelf Laney started the mower and backed it up. Mr. Abcott cautiously stepped through the door and looked around. Spotting Laney in her blood covered shirt his eyes widened in alarm and he ran forward.

  “Oh my God! We need to get you to an ambulance at once.”

  Laney held up her hands to reassure him she was all right but forgot how bloody they were, he gaped in further horror at the sight of them. “I’m alright Mr. Abcott, this is not my blood. The blood is from the wolf over there.”

  Mr. Abcott followed the direction of her finger. Laney wouldn’t have thought his mouth could open any wider, but at the sight of the huge dead wolf lying on the ground, it did.

  The next hour was chaos. Laney was made to get checked over by the paramedics even though she told them she wasn’t injured. Nobody believed it after getting a look at the wolf and the blood all over her, and she could hardly blame them for doubting her. The wolf was huge.

  When she told the police what happened, editing Devan out of the picture, they all looked at her like she was some kind of ‘she-hulk’. Laney had explained that when the wolf jumped through the window she had picked up the ski pole to protect herself and the animal had impaled itself on it in a complete fluke of circumstances.

  Her dad arrived while she was being questioned and had an absolute conniption when he saw the blood all over her. She assured him she was fine, but he hovered over her for at least ten minutes unwilling to leave her side. It was all good though because he was long time friends with the police and he told them to make sure her name was kept hush-hush. That was fine with her; she didn’t want reporters hounding her for a story, especially since it really wasn’t her story.

  Hali came to sit with her for a while but the police and school began notifying everyone that the school was being closed for the day and that everyone was to head home. The school buses were still in front of the school so people just loaded back onto them. Those people who drove to school jammed out of there; most likely heading for The Diner to rehash everything.

  Ninety minutes later most everyone had cleared out. A large group of men and women had assembled into a hunting party and where checking out the wooded area around the schools to make sure that the wolves were gone. Her dad had joined a group to go track the wolves.

  Laney had sent Hali away with the promise that she would get back with her soon. Hali hadn’t wanted to leave at first, but Laney had told her she needed to be alone for little bit after all the uproar.

  So now Laney was sitting in her truck in the empty school parking lot staring at Devan’s jeep trying to decide what to do next. Should she drive out to his house or try to follow his blood trail. Although, she had a feeling that he would be good at concealing such a trail. Unless he was too woozy from blood lose to make an effort.

  And that was the thought that got her moving.

  Getting out of her truck Laney nonchalantly strolled toward the back of the school. A police cruiser was parked in front of the school, but the officer, Kevin Sawer, was talking on his radio while gazing into the woods. Laney had changed into an spare sweatshirt that had been stowed in her back seat so she was no longer a walking billboard for zombie’s-r-us, thus she was able to sneak around back without him even noticing her.

  Rounding the building Laney scrutinized the ground, but just as she thought there was no signs of any blood, and a scan of the athletic fields gave no further clues to where he could have gone. Thinking that her only option was to head to his house and question his uncle Laney was about to head back to her truck when she suddenly remembered Devan’s roof stunt yesterday at lunch.

  Taking a few steps back Laney gazed up at the school roof. If he was up there she wasn’t going to be able to see him and it would take quite an effort to get up there. She would do it though if there was a possibility he was up there. The thought of him bleeding to death was still upper most in her mind and driving her frantic with worry. Before she went searching for a ladder or attempted looking for some kind of roof top door she decided to take the easy route first.

  “Devan,” she whispered loudly. “Are you up there? It’s me, Laney.”

  Clutching her shirt fretfully and shuffling further alongside the building Laney continued her loud whispering. “Devan! It’s me, Laney. No one else is around. Everyone’s gone home. Are you up there?”

  After several seconds elapsed with no response Laney was considering grabbing the ladder out of the storage building when Devan’s head suddenly popped over the side. Her heart about exploded in relief. “Ohh, thank God, you’re alive. I was having some major heart palpitations that you might be bleeding to death up there. Most everyone is gone now. We could probably get you out of here without anyone noticing.”

  Devan’s head disappeared for a few seconds causing Laney’s heart to skip in distress, but then it reappeared again.

  “Laney, I know I’ve asked you for a lot today, but can you do me one more favor and drive my jeep over to this corner of the building.” His hand emerged holding a set of keys.

  Laney nodded her head. “Of course, drop them.”

  The keys landed at her feet. Laney swiped them up and strolled unobtrusively over to Devan’s jeep. The sneaking was unnecessary though, because Kevin was no longer in his car, in fact, she couldn’t see him anywhere.

  Picking up her pace she unlocked the door and pulled herself up into the driver’s seat. Her feet were like a foot away from the pedals so she had to position the seat a lot closer. Putting the jeep in gear Laney drove over to the corner of the building. She put it in park, but left the engine running as she jumped out and she ran back to the rear of the school.

  “Devan its all clear. Should I get you a ladder?” Laney knew he could get down by himself because he’d don’t it
before, but he hadn’t been injured that time.

  Devan didn’t reply he just swung his legs over the side along with the rest of his body. He dropped down with a heavy ‘thump’ and swayed slightly before righting himself. Laney’s hands automatically came out to steady his landing, and her eyes became fixated on the markings decorating Devan’s back.

  It had to be a tattoo, but it was the most realistic tattoo she’d ever seen. The artwork consisted of orange and black rosettes scattered systematically over his entire shoulders and back. It even looked like it might go beyond his shorts waist band. It looked like the skin of a jaguar painted on his back. His skin tone even matched the tan color of the animal.

  It was incredible!

  But as incredible as it was the blood dripping down Devan’s back from punctures in his shoulders drew most of her attention. He turned bringing more bloody damage to her attention.

  The dark shirt that had been on his back was now wrapped around his arm, and even though it was a dark colored shirt Laney could still see the blood soaked into the material. He had ripped the shirt into strips enabling him to tie a tourniquet around his upper arm to slow the flow of blood, and then the rest of the shirt was tied around the long gashes.

  “Oh God!” Laney gasped. She tore her gaze from the bloody mess of his arm to his face. Devan’s normally tanned features were sickly pale. He had lost his glasses in the fight with wolf so Laney was able to look into his amazing golden eyes. She would have enjoyed it a lot more if his eyes weren’t a bit unfocused and at half-mast like he was having a hard time keeping them open. “We need to get you to a doctor!”

  Devan shook his head which caused him to stagger a little. “No, no doctor. They can’t help me.”

  He righted himself and started walking to his jeep. Laney could tell that he was feeling the loss of blood because his stride wasn’t as smooth as it normally was. She sidled up next to his uninjured side and put her arm around his waist. He stiffened at first but then relaxed, and the pleasure Laney felt at his acceptance was indescribable.

  When they rounded the corner of the building they stopped to look around quickly before scuttling quickly to the jeep. Devan headed for the driver’s side but Laney wasn’t having that, she steered him toward the passenger seat. At least, she tried. He might have been weakened by blood loss but he was still stronger than her and she wasn’t accomplishing much nudging in that direction.

  “You are not driving. You look like you’re about to pass out.” Laney pushed him again in the direction of the passenger seat. He opened his mouth and Laney knew an argument was coming out of his mouth. “We can stand here all day and get caught or you can get in the passenger seat, because I’m not letting you drive.” Laney said with steel in her tone.

  He looked down at her in surprise. His golden eyes exhibited a variety of emotions; pain and fatigue, but also…bemusement and fear? He relented though, and she expelled a huge sigh of relief that he trusted her to help him. She opened the passenger door for him and helped him in. The seat was too far forward for Devan’s legs to fit so Laney adjusted it. He threw another mystified look her way.

  Because she helped him out; making him comfortable?

  “Let’s get you buckled up.” She leaned over him avoiding his injured arm to grab the belt and pull it over him with a ‘click’. He gave her another puzzled look before she shut the door. Buckle up? Like he needs to worry about that right now. Hurrying over to the driver’s side Laney jumped in and buckled up.

  Laney threw a quick look at Devan’s arm and face as she put the jeep in gear; neither looked all that good. “I’m taking you to the doctor,” she stated emphatically driving out of the school parking lot. Laney wasn’t going to let him bleed to death, no way.

  Holding his arm against his chest Devan turned to look at Laney with a lucid and very grave expression. “Laney, I cannot go to the clinic. They will not be able to help. In fact, they would only put me in danger.” He leaned back in his seat as though the effort of being cogent was too much of an effort any longer. “Take me to my house. My uncle will know what to do.”

  Laney hadn’t hesitated trusting Devan with the wolf situation, but to trust that his uncle would be able to fix his arm…and what about the blood loss? “Devan…”

  “Please.”

  Laney’s heart clenched at the helplessness of that plea; like he was too fatigued to be able to stop her if she refused, but hoped like hell that she would do as he asked.

  She heaved out a huge sigh. “Okay.” Keeping her eyes on the road she reached over and patted his leg in reassurance. Laney felt the stiffness leave his body at her agreement and his hand moved over to rest on top of hers. It was the first time he’d relaxed from her touch and made an effort to voluntarily touch her. Laney flipped her hand over and squeezed it in comfort. He returned it gently.

  “You may find out some things that could turn your entire world upside down. I hope it doesn’t cause you to hate me too much.” Devan’s voice sort of faded toward the end.

  Alarmed, Laney looked away from the road toward Devan. He was slumped unconscious in his seat. Her hand flew to his chest; thankfully, he was still breathing. Okay…just passed out then. Even unconscious his presence was imposing. Laney pulled her hand away to shift gears. She needed to get him to his uncle fast.

  It was about a twenty minute drive to the old Moss place and whenever she wasn’t shifting Laney had a finger on Devan’s pulse at his wrist. It seemed to be really slow which was freaking her out and almost her turning around, but they were closer to his house than town and if it was true that his uncle knew what he was doing than he needed the help soon. Moreover, driving down the bumpy dirt road leading to his house didn’t elicit any response from him, and it was an exceedingly rough ride since she took it at a higher speed than was good for the jeep, but better that the jeep’s suspension gets trashed than Devan dying on her.

  Laney pulled up in front of his house and a man came running out as though expecting them. The uncle? Swinging the jeep around so the passenger side faced the front door Laney turned off the vehicle and jumped out. The man looked at Laney in surprise as she sprinted around the jeep to open the passenger door.

  “He said you were the only one who could help him. His arm is all torn up and bleeding really badly. He passed out twenty minutes ago hasn’t woken up since.” Laney tapped Devan’s cheek softly and then a little more forcefully when he didn’t respond. Reaching for his good hand she gave it a squeeze. “Devan! You need to wake up. There is no way we are going to be able to carry you.” Laney was almost crying at this point.

  Devan’s eyes flickered open and Laney almost howled in joy when she saw those eyes of his. He squeezed her hand in return.

  “Devan.” The man sidled in next to Laney and she moved over as far as she could without releasing Devan’s hand. He looked down at their joined hands with speculation before switching his attention to Devan’s injured arm. The man placed his fingers on Devan’s wrist. “Devan, can you hear me?” The man’s voice was almost professional rather than affectionate. Almost like a doctor rather than a family member. Maybe he had been a doctor before he retired and was slipping into his professional mode.

  Devan’s gaze moved from Laney to the man.

  “Good, you’re focusing. I can bring everything out here if I need to, but it would be better if we could go inside; if you think you can walk tell me?”

  Devan raised his head off the seat. “I can walk.” He swung his legs out and stood up. Laney kept a tight grip on his hand and scooted up next to him again in case he lost his balance. The man continued to watch them with bemused consideration, but he leaned up against Devan’s other side as they walked into the house. Laney paid no attention to the interior of the house as they made for a room toward the back; a bedroom.

  They both helped him to lie down and Devan closed his eyes directly once his head hit the pillow; his face was deathly pale. Laney still held tightly to Devan’s hand, and he didn�
��t seem to want to let go anyway.

  “He needs to go to the clinic for blood and stitches; he’s so white.” Laney said fearfully.

  “I have everything that he needs right here.” The man stated authoritatively.

  Laney finally took note of her surroundings to see that there was an I.V. stand next to her with two bags hanging from it; one contained what looked like…blood! The other held a clear liquid. On the small dresser next to the bed a handful of medical tools and supplies were arranged.

  The man came around to her side of the bed. “I need to get in there to hook up the I.V.”

  Laney reluctantly released Devan’s hand as the man went about inserting two needles into his arm. Laney winced as each needle slid into his skin, but Devan seemed to take no notice of the pricks. The man looked quite adept at the whole doctoring routine; taping the needles to his arm and fiddling with some knobs on the lines. He then went around to the other side and pulling another syringe from the dresser he injected it in Devan’s injured arm.

  Sitting down on the bed at his departure Laney took hold of Devan’s hand again, and a slight squeeze told her that Devan was still alert to his surroundings. Her anxiety lessened only slightly at his consciousness and at the sight of blood flowing back into his body. Why this was all here was a bit disturbing and raised a lot of questions, but Laney recognized now was not the time.

  “Is he going to be alright?” Laney asked anxiously.

  The man had set aside the needle and was working on undoing the material around Devan’s arm. Keeping his gaze fixed on his task he answered. “Yes.”

  Laney saw where Devan got his chattiness, but the absolute certainty in his tone did wonders in relieving many of Laney’s fears.

  The man worked silently as he removed the makeshift binding from Devan’s arm. Laney’s stomach clenched as the wounds were revealed. Three long gashes ran down his arm, one in particular was deep and still sluggishly bleeding. The man laid a few more towels under his arm to soak up the blood. He then began poking a prodding. Laney ran soothing fingers over Devan’s hand but he showed no signs of discomfort at the invasive digging. His body remained still and his breathing steady as though he were sleeping peacefully, but Laney knew he was awake because every now and then he would squeeze her hand as though comforting her.