Darkness Rising 'edited'

A crimson drop fell from my lips and landed on its owner. I used my sleeve to wipe it off and I propped the girl next to a well traveled path. Her chest rose and fell slowly, like that of a sleeping child.  

"Sorry about that…" I pulled up my hood and stepped into the busy street. I watched the people talking on their cell phones, wandering aimlessly down the street, trying to stay dry in the downpour.

"They are completely clueless that I could kill them."

I sat on a bench and watched a young woman across the street. She blushed as a boy looped an arm around her waist and kissed her under the cover of an umbrella. She giggled and they rejoined a group of friends holding the door at a restaurant. I leaned forward and rubbed my eyes with my hands.

"Hola, tú!" I looked up at a hulking figure. "Dejas aquí!" The man growled at me. I groaned

"Why didn't I pay more attention in Spanish 1?" I complained mentally and stood slowly. No one around us even stopped to look. I edged my hood back, letting the rain soak my face. "I'm guessing we aren't friends?" His eyes widened

"La princessa…" He fumbled and his eyes jerked nervously.

"You should leave me alone. It's my birthday so I'd rather not kill anyone." He bared his teeth as hair shot out of his pores and his bones cracked.

"Creo que no."  He growled.

"I don't know what that means!" I sighed exasperated. He leaped at me and I dodged his furious charge easily. He spun around and I pressed my gun to his head. He froze and glared at me. "Is that it?"

"Chupacabra." He spat at my feet.

"A goat sucker? Well, that's a new one." I pulled the trigger and grimaced when his body hit the ground with a dull thud, and the rain washed his blood into the gutter.

People screamed.

Sirens wailed.

Children cried.

I walked home.

I glanced behind me as I unlocked the door to my apartment on the lower east side of town. I yawned as I swung the door closed and flipped on the light, illuminating the single bare room, divided with curtains. My cat sauntered up beside me and rubbed against my soaked legs. I smiled at her and trudged across the room to flop down on my bed.
"Home sweet home."  I groaned slightly as my joints popped and muscles relaxed. Tank jumped onto my chest and purred as she licked my chin.

"You're in a good mood, huh?" She cocked her head and meowed at me. I chuckled and stroked her fur. "You're a pill." Her ears twitched and she jumped off the bed and ran under the couch. I sighed and rolled over to face the window, which I had left open for Tank.

"Rikkarra…" I leaped off the bed and pointed my gun at the figure standing beside the window. Rain collected on the floor and the man swayed gently.

"Who are you?!" I stepped forward to look at his face.

"m' Drake remember? I was there when…" He lurched forward and I barely made it in time to catch him. I laid him on the floor and quickly closed the window.

"Drake Radky?" I questioned as I ran a hand over his face. Blood pooled under him and I removed his shirt. "Oh crap…." Scratches layered his skin. "I'll call Zeke." Drake's eyes shot open and he grasped my wrist.

"He's…this." My eyes widened and I stared as he motioned to the gaping holes.

"Your brother is a…werewolf?" A chill ran down my spine as I pictured one of my old  friends transforming into a monster. I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed Rachel's number. "Still I don't know what to do for this…." I placed my hand on his forehead.  "I think that temperature is normal for a human…Heck what do I know, Zeke's always been the one with the brains."

"Hello?" Rachel sleepily answered her phone.

"It's Rikkarra. We need you at my place, Drake is hurt and Zeke might be a fuzzy." I rattled off details and she hung up. "She'll be here soon Drake." Most of the cuts oozed pus and felt hot to the touch. I ran to the kitchen to get a wet cloth just as Rachel burst through the door.

"Window side of the bed, what do you need?" she nodded and looked at Drake's inert form.

"Wet washcloths, a few bottles of peroxide, and a lot of coffee." I started the coffee pot as she grilled me for answers.

"Don't you people ever sleep? When did he show up? Have you seen Zeke yet? I DO sleep you know." I quickly gathered the supplies and ran back to her. I took Drake's hand as Rachel opened her large medical bag. Drake mumbled softly and I leaned in closer.

"Don't kill him…." He whispered as a drop of blood ran from a gash above his forehead.  I sucked breath and watched as Rachel injected him with several random tubes. She ran her gloved hands across the cuts lacing his torso.

"These are crazy big…"

"But I have to kill him…don't I?" I glanced out the window. Rain beat against the window and shapes flowed down the glass.

"Rikkarra?!" Rachel shook my shoulders and I snapped my attention to her. "Didn't you hear me calling you?" I shook my head as she wrinkled her nose. "Ugh…you smell like wet dog."

"Rachel…how do you…not…kill a werewolf?" She paused in her work and looked up to me.

"I've been thinking about that since you called me…And I really don't know. If…Zeke where here, he could tell you about million theories and solve the problem….." Drake groaned and she set back to work. "You turned Zeke, didn't you?" I shook my head.

"No, Zeke was turned by another half-breed. Why?" She shrugged

"I don't know how much of a difference it will make. Since you were born a vampire you have no human blood in you. And everyone after that is a half breeds right?" I nodded halfheartedly.

"I hate nerd rants."

"Half-breeds are equally human and vampire and everyone they turn is also a half-breed. Still following?'  Again I nodded. "When a werewolf infects a human, the wolf cells over power the human cells, so all werewolves are full blooded. When a werewolf infects a full blood vampire, typically the vampire part wins out because of the sheer amount of cells. Although there was this one man I knew a while ago that had been bit and turned in to a wolf. He said that….

"Rachel, does this have a point?" I interrupted. She bit her lip

"Uhm…yeah it does. Zeke is half human and half vampire."

"Uh huh….?"

"So maybe he's not completely gone. The vampire part could still be there as well as some of the human part, but that's more likely to be taken over by the wolf." Her eyes gleamed with hope.

"I wonder if she likes him a bit more than she let on…"  Tank yowled from the kitchen, "Oh! She's probably starving, I usually feed her when I get home." I walked over to the small cupboard as Drake muttered something and slowly tried to sit up. Rachel pushed him back down.

"You're not allowed to sit up yet." She ordered. I ducked behind the fridge, out of view, with a can of cat food in my hand.

"I wonder how well he remembers me…"

"Well hello there, Rachel. Nice to see you after all these years." He teased and looked around. "Please don't tell me I live in this dump."  

"Hey! Just because you're an infirm, doesn't mean Rikkarra won't kill you." Rachel barked. I peeked around the edge of the fridge.

"I remember him perfectly"

"This is Karra's place?…I guess I should be running…" I wrinkled my nose and emerged from hiding.

"Too late." I smacked the back of his head and dumped the soggy contents on the cat's plate beside the window. Tank ran across Drake's stomach and meowed her gratitude. Drake grunted and glared at me.

"Still can't control your freaking pets?" I sat on the edge of the bed and look at Tank.

"Good cat."

"Drake what's going on…?" Rachel whispered as she slid down to her knees. "If Z…" She twisted a strand of auburn hair. "If a werewolf did this to you, then it has to be one of the biggest out there. Several of the cuts where more than three inches wide, but no wolf I've heard of has ever had a set of claws that big."

"It was Zeke." He tucked his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. "We were hunting two nights ago, like we do every year, and we were ambushed by these Spanish speaking mongrels." Drake voice was down to a low growl.

"Spanish?' I thought back to the man I killed earlier.

"What do you mean this time every year? Are you sure they are Spanish? I thought they were neutral in this?" Rachel leaned closer to Drake, making the hair on the back of my neck rise unexpectedly. I wrinkled my nose and rubbed my neck.

"Well…before the war, this was when we celebrated the birthday of a princess." I stiffened. "We couldn't hunt wolves back then, because she was engaged to be married to one of them, so we stuck with the traditional elk." Drake stared at me. "But since she went missing and we are at war with the wolves, we just do it as a memory of what it used to be like." I glared at him.

"She didn't go missing. She left." I growled. Rachel leaned back against the bed and stared at her hands.

"I don't care about that. I just want to know about Zeke." She whispered. "You guys can sort out the past later, but for now let's just help him."

"Alright, alright, let's take care of business. Rachel go get what you think you'll need and we'll all meet back up here in an hour."  He smiled gently at her as she lifted her head.

"Rikkarra…don't kill him, okay?" I sighed and stood with her.

"No promises." I grinned and quietly shut the door behind Rachel.

"Hey, Karra I was just…" I growled deep in my throat and the hairs on my arms rose.

"Just stop, Drake." I breathed as he sat up.

"No! You stop and just listen, Rikkarra." My hands shook in irritation but I closed my mouth.  "This is hardly the reunion I wanted. It's been years since…" Drake rubbed the back of his head and stared at his hands.

"Since we last fought?" I wrapped my arms around my abdomen, protecting the scars layering my own body. Scars that Drake gave me.

"Yeah, the night you left." He looked up sadly. "Look let's just do what Rachel said and take care of this right now. We can 'talk'" He made quotes with his fingers "later." I sighed,

"Fine. Whatever." I stormed off to the bathroom and slammed the door.