The moon hides behind dark clouds. It’s pitch black, whichever direction I look. I can’t see anything. I can only feel Micah’s soft fur I have clenched tightly in my hands.
‘Micah,’ I whisper as he gets down as low as possible. He looks around carefully and slowly as the creatures dash past us. Micah creeps backwards and begins to run in the opposite direction to the creatures. After a few minutes of running, we are further away from the campsite—Micah shifts and dresses.
‘We will take the long way around, back to camp to avoid the creatures,’ he says.
‘What were they? What did you see?’ I ask, panicked.
‘I don’t know what they were. There were at least a dozen of them, maybe more. They were dark and fast. Faster than any werewolf I have seen.’
‘What do you think they want?’ I ask.
‘Death. That’s all I could smell on them, old blood, fresh blood, the flesh of many,’ Micah says. ‘I thought I saw… never mind,’ he says.
‘Saw what? What did you see?’ I ask.
Micah frowns as he makes eye contact with me, ‘Red eyes,’ he says.
‘Red eyes? Werewolves and Lycans don’t have red eyes. Not even rogues have them. So, what else could it be?’ I ponder. Suddenly an overwhelming sense of fear takes over, and Micah places his hand on my shoulder and realises I have the same thoughts as him, ‘Vampires?’ I whisper to him.
Micah bites his lip and nods his head.
‘We better get going, come on,’ he says, gently pulling me behind him. We remain quiet, walking towards the camp being as stealthy as possible. I trip over a log, but Micah catches me.
‘I can’t see anything, Micah,’ I whisper.
‘It’s okay, just keep hold of my hand and- ‘
Something bolts towards us and knocks Micah away from me. I can hear Micah struggling to fight the creature.
‘Micah!’ I say, withdrawing my dagger.
‘Run, Lylah!’ Micah yells.
‘No! I won’t leave you!’ I yell, then gasp as I feel the creatures run past me. Towards Micah. ‘No! Stay away from him! Get away!’ I shout, swinging my dagger in the darkness.
I try to follow the sounds of Micah struggling and hear him shift. His wolf lets out a loud howl. He is calling for my father and the others for help. I can hear him snapping and snarling. Drops of blood spatter across my face as he bites a creature that lets out a hissing sound.
Micah whimpers in pain as he continues to fight. I’m close enough to Micah that I could feel him if I was to reach out. But I need to help fight. I kick and roll, and swing my dagger. I’ve injured a few of them, but I’m unsure if any are dead. I can’t help but feel we are surrounded by even more. I stab one and then another. Then something or someone grabs my ankle and yanks me to the ground. My head hits a rock, but I ignore the searing pain and the blood trickling down my hair. I’m being dragged across the ground with speed. Sticks and rocks dig into me. Finally, I grab onto a tree trunk and yank myself from the creature’s grip. I jump and land on my feet in a fighting stance. I can feel it, the creature breathing heavily in front of me, staring at me as if fascinated or intrigued by me.
‘Why aren’t you fighting me? What are you doing? What do you want?’ I shout.
I hear Micah whimper from where I was earlier. I swing my dagger, piercing the creature in its arm. He hisses and steps back as I run back to Micah to help him. The creature I just stabbed now stands in front of me. I fall back, and as I try to stand, I scream as two red eyes look into mine. Its breath is rotten and sticky. I hear howls in the distance and know it’s my family. I stab the creature in the neck and push it away, desperate to get to Micah.
I stand and run in the darkness towards him and trip. I cry out and grab my ankle, which is swelling. I bite down on a thick stick to help me through the pain as I stand and limp toward Micah and the creatures, stabbing as many creatures in my path. They begin to dissipate after a loud hiss is heard, and the clouds move just enough to let a little moonlight into the area. My eyes adjust. I can see blood everywhere but no bodies.
‘Micah! Micah! Where are you?’ I shout, looking everywhere. I halt as I see a tall shadowy figure with its back to me. It’s wearing a black cape and is holding something against a tree. It’s holding Micah up, but I’m not sure what it’s doing to him. I drag myself towards them.
‘Get away from him! Get away from Micah now!’ I yell.
The vampire drops Micah to the ground and disappears further into the woods. Micah lays limp.
‘Micah?’ I say, lifting his head onto my lap and gasping when I see two puncture marks on his neck. He is deathly pale, and I realise the vampire has just been drinking Micah’s blood.
Micah fights to keep his eyes open, and then with more Moonlight, I see his stomach has been shredded open. I burst into tears as I see his exposed organs. His left leg is barely attached, and he has bite wounds along his arms.
Micah makes some unsettling sounds and tries to take a deep breath.
I place my hands over his body, concentrate, and pray to the Moon Goddess to let me heal Micah. I can hear my parents’ howl. They are almost here. I try holding my wand over Micah, sobbing profusely in hopes my wand will work. When I realised no magic would be coming to my aid, I burst into tears. Micah weakly takes my hand, squeezes it gently, and tries to talk. ‘Shh, shh,’ I say, crying. What feels like a myriad of tears, fall from my eyes onto Micah’s face. ‘You’re going to be okay, Micah. You just need to save your energy, okay? My mother will be here any moment, and she will heal you,’ I assure him and begin to hum while I comb my fingers through his hair.
‘I’m dying,’ Micah whispers and squeezes my hand.
‘No, you’re not, Micah!’ I say sternly, shaking my head. ‘You’re not dying, you’re not going anywhere, and you’re not going to leave me. You are my fated mate. You are meant to stay with me forever. First, we’re going to travel just like you wanted, then we will become Alpha and Luna of Storm Glenn and then,’ I burst into tears even louder. ‘And then we are going to have lots of babies. Beautiful babies. So, you can’t die, even if you wanted to,’ I cry.
‘Don’t cry, my sweet princess,’ Micah whispers, ‘I will always be here with you. I will always be by your side in spirit and have my happily ever after with you. But Lylah. Your life doesn’t end here with me. More is waiting for you, and I want you to find it. You will go on adventures. I know you will find someone and fall in love all over again. I want you to find happiness. I want you to live again and know it’s okay to be happy without me,’ he whispers.
‘Micah, I don’t want anyone else. I only want you! I only love you! I will never love again, Micah. Only you can make me happy,’ I cry.
I lean down, and we share a kiss. I wipe the tears from my face, and then I wipe the tears from Micah’s face, and we spend the last moment gazing into each other’s sombre eyes.
‘Live and love again, my princess. I love you forever,’ he says, and his head drops to the side.
‘Micah?’ I say and gently shake his shoulders. ‘Micah!’ I scream, but he doesn’t move. He is dead.
I cradle my arms around him and rock as I scream and cry into him.
My parents and Theo, Leo, Nathan, Billy, Alex, and Amara, appear in their wolf and Lycan forms. Sally hops down from Nathan’s back, and she is the first to run over to me as everyone else shifts back into human form.
Everyone approaches slowly, taking in the horrific scene. I look up to see my mother shaking her head at my father.
‘Mother, please. Please heal him. There’s still time!’ I cry.
She looks at Micah’s torn body and the puncture marks on his neck.
‘I’m so sorry, Lylah, he has no blood left. His wounds… they….’
‘You have to try!’ I shout at her angrily.
My father places his hand on my mother’s shoulder and nods for her to try even though he knows all the magic in the world could never bring Micah back.