Chapter 23 The search
Naomi.
No words left my mouth as he drove us through the busy nightlife streets.
"Have any idea about werewolves? Other than the ones you have heard about?"
He suddenly asked out of nowhere. "No." I shrugged, checking to see if I had everything I needed with me for this hunt, especially the needle. It was something small but very effective for its purpose.
A little frown settled on my face when I didn't find it. I searched again, a little relief washing over me as my hand settled on it and I brought it out.
"Have you tried asking?" I could feel his eyes on me from the driver's seat. Why was he suddenly asking me that? I had no business with werewolves except hunting and killing them.
"I don't have any reason to do that, so I won't ask." I brought the pin up to my face to look at it. My eyes went wide when he grabbed the pin from my hand and passed it through the window, intending to throw it. I almost stood from my seat demanding him to give it back.
"I think these needles are stupid." He flipped the needle between his fingers and the next moment, he tossed it out of his car window.
"If you want to fight werewolves, you should go hand-to-hand with them and not with some cheap needle."
Why was he acting like this? Did he have a personal problem with them, or the people killing the beasts?
He dropped me a few meters away from the school gates. I got out of the car and checked out everything I had with me before starting to move towards the crowd that was already standing in front of the gates.
"Be careful not to get wounded again." I didn't look behind, but I could hear the smirk in his voice.
The first person I saw when I arrived at the group was Benita. I wanted to go ask her why she had not been in school, but I figured going close to her wasn't a thing I wanted to do.
"We are still waiting for the school bus. It would drive us down to Xylos." Benita whispered next to me, a smile on her face. I nodded. I already knew that. It was where the werewolves had attacked the last time.
We were told to visit that area. Maybe we could find some werewolves lurking around.
A few more students joined us. She left to greet them while I just stood there waiting for everything to be over quickly. I hated these little interactions.
Two school busses joined us moments later. We got inside and drove away.
We stood in front of Xylos. Calix wasn't the one who made the groups this time. It was her brother who kept staring at me like I had something that belonged to him.
We had only spoken a couple of times and, during this time, I didn't remember us talking about anything that would make him look at me like that.
"The last group of people to go are: Calix, Quinox, James, Priest, Brandon and Naomi."
My eyes flew up to meet his when he said that. How could he put me with them? In a group with Calix? Was this some kind of act?
I didn't argue. I joined the group. I guess I just had to work on my own and not get closer to them.
"You should be careful. I want to see you in one piece when we make it back to school."
Benita nudged my shoulders before running to meet her group that was already going towards the forest behind Xylos.
When I turned around, I saw that my group was already leaving as well without much of a word to me.
That wasn't something surprising, as well.
I had to join them. Calix hadn't come yet, and I wondered why her brother would call out her name when she was not going to be around.
I hadn't been to this side of Teran. The bushes here were thicker than what was behind my house. We had to make our way through thick bushes.
"We would head down to the edge of the river flowing below." One of the boys said as we descended a little hill that led down to a valley.
We searched the thick forest as we descended the place.
We made a stop where there was a large stone.
"We should take a rest." One of the students ran to sit on the stone and spread out themselves.
"Great then. We can wait for Calix. She asked us to wait."
They started talking amongst themselves.
"I don't know why we have to do this. Why can't the government just do something that is going to take out the werewolf race? Why allow us to come right into a mysterious forest and risk our lives?"
"Something I have been talking about. I am my mother's only child, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to her."
"Why don't you just stay in your house?" It was Benita who said it this time around. She seemed to be getting on with everyone she came across with.
It was suddenly quiet. We looked at each other.
"Is it safe that we are here?"
"We have to leave."
We heard footsteps and then Calix showed up, making everyone take a deep breath when they noticed she was the one.
"We have to head to the north," she said, walking away, and we followed behind her.
"This is where we must watch with keen attention. Strike immediately you find anything."
We used our swords to clear the tall grass in front of us so that we could at least have a clear path to walk on.
The moonlight was up, shining brighter than any flashlights we could possibly use this evening. This made it easier for us to quickly identify anything out of place.
We came close to a tiny stream caught between two trees, with the bottom cemented with clear sand.
Some of the students stopped to drink the water.
"If you have to drink, then do it fast. This is not a good place to be standing in."
The students hurried up to drink, some of them stepping inside the water. My throat felt dry, but I couldn't go into the water like that. So, I waited for everyone to be done with drinking. I moved closer to the water when the last person stepped out.
"Seriously, Naomi. Be quick." I ignored Calix's voice and went ahead to drink. I pulled the sleeves of my hoodie up to my elbow and just then, I felt a stinging pain on my upper arm. I shook it off and went ahead to drink. When I lifted my hand filled with water to my mouth, I paused midway. The fluid-filled blister. The pale yellow glow was starting to resurface.
My mouth opened to scream, but I quickly closed it given the number of people around me. I didn't want anything to happen.
Without drinking the water anymore, I stood up and dragged the sleeve back to my wrist, covering it before anyone could see it.
We started to walk to the extreme dark side of this forest.
"Wait." Calix raised a hand up, indicating for us to stop. We did. She looked around like she saw or heard something.
"I think we are doomed." One of the students said, and we immediately pulled out our swords and stood in a defensive position.
"I think something or someone is coming towards us."