Ramen Dragneel
Active member
Chapter 1: Genesis
The air was damp and heavy adding pressure to her already straining lungs. I could hear her heart, drumming faster and faster drowning out her shrieks. Sweat and tears streamed down her face. With everything I hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. Miriam said she would return soon. She had left a few hours ago to the town pharmacy for medicine. A part of me was eager for all this to be over. Another part of me was not sure if I was ready for what comes next.
I should focus. Her eyes shoot to the open window. That's when I hear it. Twigs giving way under the pressure of approaching feet. There is more than one set. I flick off the light and crouch under the window. They haven't broken the tree line yet. I turn and look at her and I see her muscles contract as a wave of pain travel through her body. I rush over and cover her mouth to avoid detection. The feet stop moving and another set come into earshot from the direction of the town. It is Miriam.
I turn to Joanne. She knows I have to go. The contractions were close together; six to eight minutes apart. I have wasted two sitting here already. I dart out the window and into the oak adjacent to Miriam's guest room. I drop into the yard and listen again. Miriam has stopped. She hears them. I take off in her direction.
"Who are you?" Miriam asks.
"Where is Eve?".
"I don't know any Eve," Miriam responds.
They can't find her which means that the candles managed to mask my scent.
"The three of you need to leave," Miriam say. She tries to continue passed them unsuccessfully. I'm close. They hear me before they smell me. I push myself between Miriam and them. She looks at me astonished. I can't speak to avoid giving anything away but my eyes tell her to turn around and leave and she does. One of them tries to follow her but I grab him. The other hits me in the back forcing me to the ground. I turn and look at them, then I turn and see Miriam watching. She looks worriedly at me and then in the direction of the house.
"Go!" I yell
She turns away, stops and suddenly time occurs to me. We all hear it a shrill wail.
She turns and runs. I turn around and see the questioner moving toward the house leaving his two grunts to deal with me. I stand up and look at their grinning faces and the hairs on the back of my neck stand.
My skin starts to burn. I'm old enough that I have mastered the transformation. I don't need the sway of the moon anymore. I feel the hair shoot out through my skin like stitches. My feet, arms, back, jaw, everything begins to hurt. I grunt and collapse to the floor hunched but growing. I can feel my ribs breaking over and over again. It use to be slower, more painful. Its only been a few seconds.
I can feel them watching me. Their grins begin to fade. I can smell the fear begin to creep into their souls. Still they watch in adrenaline fueled arrogance, waiting to see the legendary Gray. Everything is clearer still. I come to my feet standing maybe a whole foot and a half taller than before. I can feel the power from the transformation. I can only imagine what they see. They crouch in retreat hissing in unison at me. Instinct takes over and I lung forward toppling the larger of the two men. I rear back to finish this opponent but his partner throws his body into mine knocking me off balance. Before I know it they are both rushing toward me. In the fray of flailing limbs my claw gashing the smaller one across the chest and he recoils. Reflex seizes my chance and I come to all fours and tackle him and sink my fangs into his neck and thrash severing his head from his body.
"Richard!" The other screams, "You killed my brother you mutt. I'll kill you"
He throws himself at me, but I am too fast. I dodge his attack and grab him in my vice like jaws and break his neck. Five minutes, another wail. The sound tears through my adrenaline. The animal in me calmed and I refocus. I realize that the fight caused us to drift further from the house. I take off as fast as I can run toward the house. I'm half way there when another wail comes through louder than before and soon than anticipated. I try to run faster but before I reach the oak I hear it. The first cries of my child. I hear its cries. I hear its heart. But I can't pick up a scent. In an instant i'm up the oak and a new scent hits me. It's Miriam. I leap from the branch and sink my claws into the windowsill and pull myself up.
I see my son for the first time as Miriam stands holding him to her chest in one hand and raising a kitchen knife in the other. Time seem to slow to a crawl. All I could hear was his cries and the blade cutting through the air. I dug my hind legs into the side of the house for leverage and launched myself through the window.
'Almost there' , I thought to myself
Then there was a hand wrapping around my ankle. I begin to feel a sense of dread. I feared I would not save my boy. I give one last desperate effort and I feel my claw tear through the soft flesh of her faces and carve down through her neck. The hand tightens and I am dragged through the window. My last sight of the room was my son lying on the corpse of a traitor.
-------------------------------------------
I feel light headed. I faintly register James being dragged through the window. I can hear the cries of a child, my child. I prop myself up on my hands and search the air for the source of the cries. I find the sound and crawl to the foot of bed and see my son lying on Miriam's bosom. I reach for him as Miriam's eyes shoot open. She screams and thrusts a knife through my forearm. I cry out and lurch backwards. She rolls over onto the him then turns and focuses he attention on me. I pull the dagger out wide-eyed.
"Miriam? What are you doing?" I yell. She doesn't respond. I search her face for some explanation for her change of heart. She is human. How would he benefit from getting involved in this situation? Then I notice it the whites of her eyes are yellowed and her pupils are almost expanded to their limit. She is a drudge.
I resign myself to kill her before she can harm him. I can't reason with a drudge. I summon what strength I had left and I clutch the knife and bare my fangs and bring myself to a crouch. I turn the fight away from the direction of my son and launch my body at her and drive the knife through her breastplate. I feel her last breath on my face and feel her heart give out.
"Sorry," I whisper
I turn around trying to find my son. I will myself to him and pick him up. I sit back on the bed and realized he has been crying this whole time. I try to soothe him. I rock him back and forth.
"Don't cry Joshua," I say. "You're ok."
Everything starts rushing in now the light, the noise, the pain, and the voices. I remember James falling out the window. I force myself to stand. My legs are weak from labor. Every step feels like I'm dragging lead. I push myself down the stair and out the side door. Now I can see Miriam's liege.
"Marcus."
"Joanne."
--------------------------------------------
I hit the ground hard. I look up at the window and hear his cries bellow through the damp air. I turn to face my adversary. He is a tall man. He is bigger than the men he brought with him. I try to see where I can strike and he know. He holds out a muscular hand and addresses me by name.
"James, I am not here to fight you."
His voice is deep. It compels me to look at his face. He has a square jaw and rugged features. I look at his eyes. His yellow eyes watching my every move trying to divine if I would attack. I could see every line in his face including the scar I had given him over his eye.
I take a deep breath. As I exhale I feel my chest shrink and in seconds I shed pounds of black hair.
"I can't let you take him Marcus" I say
"The child can't be allowed to live," he protests "he doesn't just pose a threat to our brotherhood. he poses a threat to your packs as well."
"Not if Joanne and I teach him. He has the potential to be the best of both vampire and werewolf." I feel water fall on my face. I look up at the sky and it starts to pour. He is saying something. It is difficult to hear at first but I refocus.
"-about the race his blood will create. Can you guarantee you can teach them all?" he asks "We are animals. Slaves to our baser urges. He will create and they will create and eventually we will be the hunted. Your son will shift the course of both races lives." He starts to move toward me. I gather myself and stand tall. He stops and looks me square in the eyes. "You're a smart man Adam."
"Don't call me that."
"It's a fitting title. the tragic story of Adam and Eve. The first of their species. You the first werewolf and the mark to prove it," he glances down at the black markings that stretched from shoulder to shoulder and covered my chest. "And your wife Eve the mother of the vampire race. The one with the heartbeat and the soul. I thought I had you know when i pulled you from the window but as always you manage to sink your claws into my women."
"Miriam was a kind woman. She didn't belong to you," I say.
"She belonged to me the second she laid eyes one me, just as I belong to Joanne before you took her from me."
"She never loved you," I snicker "She was tired of seeing people torn from her life because the curse of immortality. You and your Brothers were just something to ease her lonely spirit."
"And what is to say she won't get bored with you as well James?" he smiles "Is that what the child is for to hold her interest in you"
"You know I'm much older and stronger than you Marcus. Don't test me."
"If you could kill me you'd have done it already. You are ever conscious of the consequences that may follow aren't you. My Brothers would have your head stuffed and mounted before the third day. That the thing with you mutts. You run in packs but never a big enough one to compete with us. It dooms you to be lap dogs licking our feet for scraps for the rest of all your immortal lives-"
"-Marcus"
"Joanne," he says "You brought it out to me. Thank you." He starts off toward the porch. My transformation is instantaneous this time. In a second I stand on all fours between Joanne and my son and Marcus Snarling with my mouth pulled back over my teeth displaying my fangs. Marcus withdraws. I smell no fear. I blink and he charges at me with a silver dagger he drew from his coat. I slam my paw down against his shoulder. I feel the bone snap and hear him howl in pain. I try to go for the kill but he is on his feet again before I can reach him and he swipes the dagger cutting me across the chest. The silver burns and I recoil. We turn and watch each other. The rain is slowing. My fur is matted over the cut which is slow to heal. Joanne is watching us, transfixed in awe.
I turn my head and look at her. She understands and disappears into the house. I take in what I can assuming it will be the last time I see my wife and child. In that second I lose myself in her ginger hair, freckles and her amber eyes and notice that my son is her spitting image except for his silver eyes and his birthmark.
------------------------------------------
James turns to me and I realize he wants me to leave. I'm reluctant but Joshua must survive.
'Goodbye,' I mouth, and turn back into the house. I hear a body slam into the side of the house and feel the house shake. I grab a blanket for Joshua and wrap him tight to keep he warm. I feel his heart and hear him breathe but I can't smell him. I grab one of Miriam's coats and race out the front door. The rain is picking up again. I run through the trees for cover propping my body over Joshua's to keep him dry. It is a few miles to the hospital. In the distance I can hear a long whine and my heart sinks. I cry.
I can see the road now. just a few meters left. I'm close. Something stinks. A great silver Gray wolf flanked by two brown ones emerge in my view of the road. I stop a stare at them for a minute, afraid. The silver wolves eyes change and he reverts back to a human being. I drop to my knees weak and relieved.
"Arthur,"
"Joanne," he answers "Where is James?"
"I don't know. He was fighting Marcus and he asked me to leave. So I took him and I left."
"I knew we should have been there with you." he says frustratedly "Rick, Matt; go and-"
"No don't go back there," I say "Just take the baby. Get him somewhere safe. vampire and wolf alike will come for him. Its inevitable."
"But-" he begins to protest but I cut him off again.
"Listen to me!" I yell half crying, "Take him and give him to a human family you trust. He has no scent so he should be fine. Please. If James makes it back, keep him away from him.”
"OK. We'll take him," he says with a sad expression working its way across his face. He turns covering the baby and looks back once clutching the baby to his chest and I smile with tears in my eyes and he asks me. "Does he have a name?"
"Joshua."
And I turn back to the house.
---------------------------------------
The boy looks just like his mother. The resemblance was uncanny. He reminds me of my son Abel. I can't let them down.
"Arthur?" I raise my head in response, "Where are we going?"
"Home Matt," I pause for a second "I know the perfect people to raise him"
The rain has stopped and I can see my driveway from the car window. The light is on in Abel's room. Violet must be nursing.
"Park in my drive way. I'll walk the rest of the way alone the house is just at the end of the block." He parks and I leave the car and start to walk.
The rain has made the air chilly. I take off my hooded sweat shirt and cuff it to reinforce Joshua's cocoon. I walk a short way up a bend out of sight of my house and I see it. A two story yellow house with grey shutters belonging to friends of mine. Marshall and Audrey longed for a child, but Audrey was barren. They would not turn Joshua away. I walk up the path ring the bell. Audrey answers and sees the child. She knows it isn't Abel. Soon Marshall joins her and I explain sparing the overwhelming details. They don't take much convincing. She holds him as though she had just given birth to him and her eyes welled with tears as she smiles mesmerized by her son.
"Joshua," they turn to me and I explain again "That's the name he was given by his mother."
"Thank you," Marshall says and I leave.
Seriously though if you take the time to actually read it please give me your honest opinion. This is only the first chapter. A prequel to the main story.
The air was damp and heavy adding pressure to her already straining lungs. I could hear her heart, drumming faster and faster drowning out her shrieks. Sweat and tears streamed down her face. With everything I hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. Miriam said she would return soon. She had left a few hours ago to the town pharmacy for medicine. A part of me was eager for all this to be over. Another part of me was not sure if I was ready for what comes next.
I should focus. Her eyes shoot to the open window. That's when I hear it. Twigs giving way under the pressure of approaching feet. There is more than one set. I flick off the light and crouch under the window. They haven't broken the tree line yet. I turn and look at her and I see her muscles contract as a wave of pain travel through her body. I rush over and cover her mouth to avoid detection. The feet stop moving and another set come into earshot from the direction of the town. It is Miriam.
I turn to Joanne. She knows I have to go. The contractions were close together; six to eight minutes apart. I have wasted two sitting here already. I dart out the window and into the oak adjacent to Miriam's guest room. I drop into the yard and listen again. Miriam has stopped. She hears them. I take off in her direction.
"Who are you?" Miriam asks.
"Where is Eve?".
"I don't know any Eve," Miriam responds.
They can't find her which means that the candles managed to mask my scent.
"The three of you need to leave," Miriam say. She tries to continue passed them unsuccessfully. I'm close. They hear me before they smell me. I push myself between Miriam and them. She looks at me astonished. I can't speak to avoid giving anything away but my eyes tell her to turn around and leave and she does. One of them tries to follow her but I grab him. The other hits me in the back forcing me to the ground. I turn and look at them, then I turn and see Miriam watching. She looks worriedly at me and then in the direction of the house.
"Go!" I yell
She turns away, stops and suddenly time occurs to me. We all hear it a shrill wail.
She turns and runs. I turn around and see the questioner moving toward the house leaving his two grunts to deal with me. I stand up and look at their grinning faces and the hairs on the back of my neck stand.
My skin starts to burn. I'm old enough that I have mastered the transformation. I don't need the sway of the moon anymore. I feel the hair shoot out through my skin like stitches. My feet, arms, back, jaw, everything begins to hurt. I grunt and collapse to the floor hunched but growing. I can feel my ribs breaking over and over again. It use to be slower, more painful. Its only been a few seconds.
I can feel them watching me. Their grins begin to fade. I can smell the fear begin to creep into their souls. Still they watch in adrenaline fueled arrogance, waiting to see the legendary Gray. Everything is clearer still. I come to my feet standing maybe a whole foot and a half taller than before. I can feel the power from the transformation. I can only imagine what they see. They crouch in retreat hissing in unison at me. Instinct takes over and I lung forward toppling the larger of the two men. I rear back to finish this opponent but his partner throws his body into mine knocking me off balance. Before I know it they are both rushing toward me. In the fray of flailing limbs my claw gashing the smaller one across the chest and he recoils. Reflex seizes my chance and I come to all fours and tackle him and sink my fangs into his neck and thrash severing his head from his body.
"Richard!" The other screams, "You killed my brother you mutt. I'll kill you"
He throws himself at me, but I am too fast. I dodge his attack and grab him in my vice like jaws and break his neck. Five minutes, another wail. The sound tears through my adrenaline. The animal in me calmed and I refocus. I realize that the fight caused us to drift further from the house. I take off as fast as I can run toward the house. I'm half way there when another wail comes through louder than before and soon than anticipated. I try to run faster but before I reach the oak I hear it. The first cries of my child. I hear its cries. I hear its heart. But I can't pick up a scent. In an instant i'm up the oak and a new scent hits me. It's Miriam. I leap from the branch and sink my claws into the windowsill and pull myself up.
I see my son for the first time as Miriam stands holding him to her chest in one hand and raising a kitchen knife in the other. Time seem to slow to a crawl. All I could hear was his cries and the blade cutting through the air. I dug my hind legs into the side of the house for leverage and launched myself through the window.
'Almost there' , I thought to myself
Then there was a hand wrapping around my ankle. I begin to feel a sense of dread. I feared I would not save my boy. I give one last desperate effort and I feel my claw tear through the soft flesh of her faces and carve down through her neck. The hand tightens and I am dragged through the window. My last sight of the room was my son lying on the corpse of a traitor.
-------------------------------------------
I feel light headed. I faintly register James being dragged through the window. I can hear the cries of a child, my child. I prop myself up on my hands and search the air for the source of the cries. I find the sound and crawl to the foot of bed and see my son lying on Miriam's bosom. I reach for him as Miriam's eyes shoot open. She screams and thrusts a knife through my forearm. I cry out and lurch backwards. She rolls over onto the him then turns and focuses he attention on me. I pull the dagger out wide-eyed.
"Miriam? What are you doing?" I yell. She doesn't respond. I search her face for some explanation for her change of heart. She is human. How would he benefit from getting involved in this situation? Then I notice it the whites of her eyes are yellowed and her pupils are almost expanded to their limit. She is a drudge.
I resign myself to kill her before she can harm him. I can't reason with a drudge. I summon what strength I had left and I clutch the knife and bare my fangs and bring myself to a crouch. I turn the fight away from the direction of my son and launch my body at her and drive the knife through her breastplate. I feel her last breath on my face and feel her heart give out.
"Sorry," I whisper
I turn around trying to find my son. I will myself to him and pick him up. I sit back on the bed and realized he has been crying this whole time. I try to soothe him. I rock him back and forth.
"Don't cry Joshua," I say. "You're ok."
Everything starts rushing in now the light, the noise, the pain, and the voices. I remember James falling out the window. I force myself to stand. My legs are weak from labor. Every step feels like I'm dragging lead. I push myself down the stair and out the side door. Now I can see Miriam's liege.
"Marcus."
"Joanne."
--------------------------------------------
I hit the ground hard. I look up at the window and hear his cries bellow through the damp air. I turn to face my adversary. He is a tall man. He is bigger than the men he brought with him. I try to see where I can strike and he know. He holds out a muscular hand and addresses me by name.
"James, I am not here to fight you."
His voice is deep. It compels me to look at his face. He has a square jaw and rugged features. I look at his eyes. His yellow eyes watching my every move trying to divine if I would attack. I could see every line in his face including the scar I had given him over his eye.
I take a deep breath. As I exhale I feel my chest shrink and in seconds I shed pounds of black hair.
"I can't let you take him Marcus" I say
"The child can't be allowed to live," he protests "he doesn't just pose a threat to our brotherhood. he poses a threat to your packs as well."
"Not if Joanne and I teach him. He has the potential to be the best of both vampire and werewolf." I feel water fall on my face. I look up at the sky and it starts to pour. He is saying something. It is difficult to hear at first but I refocus.
"-about the race his blood will create. Can you guarantee you can teach them all?" he asks "We are animals. Slaves to our baser urges. He will create and they will create and eventually we will be the hunted. Your son will shift the course of both races lives." He starts to move toward me. I gather myself and stand tall. He stops and looks me square in the eyes. "You're a smart man Adam."
"Don't call me that."
"It's a fitting title. the tragic story of Adam and Eve. The first of their species. You the first werewolf and the mark to prove it," he glances down at the black markings that stretched from shoulder to shoulder and covered my chest. "And your wife Eve the mother of the vampire race. The one with the heartbeat and the soul. I thought I had you know when i pulled you from the window but as always you manage to sink your claws into my women."
"Miriam was a kind woman. She didn't belong to you," I say.
"She belonged to me the second she laid eyes one me, just as I belong to Joanne before you took her from me."
"She never loved you," I snicker "She was tired of seeing people torn from her life because the curse of immortality. You and your Brothers were just something to ease her lonely spirit."
"And what is to say she won't get bored with you as well James?" he smiles "Is that what the child is for to hold her interest in you"
"You know I'm much older and stronger than you Marcus. Don't test me."
"If you could kill me you'd have done it already. You are ever conscious of the consequences that may follow aren't you. My Brothers would have your head stuffed and mounted before the third day. That the thing with you mutts. You run in packs but never a big enough one to compete with us. It dooms you to be lap dogs licking our feet for scraps for the rest of all your immortal lives-"
"-Marcus"
"Joanne," he says "You brought it out to me. Thank you." He starts off toward the porch. My transformation is instantaneous this time. In a second I stand on all fours between Joanne and my son and Marcus Snarling with my mouth pulled back over my teeth displaying my fangs. Marcus withdraws. I smell no fear. I blink and he charges at me with a silver dagger he drew from his coat. I slam my paw down against his shoulder. I feel the bone snap and hear him howl in pain. I try to go for the kill but he is on his feet again before I can reach him and he swipes the dagger cutting me across the chest. The silver burns and I recoil. We turn and watch each other. The rain is slowing. My fur is matted over the cut which is slow to heal. Joanne is watching us, transfixed in awe.
I turn my head and look at her. She understands and disappears into the house. I take in what I can assuming it will be the last time I see my wife and child. In that second I lose myself in her ginger hair, freckles and her amber eyes and notice that my son is her spitting image except for his silver eyes and his birthmark.
------------------------------------------
James turns to me and I realize he wants me to leave. I'm reluctant but Joshua must survive.
'Goodbye,' I mouth, and turn back into the house. I hear a body slam into the side of the house and feel the house shake. I grab a blanket for Joshua and wrap him tight to keep he warm. I feel his heart and hear him breathe but I can't smell him. I grab one of Miriam's coats and race out the front door. The rain is picking up again. I run through the trees for cover propping my body over Joshua's to keep him dry. It is a few miles to the hospital. In the distance I can hear a long whine and my heart sinks. I cry.
I can see the road now. just a few meters left. I'm close. Something stinks. A great silver Gray wolf flanked by two brown ones emerge in my view of the road. I stop a stare at them for a minute, afraid. The silver wolves eyes change and he reverts back to a human being. I drop to my knees weak and relieved.
"Arthur,"
"Joanne," he answers "Where is James?"
"I don't know. He was fighting Marcus and he asked me to leave. So I took him and I left."
"I knew we should have been there with you." he says frustratedly "Rick, Matt; go and-"
"No don't go back there," I say "Just take the baby. Get him somewhere safe. vampire and wolf alike will come for him. Its inevitable."
"But-" he begins to protest but I cut him off again.
"Listen to me!" I yell half crying, "Take him and give him to a human family you trust. He has no scent so he should be fine. Please. If James makes it back, keep him away from him.”
"OK. We'll take him," he says with a sad expression working its way across his face. He turns covering the baby and looks back once clutching the baby to his chest and I smile with tears in my eyes and he asks me. "Does he have a name?"
"Joshua."
And I turn back to the house.
---------------------------------------
The boy looks just like his mother. The resemblance was uncanny. He reminds me of my son Abel. I can't let them down.
"Arthur?" I raise my head in response, "Where are we going?"
"Home Matt," I pause for a second "I know the perfect people to raise him"
The rain has stopped and I can see my driveway from the car window. The light is on in Abel's room. Violet must be nursing.
"Park in my drive way. I'll walk the rest of the way alone the house is just at the end of the block." He parks and I leave the car and start to walk.
The rain has made the air chilly. I take off my hooded sweat shirt and cuff it to reinforce Joshua's cocoon. I walk a short way up a bend out of sight of my house and I see it. A two story yellow house with grey shutters belonging to friends of mine. Marshall and Audrey longed for a child, but Audrey was barren. They would not turn Joshua away. I walk up the path ring the bell. Audrey answers and sees the child. She knows it isn't Abel. Soon Marshall joins her and I explain sparing the overwhelming details. They don't take much convincing. She holds him as though she had just given birth to him and her eyes welled with tears as she smiles mesmerized by her son.
"Joshua," they turn to me and I explain again "That's the name he was given by his mother."
"Thank you," Marshall says and I leave.
Seriously though if you take the time to actually read it please give me your honest opinion. This is only the first chapter. A prequel to the main story.
