Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock.
How annoying could a clock be? Laareeh was pondering this as she leaned on the countertop while casually reading through one of her herbologist books that Mr. Danver had been so kind to help her purchase. Every so often her eyes would flicker up to the clock. It was already half an hour after closing.
"Tch, go figure he would be late," Laareeh grumbled to herself as she marked her page and closed her book. She gathered up her few books and slid them into her bag and started for the door. She wasn't going to wait a minute longer for Rowol. She grabbed the keys to the shop and began shutting off the lights as she headed to the door. As she reached for the handle it suddenly flew open.
"You're still here." Rowol huffed out, clearly having been running to make it here. He was drenched in sweat, and not to mention was only in a pair of gym shorts. Laareeh's eyes was drawn to his bare chest, trailing down until she caught herself. Rowol was quite handsome, there was no denying that. Almost all the females on Tarrah had wanted to be his mate. Laareeh just couldn't stand the way he always had to have it his way, how he always seemed to be right about everything, how he was never told no, or how he thought he could have any female he wanted.
"I was just leaving," Laareeh said, shooing him backwards a bit. As soon as he stepped back enough, she stepped out of the shop and closed the door before locking it. She jiggled the handle to make sure the door was locked and then turned toward Rowol, tossing him the Salve. "Don't expect anything else from me."
"Wait," Rowol said, reaching out and grabbing her wrist to stop her. "We could really use your abilities. I couldn't tell you the entire story being around humans but hear me out."
"You want me to hear you out? After everything you've put me through?" Laareeh scoffed at the very idea. However, Laareeh studied his aura seriously for a moment. Being from Tarrah, they had a unique ability that those on earth did not. They had the ability to manipulate their own aura and use it to do extraordinary things. Things that the humans on this planet seemed to fear. After a moment, Laareeh let out a heavy sigh. Rowol was desperate for her help even if he didn't say it out loud, his aura gave it away. Something serious must have happened. "Alright, but I will only help this once. Anything else, you're on your own."
"Fine. It's Kalia. She was cut by a silver knife from a group of hunters who call themselves werewolf hunters. It's not healing like normal," Rowol explained as he let go of Laareeh so she could walk to the side of the building where her bike was resting. "We need you to look at it. You're the only healer from Tarrah and the only one I trust with this matter,"
"I see," Laareeh grabbed her bike, but Rowol stopped her.
"It will be faster if we run. We made our home deep in the forest. Your bike won't be able to travel that far in."
"Seriously?" Laareeh groaned setting her bike against the wall again. "I take it that is part of the reason you were late. Having to run all the way here."
"Yea," Rowol nodded his head to confirm what she just said.
Without much thought, Laareeh began pulling off her shoes and then wiggled herself out of her dress. Like many Likkahns from Tarrah, she didn't like wearing more clothes then necessary and kept it to the bare minimum of what humans called decent in their world. Rowol had followed suit, removing his gym shorts and quickly transforming into a rather larger black would with barely visible red streaks in his fur. Laareeh transformed as well, but unlike him she was completely white with light green streaks in her fur. She was slightly smaller, but not by much.
Rowol motioned for her to follow him before taking off into the forest that bordered the shop. Laareeh ran slightly behind him. It felt strange to be running with a member of her old pack again, not having done it for a couple of years now. Not since they left Tarrah and crash landed on Earth. No, she had become accustomed to running with her new packmates who what were known as werewolves on this planet. Werewolves or Lycans really, depending on who you asked and what form they could take. While they were similar, both werewolves and Likkahns, there was a few major differences between them.
For starters, werewolves of Earth could not manipulate aura like the Likkahns of Tarrah could nor could they even sense it. Another difference is the size of werewolves' forms is half the size of their own, but slightly larger than native wolves. The last truly noted difference that really set werewolves and Likkans apart were the fact that werewolves only had one form. Werewolves either had their animal form, or their Lycan form which Likkahns on Tarrah referred to as their hybrid forms.
Laareeh had been fortunate enough to find a relatively small, but decent pack full of werewolves with animal forms that was kind enough to take her in and teach her the ways of not only their packs, but also the ways of humans. It is most likely that Rowol, as well as the other Likkahns from the ship they travelled on, had stuck together and formed their own pack in some neutral territory. From there, they probably studied the humans from afar or even had a few chance enounters with them. Anything was possible.
The trek through the dense forest had taken them quite a while, even in their current forms. Laareeh hated to admit it, but Rowol had been right about her bike not being able to make it. She would have had to abandon it within the first mile into the forest. She huffed as she ran, tongue hanging out as she kept up with the pace Rowol had set. Finally, she could smell the scents and detect the aura of her former pack mates. Not much longer now.
About a mile out from the camp, they were joined by four other wolves, all of which surrounded Laareeh and formed a protective circle around her that would help camouflage her against the dark background of the forest. Standard procedure for their people back on Tarrah in order to ensure the safety of the healer.
They slowed down as their camp came into view. Well, perhaps camp wouldn't be quite the right word to use. It was more like the start of a small colony, or a village as the humans would call it. It seemed they used a mixture of technology from their ship as well as natural material on Earth to build their homes from. Granted they weren't as extravagant as they were on Tarrah but compared to some of the homes Laareeh had seen on Earth, they weren't at all half bad.
Laareeh continued following Rowol to a house, and already Laareeh could sense the pain and poison from the silver. It oozed from the house like a thick black, disease. It made Laareeh crinkle her nose at the thought that something like this on Earth could have such a devastating effect on their bodies. She knew silver was deathly to werewolves and Lycans, but not to her own people. This was troublesome to her.
As they drew closer to the house, Rowol and Laareeh both transformed back into their human forms. They were like day and night. Rowol was dark skinned that seemed to have been blessed by the Sun God with dark hair to match and Laareeh was described as having been kissed by the Moon Goddess herself with how light her skin was with hair as light as the moons glow. It was strange seeing them side by side, as they both seemed to not care for the other.
"I'm going to warn you, it smells as bad as it looks," Rowol warned Laareeh before he pushed open the door.
Before Laareeh could even muster up a response, the smell hit her. It smelled like death and disease. Like flesh was just rotting off a live body, despite the heart and brain still properly functioning. Laareeh gagged. She couldn't help it; she had never smelt something so putrid before in her life. She covered her nose but followed Rowol inside.
They went to a back room, and just before Rowol pushed opened the door, an ear-piercing scream echoed around them. It sent chills down Laareehs spine and caused her ears to flatten against her skill. The smell was worse as they approached the door. This was where they were keeping Kalia at. There was no doubt in the back of Laareeh's mind even as Rowol pushed opened the door.
The smell alone nearly made Laareeh pass out, but the worst part wasn't even the smell. It was how horrendous Kalia looked. Any color she had was completely drained from her body; she looked like death warmed over. Large dark circles occupied the space under her eyes and the way her body was twisting and turning on the bed was not normal. It looked almost as if she had become possessed by, what humans call, demons. One-minute Kalia was gripping the sheets on the bed, drenched in a cold sweat, and then the next she was throwing her arms up in the air and kicking her legs.
"This....was done by a cut?" Laareeh asked as she glanced at Rowol who simply nodded his head. "What in the Moon Goddess name,"
Laareeh inched closer, scanning her aura at the same time she was looking over her body to detect the wound. It didn't take her long to find it. It was just a relatively small looking cut on her left shoulder but the reaction it seemed to be having to their blood made it ooze black with black veins stretching up and down the length of her arm. Kalia's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and her body went limp.
"Out! Out now!" Laareeh suddenly demanded as she basically started shoving everyone out. "You stay, and you as well. Rowol, out!"
Rowol opened his mouth to protest but a moment later he found himself outside the room with the door shut and the locked fastened into place.
"Laareeh?" Rowol called, slightly confused. He knocked on the door and put his ear up to the door to listen but heard not a sound. He silently cursed to himself as he was unable to detect what was being said.
Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Panic was began setting into everyone who knew the situation and all Rowol could do was to calm everyone's fear using his empathic abilities. It was hard for him to remain as calm as he was, but somehow, he had managed as he occupied a chair right next to the door.
Finally, the locked clicked and the door slowly creeped open.