IN THE SPIRIT REALM
The wind blows relentlessly from left to right. Cold breeze makes him clutch his body tightly as he walks aimlessly in what seems like an endless path of white sand.
There is nothing in sight but sand and mist, the wind raises dust to his eyes and he shades his face as he walks along the path. Voices echo through the breeze, desolate screams and unhinged statements; "You will die," he ignores them and keeps his feet on the path he sees, a narrow path between heaps of white sand.
"She will die," the voices speak again, "You seem to be lost," a voice says, the voice is much more audible than the ghastly whispers of the wind.
Gabriel turns back and his eyes drop on his mother's face, "Reaper," he says, "You are struggling," she says, "Yes I am but I'm not following you anywhere," Gabriel turns his back to the reaper and begins to walk away.
"You are dead and yet you do not want to cross the threshold," the reaper says, "No, I still have business in the land of the living," "You do know what will happen to you if you remain here. You will have to crossover eventually," she says.
She jumps and plays beside him, Gabriel glances at her and frowns as her black hair waggles with every jump, "Your faces are meant to be comforting but in truth it isn't. You wear the faces of our dead loved ones and you think it soothes the soul, it fucking pisses me off" he says.
"There aren't many choices, there are only a handful of people you care about," she says, "Maybe I should use this one," she says and goes silent.
Gabriel walks for a minute before he turns to see Samuel with his hands in his pocket, his suit looks neat as usual and his face, well it looks exactly like his brother's.
Samuel opens his hand, "Come on, give me a hug so we can leave this place," he says. Gabriel sighs, "I'm pretty sure my brother wouldn't say it like that, E for effort" he continues his walk.
"Your powers may linger but you are no longer a sphinx, you will die here and become a dark spirit if you aren't devoured by one," the reaper says.
"Fuck off, reaper. I will take my chances," he says.
MEANWHILE.
21st STREET, ASTORIA.
Cassandra parks the car at the edge of the street; she turns and looks at her companions, "Joseph, can you drive?" she asks, "Yes," "Take them back to the apartment, Zhen and I will find the last feral. Be nice," "I cross my heart," he says with a cheeky smile and steps out of the backseat.
Cassandra steps out and he takes her place, Zhen drops as well but not before he catches a wink from the werewolf, "See you at home," Joseph waves and starts the car.
Zhen rubs his black hair as he watches them drive off, "I'm not one to judge but I still wonder why you think creating a pack of ferals is a good idea," Zhen says as he rubs his elbows.
He brings out his map and waves a hand over it; "They need a family. See Hannah for example, hearing about how she became a werewolf is just…" "Sorry, I didn't get the story because I was knocked out by your latest recruit.
I was hit so hard I'm lucky to be alive," he says.
"You whine too much for a mage," Cassandra says, "Where is the next one?" she asks.
Zhen checks his map and sees a pair of paws appear on it, "He is on the block," he says.
Zhen begins to follow the paw prints and it leads them to a restaurant, Palermo, "Wow, a werewolf that works in a restaurant or a werewolf on a date with his dessert," Zhen says.
Cassandra looks at the Chinese man and scoffs, "What? He is a feral, even normal werewolves find human flesh quite…" "Shut up or I will eat you," she threatens and he rolls his eyes.
They enter the restaurant; it is simple with a few tables around with white sheets on top, a few of them have guests enjoying their meals.
The lights bounce little reflections on the well polished wooden floors. Pictures hang on different sides of the restaurant walls and the sounds of cutleries hitting the ceramic plates fill the room alongside the chatters.
The room is filled with a pleasant scent probably from the oil cleaned wooden floors.
Cassandra sniffs around, "Where is he?" "In the back, I think he is in the kitchen. Maybe we should come back later," "No, he is going to pick up on my scent and make a run for it," she says.
Zhen's eyes widen as he looks at the map, "You must be a seer as well, he just went out the back," he says.
Cassandra runs towards the door behind the reception table pushing aside a waiter and Zhen follows behind, apologizing as he follows.
She sees a man in kitchen attire running down the back and she pursues him. They run past the waste bins and see a group standing around a bonfire.
The man runs across the road ignoring the honks and shouts as he goes, his only concern is to escape his pursuer.
Breeze blows through Cassandra's face as she increases her speed and stretches to grab him but he swiftly cuts into an alley and she crashes on the sideway.
She growls and punches the floor before she stands up and continues her chase. She stops at the end of the alley where the man is surrounded by three men. She sees a corpse on the floor with blood on its neck
.
Vampires.
"This is no place for a dog. Are you lost, wolf?" one of them asks the man in kitchen attire, "Back off," Cassandra roars at them. Her eyes glow brightly as she sizes them up, "You must be the big dog. This is our territory and you are trespassing," one of the vampires says, "I will take him and be gone then," Cassandra's watches them as they spread out
.
"The thought of ganging up and testing yourselves against two wolves is not a good idea," she says, "We know, it's a great idea. Now be silent while we fin…" the feral jumps on the vampire and sinks his teeth into his neck.
The rest of the vampires charge towards him but Cassandra intervenes, she snaps the neck of one of the vampires while the feral overpowers the last vampire and begins to tear his face and chest, soaking his claws in their blood.
He keeps going even after the vampire is clearly dead, he tears out its heart and moves on to the next vampire corpse, removing their hearts as he inspects each body.
"Hey, I am Cassandra" Cassandra says, his golden colored eyes stare at her as he stands in his blood stained cloth. He takes a bite from a heart in his hand as she introduces herself.
"You are a feral. I want to invite you into my pack," she says. He throws the heart away and walks to the human the vampires drained. He forces his hand into the corpse's chest and pulls out the heart.
He begins to chew on it, ignoring Cassandra's words.
"Are you listening to me?" she asks, "I'm not interested," "You have to be," she says. "That is the thing about you wolves. You say you want us in your pack but you really just want to have a ruthless killer in your arsenal.
What is it you really want?" he says.
"Why does a feral think they want something from them?" "Because it is the truth. If you don't have need for one you wouldn't be chasing me," he growls.
Cassandra raises a brow, "What is it you want?" she asks, "To be left alone," he says.
"You know that won't happen. This is a vampire's territory and just being here makes you a target. Once they find out you don't have a pack you will be open game," she says.
He chunks down the last bit of the human heart and licks his fingers, "I will kill whoever comes after me," "I doubt that. After this little issue here, two days max before they take you out. You know it is going to be ugly," Cassandra says.
"Come with me, I will protect you" she says and he chuckles, "Protect me? Look at me, I am a feral" he shouts as bloods drapes down his lips.
"It doesn't matter, not to me. You are right I want something from you but I am offering you the same thing," she says.
"And what is that?" "Family and loyalty, you have my word" "Your word? Because feral are desperate wolves looking for a home. Everyone knows that we ferals aren't wanted in any pack. Don't try to swindle me," he says with a stern gaze.
"Try me. Someone killed my mate and I was thrown out of my last pack. Help me get revenge and I will give you a pack, a family" she says.
"Is that all you offer? A pack, a family?" "You want that, don't you?" "Of course, but that isn't enough. What else can you offer?" "What do you want?" Cassandra asks.
"A favor,".