Black Bear Fall: A BWWM Paranormal Romance (Black Bear Saga Book 2) (17 page)

“Breakfast time ladies,” said a voice with a heavy accent, “stay in your bunks. Any movement and I will snap your ankle like a twig.” The metal hatch was slid back with a clang and keys rattled as they opened the door.

Bright light streamed in from the corridor and backlit two guards, one was holding a tray and the other had his hand on the butt of his machine gun. The guard stepped into the cell and put the tray on the floor. He pushed it across the floor with his boot. Coffee sloshed out of the plastic cups and into the two bowl of grey looking porridge.

“Eat up, keep both of you strong,” said the guard with the buzz cut and thick bushy eyebrows, his face betrayed no emotions as he watched the two women. Once the other guard was out of the cell, the door was slammed shut and bolted and their cruel laughter echoed down the corridor as they walked away.

“Pricks,” Grace said and retrieved the tray from the floor. The porridge looked grey and lumpy and had a thin layer of coffee floating on top. Grace prodded it with one of the supplied plastic spoons. It had the consistency of paste. Her stomach rumbled and she didn’t care anymore, she needed food. She but her bowl and mug on the floor beside her bed and brought the tray over to Anne. “Do you need me to help you?” she asked handing her it.

Anne poked the gelatinous mass of the porridge and said, “I might need help keeping it down,” and she tried her best to smile at Grace.

Grace returned to her bed and tasted a spoonful of the porridge. It was thick, gloopy, very sweet and still warm. She shovelled spoon after spoon into her mouth and licked her lips when she finished. She took a sip of her coffee and it was weak and watery. She downed it in a couple of sips and sat back on her bed. “I’ve had worse,” she said.

Anne finished hers off and pushed the tray away. “You’ll have to tell me about that sometime.”

“An old boyfriend. Cooking was not his speciality,” Grace said.

“I think we’ve all been there before,” Anne said lying back down. “I can feel my strength coming back to me. I think the wound has nearly knitted its self closed. If we are lucky we will get another few hours of rest and I will be close to full strength. We can do this, I can take those guys down. The element of surprise is on our side.”

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you were going to make it through the night. At one point you were so pale and your breathing was so laboured. I was sure I was going to lose you, it was the scariest night of my life,” Grace said with a shake in her voice.

“It would take more than surgery from a deranged doctor to finish me off. What I wouldn’t do for an opportunity to have a few minutes alone with him. That man is sick and twisted. The black bear clan outlawed any kinds of experiments on shifters a hundred years ago. There have always been rumours that the white bear clan have been secretly experimenting on their own kind or some of ours if they cross paths. They have no respect for shifter life, always trying to figure out how to improve on our abilities. It makes me sick to see them working with someone like this doctor. The elders are going to freak out when they hear what the white bears have been up to. I have a horrible feeling that this could be the end of our prolonged peace times,” Anne said looking over at Grace, “this could be all part of the prophecy.”

“What exactly does your prophecy say?” Grace said surprising herself at how angry she sounded.

“I only know parts of it. The elders have always kept the whole picture secret from the rest of the clan. Thats the way it has always been, no one ever really questioned it. All I know is someone arrives and joins our clan,” and she nodded over towards Grace, “after your arrival dark days are upon us. Things get worse before getting a lot better. That’s all I really know. Most of the clan thought it was just another of our old stories handed down as some sort fable. It wasn’t something we really talked about at all, as it was something that was actually going to happen.”

Grace let out a sigh and said, “Back there, back at Twin Rock the elders told me I was going to lose everything and I will have to make tough decisions in the future. None of it seems real to me. Could the elders be wrong about me?”

“I suppose it’s possible. I think if they picked you and had Tom track you down then they must of had a very good reason for that. I know that’s not what you want to hear. Maybe if,” Anne said stopping suddenly and cocking her head to the side. “The guards are coming, remember the plan.”

Grace felt a flush of panic course through her body, she balled her hand into fists and pressed them into her sides to stop them shaking so much. Her eyes where wide and transfixed on the door. The hatch opened with a clink and someone peered in and said, “Stay in your bunks.” Keys rattled and the door swung open. They are going to know what we have planned Grace thought as the door opened and the first guard stepped into the cell. They will see straight away how scared I am as she clenched her jaw and tried not to scream. The guard stepped to the side, his eyes darting back and forth from each bed. The doctor stepped into the room and Grace felt like it was ice water running through her veins. The doctor was smiling as he entered and said, “My two favourite patients. Time for a check up.”

This is not how it’s meant to go Graces mind screamed as the Doctor walked towards Anne resting in her bed. If he checks her bandages our plan will be stopped even before it starts. Grace lay on her bed feeling like every muscle was tensed. The doctors shoes echoed with each footstep as he got closer to Anne. She was lying on her back and looked like she was lightly dozing as the Doctor approached her, at the sound of his footsteps she turned and her eyelids fluttered open weakly. “How are you doing this fine morning?” he asked in a light and breezy voice.

Grace wanted to shout at him and tell him he is a monster for what he had done to both of them. Every muscle in her body was telling her to get up and run, but she couldn’t turn away from what was slowly unfolding before her eyes.

“Tired and sore,” Anne said in a croaky voice.

“I can get you something for that. It should also help with any irritation around your wound” he said pulling up Annes shirt to look at the bandages. He gently pressed his hand on her side and Anne let out a pained wince. “You are coming along very well, you have only a slight amount of swelling,” he said with pride.

The Doctor moved his hand along her side feeling for swelling and the side of his hand brushed against the catheter. It came loose from the bandages and clattered onto the floor. Everything seemed to slowdown. The Doctor glanced down at the surgical tubing on the floor. His eyes began to widen and his mouth started to open as started to say something. He never got a chance. Annes right arm swung up and Grace could see the sharp claws already ripping through her skin. The force of the blow ripped off the doctors lower jaw and he fell backwards in a spray of gurgling blood. The guard in the cell fumbled with his gun as the first splashes of the doctors blood drenched his face. Anne leapt from the bed and pinned the guard against the wall and tore out his throat. She released him and he sank to his knees holding his neck as his life flowed through his fingers.

The guard outside the cell rushed in and aimed his assault rifle at Grace and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun going off was like a series of explosions and chunks of masonry rained down on top of Grace. A line of bullet holes ran up the wall only inches from Graces head. Anne had grabbed the guard from behind and forced his arm up a split second before he pulled the trigger. Annes legs were wrapped around the guard and she had one arm around his neck and the other forcing his hand holding the gun up into the air. He pulled the trigger again and bullets ripped into the ceiling sending chunks of plaster flying and smashing the lightbulb with a pop. The guard stumbled backwards and slammed into the wall hard. Anne grunted and her grip loosened. The guard lowered the gun and the barrel bobbed in Graces direction. The black void at the end of the guns barrel bobbed and weaved looking for its target. Grace was backed against the wall frozen in terror waiting for the second when the bullets ripped through her flesh. The guards eyes bulged with fear and anger. He’s going to kill me Grace thought as she watched his finger about to press the trigger.

Anne grabbed the the guards head between her two hands. His eyes opened wide with terror and he looked directly at Grace as if he was pleading for help. With a sickening snap Anne jerked his neck to the side snapping his bones. He stood there his eyes fixed on Grace and his lips moving as he worded something silently. His arms sagged by his side and then his knees gave out and as he slumped to the floor Anne rolled away from him.

Grace was holding her mouth shut tight with her hand, she couldn’t take her eyes off the dead guard still standing across at her.

“We go now,” Anne said in an inhuman growl.

Grace turned to see her friend in mid transformation. Flesh ripping and falling from her in steaming strips. Her bones cracking and moving under her skin as they reconfigured. Part of Annes face and one of her blue eyes peered out from the rippling flesh of her face as it elongated and started to sprout fur. Her teeth began to fall out and clatter across the floor. Graces stomach churned at the transformation unfolding before her eyes.

Anne roared and fell down on all fours as her back buckled and bones snapped loudly like dry wood. She turned to Grace and looked at her with darkening eyes and growled. Anne turned and left the room leaving a trail of blood behind her. As soon as she stepped into the corridor gunshots were fired from the far end. Grace got up on shaking legs and peeked around the corner. A lone guard was down on one knee and firing his gun in short bursts. His hands were shaking and bullets punched into the plaster walls and ceiling. Anne was a blur of dark fur as she ran full speed at her attacker.

The man fired another burst and the shots went wide and hit the wall close to Graces cell. She ducked back into the cell rubbing plaster dust from her eyes and heard a painful scream. When she looked back out Anne had fully transformed into a bear and was on top of the man ripping his stomach open. The mans arms slapped at her weakly as the bear pulled him open. Blood was everywhere, streaking the floors and walls.

As Anne delivered the final fatal bite to the man another guard ran around the corner and fired his pistol at the bear. Three shots hit the bear in its side and it let out a might roar and turned to her new assailant. Grace was frozen to the spot and when he fired another shot that went wide it snapped her out of it. This is my only chance to escape she thought as she began to run, glancing back at the bear as she growled and lurched towards the attacking guard.

Grace ran the length of the dull grey corridor and slammed into the door at the end with her shoulder. She bounced back and fell hard on her ass. Get a grip she thought as she got up on her feet and pushed the bar to open the door. Sunlight streamed in and she covered her eyes. She glanced back and no one was on her tail just yet.

Outside Grace clung to the wall and looked across the open expanse of the cattle lot. Early morning sun glinted off massive windows from the building on the other side as she looked in its direction. Two more gun shots were fired from back in the building and without thinking she was off running across the lot. A sharp bark of automatic fire blasted out of the building and Grace stopped and looked around. They have me she thought and expecting to see an army of men pointing guns in her direction. No one was there. She heard the bear roar again, was it pain or triumph? Grace did not know. She turned and ran towards the gate, darting from side to side as she ran, waiting for the pain of the first bullet to sever her spine, or rip through her thigh sending her sprawling to the ground. Her feet tangled together and she went sprawling onto the hard packed dirt skinning her palms and hitting the ground hard with her shoulder. She turned over breathing heavily and her eyes bulged in fear. A guard was standing in the doorway and as she watched him as he dropped to one knee and aimed his gun in her direction. It’s over she thought waiting to her the explosion of gunfire. A huge paw with claws extended came out of the shadows of the doorway and pulled the man kicking and screaming back into the building. Grace got to her feet and began to run again. She focused on the gate up ahead and thought do not look back. She clenched her jaw as she ran expecting to feel the searing pain of a bullet to rip through her flesh.

The bullet never came and she made it to the gate unharmed. Her lungs burned with the effort as she climbed over a metal gate with the initial CW in the centre of it and painted a deep red. She hit the dirt hard on the other side and lay panting in the dusty earth looking towards the building she had just escaped from. Please Anne step through the door she thought as she stared at the dark doorway. She saw faint movement and for the briefest of moments she was sure it was Anne escaping. Two guards exited the building and began looking in her direction.

Grace flattened herself against the dirt and crawled to the side of the road. Once she thought she was out of view she ran hunched over until a bend in the road. As soon as she was fully out of view of the compound Grace began to sprint down the dirt road, her lungs felt like they were filled with red hot needles as she ran down the road. She ran until her legs could carry her no more and then she stiffly walked along the side of the road, ready to jump into the undergrowth at the first sign of someone following her.

After twenty minutes of walking the dirt road connected to a cracked asphalt road. On a whim she took the left turn and began to trudge along the side of the road all concern at being seen was fading as a warm blanket of exhaustion covered her and all she could do was mechanically put one foot in front of the other.. Could Anne have survived she thought, that can be the only reason why no one followed me, she must of killed all the guards. It was the only thing keeping her going if she clung to the idea that her friend had survived. Every part of her body hurt and Grace felt close to collapse. I’ve no idea where I am, she thought as she looked at the road snaking off up ahead and around the base of a distant mountain.