Captured

A Story by Scarlet398

Sequel to "Bitten" Centaurs are after Danielle and her newlyfound werewolf ally, James.

Danielle woke up to someone shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes to find the farmiliar face of the man who had
bitten her in werewolf form. Not under his own influence, of course. She had later learned his name was James.
James said, "Come with me, I need to show you something."
Danielle followed him as he sneaked out of the school, doing well at not getting caught. Reaching the front doors, they
creeped out and James led Danielle towards the forest. The moon was not full. Why was he bringing her to the forest
now?
As they reached the edge of the forest, James stopped suddenly. Pointing down, he said, "There."
Where he was pointing, Danielle saw an arrow and a hoofprint. James must have seen her look of confusion, because he
said, "This is fresh. It was left by a centaur."
"Is that bad?" Danielle asked.
"Well, centaurs and werewolves have been born rivals for hundreds of years. They are hostile to us."
"And they're here?"
James nodded silently and turned his head to the forest. Suddenly, he put his hand to his pocket.
"I think I know something that may help us," he said. He pulled out a small, rectangular box. Inside the box were two
onyx rings. The dark gemstones gleamed in the moonlight.
"These rings are enchanted," James said. "When you put one on, you can transform into a werewolf whenever you want.
And you'll be in control of your actions."
"How will that help us?" Danielle asked.
"Staying away from centaurs will be easier in our werewolf bodies."
Danielle slipped a ring on. In her mind, she told herself to become a werewolf - and she did. It was not slow and painful,
like the full moon transformation. It went quickly and caused Danielle no pain.
"Wait... won't it be easier for the centaurs to find us this way?" she asked.
"No," James replied. "Centaurs have supernatural senses like us. They can tell us from regular people."
Danielle didn't like the way he said "regular people," like they weren't regular.
"You should stay out of the school at night," James said. "We don't want centaurs coming after you in there."
"What about you?" Danielle asked.
"I'll stay hidden to my best ability."
                                  * * *
The next day, Danielle guarded the onyx ring with her life. Her friend Sierra asked about it in public at one point, and
Danielle had to pull her aside to explain.
That night, Danielle crept out to the forest. Sure enough, there was James. They both began to search for the centaurs'
hideout.
Hours passed, and they found nothing. James was not losing hope. Suddenly, something whipped through the air and hit
Danielle's shoulder. She fell down instantly and, before passing out, saw an arrow stuck in her shoulder.
                                  * * *
"Danielle! Wake up!" a voice said. Danielle sat up. Her shoulder was wet with blood. She was in a cage, and next to her,
a few feet away, was another cage holding James. They were in a camp. A fire burned in the center. And watching them -
Danielle gasped - was a centaur. Danielle had seen paintings of the half-horse men, but their appearence still shocked
her.
"Can you get us out of here?" James said, quiet enough to ensure the centaur didn't hear. Danielle saw that his ring was
out of reach in front of his cage. It must have slipped off when he was put in the cage. Danielle still had her ring. She
waited until the centaur looked away, then transformed. She ripped the bars off her cage, then headed for James' cage.
Grabbing the ring, she ripped the door off just as the centaur looked back. James quickly put the ring on his finger and
transformed.
They both ran away just as they heard the centaur guard yelling, "Escaped prisoners!" They heard hooves running behind
them, but their werewolf bodies were faster. They reached the edge of the forest and got to safety. Danielle's arm was
bleeding badly.
"This is worse than I thought," James said, panting. "That arrow was aimed to kill." Transforming back into human shape,
he ripped off a piece of his shirt and wrapped Danielle's shoulder. The pain ceased a little.
James looked down at his ring and said, "I never thought these would be useful."
The sun began to rise in the horizon. Danielle ran into the school and went quietly to her dorm room.
                                  * * *
When Danielle woke up, she screamed. Sierra woke up quickly in the bed next to her. Someone had torn up Danielle's
side of the room. Her belongings were scattered everywhere. For a moment, she was afraid centaurs had broken into
the school. But no, there was a dirty human shoeprint on her journal. someone had played a practical joke on her.
She put everything back where it was supposed to go, making sure nothing was missing. Suddenly, Sierra looked over at
Danielle, her eyes wide.
"Where's your ring?" she asked. Danielle gasped. The onyx ring was not where she had left it. She searched the entire
room and didn't find it. Someone had stolen her only defense from the murderous centaurs.
Danielle decided not to tell any teachers. They would ask her why the ring was so important. Instead, she kept an eye out
for anyone who had the ring or showed sings that they took it. When study hall came, Danielle noticed some boys
crowded around something. She watched them carefully for a while. Finally, one boy shifted, and she saw a glare of
onyx. Quickly, she shoved the boys aside and grabbed for the ring. The boy holding it snarled and drew back.
"Give it back!" Danielle said to him.
"Why?" the boy asked. "You got someone you want to marry?" The boys around them made kissy faces.
"Give me the ring." Danielle said, growing angry. The boy grinned, opened a window, and got ready to throw the ring out.
Danielle dove and caught the ring. All the boys started trying to grab it from her. She knew she had to scare them away.
Without a second thought, she slipped the ring on her finger. Before she knew it, she was transforming right before the
boys' eyes. Luckily, no one else was watching. The boys screamed and ran away from Danielle. She transformed back,
a satisfied look on her face. Her ring was safe, and no one but the boys had seen her.
                                 * * *
Danielle crept out that night to the meeting place at the edge of the forest. But when she got there, James wasn't waiting
for her. She waited, thinking he may be late. After a while, she grew worried. She had a hunch where James was, and
she hoped she was wrong. She walked straight into the forest and tried to retrace the path to the centaur camp.
After about an hour, Danielle saw a glint of firelight. She ran near it and hid behind a bush. She peeked her head over
the bush and looked around.
James was tied to a tree. Centaurs were throwing rocks at him. His clothes were ripped, he had bloody scratches all
over, and he had a look of great pain on his face. One centaur was tossing James' onyx ring up and down. Even if
Danielle managed to rescue James without getting captured herself, the centaurs would still have his ring. He needed
that ring.
Danielle crawled along the bushes toward the tree James was tied to. She transformed and started to cut the ropes
on his hands with her claws.
James turned his head. "Danielle?"
"Shhh!" Danielle whispered. "We have to drive the centaurs away. I'll steal one of their weapons and --"
James cried in pain. He had been hit with a large stone.
"No," he rasped. "You can't risk that. They'll kill you!"
Danielle remembered how the arrow that hit her shoulder was aimed for her heart.
"If we could just get your ring back..."
James grunted again as a rock hit his face.
"I have an idea," he whispered. "Hide behind that woodpile next to the centaur with the ring. When I'm untied, I'll throw
one of these rocks at his hand. You'll catch it and we can both of us can drive them away as werewolves."
"Okay," Danielle said. She clawed furiously at the ropes tying James' hands until they finally snapped. James pretended
he was still tied so Danielle could get behind the woodpile. Then he swiftly bent over, picked up a rock, and threw it at
the hand of the centaur holding the ring. It flew out of his hand. Danielle reached out and caught it. She ran over to
James, who was now dodging rocks, and gave him the ring. He put it on, and they both transformed. Danielle stayed by
the weapons, making sure no centaur could get one. One of the centaurs started to fight James, and everything went
hectic. The centaurs' only weapons were rocks. One of them threw a rock at Danielle's arrow wound. The pain made her
want to give up right there, but she couldn't leave James. James finally knocked the centaur fighting him to the ground,
and he bared his teeth at the rest, threatening them.
The centaurs finally gave in. They took their weapons and trotted out of the forest.
"We did it," Danielle said, holding her shoulder. It was causing her searing pain.
"Yeah," James replied. "We did." A look of guilt struck his face. "But I'm sorry I got you into this. You wouldn't even be
a werewolf if I hadn't --"
"I told you, It's okay," Danielle said. "I don't blame you for what the full moon made you do."
James smiled weakly. "It's not over yet."