Chapter Two: Brawl in the Warehouse District

Next Chapter: Koudelka and Loren

Koudelka and the Dawning Awakening

Chapter Two: Brawl in the Warehouse District

Jamie waited, waited for the finishing blow from the black creature. He expected the quick, brutal slash from the monster’s thick blade, the painful slash that would end his life. But several moments past and nothing happened to him. Jamie dared to open one eye and did. He then opened the other eye and was actually shocked. The monster’s attention was turned to the dark part of the room, the part of the room Jamie couldn’t see. Jamie thought, this was the chance. Now was the opportunity to escape. The monster was obviously distracted by something. But if he moved, the monster was sure to notice and kill him there on the spot. Jamie didn’t take a second to think about it. He was going to take chance and hoped that a faint sliver of luck would protect him.

Jamie held his breath and slowly began to crab-walk out of the large storage room, and into the smaller one. He carefully maneuvered around broken boxes and wood debris, keeping his eyes on the monster, making sure the creature did not look at him. But, as fate would have it, his hand slipped on the concrete surface, making him fall. He let out a quick startled gasp and quickly covered his mouth. Unfortunately, that quick sound was enough to alert the monster. The monster’s four red eyes glared at Jamie and it let out a furious roar. The oozing, black fiend stomped over towards Jamie, its non-bladed hand extended and ready to wrap itself around Jamie.

Run! Was the only word that flashed through Jamie’s head. Jamie listened to his conscience, quickly got up and bolted towards the door. He dropped his pocket knife and didn’t care. He wanted out of here, now.

But, as he got up, he felt something wet wrap around his left leg. Before Jamie could see what it was, he was instantly jerked onto the ground, flat on his back. He let out a startled scream and he looked at the monster, fear in his eyes. It was the monster’s right arm-tentacle that got Jamie. Jamie struggled and looked around for his pocket knife but he couldn’t find it. He looked at the monster, scared to death of the black creature that was holding him.

The monster was advancing toward him, mouth open and ready to devour his prey. Jamie placed his hands over his head, even though he knew that it wouldn’t protect him. This was it, this was his final moment.

KLANK! GRR…

Jamie’s eyes shot open at the sound. He looked down and noticed that the arm that wrapped around his leg was now lying on the ground in front of him. The monster’s body position was different. It was hunched over, the long blade-arm lying on the ground lazily. His black ooze dripped onto the ground, like water dripping down a wall in the shower. Jamie drew in a quick breath and felt a warm hand lightly touch his shoulder, followed by another that touched his chest. Jamie tried to look at who or what was touching him, but then-

He was inside the warehouse, but a moment later, he was outside lying on the asphalt street. Seconds later, a loud, deafening boom and a heat touched his back. Jamie quickly turned onto his back to see what had happened and immediately, his jaw dropped. The abandoned warehouse was now a giant ball of fire. Jamie used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe off the shirt and grim off of his forehead. He removed his hand from his head and looked back at the blaze. Then, he made a dreadful discovery.

The black monster, the one that was trying to kill him, was standing among the flames. The flames were not affecting him at all. Jamie couldn’t believe his eyes.

“You…you should be dead!” He shouted in disbelief to the monster. “N-nothing could ever survive something like that!”

But the monster didn’t seem to care what the young man was saying. Instead, the monster started walking towards Jamie, lifting its amazing blade high in the air. Jamie tried to get up, but a tremendous pain was felt in his leg. He grasped his left leg close to his body and examined it. There was a shard of glass stuck in his calf. It wasn’t too large, but it still hurt like hell.

Jamie had no idea what to do. He never paid attention to first aid class in school, thinking he’d never use it.

Looks like I was wrong…

Jamie looked back up the monster. It was now about ten feet near and the blade was in a perfect striking position. Jamie knew that this was it. He prayed to whatever gods there were, hoping to be spared from this unearthly creature how seemingly can’t die.

Then, a flash of white from the corner of his eye. The white flash landed and stuck the monster, knocking the creature out of its stance. The creature was now kneeling on the ground, blade-arm used as a support. The flash landed five feet away from the monster, separating the distance between the black creature and Jamie. Jamie could hardly believe what the flash was actually.

It was a white wolf. A huge white wolf that size of a horse or something like that. But that was all Jamie could see of it, for its back was at him.

“Come on, we need to get you somewhere safe,” A calm voice said behind Jamie, making him jump a little.

He turned to the voice and noticed that there was someone behind him. It was a young woman. She was long-bodied with a thin, an elegant shape added to it. Her orange-red colored her hung in front of her and went past her chest, the back part tied back and tucked in a black leather pouch thing. The pouch was decorated with green-blue thread and was secured by a ribbon and feather. Her skin was pale in the streetlight. Her outfit consisted of a black sleeveless top that went to about the end of her ribcage, and was stitched with light blue-green thread. Black fabric-looking gauntlets were on her forearms. Her skirt was black with blue-green thread, again. The front of her skirt went to about her knees and the back of it dragged down a little longer. Her shoes were basically like platforms on the bottom and what kept them on was a black ribbon that tied around her ankle. Around her mouth were bandages, which concealed her mouth and a portion of her neck. A large red feather was on a black cord, tied loosely around her neck.

The girl’s red, almond-cat shaped eyes looked down at the boy comforting. “We need to get you out of here,” she said quietly.

“Heh, you think?!” Jamie blurted out. “But if you haven’t noticed, I kind of can’t move.” He directed to his injured leg.

The girl looked at him and then looked at his face.

“Use me as a crutch then,” She said quietly.

Jamie rolled his eyes at the strangely dressed girl. “Sorry, honey. You don’t look like you can support me.”

The girl narrowed her eyes at the young man. She stood up and grabbed his arm, yanking him up with a strong tug. Jamie was quickly pulled up and stunned by the girl’s strength. He was able to stand on his good leg, the right one, using the girl for support. He was shocked at how tall she was compared to her. With the shoes she had, she had to be over six feet tall. Jamie gulped.

Geez…as if her eyes were not already intimidating enough. Just add a few more inches and she could be a star basketball player.

She looked at him, wrapping her arm around his waist to help support him more. “You ready?”

Jamie nodded at the girl. She nodded back and guided him to an alley. She walked him over to a wall and lowered him gently onto the ground. Jamie groaned, feeling pain in his leg. The girl looked at his leg and reached out to touch the shard in his leg. Jamie reached out to stop her, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Don’t touch it lady,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

The girl returned the same look and grabbed the shard and quickly yanked it out. Jamie screamed at the pain of it being ripped out.

“What the hell was that for?!” Jamie shouted at the girl.”Who are you going to cover it?”

The girl threw the shard to the side, the clank of the glass breaking heard afterwards.

“Like this,” she said in a sing-song tone. She reached up to Jamie’s shirt and ripped off a large portion of his shirt, revealing his belly button. Jamie blushed a little, quite unguarded by the girl’s sudden movement. She made a quick makeshift bandage with the shirt, wrapping the cloth around the wound and pressing down on it firmly.

“There,” she said. “Stay here and I’ll be right back.”

Jamie rolled his eyes. “Like I have a choice…”

The girl gave him an annoyed look and she ran out of the alley. Jamie followed her out with his eyes.

What a weirdo...

“Weirdo” wasn’t enough to describe it. From the why she dress and the way she solved problems thus far, she seems more likely to win his prize for Strangest Person of the Year. Then, he heard a screech. It belonged to the monster, Jamie could already tell.

He looked out of the alley and saw the girl and the wolf fighting the monster. In the girl’s hands, now, was a long spear. The shaft of the weapon was a faded brown color and a sharp light blue crystal was at the top. Other gems and feathers were tied around the crystal’s base.

Jamie watched the fight intently. The girl and wolf, working in perfect harmony, dodging the monster’s sharp blade and his tentacle arm. The monster would try to strike the girl, the girl moved to the side gracefully before the blade was near. The wolf would do the same.

The white beast ran to the wall of one of the other warehouses that were still intact. The monster followed the beast, stomping and growling after it. The wolf stood still, a taunting snarl on its face. The monster struck at the wall and the wolf dodged it. The blade was stuck in the wall, the monster struggling to free it.

Jamie felt a faint smile on his lips. The wolf was planning to do that, Jamie thought. For an animal it sure it cunning…

While the monster was struggling, the girl ran up from behind, the spear held high in her right hand. With a great leap that even the world’s best high jumper couldn’t compete with, she stabbed the crystal in the monster’s crown. The monster screamed a song of great anguish. It tried shaking the spear out its head, but the girl pushed the spear in further. Jamie couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the monster but then remembered that it tried to kill him.

Good…let the b*****d die.

He watched longer. The monster’s ooze was now starting to dry up, like it was instant cement in a construction zone. The girl pulled her spear out of the monster and ran back, the wolf alongside of her as she ran. They got to a reasonably safe distance watched the monster dry up. The monster stopped now, completely frozen almost like a statue.

Jamie couldn’t believe it. “Wow…” was the only thing he could say.

The wolf walked up to the state of the monster, used its great tail and slammed it into the statue. The statue crumbled and turned to dust. Something was inside the black figure though. A person…a real human person wearing a prisoner’s uniform came out of it. The person lay on the ground, apparently unconscious. Jamie got up, using the assistance of the wall.

Then, he saw something else, something that was actually on the person. It was a bug. A huge bug that was almost as big as Jamie’s head. It was an off-white color with sharp yellow fangs, and beady black eyes. It was very, very ugly and that wasn’t able to describe it.

The bug got off of the person and flew towards Jamie. Jamie was frozen, not just because of the injured leg. But, for some reason, looking at the bug made him freeze. The bug’s jaws opened as if ready to bite him and Jamie watched. His eyes wide in fear and awe. He was paralyzed and he couldn’t do anything.

“Look out!”

It was the girl. She jumped in front of him and the bug attacked her, instead of him. Jamie watched as the girl got bit, the bug’s claws raked against her bare stomach. The girl let out a loud scream of pain. The wolf ran up to her. It used it’s large, powerful jaws and yanked the bug off. The bug struggled to get free in the wolf’s jaws, but the wolf would not let go and crushed the bug with a single bite. The beast dropped the insect onto the ground.

Jamie looked down at the girl. She was bleeding, badly. The skin around the scratches and bite were black. Jamie bent down to help her but the wolf intervened, blocking him from the girl.

“I don’t mean to-“

“It’s alright Loren…” The girl said in a weak tone, interrupting Jamie.

The two looked at her. One hand was clutched to the bite mark on her neck and her other arm was covering the claw marks. She let out a moan of pain.

“I’m alright…it just looks more painful than it actually is,” She reassured them.

The wolf let out a sad whimper. The girl looked at the wolf and patted its large head. She then looked at the boy.

“Are you alright?”

Jamie nodded. “I will be.”

“Good.” The girl and wolf turned from him and walked towards the street. Jamie held out his hand, wanting to stop them.

“Wait!” Jamie shouted.

The girl and wolf turned to look at him. “What is it?” the girl asked in a quick tone.

“Where are you going?” Jamie asked.

“Wherever the wind takes us,” the girl answered.

“You have a home?” Jamie asked.

The girl looked at the wolf and then looked back at Jamie. “No…why?”

“Because, you’re injured. You’ll surely die out here if you don’t get help.”

The girl laughed, even the wolf looked amused. “Trust me, kid. I think we’ll manage.”

“Oh, then how will you manage to get by the fire department and the police?” Jamie asked with a brow raised. “They’ll probably wonder why a girl is walking around with a freakishly large wolf and why the hell a warehouse is on fire.”

The wolf looked taken aback by the comment but the girl seemed like she was actually thinking it through.

“He does have a point…”the girl said quietly. “Where do we go?”

“You can stay at my house,” Jamie suggested.

The girl looked at the wolf once again. She whispered something to it, something Jamie couldn’t understand. Then, she looked back at Jamie.

“Alright, we’ll go,” the girl said. “But no funny business.”

Jamie nodded. “Come on then. I know a short cut.”

Jamie weaved deeper into the alley, using the wall to support him. The girl and wolf followed closely behind as the sirens of the fire trucks and police cars came closer.

A ripped shirt; bloody wound on my leg; and two strangers, one looking like a prostitute and the other a huge wolf. Great...how will I explain this to mom.

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