Chapter Three: Koudelka and Loren

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Koudelka and the Dawning Awakening

Chapter Three: Koudelka and Loren

It only took about ten minutes to get home and it was surprisingly calm and quiet. The streets were quiet, after the monster’s appearance and the arrival of the fire/police department. The girl was leaning on the wolf the entire way there. There was no doubt that she was in pain from the vicious bite and claw marks that were on her skin. Jamie limped the entire way home, still feeling the pain of the gash in his leg. Blood from the wound bled through the bandage by the time he arrived at his house

Jamie walked to the large shrub that was in the front yard. Jamie stuck is hit up, looking around to make sure his parents were not outside. He looked at the driveway and noticed a red truck in small road in front of the garage. His dad was home. Jamie released a withheld breath.

Isn’t that just nice…

Jamie looked at the girl and wolf. “Follow me to the back yard and be very, very quiet.”

The girl and wolf nodded in response. Jamie nodded back. He limped around the bush, trying to take quiet hops as he made his way to the back yard. The girl followed, her arm clutched to her side. The wolf did an army crawl, trying to remain undetected by anyone in the house. They made it there, not noticed by anyone.

Jamie hopped over to a small wood shed that was alongside a garden. He got to the old shed and opened the door. Inside the shed, it seemed a lot roomier, able to fit even the large wolf and the tall girl perfectly. Jamie walked in and flicked on the light. The girl and wolf followed in. Jamie brushed off the cobwebs from the walls and moved the garden tools to the far wall. The girl let out a painful gasp, making Jamie turn and look at her.

“You alright?” Jamie asked in a concern tone, a tone he rarely used towards others.

“Will be,” the girl said with pain in her voice. “I just need a bandage and maybe some peppermint herbs.”

Jamie gave her a brow raised look. “Um…I don’t know if we have any herbs, but I can bring out a bandage.”

The girl walked over to the wall and leaned on that. “That’ll do…”

Jamie nodded and hobbled out of the shed, shutting the door behind him. He hopped to the back steps. They would lead him into the kitchen, using the back door. Jamie hopped up the stairs, pain shooting up his leg as he jumped the five steps up. At the top, he leaned against the house’s siding, taking in deep breaths.

Man…if this is going to last for a long time, I’m going to cut off my leg.

Jamie opened the back door, slowly. The hinges gave a terrible, old creak as the door opened. Jamie limped into the house and shut the door, as quietly as he could at least, behind him. Jamie bit his lip and hopped across the kitchen, towards the living room. He could here the shower running above him, meaning that his dad was taking a shower. He’d usually take a shower as soon as he got home.

Jamie got into the living room. So far so good…no mom in sight yet-

“Jamie? Are you home?” He heard his mother’s voice call out.

Jamie cursed silently to himself. He saw his mom’s shadow come down as she descended down the stairs. The living room’s light flashed on and now Jamie was looking at his mom. Her curly brunette hair was down and she was in a blue tank-top and navy sweat pants. For a woman of age forty, she had a surprisingly good body. But then again, she was a yoga teacher, so it’d just come naturally for her.

Jamie’s mother examined Jamie with her sharp blue eyes. She looked down at his left leg, the injured one and gasped.

“What happened to your leg? And your shirt?” His mother asked with alarm in her voice.

Jamie’s face went pale, trying to think of a perfect excuse for his mother.

“Um…uh…I was walking and tripped at the park,” Jamie lied. “There was this thorn bush and someone pushed me into it.”

Jamie’s mother looked at him with a brow raised. Jamie hoped that his mother would believe and buy into his lie.

I’d sell my soul to whatever god above just to make her believe me-well, maybe my bad leg…

Jamie’s mother nodded and walked up to her son, concern in her face. “Do want me to do anything?”

Jamie shook his head and turned back towards the kitchen. There was a spare bathroom in there and he was sure there would be a few bandages big enough to help the girl.

Jamie’s mother looked at him and went back to the stairway. “Okay then…if you need anything, I’ll be upstairs.”

Jamie didn’t answer and limped back to the kitchen. He used the countertops for support and got into the spare bathroom, no problem at all. He opened the broken door and shut it when he was in. The small cramp bathroom had only a small sink with a medicine cabinet above it and a toilet. Jamie crouched down carefully and opened the cupboard under the sink. He found nothing but toilet cleaner and a plunger. Now, the medicine cabinet. He opened it up and took out a bottle of aspirin, for him. He opened the bottle, cursing at the child-proof cap and took out too capsules.

Even though she wanted herbs, this’ll do me good for a while, at least.

He took the medicine and stuck his head under the sink, turning it on so water could flow into his mouth. When he was down, he wiped the water from his mouth and turned off the faucet.

“That felt really good…” he said to himself. “Now the bandage that freaky girl wanted.”

He looked around the cabinet and found a whole roll of beige colored linen. He smiled and took the roll out, closing the cabinet after. He opened the door, hopped out of the bathroom and to the back door. He opened the old door and out of the house he went. He hopped down the steps to the wood shed, feeling the aspirin kick in.

Thank the gods for instant pain relievers.

He opened the door to the wood shed and saw the wolf and girl sitting on the concrete floor. Jamie looked at her and noticed the bandage around her face was now removed, revealing her red lips. Jamie knew the face; he knew he saw it earlier that night before the encounter with the monster.

It...She looks like the girl who talked to me.

His eyes went wide and he pointed at her. “Y-you’re the girl who was at the park!”

The girl flashed the same smile he knew from the park and flipped her hair. “Took you long enough to realize.”

She wrapped the bandage she had on earlier around her neck, concealing the bite mark. She looked at Jamie and leaned back onto the wolf. The wolf yawned and looked at the girl passively before resting it’s head on its huge paws.

“You bring the bandage?” The girl asked.

Jamie looked at her in confusion at first and then nodded, handing the bandage he forgot he had to her. She wrapped it around her waist and abdomen as Jamie watched. When she finished knotting it securely, she looked at Jamie.

“I don’t even know you’re name yet and you’re the host,” she said quietly. “What are you called?”

“Um…Jamie Carlson,” Jamie answered, sitting down on the ground, pretzel-legged. “Who are you?”

“I’m Koudelka and this is Loren,” She said, directing at the wolf as she said its name.

“Hi…that’s a weird name, where are you from and why were you fighting that monster?” Jamie asked.

Koudelka shrugged. “It’s a long story. But a summarized version of it is that we’re hunters. We hunt after monsters kind of like the ones you saw today. We call them Astaroth…it’s another name for “Dark Spirit”. That bug that tried to attack you is an Astaroth that infects human’s with dark, uneasy feelings. You remember that man that you saw after Loren used his tail to break the rock outside?”

Jamie nodded. “I think so. The guy in the prison uniform?”

Koudelka nodded. “Yes, people who have been held in captivity or do bad deeds tend to have a more uneasy conscious, thus makes them more susceptible to an attack by an Astaroth. Once a human is infected by one, they turn into a dark creature, like the one you saw not long ago.”

Jamie thought back to the ugly, terrifying creature he encountered. It large bladed arm, its four glowing red eyes, the black oozy skin…

“But wait, Kou-Koushimda-blah-blah-blah,” Jamie said, trying to remember how to pronounce her name.

Koudelka rolled her red eyes and sighed. “It’s Koudelka…” She said in an annoyed manner.

“Whatever…then why aren’t you infected? That thing bit and scratched you and you haven’t even turned into a monster.”

“Because I am immune from its bite.” Koudelka took a deep breath. She began running her hand through Loren’s soft looking white fur. “Loren and I…are from an entirely different place-no, an entirely different realm.”

Jamie stood up, his jaw dropping. “WHAT?!” he said loudly, making Loren’s head rise in alarm.

“You heard me…” Koudelka said quietly. “We’re from the Shadow Realm, a place of, well, shadows and dusk. No light ever shines there. We’re members from the Shadi Tribe, the group who lives in the Shadow Realm. I’m a spell caster and a warrior. Loren is too, but he’s more of a warrior than a magician.”

“Are you serious?” Jamie blurted out.

Koudelka narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you believe in magic?”

Jamie laughed. “No! There is no such thing! The magician that does birthday parties is a fraud and so is anyone who claims they can do magic.”

Koudelka’s gaze turned into a glare. She slowly got up and walked over to Jamie. She yanked him up like she did before. Even with an injury, she was still pretty strong.

“I’ll show you magic,” she said through gritted teeth and nearly dragged Jamie outside, practically forgetting that he injured himself.

Loren was left behind. The white wolf got up and shook himself, getting the dirt out of his pure white pelt. He let out a large yawn and walked out the door, to watch his partner show the young lad some “magic”.

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