Moonlit Fur Chronicles: Lucid Fur
Chapter 14 Preparing for the Worst

Casey called me and let me know they were out front. I hurried out of the airport and launched myself into the truck. “Go! Go! Go!” I urged him. “Isadora is here in town! We have to move!” Casey put the pedal to the metal. We sped off. I told Casey how unproductive this trip had been. I shared how my parents had reacted. Casey frowned, “ I’m sorry your parents couldn’t support you the way you needed.” My words tumbled out, “It is my fault, really, for letting them get my hopes up. I knew they were terrible people.” Casey cleared their throat.

“Reese, you need to know what happened. The gargoyles caught Isabella sniffing around their cave. They have her in their custody.” My eyebrows furrowed, “in their custody? What exactly does that mean Casey?” They sighed heavily, “They have her chained and gagged. They are not planning on releasing her.” My mind reeled at the implications. “Do they know what they have done?” Casey shrugged, “I certainly hope so.” My phone buzzed again. Dylan’s name flashed across the screen. I ignored the call and went back to my conversation with Casey.

My phone buzzed nonstop. Dylan was relentless. “What,” I hissed harsher than I meant to. “Reese! Help me! I don’t know where I am. It’s dark and I’m scared.” I gasped, “Dylan! Details!” I demanded. “It’s dark. And bumpy. I’m laying on something like carpet. I think I’m in the trunk of a car,” he whispered. “How long have you been in the car,” I inquired. His voice was shaky, “I don’t know, I just woke up. Reese I’m scared!” The connection broke. I had lost Dylan now too. I looked at Casey. They kept their eyes on the road. “There’s not much you can do Reese…” they replied softly.

“I can’t just leave him,” I answered. Casey kept their eyes forward, “Let’s get home and deal with the gargoyles. Maybe we can think of something in the meantime.” I sighed. My mind raced. My anxiety was off the charts. We spent the rest of the trip in silence. We reached the house and I ran inside to see Quinn. She sat on the couch. My heart leaped at the sight of her. She held out her arms to me the second she saw me. I raced to her and hugged her. “I missed you so much,” I whispered to her. “I know, baby. I missed you too,” she answered. I pulled away and looked at her. She was so skinny. She had lost so much weight. She looked positively skeletal.

“We are gonna fix you up soon. We make you right as rain, just hold on,” I encouraged. She nodded weakly. “Hurry Reese. Please hurry.” I kissed her softly. “I’m going to check on the gargoyles. They said they have something for me.” Quinn squeezed my hand twice. I could barely feel it, I responded in kind. I left her on the couch and stepped outside before she could see my cry. My phone rang, Dylan’s number scrolled across the screen. I answered, “Dylan, where are you?” “The car stopped. People are getting out.” There was silence on the other end. “You? Why?” Dylan’s voice was panicked and confused. The connection was severed.

I growled and dropped it in my backpack. I shed my clothes and stuffed them into my backpack. I shifted into wolf form and took off. The path to the gargoyle cave was burned into my memory. My claws churned the dirt as I sped past trees and shrubs. The evening sunlight shone through the trees. The fading light cast shadows all around me. The gargoyles would be awake soon. I wanted to be there before they woke up. My paws pounded the earth. I ducked into the cave and raced down the path. I slid to a stop in the main cavern and shifted back into human form. I pulled my clothes hastily.

I saw a dark form chained to the back wall. Three gargoyle statues were huddled around it. The form was stretched firmly across the wall. The chains encircled their ankles and wrists and were pulled taut. The form had a dirty rag stuffed in its mouth. I got closer to the victim and saw it was a woman, I recognized the face. Isabella. She must have heard me, she fought against the chains to no avail. She cried through the dirty rag and screamed what I assumed were threats and pleas to be released.

It was much too dark for her to be able to see me or anything else for that matter. I had mixed feelings about Isabella being chained up and bound like an animal. The gargoyle statues rumbled, a layer of rock and dust slid from the gargoyles as they awoke. “Greetings Re-” Goliath began. “No! Do not say my name! She doesn’t need to know who I am.” Goliath pondered my words. “Do you have news? Have you been successful in your hunt?” “I have news but I’d like to not share it with her. If you’d join me, I’ll share it with you.” I directed my voice to Cordelia and Simeon, “Be careful with her please.” Simeon growled roughly poked at Isabella. “I want to hang her by her feet but I’m not allowed to,” Simeon hissed. He stood guard over her while Goliath and Cordelia followed me up the path several paces. “We have to be very careful. Isadora, her twin sister, is here in town. More than likely looking for her and wanting revenge for her capture.” Goliath’s chest rumbled angrily. “Then let her come!”

“Goliath, I haven’t seen this side of you and the others. Should I be worried?” I gazed at him. “You have not threatened my clan. She has!” His deep voice was rough and dangerous. “Yeah that makes sense,” I murmured. “How are we going to coordinate when Isadora attacks?” “Witches are fearsome foes. We must overwhelm them with numbers. We were lucky when we captured this one. We caught her by surprise and kept her silent. A witch can’t cast spells if she is rendered mute.” I took a breath, I started to feel overwhelmed. “Okay, good plan. I need to check on my pack.” I turned and ran up the path and into the night.

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