Moonlit Fur Chronicles: Lucid Fur
Chapter 6 Flight of the Gargoyle

My phone buzzed and interrupted Dylan. I looked apologetic, he motioned for me to answer it. I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered. “Hello, this is Isadora from the occult shop. Am I speaking to Reese?” I confirmed my identity and Isadora relayed that my order had arrived. My eyes lit up, I was so close to Quinn’s cure! I thanked Isadora and briefed Dylan. He told me to go collect my package. I gave him a gentle hug and darted out of his room. “No running!” A nurse hollered after me. I slowed down to a brisk walk. In no time flat, I was out of the building and at top speed to the hotel. Car horns blared as I vaulted over cars and leapt over benches. I barely heard anything behind me.

I ran back to the hotel, jumped in the truck and drove to the occult shop. I arrived and yanked the door open. Isadora smiled widely. “Hi Reese. How are you?” I smiled back, “I’m better now.″ There was a large box on the counter beside her with my name on it. “These are some powerful ingredients,” She began. “What are you hoping to accomplish?” I didn’t see the harm in an extremely vague answer. “Someone close to me is very sick. I was told these would help cure her.” Isadora nodded solemnly. “Do be careful. Magic can be fickle. Potions must be brewed in a profoundly specific way. If you need help, feel free to give me a call.” I thanked her, picked up the box, and retreated to the truck. I put in the backseat and drove back to the hotel.

I had to wait til dusk to collect Cordelia. I wasn’t exactly sure where she was. I quickly packed up my hotel room and called my parents to tell them I was going back home. I agreed to plan a time for me to come back and spend some time with them. The sun slowly sunk in the sky. A few minutes after dark, I got a nasty headache. The pain was intense. ‘Reese...help’ Cordelia’s voice was so quiet in my head I almost didn’t hear it. ‘Where are you?’ I exclaimed. ‘Cold…dark…smells like death…’ was my only reply. Smells like death. Dead. I thought hard and fought through the pain. Cemeteries smelled like the dead. We had an old cemetery about a mile or two outside of town on a hilltop.

I ducked out of the hotel, placed my backpack and box of ingredients in the back seat of the truck. I stripped off my clothes and tossed them on top of my backpack. I phased into my wolf shape and raced off into the night. The wolf didn’t mind the headache, it wasn’t so bad now that I was covered in fur. The trees and bushes were blurred from my hasty pace. I had to find Cordelia and save her. I hastily reached the edge of town. I could smell something. It smelled similar to fresh rain. The sky crackled and boomed as lightning flashed and thunder roared. The storm made everything more difficult. My paws tore at the ground as I raced toward the cemetery. The cold rain soaked my fur and made my coat uncomfortably heavy. I pressed on; Cordelia was in danger.

I launched myself over the locked gate of the cemetery. The gravestones reflected the lightning ominously. I saw a faint light flicker in the chapel, it looked like candles. I heard Cordelia roar in pain. I looked at the top of the chapel and I saw Cordelia chained to the steeple. The roof had several other stone structures that resembled gargoyles. Their stone faces twisted in agony; I would not let Cordelia join them. I saw a large shadow sway and twirl in the chapel. I somehow knew this shadow was responsible for Cordelia’s anguish. I charged the chapel doors, they shattered into slivers of dark wood. I lounged at the shadow. It swirled away and projected a laugh that mocked me. “You’re too slow, Beast!” A high pitched voice cackled. “You don’t have what it takes to defeat me and stop my spell.” I felt the power of Alpha rise from my toes and travel up to my spine. I roared and pounced at the shadow again. Cordelia seemed to gain strength from me. It seemed like she was part of my pack now too.

“Enough of this game!” the shadow hissed. It pointed a pale boney finger at me. I leapt away at the last second and a brilliant flash of lightning struck the ground inches from where I had been a moment ago. Cordelia’s furious roar pierced the night. The shriek of torn metal filled the chapel. Cordelia wrenched herself free of the chains that bound her. She stomped her foot on the roof of the chapel. A large hole opened in the roof and debris tumbled down. The shadow, now covered in dust and rain, swore loudly. Codelia jumped down through the hole. The shadow pointed its pale bony finger at Cordelia but was knocked away by her powerful wing. The shadow slammed painfully into the wall. Cordelia tucked her wings tightly around her. I ducked between her legs and stood up. Cordelia collapsed against my back. I raced out of the chapel, Cordelia hung on for dear life. I smelled something on her that I never smelled before.

It was similar but also vague, almost like copper. The smell was on the tip of my tongue but I couldn’t think of its name. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I needed to get Cordelia as far away from the cemetery and the shadow as wolfishly. The shadow picked itself off the floor and wailed at its failure. I didn’t care, I got Cordelia out of there as fast as possible. The tree line loomed ahead of us. The shadow laughed heinously and lightning struck the ground mere seconds after we sped past. I had to get to the treeline. We could hide there or evade the shadow long enough to escape. Seconds felt like hours, my heart pounded as fast as my paws were against the slippery mud. Finally we made it to the treeline.

I shot passed trees and leapt over ditches. I found a river and splashed into it. I hoped that if I followed the river it would make it more difficult for the shadow to track us. I followed it for roughly thirty minutes before I splashed out and raced back to the town. The heavy rains made my sense of smell all but useless. It was a good thing I grew up in this town and knew it like the back of my hand. It wasn’t long before we reached the hotel. I set Cordelia on the ground as gently as I could. I phased back into a human and lowered the truck tailgate. I lifted Cordelia into the truck bed and covered her with a trap and tucked it underneath her. I dashed into my room and grabbed a couple towels, dried myself off and wrapped a second one around me. I didn’t want to get Casey’s truck all wet. I plunged out into the darkness, climbed into the truck and drove off.

I drove for miles, my adrenaline pumped ceaselessly. The rain stopped so I pulled off the road to check on Cordelia. I hurriedly dressed, grabbed a dry towel and tumbled out of the truck. I clambered into the truck bed and lifted the tarp gingerly from Cordelia’s form. The copper like scent was several times stronger, I realized it was her blood. Her dark blood oozed from under her wings. This was bad, very bad. Cordelia opened her eyes and whispered faintly, “I’ll be fine. Have to make it to dawn.” Dawn unfortunately was at least two hours from now. “Show me how bad you’re hurt. We have to stop the blood flow. She carefully unfurled her blood stained wings. She had a nasty gash along her belly. I pressed the towel into her wound, “hold this tight, right here.” I jumped out of the truck bed and searched the cab for a first aid kit. Casey was always prepared for emergencies.

I reach under the back seat. I found a plastic box. I pulled it out, a large red cross was emblazoned on the lid. I flipped the top and started digging through the box. I found my query. I took the supplies back to Cordelia and patched her up as best as I could. I sat with her and held her hand until the sun came up. She smiled faintly at me as the sun peeked above the trees. “Thank you, Reese” I wiped away a tear, strapped Cordelia’s stone body to the bed of the truck, and climbed into the cab. I drove for as long as I could before I felt too sleepy to carry on. I hauled myself over into the passenger seat and curled up as best as I could. I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to take me.

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