Her Perilous Wolf, Julie Steimle [howl and other poems TXT] 📗

wolves very much,” Hezzy murmured, “Don’t you?”

She nodded, sighing. “They’re my favorite animal. After wolves come cheetahs and then giraffes.” She raised her wounded hand. “But I put snakes dead last.”

They all chuckled over that.

However, then Luis said in a different, contemplative tone, “I noticed… they kept talking about that story, Journey to the West. Audry, do you know anything about it?”

She shook her head. “Not really. My nephew was reading a kid version for school a while back. Something about a Monkey King. Why?”

He shrugged as he said, “I read it when studying Mandarin. It is good stuff. The thing is, the name of that man who became the snake—Wang Ruyi? He is a character from the story.”

Shivers went down Audry’s arms.

“Wang Ruyi was an immortal,” Luis explained. “He was opposed to Sun Wukong, who was the Monkey King. Wang Ruyi held a grudge against him for some kind of family altercation, but was later defeated by Sun Wukong. There was an abortion spring in the story.”

Audry shuddered more, cringing.

“Anyway, their argument back in the warehouse was weird.” Luis shook his head. “It was like that Wang Ruyi thought he was the one from the story, and he thought your red wolf was another character from the story, and a friend to Sun Wukong.”

She stared. “What?”

“Either he was crazy—or maybe that story has some roots in reality,” Luis suggested.

But Audry shook her head. “Rick is not an immortal. I’ve met his mother. I’ve even met his grandparents. His stepfather. His half-brother-and-sister. All of them are human.”

“Human?” Sefu breathed out, now entirely confused.

“Werewolves are not amazimu,” Hezzy explained with a tired head shake. “They are different.”

For some reason, hearing that gave her immense relief. But of course they weren’t amazimu. They weren’t even African. Amazimu were purely African.

“I think Juma is upset because he thinks you are choosing an amazimu over him,” Hezzy murmured, patting Darth’s head.

“I think he is also angry you did not tell him you were a princess,” Sefu cut in.

“He always wanted to marry a princess,” Luis chimed in also.

“I am NOT a princess!” Audry snapped, exasperated at them.

But the men chuckled together.

They were teasing. It struck her with such annoying relief. Of course they were teasing. She was stressed out, wounded, and needed relief—and this was how they did it. It was backward, but their way.

“Stop it,” she muttered.

 

It was late when they finally arrived at the compound. Hezzy offered to carry Audry to a room where she could rest, but she insisted on walking. Sitting in that jeep was wearying enough. She wanted to be on her feet.

Juma was still in an off mood when they arrived. It was a good thing Winnie had dinner hot and ready—aided by those who also had stayed. Everyone marched in, cleaning up and then hurrying to eat. Juma did not say a word to her when she sat down. However, she did notice Akachi whispering to him with Sefu. Juma peeked at her with the side of his eye.

Hezzy stuck by her, even when dinner finished, the dogs following closely. She went to bed early, her hand throbbing.

She had nightmares throughout most of the night. In her dreams she saw all the slaughtered animals—including those who had been men and had tried to attack her—each given a voice and demanding to know why she could not save them. Half the dream was full of snakes, always at her heels as she ran for safety, each one hissing that Rick was not there to protect her now. She even thought she saw Wang Ruyi come into her room with a knife to slit her throat.

Audry woke with a start, hearing the dogs snarl and attack something. Something clattered against the floor.

The door was swinging on its hinges.

Other people woke, shouting out for the dogs to be quiet. However, Hezzy rushed into her room, panting. “Are you ok?”

Dazed, Audry stared back, then looked to the floor where something was reflecting a bit of moonlight. Hezzy followed her gaze then stooped down to pick it up. He lifted it to stare at it.

It was a knife.

He quickly took it out of the room, calling to someone in the local dialect. Soon Juma rushed in, with Mercy, Sefu and Winnie.

“Someone tried to kill you?” Juma went up to her. “Did you see his face?”

Audry put a hand to her forehead. “I thought it was a dream.”

He shook his head, grabbing her trembling arms. “Did you see who it was?”

She nodded. “That guy, Wang Ruyi. He was here.”

Juma stood up quickly, looking to the others.

Sefu called out, shouting something.

Winnie rolled her eyes with a look to Mercy, her expression saying Audry was just being a prima donna. But Mercy glared at her with loathing.

Hezzy came back in with the dogs—Darth worse off as clearly he had chased away her attacker. Darth had a slice on his leg, and he was limping. Audry immediately hopped to her rescue pack to treat him.

“We need to move you to a safer room,” Hezzy said.

Juma nodded. Yet he said to Audry, “Why would this stranger want to kill you?”

She shrugged. “I think he knows my wolf.”

Sefu rushed back in, this time armed. He nodded to Audry, “Come on. We’ll take you to a safer place.”

She shook her head, gently urging Darth close while taking out her tools for treatment from her first aid kit. “Not until he’s taken care of.”

“He’s ok,” Juma said. “It can wait.”

“No, it can’t!” she snapped back. “It could go septic.”

They watched, mildly stunned, as Audry eased Darth as she, cleaned, gently stitched, and bound his wound. When she was done, she rose and announced, “Now I’m ready to go.”

“Just for a dog?” murmured Winnie.

Hezzy shot her the harshest look.

“I actually like animals,” Audry said to her, rising. “Rescuing them is what I do. It’s not just a job to me.”

“That is fair,” said Luis. He then nodded to Audry. “But now you are finished. Let’s go.”

She went with them to another room where she was now in the center of them all. It felt weird. But even more, the dogs slept at the foot of her bed, not leaving her alone.

Death is a Friend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Ten

 

Audry woke the next morning feeling unusually nauseous. She didn’t want to tell anyone, as Winnie would think it was an attack on her cooking. Instead, she worked to keep it down.

Her muscles also ached from her neck to her head to her back. She blamed it on her poor sleep and nightmares. She had woken up with clenched muscles, curled into a ball. Her dreams had not gotten any better. It had been about the lion dying, then the dogs, all killed by that snake. But when she woke, they were fine—all of them. She had checked to make sure. In fact, they looked like they wanted to run around and play with more energy than she had at present.

During breakfast, Hezzy tried to get her to eat more, but she did not want to vomit. Around then, Dennis came up to her. “My home is safer than here. We have better beds, and you look ill.”

She shook her head, peeking toward Juma who was talking with Joram about something. “It would not be appropriate—”

“Audry!” Dennis snapped. “I will not stay there if you feel uncomfortable being alone with a single man. Winne and Mercy can stay with you.”

“Oh… no,” Audry shook her head more. “They hate me.”

“No, they don’t,” Dennis protested, indignant.

“Yes, they do,” she retorted, her nausea rising. “Mercy really hates me because of Juma, and you know it—unless you are blind. She thinks I am in her way.”

Dennis, however, lifted his head, shocked by that. “Mercy is after Juma?”

Audry’s shoulders sagged while Hezzy smothered a chuckle, nodding.

“I might have to have a word with my sister.” Dennis then shook off that thought, turning to her. “You are staying in my house. No argument. Hezzy, go take her there. I will speak with Mercy.”

Audry groaned. This was going to be hell. Men just did not understand how vicious women got with one another—especially when they were jealous. Rather, the men were merely amused by it. It took so little to entertain them.

But Hezzy had agreed with Dennis. He carried Audry’s backpack and other things, not allowing her to lift even one of them, and he loaded them into a jeep. Darth leapt in with them. Hezzy tried to send him out, but the dog refused to leave Audry, resting his head in her lap. So, giving up, he took both Darth and Audry to Dennis’s home for recovery.

The moment they arrived, Audry vomited.

Hezzy panicked. Never had she seen him like this. His eyes were wide, he was sweating, and he had grabbed her up, pulling off the bandage on her hand to see if it was more infected. The funny thing was, it wasn’t. The bite was healing nicely. The discoloration was gone. But she was feeling awful.

He got her through the front door (Darth limping after with a watchful guarding eye on their surroundings), and took her to a room which, she assumed either belonged to Dennis, or was a guest room. The house was nice and surprisingly cool. It had all the modern conveniences, from electric lighting to computers with Wi-Fi. She could see it, as the Wi-Fi password was written on a paper pinned to the bulletin board next to his computer.

Hezzy got her to their bathroom so she could clean up. Audry vomited again there—this time into the toilet.

“Tell the truth, Audry,” Hezzy said while watching her wipe her mouth. “How do you really feel?”

“Like crap,” she murmured. “I did not sleep well at all last night.”

He nodded. “Headache? Muscle pain?”

“I’m always a little sore while camping,” she said.

But he shook his head. “Do not downplay this. This could be serious. You could have caught something.”

Lifting her eyes to Hezzy, Audry shook her head. “Not possible. I had all my shots.”

He nodded. “True. But you just got bit by a great big demon snake from China. I think all bets are off.”

A horrible shudder went through her again, and she vomited once more into the toilet.

“So, headache?” he asked again.

Audry nodded, her stomach churning.

“Body aches?”

She nodded.

Hezzy pointed to the bath. “You may want to wash up again. I will go get a doctor.”

Panic whipped through her, that nightmare of the Chinese demon in her room with the knife returning to her mind. She grabbed his arm. “Don’t leave. What if Wang Ruyi comes back?”

Darth growled, somehow recognizing the name.

Hezzy frowned, halting. His mind went over it. He reached into her bag and pulled out her pistol and then her tazer. “Keep these with you. I think your sickness is a bigger threat. You can take on a Chinese demon.”

And he left.

She watched him march decidedly out. A warm feeling swept through her chest… followed by more nausea. But she had very little left to vomit up.

Left alone with poor wounded Darth as her guard, Audry locked up the bathroom door and closed the window. It had shutters in the inside like venetian blinds, which she also closed and locked. Still feeling wretched, Audry decided to take that bath. It had been days since she had