The First Ones Page 16

  Aurora squealed with delight once, then jumped forward and threw her arms around Benjamin’s neck. Benjamin, who had been kneeling in front of Aurora, fell back on his butt as if he had just been knocked over by a linebacker, and he sat there momentarily in wide-eyed shock and disbelief, before wrapping his massive arms around the tiny child and returned her hug in kind.

  Movement on the far end of the hallway sent a panic through Jet as more werewolves flowed through the stairwell door. They didn’t charge. Instead they crept slowly forward in a cautious approach, allowing even more of their numbers to fill the space on the far end of the floor.

  “Ben,” Ursula whispered with earnest, “I’m sorry, but we really do need to go.”

  Ben and Aurora released each other, and Jet could see tears streaming down the big man’s face, along with a ridiculous smile that an adult only manages for babies.

  “You’re so beautiful,” Benjamin said to Aurora, then he turned to Ursula and was about to say more when he noticed that she was aiming her gun down the hallway.

  Benjamin seemed to have forgotten what threatened them, and instinctively turned to see exactly what had Ursula’s attention. He took in the werewolves accumulating at the far end of the hallway, looked from the werewolves to Aurora and then back to the wolves before blinking his understanding as he asked, “They’re after the baby?”

  “What?” Jet asked on reflex.

  Benjamin looked at Ursula, “They’re after the baby? Kaylanna is here?!?” His head quickly turned back to Aurora, and both Jet and Ursula watched as the child’s demeanor shifted back to that of the First One.

  Jet’s breath caught in his chest as he watched Benjamin’s expression change again. The giant released the child and gently guided her to Ursula as something deep inside the man, something that had been suppressed for a long, long time, shattered its way to the surface. Benjamin turned to face the werewolves, keeping Jet, Aurora and Ursula behind him.

  “Get to the roof.” Benjamin said in a voice that was as cold as if spoken by death itself, “The helicopter is ready to go.”

  “Ben…” Ursula pleaded.

  “No arguments,” Ben said with absolute finality, “I’m so sorry for everything. Please, go.”

  “Ben, what…?” Jet protested

  Ben growled in a voice louder, deeper, raspier and far, far less human, “Get them out of here!”

  Jet cried out, “Holy crap! What the hell?” as he jumped back, raising the shotgun at Benjamin.

  “Ben,” Ursula’s voice was filled with sorrow and longing, as the words slipped from between her lips, “you can’t…”

  Ben’s head turned away from Ursula and back toward the werewolves. His eyes were no longer human, but had changed to that of a predator’s. They were yellow-gold in color and the bones of his face began shifting freely under his skin, giving his features an even sharper edge.

  Benjamin growled with that inhuman voice at the oncoming werewolves, “You vermin dare come for my granddaughter?!?” Then, as his body began to grow even larger and his voice held only the barest glimmer of humanity, he roared, “I’LL KILL YOU ALL!!!”

  Jet pulled Aurora and Ursula toward the ruined roof access doorway, as they watched Benjamin’s body continue to shift and change, growing larger and larger with each passing second. Claws formed at the ends of his fingers and he tore his clothes away as he continued to change. Thick fur sprouted from his thickening skin as he stalked toward the werewolves, who although previously confident with their greater numbers, all stopped in their tracks and began to snarl at Benjamin as he approached. The change happening in front of them registered in their minds, sparking ancient instincts that raised a bloodlust within them, as they now faced a creature that they had been bred to fight.

  Benjamin had to drop down to all fours, having grown far taller than the nine and a half foot ceiling would allow, and the rest of the change took him. In the next instant, all vestiges of humanity had left his features, leaving only the Spirit Bear in its place. Twelve feet tall, eight-inch claws and a full ton of weight rested on an impossibly large frame that the world hadn’t seen since the Pleistocene age. Benjamin was in the form of a Short Faced Bear, the largest predatory mammal to ever walk the earth, and he glared mercilessly at the werewolves

  “My God,” Jet breathed, “he’s one of the Spirit Bears, isn’t he? He’s one of the Ancients that saved the world?”

  Ursula wasn’t listening, but trying to pull away, “He can’t take on all of them!”

  Aurora said emotionlessly, “Benjamin is a Spirit Bear. This is his calling and his time.”

  “No!” Ursula fired without aiming, and one of the werewolves in the distance twisted, falling under the force of the bullet’s impact. Then it righted itself and kept coming forward with the rest of its pack, slowly and cautiously advancing on Benjamin.

  Before Ursula could fire again Benjamin, with two great strides, threw his full weight into the wolf pack. Slashing with one clawed paw, he ripped the first werewolf apart with a single blow, and his jaws latched down on the next unlucky beast closest to him, severing the creature’s spinal column before effortlessly tossing it aside.

  As soon as the fighting began Jet lifted Aurora in one arm, grabbed Ursula with the other and pulled them toward the roof access stairwell.

  “We have to go!” Jet screamed as more werewolves died horribly. Then, just before Jet climbed the first stair, Ursula cried out as a werewolf slipped under Ben’s defenses and sank its teeth deeply into Benjamin’s leg.

  Benjamin bellowed in pain, brought a clawed fist down on the wolf’s neck, snapped the offending beast’s spine instantly, and caused its jaws to release him as a gush of blood poured from the wound it created.

  Ursula screamed at the sight, “Daddy!” and raised her gun again as she tried to break free of Jet’s grasp. Somehow Jet managed to find the strength to increase his grip on her wrist and continued to pull her up the stairs toward the helicopter.

  Chapter 24: Almost Airborne

  With Aurora tucked under one arm, and Ursula no longer resisting him, Jet kicked open the door to the roof, climbed the stairwell and had the three of them headed over the rooftop toward the helicopter. His body was on autopilot, but his mind kept repeating the words “Daddy” and “Granddaughter” over and over again in his head. Ursula had shouted “Daddy” to Benjamin when he had been wounded and Benjamin had been referring to Aurora when he shouted “my granddaughter” at the Akhlut. Jet’s mind whirled in an inappropriate elation as he connected the dots and realized Ben wasn’t Aurora’s father, he was Ursula’s.

  Part of Jet wanted to do a little happy dance while running from the lethal threat they had left behind. Fortunately, his rational mind was in control and understood that there wasn’t the time to consider that information. For now, all that mattered was getting to the helicopter before Ben was completely overrun.

  Sounds of the battle were still raging beneath their feet as Jet pushed Ursula in front of him, aiming her at the pilot’s door in the front of the helicopter, while he shifted his direction toward the open bay doors. Ursula didn’t waste a step and was in the cockpit flipping switches to start the engine as fast as her fingers could fly. Jet jumped into the passenger area and gently set Aurora in a chair furthest away from the door. He pulled her seatbelt tightly across her tiny body, but cursed as he realized the child was too small to be properly secured.

  “How long before you can take off?” Jet shouted.

  “Less than a minute if I cut a few corners,” Ursula called back without deviating from her task.

  Jet nodded and settled into the chair opposite Aurora and chose not to secure his own seatbelt until the last possible moment. That way, if any of the werewolves made it past Benjamin, he could get in between the beast and the child without a hindrance.

  It wasn’t until the propellers started slowly rotating that Jet actually drew in a breath, reached for his seatbelt, and listened as the engines slowly i
ncreased in speed and volume, to drown out the sound of battle one floor below.

  Over the din of the engine noise a shriek, like the sound of some giant predatory bird, cut through the air. Jet turned his head in time to see a winged creature fly over the edge of the roof that looked as though it was a hideous combination of one part bat and one part reptile. Jet actually felt nausea churn in his guts as he looked at the thing and he shifted the barrel of the shotgun toward the monstrosity.

  The propellers picked up speed but, as the winged-thing reached its zenith and twisted into a hawk-like dive, Jet knew they wouldn’t be able to lift off in time to avoid the monster.

  Disconnecting his seatbelt, he quickly took aim with the shotgun as the winged-thing shot downward toward them like a missile, its elongated wings and claws tucked close to its side for maximum acceleration. Jet knew what it planned, and he waited as he kept the winged-beast centered in the shotgun’s sight and his concentration quieted the unease in his stomach and allowed for a certain peace to settle over him.

  At the last moment, and just before impact with the roof, the creature opened its wings, caught the air and shifted its trajectory from the vertical drop it had been in and launched itself into a horizontal glide that shot the creature’s body straight toward the helicopter. The thing managed to stay just far enough off the ground that its body would pass harmlessly underneath the spinning propellers and drive it straight into the open cargo bay door where Jet had positioned himself.

  Jet was ready, and given the straight path the thing was now on, he locked the sights so he’d shoot the beast directly in its ugly face. It didn’t matter how big or bad a creature might be when a .50 caliber shotgun sabot met you face-first to ruin your day.

  Jet smiled as his finger squeezed the trigger, “Got you now,” he thought, and could imagine seeing the thing’s face implode and the back of its head explode on impact with the slug. He kept on squeezing the trigger and felt a little panic that the round hadn’t yet fired.

  “Click.”

  His smile faded as his brain registered the misfire and he just managed to get the shotgun in between himself and the creature as it flew in through the open door and crashed into him. The impact drove him to the opposite side of the helicopter and slammed him against the wall as his body crumpled under the force of the impact. The pain was terrible but he couldn’t take the time for any cathartic outcry as the creature had opened its mouth to sink row upon row of needle-like, crocodile teeth into him. Jet managed to get the shotgun in between himself and the creature’s frightening jaws, lodging the weapon in its mouth, but had nothing to stop its claws as they raked at his sides. The close quarters of the helicopter’s interior kept the creature from getting any leverage with its limbs, which was all that prevented Jet from being eviscerated, but Jet was still helpless under the weight of the massive beast. He was about to try to get a leg free and kick at the beast when multiple shots boomed throughout the interior of the cabin.

  Ursula was out of the captain’s chair and fired shot after shot into the creature with her Desert Eagle. The creature’s body bucked and flailed under each impact and Jet felt the pressure of his chest disappear, as the beast’s weight came off of his chest. Then one winged arm lashed out and struck Ursula hard enough to spin her body in place, stunning her as she crumpled to the ground. Jet used the distraction to swing the shotgun around and, using all the weight, strength and momentum he could muster, struck the winged-thing in the head with the butt of the shotgun and sent it sprawling back out the door it had flown in.

  He didn’t wait for the thing to recover and he jumped from the helicopter in pursuit. Gripping the barrel of the shotgun like a baseball bat, he swung for the fences as soon as the beast’s head was again in range. The impact was tremendous and should have shattered bone, but the beast only staggered back a few steps. Jet swung the weapon again and again striking the creature with more resounding blows, and this time the thing’s head bent awkwardly to one side and the sounds of bones cracking could be heard with each impact. Jet dared to take a breath, pausing to see if the damage was going to be sufficient, but the creature’s head, although twisted at an impossible angle, just calmly looked at Jet, before righting itself to the sound of its bones shifting and popping back into place as it moved.

  “Oh, hell.” Jet complained as the thing let out what seemed like a displeased, low growl, before it charged at him with its arms and claws extended. He ducked under the initial swing of the claws and backpedaled away from the helicopter in order to try to stay just out of the thing’s reach. Jet hadn’t planned it, but he realized he was leading the creature away from the helicopter. Maybe there was some hope he could distract the abomination enough for Ursula to both recover and take off.

  All thoughts of personal sacrifice and glory evaporated as the creature’s speed increased tenfold and, after Jet had only taken three or four steps back, he felt one of the bat-like hands reach out and grab him.

  Jet tried to swing the shotgun, but the thing had caught the weapon mid swing with its opposite hand, ripping it out of his grasp. It closed a hand around Jet’s neck and held him aloft by his throat, increasing the pressure more and more with every passing second.

  Then without any warning, the thing eased its grip on his throat and its body began to shift yet again. Jet’s eyes just managed to remain semi-focused, as the spindly, elongated arms and scaly skin shortened and softened into human form. Jet felt his feet touch the roof once more, but the grip at his throat was still iron-like and it was all he could do to drag in ragged bits of breath to stay conscious.

  When the creature finished shifting form, Jet found he was staring into Kaylanna’s face, and her eyes burned as she scrutinized him.

  “So,” Kaylanna said in a voice that was chillingly calm and almost conversational as she spoke “You’re the Shaman I’m supposed to be so worried about? Ancients be cursed, but you have no idea what you are up against, or how to fight against me, do you?” Kaylanna let out a laugh that chilled Jet’s soul and he watched Kaylanna’s free hand morph into the clawed appendage of the winged creature once more. Jet tried to twist free but Kaylanna held him fast. There was no escape and he prayed to hear an explosion of gunfire from Ursula’s Desert Eagle to save him in the nick of time.

  Chapter 25: The Big Bear

  What came instead was a roar of such volume and ferocity that it couldn’t be ignored as Benjamin burst through the now opened roof-access door and sprinted toward Kaylanna. The Ancient let out a small cry as Benjamin, who had shifted into an enormous half-man, half-bear slammed into them. Kaylanna lost her grip on Jet, and his body flew away due to the enormous impact, and landed mere feet from the edge of the building. Jet felt a quick relief from having been released, only to realize that his momentum was going to carry him over the edge. His fingers desperately scrambled to grab onto whatever he could, as his body slid and legs spilled out into open air. He must have screamed when he felt his lower half slide painfully over the side, but the edge of the building had a natural lip built into it and, as the rest of his body dropped, his fingers managed to latch onto that lip. He wanted to cheer as he came to an abrupt and painful halt as his body dangled from the roof’s edge, but the joy was short lived as his arms began to burn with the effort of fighting gravity.

  He tried to find purchase with his feet, but the side of the hospital building was flat, offering no footholds. As the pain in his fingers grew Jet knew he only had seconds before his hands gave out, so he began swinging his body laterally until he could kick one leg up and over the edge. Locking his heel on the lip, he leveraged his body up with both arms and one leg, until he could roll back onto the roof itself.

  It took Jet a few seconds for his head to stop spinning, but when he finally felt his equilibrium return, he opened his eyes and stared into the starry night sky. The now cloudless night made the stars easy to see and he felt his mind calm as he looked at the tiny pinpoints of light in the dark. His breathing had
just about returned to normal when a large shape flew over him, momentarily blocking his view of the stars. Jet watched the shape as it sailed over him, then over the edge of the building and toward the concrete below. It landed wetly and bounced once before it slammed into a parked car.

  Confused, Jet turned to look toward the battle as it raged on the rooftop. Kaylanna had resumed her half-bat, half-reptile form and fought tooth and claw against Benjamin, who was still in his half-man, half-bear form. Kaylanna’s remaining wolf-beasts had made their way to the roof, surrounded the pair and waited for their chance to strike at Benjamin. Jet watched as Benjamin overpowered Kaylanna and slammed her hideous form to the ground over and over but, before he could administer and kind of final killing stroke, another of Kaylanna’s werewolves would shoot in on him from behind and prevent his strike, usually at the cost of its own life. Benjamin heard the latest beast as it charged and he kicked out with one great leg that struck the beast with enough force to send it into the air and over the side of the building.

  “Well that explains the flying wolves,” Jet thought as he watched as another beast flail its legs desperately and uselessly to alter its flight path as it sailed over the edge of the building to its death on the concrete below.

  Jet turned to check on the helicopter, seeing Ursula back in the captain’s chair and desperately working the controls to get the propellers spinning faster and faster so that she might get airborne.

  Kaylanna seemed to notice it as well and, with one great swipe of her claws forced Benjamin back and away from her. The Ancient gestured to her werewolves and all of them attacked Benjamin at once, piling onto him and forcing him to the ground.

  To Jet’s surprise Kaylanna didn’t press the attack on Benjamin, instead, she ran for the helicopter’s side door. Ursula realized what was happening, pulled back on the stick while working the foot pedals, and lifted the helicopter into the air. She cast one sorrowful look at Jet before looking to the horizon and turned the helicopter in the direction she wished it to go.