The Marradith Ryder Series Part 34
Marradith and Will stood together in the back of Leighton’s house, where the property gave way to woods.
The moon seemed dimmer than before, but there were globe lights here that made it easier to see.
Should she really trust Will? Only a few minutes before, Syd had been using mind control on him.
But, she was sure that Syd was gone. He had retreated: she could feel it.
And besides, she didn’t have much choice.
She looked into Will’s eyes and made her decision.
“I need you to watch out for me. I’m going to go into… sort of a trance. Whatever I do or say, don’t stop me. But if you see any Wolves, other than Justin, you know what to do.”
He nodded.
She stepped back and leaned against a tree. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes.
Will looked up as clouds moved across the moon. A warm breeze stirred through the trees.
*****
Marradith fell quickly into the trance.
There were two werewolves in the forest.
Justin.
She remembered Fiona’s words: he’s your Wolf. On how many levels was that true? she wondered. It only took for her to whisper his name, and his image was there. Even in his primal form, she was able to link with him and communicate. When she did it was in the primal language, something she’d never been taught. It was so bone deep that it barely came as thought.
He took a breath in, and Marradith felt it. His words came quick and she felt the emotion behind them. His eyes glowed in the darkness. She said things to him that she had not dared think, much less speak.
Her words came out in a torrent, all the things that she had never told him before, bare. She felt the urgency in his reply. There was no pretense between them.
She had never felt warmth like that. Frightening and reassuring all at once.
It was painful when she drew away. She did not have time to become entangled, though she would have wanted nothing more than to stay linked to him, if only a few moments longer.
There was power in that connection. His blood sang to her.
Moving away from Justin, she searched for the other.
The link to Leighton felt entirely different, but she found him easily. She should have known it could be so simple. He was family.
There was something deeply wrong with him. She felt the electricity in her spine move as she reached for him. But there was a cold, a darkness that surrounded him. Marradith frowned. Werewolves were full of heat. So what was this other thing that was around him?
Leighton barely existed. She felt the confusion inside him. The blood of his victims were causing him to come apart. She felt them, the weight of all the human entities that pressed in upon him. They were screaming. Some of them wanted out. Others wanted control of his body.
She felt their souls, and their empty eyes reaching out like black holes.
She had to turn from them, for fear that they would try to pull her down into the mire of their non-existence.
Her eyes filled with tears. This was misery.
She felt the sensation that she was falling. Very deep inside, there was a little part of him that was still Wolf, that contained the blood and the soul of what was Leighton Ryder. She pushed past the darkness.
At first, she saw him in his half phased form. But soon she was able to see him as a human man. She was inside his memories: Leighton who was the son of a reproachful father and a distant but loving mother. A boy who loved to hunt alone in the snow, until he found a wolf that was more than a canine. The young man who escaped to the islands every year to avoid the snow in his home up north. This was the man that liked to swim in the ocean and drink rum. The one who had loved and pursued a woman with a face very much like her own.
Leighton spoke to Marradith.
We married but our happiness was brief. Now Caroline tortures me, like all the rest. All the dead I carry on my back.
She spoke to Leighton, in the eastern language of his father.
Come to me. I am here. And I can make your pain stop.
©2009 Lori Titus
Lori Titus’s The Marradith Ryder Series appears each Wednesday on Flashes in the Dark. She is the short story editor for Sonar4 ezine. Her stories have appeared on MicroHorror, Shadeworks, and The Daily Tourniquet. Her first anthology of horror stories, Tales for the Dark, is scheduled for release in 2010.
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
August 22nd, 2009 at 6:38 am
Very nice Lori! It’s like watching a movie! I almost screamed out loud at the end, “Marradith, what are you doing!?!”
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:35 am
Thank you! And next week is the REALLY big stuff.
August 23rd, 2009 at 7:53 am
Enjoyed the last couple of updates (finally)! Especially liked the line - “All the dead I carry on my back”. Keep ‘em comin’!
August 23rd, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Thanks Bob! I had real fun with these 2.
August 26th, 2009 at 6:11 am
THESE TWO WERE GREAT. i CAN’T WAIT FOR 3…
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:27 am
Grands articles & Nice un site ….
May 3rd, 2010 at 12:23 pm
an interesting read, thanks for posting
June 16th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Marradith is getting better all the time, I wonder if she can chase the ghosts away or just finish him off.