to push it away, but all I did was nudge it maybe an inch or two from its previous position. It immediately turned to face me and while it didn’t appear to possess the strength to stand up, it still had enough energy to start growling at me, a low, guttural sound.
Bright red blood covered its nose and mouth, dripping off its fur, and splashing down onto my face. I had to turn my head to the side to avoid being splashed right in the eyes.
Somehow you managed to shoot it in the face or in the neck, I thought to myself, but as I focused on the still growling, canine face in front of me, I couldn’t detect a visible bullet wound. I glanced down at its neck but found it was also free of any lesions.
So how was it possible…
I wasn’t able to finish my thought. The wolf was suddenly wrenched off me and I was enveloped by icy air. I tried to push myself up so I could see what was going on and, more importantly, where my gun was, but my arms were suddenly like jelly. I kicked out with my legs and tried to shift my weight, but my legs were just as ineffectual as my arms. I pushed against the freezing cold ground with my hands but found I couldn’t move at all. It was as if I were suddenly paralyzed.
“She’s bleeding.” I heard a woman’s voice and recognized it as belonging to Achak’s girlfriend, Koko, the same woman who had once been Alex’s…
“Alex!” I blurted out, suddenly remembering his name. A surge of vitality passed through me and I thought to try my luck at moving again, but the vigor I’d previously experienced was gone just as quickly as it had come. And now I was left feeling nothing but weak and, more so, empty.
“It’s okay,” Alex announced in a soothing voice as he appeared above me, looking down at me with what seemed to be concern in his eyes.
“The wolf,” I started.
Alex shook his head. “Don’t worry about him.”
I wasn’t sure if that meant the wolf was dead but figured I’d just take Alex’s word for it. Instead, my worry shifted back to myself and the fact that I couldn’t feel my body.
“I can’t move,” I said, my voice shaky, nervous as I tried to stretch my fingers out, but nothing happened. “I can’t feel my legs or my arms.” It was a wonder my voice was still working.
“I know,” he said as he kneeled down and smiled. His smile struck me as counterfeit, though, as if it was only meant to make me feel better. It didn’t because there was fear in his eyes. He reached out and gripped my upper arm through my down jacket, squeezing it encouragingly. I was surprised I could feel him. “You’re going to be okay, Elodie.”
I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me. Had I hit my head so hard that I wasn’t able to move my body? Had I somehow paralyzed myself when I fell? But there was something inside me that didn’t feel like I was paralyzed. There was something that was burning, something that felt like it was spreading through my body, something invading me. Whatever it was, it clutched at my insides, felt like it was tearing me up from the inside out. I could feel sweat beading along my forehead and heat started to claim my entire body. My hands suddenly grew clammy. It made no sense because the temperature was arctic. There was no reason why I should have felt like I was burning.
“She’s been bitten by the wolf,” Koko said, her voice just a whisper.
Chapter Twenty-five
I suddenly found myself staring up at the ceiling of someone’s house. I wasn’t sure when or how I ended up inside, but here I was. Last I could remember, I’d been sprawled in the snow outside Achak’s house and within a blink, I was here.
You must have blacked out, I told myself as I fought to make sense of it.
I tried to shift my head to the side to take in more of my surroundings so I could figure out where here was exactly but found I couldn’t move my head. It was as if the paroxysm had spread. Regardless, I was still burning up. It felt like my entire body was stuck in the midst of a raging inferno.
“He’s dying. The silver pierced his heart and he’s dying,” I heard Koko’s